Hymn of the Month, November 2018
Researched and written by Rev. Nicholas Davelaar

This month’s hymn is one of the older, more storied hymns in the Trinity Hymnal, coming out of a small reed hut in Italy in the year 1225. 
 
By all accounts Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) wrote this hymn there near the end of his life. Nearly blind and unable to endure daylight, he spent much of the summer that year in that hut. Knowing that death was near, Francis was visiting a dear friend one last time, a woman named Clara who had been the first woman to join the order of the Franciscans. She had the hut built for him in the midst of her convent’s garden to give him a dark, quiet place where he could think and pray. He did more than think and pray there—he sang too, as those who occasionally came within earshot of the hut later told. He also wrote a least one poem there, this month’s hymn, a reflection on Psalm 145 that also contains many echoes of Psalm 148. 
 
In this poem Francis did what he is often remembered for, namely preaching to all creatures, urging them to praise God. Many paintings of Francis of Assisi portray him preaching to the birds; such paintings capture well the thrust of Francis’ poem.
 
Centuries later the English minister William Draper (1855-1933) translated/paraphrased Francis’ poem into English for use at a children’s Pentecost festival in Leeds. He did this in or around 1910, and later saw his translation/paraphrase included in a 1919 children’s hymnal. Draper paraphrased and authored dozens of other hymns, but “All Creatures of Our God and King” tops them all.
 
In all of the hymnals represented in the hymnary.org database, “All Creatures of Our God and King” is accompanied by only one tune. This tune first appeared in a 1623 German hymnal, alongside the Easter hymn “Lasst Uns Erfreuen Herzlich Sehr,“ which is translated “A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing” in the Trinity Hymnal (#289). The English composer Ralph Vaughn Williams revised it lightly at the beginning of the 20thcentury for use in the 1906 English Hymnal, and it later accompanied the very first publication of “All Creatures of Our God and King” in 1919.
 
As previously noted, “All Creatures of Our God and King” had its beginning in a small reed hut in Italy in 1225. Yet, looked at a different way, the hymn predates the life of Francis of Assisi by many centuries. Francis of Assisi, with William Draper’s later help, merely used his creative talents to express the testimony of the psalms anew, particularly Psalms 145 and 148. In fact, many of the lines of the hymn, as it stands today, closely echo Psalm 148. 
 
This month’s hymn leads us in expressing the call of those psalms. When we sing it we call all that God created to praise our God and King. We are convinced that he is worthy of endless praise—from each and every one of his creatures, both those that are living as well as those that are inanimate—and we express that together in this song.
 
All creatures of our God and King, 
lift up your voice with us and sing 
alleluia, alleluia! 
Thou burning sun with golden beam, 
thou silver moon with softer gleam, 
O praise him, O praise him, 
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! 
 
This month’s hymn begins with a clear call to all creatures to praise the LORD, echoing Psalm 148:7, 10: “Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps… beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds!” In addition to that, we sing that call to praise the LORD at least seven more times in this verse and each of the four verses that follow. In the refrain we sing O praise him twice and alleluia (“Praise the LORD” in Hebrew) three times, and each verse contains a similar, two-fold, mini refrain as well. Needless to say, the call of our song is unmistakable, and we direct it to inanimate parts of God’s creation no less than living creatures. In the second half of this verse we call the burning sun and silver moon to praise God, in an echo of Psalm 148:3: “Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars!”
 
O rushing wind that art so strong, 
ye clouds that sail in heav'n along, 
alleluia, alleluia! 
Thou rising morn in praise rejoice, 
ye lights of evening, find a voice, 
O praise him, O praise him, 
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! 

In this verse we continue to our call to all creation, beginning with the rushing wind and the clouds that sail in heaven (sky) along. Once again we do so echoing Psalm 148. Psalm 148:4, 8: “Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! …fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word!” In the second half of this verse we continue along those lines, joining the writer of Psalm 148 in crying out to the rising morn and lights of evening to find a voice to praise God. Psa 148:3: “Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars!” 
 
