Description

This song, based on the well-known text “God Moves in a Mysterious Way,” is about the often-misunderstood doctrine of the sovereignty of God, specifically in the area of providence. The God of the Bible directs all things to fulfill His divine purposes, which have existed from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:11). Yet at the same time He is actively involved with His creation, guiding and shaping it in real time, using the choices of people in a mysterious way to fulfill His purposes without diminishing their responsibility. These are, for certain, some of the deep things of God, which is probably why Cowper opened the hymn as he did. This song grapples with God’s sovereignty in the midst of difficult circumstances, times when all that we see are storm clouds above us. The certainty of His sovereignty and His promise to work all things for good for believers (Romans 8:28) will drive us to rest on the promise that the storm clouds are in fact filled with mercy and will burst in a glorious rain of blessings at God’s perfect timing. The song calls us not to judge God’s ways and workings but to trust Him for His grace, to trust that behind what we see as a frowning providence His face is, in fact, smiling upon us.

Lyrics

Show Original Wordings

Verse 1:
God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
In deep, unfathomable mines
He keeps His boundless skill
And treasures up His bright designs
To work His sov’reign will.

Chorus:
You are mysterious, my Lord,
Yet You reveal to me Your Word.
So come and take my anxious fears -
It’s all for good, so dry these tears;
You are mysterious, my Lord.

Verse 2:
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev’ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow’r.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter
And He will make it plain.

Verse 3:
Fear not, you saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds you often dread
Are filled with mercy and will break
In blessings on your head.
Don’t judge the Lord by feeble sense
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides His smiling face.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.
Chorus: (new)
Verse 2:
Verse 3:
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

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