William Cowper and Olney Hymns

I posted at Out of the Ordinary this morning, recommending that you read Olney Hymns, particularly the hymns written by William Cowper.

I love Olney Hymns for Cowper’s hymns especially. Because of his illness, he contributed only 67 of the 379 hymns, but his verses include some of the finest poetry found in hymns. And knowing a little of Cowper’s story makes them even more remarkable. When you read the words of Cowper’s best known hymn, There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood1 (“and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains”), set them against the background of his conversion. Because Cowper felt so deeply the despair of condemnation for sin, he understood more fully that his only hope was Christ’s sacrifice.

Read the whole post.

(If you go to church with me, you can wait to read until next month’s Good News if you prefer.)