Thank you for this excellent little poem by Cowper! I’m a big fan if his, but had never heard this one. I’m also a fan of Chesterton, but I think he was wrong about why Cowper was mad. It was not the doctrine of predestination that drove him crazy.
Cowper is the only person I’ve ever heard of who called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, while in an 18th century insane asylum. The head of the asylum, a Dr. Cotton, was a godly man, who talked with Cowper and prayed for him. He left Bibles open around the grounds for Cowper to find. One day, he found one opened to Romans 3. He read verses 23-25: “23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;” When read Romans 3: 25, and saw that in Christ God the Father will forgive our past sins, his eyes were opened and he trusted God for his regeneration in Christ. He and John Newton, a firm believer in God’s sovereignty, was probably Cowper’s best friend in the world. Probably saved Cowper’s life.
The best resource I’ve found about Cowper is John Piper’s biography of him. It can be found on YouTube, and is very good!
Thank you for bringing this excellent poem to us! I love The Daily Poem podcast!
Thank you for this excellent little poem by Cowper! I’m a big fan if his, but had never heard this one. I’m also a fan of Chesterton, but I think he was wrong about why Cowper was mad. It was not the doctrine of predestination that drove him crazy.
Cowper is the only person I’ve ever heard of who called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, while in an 18th century insane asylum. The head of the asylum, a Dr. Cotton, was a godly man, who talked with Cowper and prayed for him. He left Bibles open around the grounds for Cowper to find. One day, he found one opened to Romans 3. He read verses 23-25: “23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;” When read Romans 3: 25, and saw that in Christ God the Father will forgive our past sins, his eyes were opened and he trusted God for his regeneration in Christ. He and John Newton, a firm believer in God’s sovereignty, was probably Cowper’s best friend in the world. Probably saved Cowper’s life.
The best resource I’ve found about Cowper is John Piper’s biography of him. It can be found on YouTube, and is very good!
Thank you for bringing this excellent poem to us! I love The Daily Poem podcast!