In what ways do you personally need to hear this call that you yourself are singing? In what areas of your life do you yet live with a creaturely mindset? In what ways do you still seek your own glory as opposed to your God and King’s? May Psalm 145:10 be true of you this week: “All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you!”
 
Thou flowing water, pure and clear, 
make music for thy Lord to hear, 
alleluia, alleluia!
Thou fire, so masterful and bright 
that givest man both warmth and light, 
O praise him, O praise him, 
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! 
 
This third verse continues the same pattern as before, but with a different psalm in view. When we call the flowing water, pure and clear, to make music for the Lord to hear, we echo Psalm 69:34 and its call to the seas to praise God: “Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them.” Then, in the second half of this verse, we return to Psalm 148:8, calling fire, so masterful and bright, also to praise God.
 
And all ye men of tender heart,
forgiving others, take your part, 
O sing ye, alleluia! 
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear,
praise God and on him cast your care,
O praise him, O praise him, 
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! 
 
If we call even water and fire to praise God, how much more should we ourselves strive to do so in what we do and say? In this fourth verse we call ourselves and our fellow humans, believers and unbelievers alike, to join the rest of creation in praising the Lord. That call is implied in the previous verses, but we make it explicit here, following the lead of Psalm 148 once again. After calling living things and inanimate objects of various kinds to praise the Lord, Psalm 148:11-13 shines the spotlight on us: “Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.” We do much the same in this fourth verse, calling all men of tender heart to take their part by forgiving others (Matthew 18:33; Eph 4:32) and singing alleluia!
 
Then, quite unexpectedly in such a joyful song, we turn our attention to those bearing pain and sorrow. Pain and sorrow are real, and some of us and our neighbors have long known that first-hand. Here we plead with them and even we ourselves to praise God and on him cast your care, following the lead not only of David in Psalm 69:29-30, but also the clear command of God. In 1 Pet 5:7 God through the apostle Peter calls us to “[cast] all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
 
Will you? Will you even raise your voice, whether carefree or troubled, to sing out the call of this month’s hymn? God is worthy of praise, whatever your circumstances. What is more, praising God is a powerful medicine that goes a long way in sustaining our hearts in times of pain and sorrow.
 
Let all things their Creator bless,
and worship him in humbleness,
O praise him, alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
and praise the Spirit, three in one. 
O praise him, O praise him, 
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
 
As we begin to bring our song to an end, we sing one final, concluding call to all things to bless their Creator (echoing Psalm 148:5 especially), and then end by identifying more specifically the God and King we have been pointing to all along. Who is this God and King? He is the Triune (three in one) God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. This identification forms an important bridge between this hymn and its content and the many other great truths of Christianity, especially concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ. Were this a generic call to praise God, solely on account of the fact that he created us, we wouldn’t be singing it, at least not genuinely, and certainly not joyfully. Why not? Because we are born rebels against him, rebels who by nature only add to our guilt daily. Yet this God not only created us, but also came to earth to bear the wrath and curse we deserve. That good news is what drives this hymn. As such it is fitting that we close by proclaiming just who this God is that we’ve been calling all creatures to praise.
 
Have you received and rested in Jesus Christ for salvation? Do you still receive and rest in him? Is that good news motivating you to sing this song? And not just to sing it, but to live it out?

Hymn of the Month, October 2018
Researched and written by Rev. Nicholas Davelaar

​Last month’s hymn, “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds,” came from the pen of John Newton, the former slave ship captain known best for his hymn “Amazing Grace.” This month we focus our attention on a hymn by his friend and collaborator, William Cowper. Cowper contributed 68 hymns to their Olney Hymns, and this month’s hymn—“God Moves in a Mysterious Way”—was one of them.
 
