Hope - the Final Word!

William Cowper by Lemuel Francis Abbott

William Cowper’s (1731-1800) hymns are sung in our church, but I hadn’t given the man behind these hymns much thought until a short while ago when I was introduced to this article posted by my friend Teresa. My heart ached for this man as I read about his life, his depressions and despairs, and how God provided encouragement so beautifully for him through his friendship with John Newton. Having suffered periods of crippling despair in my own life as I battle with my faith, I can relate to Cowper at some level; likewise I witness it in others I know. It is so strange that hearing of other saints struggling with despair can be an encouragement. As Piper remarked after giving a lecture on Cowper to his congregation, "This bleak life was felt by many as hope-giving". For me, the encouragement in this man's life is that in spite of the despair, in spite of the fact that Cowper gave up on himself, God never gave up on him and instead faithfully provided him glimpses of hope, for example through Newton - and a glimpse of hope, however faint it may be at times, is enough.

The beauty of Cowper’s poetry that springs from such a broken heart has made me go hunting out more of his hymns. I discovered Red Mountain Music recorded a version of his hymn “Decide this Doubt for me” from the Olney hymns printed in 1779, a collaboration between John Newton and Cowper. I was struck by the sleeve notes for their album  “Help my Unbelief” from which this song is taken:

“Many of the texts in these particular songs carry themes of doubt and longing. We believe that the Christian life is a complexity of emotions, a marriage of sorrow and joy. Valleys and mountaintops. Light and darkness. The hymn writers of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries seem to have captured these tensions with more honesty and depth than many contemporary writers. Because these writers have given us glimpses of their own doubt and unbelief, working through their hymns has given us much hope. Hope that we are not alone. Hope that sorrow, pain and hardship are not exclusive to our small, believing community here in Birmingham, AL. Rather, that Christians from different parts of the world, hundreds of years ago struggled with the same things. This is one reason why we sing hymns, to remember that the Church is bigger than just us at this moment. We hope you will join us in confessing, "Lord I believe; help my unbelief." Believing that in our doubts and fears Jesus will meet us with patience and grace. This collection of hymns is for God’s prodigals and sojourners as they wait patiently for the Kingdom to come.”

“Believing that in our doubts and fears Jesus will meet us with patience and grace”. The doubts and fears are expressed by Cowper so honestly and so deeply in this hymn:

Decide this Doubt for Me

The Lord will happiness divine

On contrite hearts bestow;

Then tell me, gracious God, is mine

A contrite heart or no?

I hear, but seem to hear in vain,

Insensible as steel;

If aught is felt, ’tis only pain,

To find I cannot feel.

I sometimes think myself inclined

To love Thee if I could;

But often feel another mind,

Averse to all that’s good.

My best desires are faint and few,

I fain would strive for more;

But when I cry, “My strength renew!”

Seem weaker than before.

Thy saints are comforted, I know,

And love Thy house of prayer;

I therefore go where others go,

But find no comfort there.

Oh make this heart rejoice, or ache;

Decide this doubt for me;

And if it be not broken, break,

And heal it, if it be.

But this is not the final word. This can not be the final word!. John Piper says in the article referenced above "Let us now, while we have the light, cultivate distrust of the certainties of despair." However much he insisted that he was damned and beyond hope, Cowper had friends such as Newton who held out hope repeatedly to him. And it is hope that has the last word. And it is hope that is expressed in the hymn Sometimes a Light Surprises, also from the Olney hymns.

Sometime a Light Surprises

Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings;

It is the Lord, who rises with healing in His wings:

When comforts are declining, He grants the soul again

A season of clear shining, to cheer it after rain.

In holy contemplation we sweetly then pursue

The theme of God’s salvation, and find it ever new.

Set free from present sorrow, we cheerfully can say,

Let the unknown tomorrow bring with it what it may.

It can bring with it nothing but He will bear us through;

Who gives the lilies clothing will clothe His people, too;

Beneath the spreading heavens, no creature but is fed;

And He Who feeds the ravens will give His children bread.

Though vine nor fig tree neither their wonted fruit should bear,

Though all the field should wither, nor flocks nor herds be there;

Yet God the same abiding, His praise shall tune my voice,

For while in Him confiding, I cannot but rejoice.


And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
(Romans 5:5)