These are all affiliate marketing links. I receive a small commission from Amazon if you make a purchase. This costs you nothing and goes a long way to supporting this channel and website.
Here are some of my favorite Hymnals:
Presbyterian 1955 Hymnbook: http://amzn.to/2zSRdpL
Episcopal 1940 Hymnal: http://amzn.to/2DEOl1H
Broadman 1940 Hymnal: http://amzn.to/2C1WuwK
Methodist 1939 Hymnal: http://amzn.to/2CfJ1Wq
Pilgrim 1935 Hymnal: http://amzn.to/2DDvbJC
Now Sings My Soul, New Songs for the Lord by: Linda Bonney Olin: http://amzn.to/2DQ6gUy
Choice Hymns of the Faith 1945 http://amzn.to/2Dx97nA
Book of Psalms for Singing https://amzn.to/2ygM00b (1912 Psalter is unavailable)
Hymns Ancient and Modern https://amzn.to/3dfaHIY
Lutheran 1941 Hymnal: http://amzn.to/2zUmYi2
Here are my new projects:
Trinity Hymnal 1960 https://amzn.to/3ZU7esg
Lutheran 1909 Hymnal https://openlibrary.org/books/OL25240909M/Evangelical_Lutheran_hymn-book
J S Bach Riemenschneider 371 Harmonized Chorales http://amzn.to/2DSy5f9
References:
Dictionary of Hymnology: http://amzn.to/2BxPabk
American Hymns Old and New https://amzn.to/3fqkkVU
Author William Cowper
Dundee https://youtu.be/aa9YkymQQgk Scottish Psalter
Dundee – TWH https://youtu.be/UhjlNV6ovrI Scottish Psalter
Farrant alt 2 https://youtu.be/skCQ6Sr8uoI R Farrant
Hermon https://youtu.be/F2rlZRbtn1Y Lowell Mason
Norge https://youtu.be/7peWcgu2eq8 Unknown
Dedham https://youtu.be/mEptXWCd8BA William Gardiner
London New https://youtu.be/34N8o4fkh7I John Playford
St Anne https://youtu.be/9sMl_Ar6nAA William Croft
1. God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
2. Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.
3. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.
4. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
5. His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
6. Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.
William Cowper’s (pron. Cooper) hymns are sung in nearly every English speaking church and countless other languages throughout the world. Along with “God Moves,” he also penned: Hark My Soul, It is the Lord; Jesus; Wherever Thy People Meet; O For a Closer Walk With God; and There’s A Fountain Filled With Blood.
Cowper was contemporary with a number of important figures from this time such as John Wesley and his brother Charles and George Whitefield. However, the most influential was the former slave ship captain and author of Amazing Grace, John Newton. Cowper attended Newton’s church for a dozen years or so and worked with Newton on his hymnal Olney Hymns.
The life story of Cowper is filled with unrelenting depressive episodes. His mother died after giving birth to his younger brother. He had a number of siblings also die before his birth, so his family knew intimately the pain of death. Upon his mother’s death, his father sent him to a boarding school as a young boy of about six. He records years of unrelenting abuse from the older boys. Though he doesn’t explicitly address the subject, from a general understanding of life in these boarding schools, it can be assumed much of this SA was prevalent. This young boy looses his mother and then is sent away by his father before he was even seven years old! Is it any wonder he struggled with depression! He attempted suicide at least four times and spent a significant amount of time in an asylum for the insane. And it was here, from finding a Bible “randomly” left out, he first came to know the LORD.
And yet…after each major depressive episode, he finds himself back in the loving arms of his Savior! A common theme through many of Cowper’s hymns is a sense of rediscovering Christ and a fresh wonderment at how once again God’s providence held him through his darkest days. Take a moment and re-read the text of this hymn. Every line is either admonishing the believer to have faith in God’s providence or a declaration of that providence. And it has the legitimacy and honesty as from one with direct knowledge of both.
