Wide, Wide as the Ocean

                 Wide, wide as the ocean,

                High as the heavens above, 

                Deep, deep as the deepest sea

                Is my Savior's love.

                I though so unworthy,

                Still I'm a child of His love,

                For His word teaches me

                That His love reaches me

                Anywhere!

        Recently I spent several days on an ocean beach with my daughters and grandson.  I am not really a beach person or much of a water person, so I spent most of the time sitting on the beach and watching them play and watching the waves.  A chorus popped into my head as I watched and I sang over and over again, "Wide, wide as the ocean."  So, naturally that was in my mind as I began thinking about my blog for this weekend.  That wide love is summarized in a couple of places.  I started looking for special ones.  I John 4:9, "By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him."  The sweetest one to me is Romans 8:38 and 39, "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Nothing can separate me from God's love.

        I thought of many songs that dealt with the love of God and one song came to mind that I thought might fit my thoughts, but I could only remember the first two lines.  But now that I've looked up the rest of the song I realize how powerful it is.  Frederick Faber was far more eloquent than I could ever  be.  So here are the words for "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy."

There's a wideness in God's mercy,

Like the wideness of the sea;

There's a kindness in His justice,

Which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth's sorrows

Are more felt than up in Heaven;

There is no place where earth's failings

Have such kindly judgment given

There is welcome for the sinner,

And more graces for the good;

There is mercy with the Savior;

There is healing in His blood.

For the love of God is broader

Than the measure of our mind;

And the heart of the Eternal

Is most wonderfully kind.

There is plentiful redemption

In the blood that has been shed;

There is joy for all the members

In the sorrows of the Head.

If our love were but more simple,

We should take Him at His word;

And our lives would be all sunshine

In the sweetness of our Lord.

Souls of men! Why will ye scatter

Like a crowd of frightened sheep?

Foolish hearts!  why will ye wander

From a love so true and deep?

It is God:  His love looks mighty,

But is mightier than it seems;

'Tis our Father:  and His fondness

Goes far out beyond our dreams.

But we make His love too narrow

By false limits of our own;

And we magnify His strictness 

With a zeal He will not own.

Was there ever kinder shepherd

Half so gentle, half so sweet

As the Savior who would have us

Come and gather at His feet?

                I have my favorite lines in this song, but I will let you pick your own.  Come meditate with me on the love of God.

                                                                            ~~Faith Himes Lamb