The Love of God
Frederick M. Lehman and Claudia L. Mays 1917
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.
Refrain
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.
When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Refrain
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
Refrain
This song beautifully illustrates the magnitude of God's love for His children. No matter how much we love those closest to us, we can never love as much as our Heavenly Father loves. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) God loved us before we ever knew Him. His love for us moved Him to create a way for us to spend eternity in Heaven with Him, even though it meant giving His only Son as a sacrifice for our sins, as described in John 3:16. All of us, through selfish ambitions and desires, separated ourselves from our Father when we sinned. (Romans 3:23) Even though we have sinned against our Creator, He longs for us to come to Him (Acts 17:30), that He might forgive us of our sins (Ephesians 1:7), and take us home with Him in the end. Even though the road is rough, God has said that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:10).
God's love is the most powerful love. We cannot deny His love and win. We cannot deny His love and live full, happy lives. We must accept His love and come to Him on His terms, in order to have our home in Heaven with Him after this life is over.
When I saw the title of this post I immediately thought of this hymn even before I read the post itself! This is one of my favorite hymns -- I think I have it framed in at least two places in my home. While I love the contemporary music, there is no denying that the 'old' hymns are so rich in theology and truth!
ReplyDeleteThey certainly are! Some friends, my husband and I were just discussing this yesterday! We had taken some "Sacred Selections" hymnals with us to visit one of our elderly members in a nursing home. She loves to sing and we thought the older songs would be more memorable and meaningful for her. We talked about how the older hymns seem to be thicker and meatier than some of the newer ones. We have singings at our house and will use Sacred Selections one in a while and really enjoy singing what we call the "oldies but goodies."
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