William Cowper (his last name rhymes with “super”) lived a life tormented by profound grief, trauma, and depression. Six years after his birth in England in 1731, his mother died. Though he eventually excelled in school academically and athletically, he was “profoundly wretched” at his first school. He fell deeply in love with a young lady, but her father broke off the relationship. As time went on, the episodes of depression that had begun in childhood grew darker and more frequent, especially when his own father died. That said, those depressive episodes were nothing like what followed his nomination to be Clerk of the Journals of the House of Lords. Being examined for that post filled him with such dread and despondency that he became completely unhinged. He suffered a panic attack during the interview and tried three times to commit suicide. Under the care of a wise Christian physician, however, that depressive episode passed, but only for a time, and not entirely. For the rest of his life Cowper relied heavily upon friends, including John Newton. Cowper depended on them to provide for his needs and to help him, especially during subsequent episodes of depression. The deaths of his brother and a dear friend hit him particularly hard in later years.
 
Through all his suffering, Cowper also matured in faith. With Newton’s encouragement, Cowper gave voice to his growing trust in Jesus through hymns such as “There Is a Fountain,” “O for a Closer Walk with God,” and this month’s hymn, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.” These hymns and still others express a believer’s hope in the character and deeds of the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
 
By most accounts, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” was the final hymn Cowper ever wrote. He entered his final depressive episode shortly after writing it, and reportedly never escaped. He died from dropsy on April 25, 1800.
 
That noted, darkness should not get the last word in the story of Cowper’s life. This opening verse from one of his hymns makes for a better end:
 
The saints should never be dismayed,
Nor sink in hopeless fear;
For when they least expect his aid,
The Saviour will appear.
 
Since its publication in Olney Hymns, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” has been paired with a variety of tunes, most commonly the tune used in our Trinity Hymnal. The tune’s melody was first published in a 1615 edition of the Scottish Psalter. The English musician Thomas Ravenscroft (c. 1582-1635) composed the harmony. This solemn, yet encouraging tune is well suited for the weighty, yet hopeful content of the hymn, allowing both believers who are hurting and believers who are cheerful to sing together with all their hearts.
 
“God Moves in a Mysterious Way” is a song of hope intended especially for those in the midst of trials. Newton and Cowper organized their Olney Hymns in three parts: first, hymns on select texts of Scripture, such as last month’s “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds”; second, hymns on occasional subjects, such as Newton’s “Day of Judgment! Day of Wonders!”; and third, hymns on the progress and changes of the spiritual life. “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” was included in that final part, the first of more than two dozen hymns on the topic of conflict and trials in the Christian life. As already noted, Cowper was well-acquainted with some of those conflicts and trials, and he seems to have written this hymn—the last he ever wrote—to encourage himself and his fellow believers to trust God for his grace. In fact, in Olney Hymns this hymn bears the title “Light shining out of Darkness.”
 
God moves in a mysterious way
his wonders to perform;
he plants his footsteps in the sea,
and rides upon the storm.
 
This month’s hymn starts with a profound declaration that summarizes well the message of the first two verses: God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform. What does that mean? It means that God, the God “who alone does great wonders” (Ps 136:4), works in ways we sometimes cannot comprehend at all. Even the understanding we do have is limited. God made that clear in his response to Job in Job 38-41. For instance, in Job 38:33 we hear God ask, “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?” Mere humans can neither perform the wonders God does, nor fully understand them. Isaiah 55:9: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” That, however, is not to suggest that we can truly know nothing. God has revealed many things to us through the Old Testament prophets and later his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. As Moses declared in Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
 
The second half of this verse expands on the declaration of the first half. Borrowing a pair of images from the book of Psalms, Cowper leads us in acknowledging poetically what we’ve already sung. The God whom we worship plants his footsteps in the sea (Ps 77:19: “Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.”) and rides upon the storm (Ps 104:3: “He makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind….”). Who of us can thus presume to understand all he does?
 
Deep in unfathomable mines
of never-failing skill
he treasures up his bright designs,
and works his sovereign will.
 
