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Who is William Cowper you may ask? He is a man, not so different from you, or me! Born in Hertfordshire, UK in 1731. His father was chaplain to King George II, and William himself was educated as an attorney, but never practiced law. Aged 32 he met Jesus. Yet, it was not in a church, at a Christian evangelical rally or some other so-called “spiritual place”. He met Jesus in the depths of depression & loneliness, in an asylum! Despite being a well-known and published writer/poet, he had tried to commit suicide several times. His life was plagued with anxiety and depression. Yet Jesus met with him.

So often we can “rule” people out of the Christian faith because they suffer from some kind of mental illness, whether that be depression, psychosis or brain damage. However, I believe God is not limited by this. I know he is not limited by it. Such struggles are not foreign even for Jesus. In the garden of Gethsemane, the night of his betrayal, Jesus himself suffered extreme mental anxiety – to the point where he asked God the father to take the weight of that suffering away from him.

William Cowper inspires me because he was someone who despite his situation, his inward suffering, he found something that gave him inspiration for his life. He never fully overcame his illness, or had what we may consider a “perfect Christian life”. Despite his pain, he found hope in the message of the gospel.

Out of this troubled life came beautiful and vivid poetry, including Cowper’s most famous work “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood”.

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Washed all my sins away, washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he, washed all my sins away.Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.
Be saved, to sin no more, be saved, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved, to sin no more.E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared, unworthy though I be,
For me a blood bought free reward, a golden harp for me!
’Tis strung and tuned for endless years, and formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears no other name but Thine.

Related posts:

1. The Rebel's Guide to Joy – Fanny Crosby
2. The Rebel's guide to joy – Charles Wesley