Surprising Light!

“Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings.”

So begins Hymns, #706, by English poet William Cowper, a brother who conveyed much of his rich spiritual experience in pieces of poetry.

Portrait of William Cowper, Lemuel Francis Abbott, 1792

“Surprising light” is an allusion to that phrase, and testimony to a turbid, winding, ever-changing Christian experience.

Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings.

So much about God, the universe, life, the Bible, and the Christian experience is characterized by music, songs and singing.  In fact, God created a singing universe.  In Job 38, Jehovah converses with the righteous man:

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?  Tell Me, if you have understanding.  Who set its measurements–if you know?  Or who stretched the measuring line over it?  Onto what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

— Job 38:4-7

Quite often, at my most anxious or frustrated, the Lord has an opening through hymns and songs to supply Himself as encouragement and enjoyment into my situation.  And “sometimes,” unexpectedly — surprising light!

The verses of this hymn describe the believer’s experience trusting in the Lord’s provision, and end with the words:

Though vine nor fig tree neither
  Their wonted fruit shall bear;
Though all the fields 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.

While life rarely proceeds according to plan or expectation, our trust and appreciation for the Lord are not based upon His outward blessing.  Through the disappointments, joys, and developments of life, He is simply–always–“God the same abiding.”  And He is filling our “every need according to His riches in glory, in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).  As we experience more and more of these riches, our singing becomes an expression of His praise (“His praise shall tune my voice.”).

And, until then, we sing.  And, as we sing, something softens; something warms.  A light surprises . . .  

Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings.

Surprising light!