Oh Love of God

I believe that this lyric contains the most profound statement about the love of God outside the Scriptures:

    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.

These words were found pencilled on the wall of a patient’s room in an insane asylum after he had been carried away to his grave, the general opinion was that this inmate had written the epic in moments of sanity.

They now form the third verse of a well-known hymn called “The Love of God.” The words are by Frederick M. Lehman in 1917 (music by his daughter Claudia L. Mays). The lyrics are based on a Jewish poem written in Aramaic back in 1050.

Here are the rest of the lyrics of this hymn.

    1. 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.

    O love of God, how rich and pure!
    How measureless and strong!
    It shall forevermore endure
    The saints’ and angels’ song.

    2. 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.

May you know and experience the love of God in a greater way today. Finally, a few words from the apostle Paul, no doubt inspired by the Holy Spirit.

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. [Eph.3:16-21. NLT]