Musical Notes

Hello OCBC family,
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).
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This passage can give us a spirit of worship, reverence, and even awe, understanding that our God is beyond our comprehension, and yet we can worship Him and offer this doxology. This doxology is a prayer to God for the wisdom of His plan. He governs the entire universe and our lives in perfect wisdom, justice, and love. This same passage was the inspiration for William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper”) when he wrote his famous hymn, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.”

He wrote many poems that became hymns, and worked very close with his friend, John Newton, the author of “Amazing Grace.” But he has a problem, chronic depression, and we can find this problem in the words of his own hymns.

“God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
and rides upon the storm.”

He and John Newton worked together for long time in a church in Olney, and when John Newton left that church to become London’s most celebrated pastor, Willam Cowper suffered another blow. Then, he decided to become more a secular writer, earning a prominent place in English literature. He was praised for his translation of Homer.

At the end of his life, his depression intensified as he aged and died in this melancholia. Nevertheless, before his passing, people shared that his face suddenly lit up as he exclaimed, “I am not shut out of heaven after all.”

We know, (because of his hymns) that William Cowper didn’t understand God completely (who can?), but he trusted in his Lord without a doubt, after all God is His own interpreter.

“Blind unbelief is sure to err,
and scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
and He will make it plain.”

Trust in the Lord, because he is near.

” Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.’” (John 13:7).

In His service,
Israel