O the deep deep love of Jesus
Vast unmeasured boundless free
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me
Underneath me all around me
Is the current of Thy love
Leading onward leading homeward
To my glorious rest above
O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus 1875
By: Samuel Trevor Francis (1834 – 1925)
Listen to this a cappella version of this hymn as you prepare to ponder the lyrics. Please make certain to enjoy the video below.
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Please enjoy this video and the transcript below.
Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.
As we begin our journey through this classic hymn give yourself some time to ponder this text and the riches it communicates of the love of Jesus. Soak it up and let it change your perspective. Let’s tune our hearts.
Deep Deep Love
Knowing God’s love changes everything. We can face any trial knowing that His love will cover us. We can endure any hardship knowing His love will carry us. We fathom any depth of sadness knowing His love is deeper still, by far.
Only the Lord Himself can reveal the depths of His love to us. We do not have the capacity to grasp it on our own, any more than we have the ability to calculate the volume of the all the oceans combined. It is much more than a mathematical calculation. It is poetic imagery.
That is a helpful illustration for us: God’s love as an ocean. Though the ocean can not even begin to truly represent the eternal expanse of God’s limitless love, it may be the best expression on earth. Even still, we need His help.
O the deep deep love of Jesus
Vast unmeasured boundless free
So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19 ESV
This is the love of Jesus, vast and unmeasured. It is a common tool in writing to repeat things to emphasize their importance. There is nothing more important than the deep deep love of Jesus.
What a powerful, simple explanation of Jesus’ love. Vast. Unmeasured. Boundless. Free. As we press into the illustration of the ocean as a representation of God’s love the unmeasured nature comes to mind. Imagine standing on the shore. Ponder the expanse of His love.
RESONATE!
Take a few moments and think about the expanse of Christ’s love. Just gaze at the image above or another of the ocean and allow Jesus to reveal His love. Make this your simple prayer “Jesus, thank You for Your love.”
Rolling Over Me
Not only is the magnitude God’s love represented well by the ocean, but also the fluid, moving quality of it. In this next line the writer invites us to consider the rolling, undulating nature of the ocean as an illustration of God’s love. It washes over us in its fullness.
Have you felt God’s love like that before? Maybe it seemed like your circumstance was about to overwhelm you, ready to swallow you up, when suddenly you became ever more aware of the love of God rolling over you instead. No situation is as powerful as the love of God.
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me
Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord. Psalm 36:5-6 ESV
The ocean is one illustration of God’s love that helps us consider the boundless nature of it. You can see the beginning but not the end. Unlike the ocean there are no boundaries on God’s love like the shores of the sea, so it is able to roll over us regardless of our circumstances.
As we continue to think of the ocean, listen for the crashing of the waves against the shore. It is relentless. It simply does not stop. Are you thankful that God’s love is relentless, rolling over you in all of its fullness? It covers sin but can also feel overwhelming. Surrender to it.
RESONATE
Take a few moments and reflect on the relentless nature of God’s love. Maybe that thought is mingled with a bit of fear, but it need not be. The rolling waves of God’s love wash away our fears, not us. Pray a simple prayer like this one, “God, help me receive Your relentless love today.”
God, thank You for the illustration of Your love that the ocean is. It fails to represent it perfectly, but it still challenges me to think bigger. Show me the depths of Your love as I ponder it these next few weeks. In Jesus’ name.
Deep Tuning!
Keep coming back, and we will work to help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence. We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.
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Video 37.1 Transcript
Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.
O the deep deep love of Jesus
Vast unmeasured boundless free
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me
Underneath me all around me
Is the current of Thy love
Leading onward leading homeward
To my glorious rest above
What a powerful, simple explanation of Jesus’ love. Vast. Unmeasured. Boundless. Free. As we press into the illustration of the ocean as a representation of God’s love the unmeasured nature comes to mind. Imagine standing on the shore. Ponder the expanse of His love.
Jesus, thank You for Your love.
As we continue to think of the ocean, listen for the crashing of the waves against the shore. It is relentless. It simply does not stop. Are you thankful that God’s love is relentless, rolling over you in all of its fullness? It covers sin but can also feel overwhelming. Surrender to it.
God, help me receive Your relentless love today.
Can you feel it? Not only rolling over you, but underneath you and all around you? Have you sat or stood in a current of water that tugged and pulled on you. The force of the rushing water pushing you in one direction is a good illustration for God’s love. Are you resisting it?
Spirit, give me awareness of the current of Your love.
Although it can seem at times to be swirling – over, around, underneath – it is ever moving you in one direction, onward, homeward to glorious rest. Along the way it also allows respites of calmer, still waters which point to that great, glassy sea. Ask your Lord to lead you to it.
Lord, lead me to Your glorious rest.
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.
Sing
Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, Be Resonant.
The post The Ocean of God’s Love appeared first on Resonant 7.
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O the deep deep love of Jesus Vast unmeasured boundless free – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/background-sunset-heaven-landscape-625662/
Rolling as a mighty ocean In its fullness over me – https://giphy.com/gifs/adventrgram-ocean-photography-cgtraveler-sunrise-wSYE7n6pk9dqRXzitR
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