"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow." Isaiah 1:18
Words: Elvina Mable Hall, 1865.
Music: John T. Grape
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If the title "God Works in Mysterious Ways" were not already taken, the circumstances of this song's origin would certainly qualify for it. Elvina Hall (1820-1889) sang in the choir at the Monument Street Methodist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. One Sunday morning the pastoral prayer was extremely long. As the minister went on and on, Mrs. Hall's thoughts began to wander. She opened her eyes, and, on the blank flyleaf of her hymnal, wrote down a poem that came to her. Later that week, she took it to the church organist, John Grape (1835-1915). The words were an exact fit for a tune Grape had just written.