British hymn writer, William Cowper (pronounced “Cooper”) (1731-1800) studied, but never practiced, law. Known as “mad Cowper,” he suffered from bouts of severe depression, and attempted suicide. His depression was deepened by his religious bent focused on the wrath of God. He sometimes felt condemned to damnation.
Though we think of him as a hymn writer, he was an acclaimed 18th century poet. Perhaps his poetic bent was genetic. His mother, Ann Donne Cowper, was a descendant of John Donne (1573-1631), one of the metaphysical poets. [On Ash Wednesday, we sang Donne’s hymn, Wilt Thou Forgive That Sin Where I Begun (H1982 No. 141)]. Cowper’s poetry about everyday life and scenes from the English countryside was very popular, and it is said that these poems changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry. He was admired by William Wordsworth. Samuel Taylor Coleridge called him “the best modern poet.” He is considered one of the best early Romantic poets, and his hymn texts are considered some of the finest in the English language. However his chronic depression colors many of his hymns, giving them a somber tone.
The last twenty years of his life, he lived in Olney, where John Newton (author of Amazing Grace H1982 No. 671) was his pastor. He aided Newton in pastoral duties, and collaborated with him on the hymn collection, Olney Hymns (1779), contributing sixty-eight hymns. Cowper and Newton were fellow abolitionists, and Cowper wrote several anti-slavery poems. One of his poems, The Negro’s Complaint, which talks of slavery from the slave’s viewpoint, was quoted by Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement.
Cowper was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, and there are two stained glass windows in St. Peter’s Church in Berkhamsted in memory of Cowper. There is also a stained glass window in St. George’s chapel in Westminster Abbey in memory of Cowper and Anglican priest George Herbert (1593-1633), one of the metaphysical poets.
Southerners are familiar with the notion of a closer walk with God. Just a Closer Walk with Thee is familiar to, and loved by, almost everyone here. The genesis of Just A Closer Walk is uncertain, but it is a gospel song likely from the 19th century southern United States. There are some indications that it was sung by slaves on the plantations. Although Cowper was an abolitionist, he predates the time we believe that gospel song came to be. Presumably, Cowper was referencing the Old Testament patriarch Enoch, father of Methuselah. Enoch walked with God, and he did not die. Genesis 5:21-24. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was attested as having pleased God. Hebrews 11:5.
This hymn is a prayer. Stanzas 1 and 5 are bookends. Stanza 1 asks for a closer walk with God. The interior stanzas speak of repenting and longing for the blessed return of the peace and light he had known when he first knew God. Then stanza 5 reports the success of the striving for the closer walk.
The light in stanzas 1 and 5 calls to mind Psalm 43: Send out thy light and thy truth that they may lead me and bring me to thy holy hill. The Lamb to which we are being led is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, of whom we sing every Sunday in the Agnus Dei of the Eucharistic Prayer.
Stanza 2 reminds me of Psalm 42: Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks, so longeth my soul after thee, O God. My soul is athirst for God. Yea even for the living God: When shall I come to appear before the presence of God? [The Choir will sing a setting of this text by British composer Herbert Howells on the third Sunday in Lent. Howells set this text, along with 3 other psalm texts during the Blitz of London in World War II.]
In stanza 3, that universal symbol of peace, the holy dove, sweet messenger of rest, reminds us of the Genesis 8 story of how, after the flood, the dove returned to Noah with an olive leaf in its beak. Stanza 4 calls to mind the commandment in Exodus 20:2-5 that “you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol.” Stanza 4 gives me a new way of looking at idolatry. I had always considered it an either/or matter: worship God or worship idols. By the phrase, “and worship only thee,” Cowper shows us we can worship both.
Stanzas 3 and 4 are good examples of praying Psalm 51, as we did during the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Similarly, stanzas 3 and 4 remind me of the anthem by Samuel Sebastian Wesley the Choir sang on Ash Wednesday, and will sing again on the first Sunday of Lent. It is a setting of verses 2 and 3 of Psalm 51: Wash me throughly from my wickedness, and forgive me all my sin. For I acknowledge my fault, and my sin is ever before me.
Our hymnal give us two tunes for this hymn. Both fit the text beautifully, but in completely different ways. BEATITUDO (H1982 No. 683) is by John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876), who also wrote NICEA, the tune for Holy, Holy, Holy! (H1982 No. 362); and MELITA, the tune for Eternal Father, (H1982 No. 608). This tune has that lovely Victorian rising and falling of phrases like ocean waves, so that it leaves one feeling wrapped in the love of God.
CAITHNESS (H1982 N. 684) is a Scottish tune, first paired with this text by Vaughan Williams in the English Hymnal. Our 1940 Hymnal also uses CAITHNESS for this text. Quite different from BEATITUDO, it still fits this text very well. It has a deliberateness about it, so that one feels the walking, and it bespeaks the intentionality of the text.
Everyone knows the phrase, “God moves in mysterious ways.” But did you know we have Cowper to thank for it? Yes, Cowper is the author of God Moves in A Mysterious Way (H1982 No. 677). Another great hymn for another day.
