The Christian Book of Mystical Verse, first published in 1963, is a collection of poems, hymns, and prayers compiled by Christian pastor and writer A.W. Tozer. Intended to provide an aid to the devotee, it is a selection of over 100 pieces of theologically sound verse to support "the worshipping soul."
A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) was a self-educated pastor. He first heard the call to Christianity as a teen, when he heard a street preacher say, "If you don't know how to be saved ... just call on God, saying 'Lord be merciful to me a sinner.'" Tozer heeded the call, and began a life dedicated to Christ.
Calling on God became a cornerstone of his faith. He had an intensely personal relationship with God, and was seen to pray in his office for hours at a time, sometimes on his couch and sometimes prostrate on the floor. As a pastor with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, he spent his career preaching Biblical doctrine, advocating that his congregants turn away from worldliness and toward the fundamentals of the faith.
It may seem odd to find a fundamentalist like Tozer use the word "mystical" in the title of his collection. But in his introduction, he differentiates the Christian mystic from those with "a strong psychic bent that predisposes them toward the occult ... ready to accept whatever in the realm of religion is bizarre and prodigious."
Rather, the mystic of Tozer's collection had experienced "... that personal spiritual experience common to the saints of Bible times and well known to multitudes of persons in the post-Biblical era. I refer to the evangelical mystic who has been brought by the gospel into intimate fellowship with the Godhead." Those he identified as mystics include clergy and pastors, hymn writers, poets, reformers, and others. They span different denominations of Christianity, from French Roman Catholics to German Calvinists to American Baptists.
To Tozer, the mystical is God-oriented. The poems in his collection "...begin with God, embrace the worshipping soul and return to God again." While these verses are not from the scriptures, one can trust that they are fully supported by the Biblical text. A fundamentalist like Tozer would not include any hymn or prayer that was not theologically sound and supported by the source material.
There are 111 verses and hymns included in this collection, divided into 15 logical sections:
- Adoration of the Godhead
- Devotional Meditations on the Cross of Christ
- Penitential Reflections on Our Sins
- Rejoicing in Forgiveness and Justification
- Yearning for Purity of Heart
- Aspirations After God
- Delighting in God's Presence
- The Raptures of Divine Love
- The Rest of Faith
- The Spiritual Warfare
- Victory Through Praise
- The Prayer of Quiet
- The Bliss of Communion
- Joyous Anticipation of Christ's Return
- Immortality and the World to Come
As Tozer explains, "This is a book for the worshiper rather than for the student...Everything here is for use in private devotion. I have had in mind not a congregation but the lone individual." The collection can be used as a devotional, with the reader meditating on a single verse each day. The organization by topic can also let you search for verses that will support your current Bible study. Or, simply flip to a page at random, and see which verse has been chosen for you on that day.
The Christian Book of Mystical Verse was the last of Tozer's books to be published during his lifetime. Since then, many more compilations of his essays, sermons, and articles have been published, ensuring that this brilliant Christian is still being read and enjoyed by modern audiences.