Are you one of those sensitive Christians who struggle with mental instability? Do you experience prolonged periods of mel­ancholy? Maybe you find it difficult to stir your heart to respond to biblical truths that encourage other souls. Perhaps you sometimes doubt that you could ever have belonged to Christ. Possibly you share these kinds of trials with others in your family. Some families do seem to experi­ence a rather pronounced pattern of these difficulties.

Sometimes Christians whose lives are greatly affected by these struggles begin to wonder whether they can ever be useful to Christ. After all, the fact that they might be out of work, not earning an income, may cause huge discouragement. They feel as if they are a great burden on others. Likewise, their doubts and fears seem to quench their joy, and they are convinced their lives are a shameful reflection on the Christian gospel. What can such a Christian do?

Well, here is encouragement in the life of one who has gone before us! William Cowper was a man who experienced deep melancholy and terrifying doubts for much of his adult life. Yet because of several great gifts that God had given him, he was able to bear witness to Christ in a way that has strengthened the faith of thousands in the two hundred years since his death.

It is an oft-noted fact that many poets and writers have sensitive, rather introspec­tive natures. There is an obvious link: the sensitivity provides the insight into human difficulties, and the gift communicates it. Cowper was certainly such a man. As a great poet who also wrote hymns (some of them still sung and appreciated today), he was a writer who conveyed the private struggles of many a Christian with simplicity and clarity. Many, both in his own lifetime and even now, have loved him for his un­derstanding of their own troubles. He has plumbed the depths of others’ despair, and lifted them to hope as he sought to lift his own stricken soul. Like many of the Psalms, Cowper’s hymns begin with the Christian in discouragement but end with the trouble eased by biblical truth. That, of course, is the biblical way to solve troubles.

Cowper’s Background⤒🔗

William Cowper was an eighteenth-century man. Born in 1731 and living until the end of the century, Cowper’s lifetime encom­passed the astonishing evangelical revival that came in the wake of John Wesley and George Whitefield’s preaching. It was also the age of Handel’s Messiah. Towards the end of his life the Romantic movement in poetry and prose was beginning – a development that literary critics believe Cowper’s poetry, which praised the beau­ties of nature, helped begin.

Cowper came from a well-to-do country family, many of whom were distinguished as politicians and writers. But it was also a family marked by mental and emotional instability, and a number of Cowper’s shared the melancholy that William experienced for much of his life. His father was a Church of England clergyman, and his mother, Ann Donne, was of a distinguished family that had included the famous poet, John Donne. William was their fourth child, and very devoted to his loving mother.

However, Ann died shortly after giving birth to her seventh child, John. William was only six at the time; and it can only be imagined how this sensitive child suffered. As a small boy he also had a troubling eye condition, and went to live with a leading oculist so that he could receive treatment for it. This worked, and at around ten years of age he went off as a boarder to Westminster School. He excelled both in his studies and at sports (cricket and football); and when he was eighteen he was articled (ap­prenticed) to a London solicitor for three years before being admitted to the Middle Temple when he was 21.

Cowper’s Collapse←⤒🔗

Cowper was an attractive, fun-loving young man – quite carefree, and with an obviously good sense of humour. However, a number of stresses in his life in the late 1750s and early 1760s combined to drive him to the brink of mental collapse. First, he had fallen in love and become engaged to his cousin, Theodora Cowper. His uncle, Theodora’s father Ashley, opposed the match, howev­er, seeing only trouble ahead given that it was evident both Wil­liam and Theo­dora shared the family’s depressive tendencies. The young people were grief-stricken, and though Theodora ac­cepted her father’s decision, neither ever married. Many believe it was Theodora who later (anonymously) provided William with a large part of the funds he needed to live on. Secondly, Ashley Cow­per tried to provide for his nephew by procuring him a position as clerk to the committee of the House of Lords. This was later publicly criticized as nepo­tism, and added to William’s anxiety as the time for a required examination drew near. He was intensely shy and lacking in confidence: the examination meant he had to endure interviews, make speeches and appear before the Bar of the House. His alarm mounted, and he finally had a nervous collapse, making several attempts to take his life.

