Olney Hymns · Chapter
The Bitter Waters explained
The poem reflects on the bitterness of life's trials, symbolized by the waters of Marah, and the remedy found in the cross of Christ, which by faith transforms sorrow into sweetness.
What happens
The poem reflects on the bitterness of life's trials, symbolized by the waters of Marah, and the remedy found in the cross of Christ, which by faith transforms sorrow into sweetness.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Affliction
The poem opens with the bitterness of desert waters, symbolizing the trials and sorrows of life that taste of sin and woe.
Grace and Unmerited Favor
The cross is presented as a wonder-working wood that, by faith, turns losses into gains and bitter experiences into sweet, highlighting God's gracious provision.
Characters to notice
- Jesus Christ
The Saviour whose death on the cross is the healing tree that sweetens bitter afflictions.
- The Lord
Addressed in prayer, asked to reveal the secret of the cross's power.
- The Saints
Believers who have found the blessed effect of applying the cross by faith.
Key passages
“Bitter indeed the waters are Which in this desert flow; Though to the eye they promise fair, They taste of sin and woe.”
The trials of life are truly bitter, even though they may appear attractive at first, because they are tainted by sin and bring sorrow.
The opening stanza sets the theme of life's hardships as bitter waters.
“But there’s a wonder-working wood, I’ve heard believers say, Can make these bitter waters good, And take the curse away.”
Yet there is a miraculous tree, as believers testify, that can transform these bitter experiences into good and remove the curse of sin.
Introduces the remedy of the cross, likened to the wood Moses cast into the waters.
“The cross on which the Saviour died And conquer’d for his saints, This is the tree by faith applied, Which sweetens all complaints.”
The cross where Jesus died and triumphed for his people is the tree that, when applied through faith, makes all grievances sweet.
Identifies the healing tree as the cross of Christ, effective through faith.
“When they, by faith, behold the cross, Though many griefs they meet, They draw a gain from every loss, And find the bitter sweet.”
When believers look to the cross in faith, even amid many sorrows, they derive benefit from every loss and discover that bitterness becomes sweetness.
The concluding stanza summarizes the transformative power of faith in the cross.