A familiar Bible saying, checked in context
God works in mysterious ways
No exact KJV match
This expression is not an exact phrase in the site's KJV index.
By @The..Mustard..Seed · Updated
Read the relevant KJV passage
Isaiah 55:8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isaiah 55:9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Compare the evidence
Paul exclaims that God’s judgments are unsearchable and his ways past finding out. This is closer KJV language than the saying itself.
Romans 11:33O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
The continuation of Isaiah’s paragraph says God’s word accomplishes what he sends it to do, adding a purpose to the “higher ways” comparison.
Isaiah 55:11So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
What the context adds
Isaiah 55:8–9 contrasts God’s thoughts and ways with human thoughts and ways in an invitation to seek the LORD and receive mercy. Romans 11:33 uses another expression of the limits of human searching. Neither passage gives the popular sentence word for word. The saying is also recognizable from William Cowper’s hymn, which begins with God moving in a mysterious way. Cowper’s attested hymn helps distinguish later devotional language from KJV wording. The passages are stronger when allowed to speak in their own settings instead of serving as a loose label for any event no one can explain.
A source for the saying
William Cowper’s hymn “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” is an attested source for this familiar wording; a hymn record identifies the author and preserves the opening line. Read Cowper hymn record ↗
A question to carry forward
What question does Isaiah’s invitation address before it speaks of higher thoughts and ways?
Keep reading
Read Isaiah 55:6–11 and notice what the chapter says alongside its comparison of ways.
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