Cowper’s collapse (probably today we would call it a nervous breakdown) meant a prolonged period of complete dependence on his brother, John, and his friends (and he was blessed with many). Eventually he was placed in the care of an evangelical doctor, Nathaniel Cotton, who specialized in the treatment of the mentally ill. Cowper remained more than a year there, and it was during this time that he came to faith in Christ. This was through the witness of a cousin, Martin Madan, who had been con­verted under John Wesley’s preaching. God also especially used Romans 3:25, which Cowper was reading at the very moment the spiritual scales fell from his eyes.

Evangelical Fellowship←⤒🔗

About a year after his conversion Cowper left Cotton’s care, now much better in every way. He decided to move as near his brother John, who lived in Cambridge, as possible. In the event it was Huntingdon that became his home, and there he met the Unwin family, with whom he became great friends – so much so that they asked him to move in with them. This Cowper did, and it was the beginning of a lifelong association. Cowper was vulnerable in a number of ways: he was newly recovered from a mental breakdown; he had no source of personal income; and he had no clear occupation, since he had given up his legal practice. But now, in Huntingdon, he had evangelical Christian friends with whom he could read the Scriptures, pray, and discuss Christian books and sermons. It was a wonderful time. But this was cut short in 1767 by the sudden death of Mr Morley Unwin in a riding accident. The family, who had for a time been less than satisfied with the preaching ministry at Huntingdon, decided to move to Olney so that they could enjoy the ministry of John Newton, the former slave trader.

At Olney they lived in a house named Orchard Side, since behind it lay an or­chard – which was the only space sepa­rating their house from that of John and Mary Newton. Soon Newton and Cowper were fast friends, and spent a great deal of time in each other’s company. Cowper assisted Newton in his parish work, often visiting the families in the church together with him. They also began writing hymns together, which were used in the Tuesday evening prayer meetings. Cowper had long been writing poetry – he had been ac­customed to conveying his thoughts and feelings in poetic form for years. It had been a family gift that many of Cowper’s relatives exercised. The remarkable thing about Cowper’s gift is that he could write poetry no matter what his mental or emo­tional state was. Even when prostrated by melancholy he was able to write – and that is no mean feat when one considers the mental discipline required to choose and order one’s words, and to maintain consistency of poetic meter and rhythm!

Hymn Publishing←⤒🔗

In 1770 William’s brother John died – a serious blow to this sensitive man, since John was the last remaining member of his immediate family. Slowly the clouds of trou­ble were gathering around Cowper’s head. Perhaps aware of this, Newton suggested they publish some of their hymns. This they did, and the Olney Hymns was born. Hymn writing had been a feature of the Methodist revival, and the singing of hymns generally accompanied the evangelical faith as the gospel spread far and wide all over England in these decades of the mid and late eighteenth century. Newton and Cowper were adding to this growing repertoire of lively hymns of faith. The Olney Hymns had three sections: hymns on the Scriptures, hymns on various doctrinal subjects (these largely written by Newton), and hymns on the trials, sorrows and encouragements of the Christian life (mostly written by Cowper). These hymns of Cowper’s, though dealing with personal spiritual struggles and joys, were thoroughly permeated with Scripture – they reverberate with biblical images and biblical truth. In style they are quite like Isaac Watts’s hymns – using short meter, long meter or common meter, and with short, four-line verses. They have a brisk, concise sound, but a gentle and sometimes whimsical mood. Cowper’s gentle humour is often turned on himself. He is ever conscious of his sin, but not morosely so: he is a forgiven sinner.