In this second verse we continue to draw upon the testimony of passages such as the ones quoted above. Here we sing of God treasuring up his bright designs deep in unfathomable mines of never-failing skill and accomplishing his sovereign will accordingly. By these words we acknowledge God’s wisdom, in an echo of Romans 11:32-33: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” God’s deeds are wise—profoundly wise—and he further carries out each of them with an authority and power that is without parallel. As Psalm 47:8 proclaims, “God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.”
 
Do you know this God? Is this what you believe concerning him? Your confidence and peace in this world hang on your answer, as the following verses will demonstrate.
 
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
the clouds ye so much dread
are big with mercy, and shall break
in blessings on your head.
 
Having acknowledged that God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform, and that he does so with unparalleled wisdom and authority, we go on now to call ourselves and one another to take fresh courage. No question about it, even the most optimistic of us can always see at least a few dark clouds on the horizon, poetically speaking. In this third verse we remind ourselves and one another that we may live in hope and even “laugh at the time to come” (Prov 31:25) because our God reigns over those clouds we so much dread. He reigns over them, and will make them break in blessings on our heads. Is that to suggest those blessings will always and immediately feel like blessings? No, as William Cowper would be the first to admit. Yet as Paul wrote in Romans 8:28, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” God deals bountifully with his people (Ps 65:11), and that truth alone can sustain our hope and confidence when we see dark clouds all around, and even moreso when those clouds begin to break.
 
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
but trust him for his grace;
behind a frowning providence
he hides a smiling face.
 
Given that God’s blessings do not always and immediately feel like blessings, Cowper leads us in pleading with ourselves and one another not to judge the Lord by feeble sense. In Isaiah 55:8 the LORD reminds us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.” As difficult as it sometimes is, we must not judge him by feeble sense, but instead trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence he hides a smiling face, as Romans 8:31-39 powerfully conveys. In fact, that passage from Romans actually makes Cowper’s word choice here seem a bit weak. To say that God’s face is smiling seems like an understatement. Romans 8 famously concludes, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
 
Do you trust the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ even in difficult times? Will you, as opposed to judging him by feeble sense?
 
His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding ev'ry hour;
the bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flow'r.
 
In this fourth verse of this month’s hymn we continue to encourage ourselves and one another to trust in God when his mysterious ways are not only befuddling to us, but even bitter.
 
The simple truth is that some of his unfolding purposes are—no doubt about it--bitter in the bud, as Cowper could attest. Naomi, the Old Testament saint, could too. In Ruth 1:20 we hear her tell the women of Bethlehem, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty.” By the end of the book of Ruth, however, we hear the women of Bethlehem singing God’s praises over her: “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him” (Ruth 4:14-15). God’s purpose truly had a bitter taste, but sweet was the flower. 
 
That’s equally true for those who die with the bitter taste of God’s purposes in their mouths, as Cowper did. According to Revelation 21:4, in the new heavens and the new earth, “[God] will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
 
Blind unbelief is sure to err,
and scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
and he will make it plain.
 
In this closing verse Cowper leads us in acknowledging the limitations of mere human reason, especially blind unbelief. Human reason apart from trust in God through Jesus Christ his Son is sure to err or go astray. 
 
In fact, even believers have a difficult enough time making sense of God’s work! Cowper’s original has a footnote on the first line of this verse, a reference to John 13:7. In that verse we hear Jesus tell Peter, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Only later did Peter understand why Jesus insisted not only upon washing his feet, but also and even more importantly upon dying on the cross. And why was that? Why did he understand? Because God made it plain.
 
The sufferings of Joseph, first at the hands of his brothers and then at the hands of strangers in Egypt, serve as another example of that. Years later Joseph understood, explaining to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Gen 50:20).
 
Are you willing to wait for God to make the wherefores and whys of his mysterious ways plain to you? Will you humbly let God be his own interpreter? That’s as important to do as it is difficult for us proud, curious, and sometimes quite anxious people. Will you trust him for his grace in Jesus Christ his Son?