God Moves in a Mysterious Way
Poem★★★★The grand old hymn God Moves in a Mysterious Way was written by William Cowper (pronounced Cooper), the English poet, friend of John Newton, who struggled all his life with melancholy. According to Ernest Emurian in Living Stories of Famous Hymns, William Cowper wrote this hymn following a period of almost suicidal depression. CaHing for a carriage, he ordered the driver to take him to the Ouse River, three miles away, where he planned to kill himsel£ The driver, knowing the state of mind of his passenger, breathed a prayer of thanks when a thick fog enveloped the, area.
He purposely lost his way in the dense fog, jogging up one road and down another as Cowper fell into a deep sleep. Several hours passed, the driver going in circles, letting his passenger rest. Finally he returned him to his home.
“We’re back home,” said Cow per. “How is that?” “Got lost in the fog, sir. Sorry.”
1 Robert J. Morgan, On This Day (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997), December 8th. 2 Mary Drewery, William Carey: A Biography (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1978), 49.
The point
William Cowper, suicidal in depression, orders a carriage to a river. The driver gets lost in fog for hours, allowing him to sleep and recover, leading to the hymn 'God Moves in a Mysterious Way.'