The Most Well-known Hymn←⤒🔗

But as 1772 came to a close it was becom­ing clear to his friends that Cowper was in trouble. It is to these months that ‘Some­times a light surprises’ belongs. The final verse, an extended reflection on Habakkuk 3:17, however, points to the fact that while Cowper was at times discouraged, his joy was restored in prayer to God. At the turn of the year, though, he found himself in morbid remembrance of his collapse ten years earlier. On New Year’s Day, while walking alone in the fields near Olney, he had a strange premonition that spiritual darkness was about to engulf him. The clouds were gathering (metaphorically as well as literally) as he hurried home. Arrived there, he wrote one last hymn, and his most famous: ‘God moves in a mysterious way.’ This is one of the best-loved in the English language. The Oxford Dictionary of Quota­tions includes every line except two; and some of Cowper’s phrases have become common expressions in everyday English. (Think especially of the first line).

When we consider this hymn in the context that Cowper wrote it, it is clearly the work of a courageous Christian record­ing his testimony of faith in a moment of extreme duress. Each verse speaks of the perplexing nature of every Christian’s trials: why, God, are You doing this? What is Your purpose? Why must I suffer? Yet each verse also contains gently encouraging truth, bibli­cal reminders that God is sovereign and powerful. He has goodness waiting for us in each trial, and in the end, He will make His purposes plain. This is a hymn written by a very gifted poet, a sensitive, anxious soul, but a Christian committed to Calvin’s glorious view of God.

Cowper sunk into a long period of de­pression at this point, and did not emerge from it until more than a year later. It was made far worse by a dream he had about a month after it began – a dream in which he was convinced God told him he had utterly perished; that he was cast off from Him forever. This dreadful dream recurred at intervals throughout the rest of Cowper’s life, and while he regained much of his steadiness concerning Christian truth he never again believed that he himself could be certain of salvation.

Nursed back to a cheerful state in Newton’s house, Cowper recovered his natural sense of humour and was able to return to Orchard Side with Mrs Unwin. Some years later, after the Newton’s had moved to London to a new parish, Cowper began to sense that he had been called to serve God as a professional poet. He would use his gift as a means of calling his unbelieving and nominal Christian con­temporaries back to God and to service in His kingdom. Around 1780 Cowper began on what became a prodigious output of poetry – including a number of very long (1000-2000 line) poems.

A Much Loved Poet←⤒🔗

Over the next twenty years William Cowper became famous. His poetry was loved, read, and admired. Jane Austen’s family enjoyed nothing more than an evening reading Cowper together by the fire. He anticipated many of the themes of the Romantic poets – Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley – but without their Panthe­istic leanings. Nature was his delight, but to Cowper it was the work of a personal, loving Creator, to whom everything that had breath was responsible. With his gentle, whimsical manner he wrote about ordinary, everyday pleasures – cups of tea, reclining on a sofa, and walks in the countryside. Cowper loved country life, and frequently praised its merits in comparison, say, to life in London. He wrote poetry on religious and biblical themes, inspired by the wide-ranging reading with which he occupied himself – in theology and in practical religion, including the Puritan ministers of the previous cen­tury. He used his gift of poetry in much the same way that Hannah More used her gift of writing a generation later – to awake his contemporaries to the need to serve Christ with all their hearts. Cowper also translated poetry from the Classical period: Homer, Virgil and Horace. One motive for taking on this task was to educate girls and women who, not being taught Greek and Latin, could not enjoy the Classics as could men. Cowper became so respected that he was even offered the post of Poet Laureate of England. When he died in 1800, his was a loved household name.

The Peace in Death←⤒🔗

There is, in addition, a hopeful spiritual note attending his death. When his rela­tive, John Johnson, entered his room and saw that he was dead, Cowper’s face had altered dramatically. The terror and anxiety had gone, and instead he wore a relaxed smile and, according to Johnson, a ‘look of holy surprise.’ Perhaps he had discovered in death that he was, after all, received by God as his child? Certainly it is possible for one plagued by doubts and fears, who nevertheless believes God’s Word and longs to serve Him, to be found a true and faithful servant. While God alone knows the heart, it would seem that Cowper had been sure in his faith earlier in his life, and passages such as Romans 8:31-39 may have a bearing in cases such as his. Cowper’s, consider, was the pen that wrote ‘Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain.’ Amen.