Too wise to be mistaken

Samuel Medley was a Particular Baptist preacher and hymn writer. He was born June 23, 1738 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, the grandson of Samuel Medley and the second son of Guy Medley, a teacher in Cheshunt. Guy Medley married the daughter of William Tonge, a well-known schoolmaster at Enfield. Samuel joined the Royal Navy in 1755. He was discharged in 1759, after being wounded at the Battle of Lagos (between British and French fleets).

In 1760 Medley joined the Particular Baptist Church pastored by Andrew Gifford, and thereafter entered the ministry. He married in 1762. Medley was ordained in 1768, after accepting the call to the Baptist Church in Watford, Hertfordshire. He became the pastor of a church on Byrom Street, Liverpool in 1772, where he served for 27 years, until his death at age 61. 

His son writes at some length on his final days, concluding “…with a smiling countenance, he yielded up his spirit into the hands of his heavenly Father, without a struggle of a groan, about half an hour before 7 o’clock in the evening.” This occurred July 17, 1799. The funeral procession and burial were held July 24, 1799. Though his son does not mention specifically where he was buried, it was obviously in Liverpool. (Memoirs of the late Rev. Samuel Medley, Compiled by his Son: to Which are Annexed Two Sermons, and a Variety of Miscellaneous Pieces in Verse, London: J. Johnson, 1800, pp. 121-123)

“The Wisdom and Goodness of God” was included in Medley’s Hymns, 2nd edition (Bradforth: George Nicholson, 1789, pp. 47-48, Hymn 27) and Hymns: The Public Worship and Private Devotions of True Christians Assisted in Some Thoughts in Verse, Principally Drawn from Select Passages of the Word of God (London: J. Johnson, 1800, pp. 151-152, Hymn 128). Since his first edition of Hymns (1785) supposedly included 42 hymns (see John Julian), this hymn probably appeared in it as well. One of the best-known hymns by Samuel Medley is “I know that my Redeemer lives,” whose title is based on Job 19:25.

The hymn found a place in several hymn books afterward, and the lines about God being “too wise to be mistaken…too good to be unkind” are often quoted or referred to in devotionals, books, and sermons. However, the hymn accompanied by music seems to have been included in very few tune books or hymnals. In Durand and Lester’s Hymn and Tune Book for Use in Old School or Primitive Baptist Churches (1886), the words of four stanzas (1,2,3,5) were listed below the fine tune Peterborough from The Musical Instructor by Lewis Seymour and Thaddeus Seymour (New York, NY: Printed by John C. Totten, 1803). Since the hymn is in common meter, it can be paired with many excellent common meter tunes.

Hymn CXXVIII. pp. (151-152)

The Wisdom and Goodness of God.

1. God shall alone the refuge be,
And comfort of my mind;
Too wise to be mistaken, he,
Too good to be unkind.

2. In all his holy, sovereign will,
He is, I daily find,
Too wise to be mistaken—still,
Too good to be unkind.

3. When I the tempter’s rage endure,
’Tis God supports my mind;
Too wise to be mistaken—sure,
Too good to be unkind.

4. When sore afflictions on me lie,
He is (though I am blind)
Too wise to be mistaken—yea,
Too good to be unkind.

5. What though I can’t his goings see,
Nor all his footsteps find;
Too wise to be mistaken, he,
Too good to be unkind.

6. Hereafter he will make me know,
And I shall surely find,
He was too wise to err, and O,
Too good to be unkind.

 
7. Thou art, and be thy name adored,
And be my soul resigned,
Too wise to be mistaken, Lord,
Too good to be unkind.

There is a slight revision of the hymn in the 1800 printing, swapping the order of the third and fourth stanzas (making what was 3 stanza 4, and making what was 4 stanza 3). Additionally, the word “lay” in the first line of what became stanza 4 was changed to “lie.” There were some other minor alterations. The third line in stanzas 1 and 5 originally had “Too wise to be mistaken, ’s he” – the “’s” apparently an abbreviation of “is.”