Ephesians 3:17-19
“…Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power 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, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

1. 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 thy glorious rest above.

2. O the deep, deep love of Jesus! Spread his praise from shore to shore;
how he loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore;
how he watches o'er his loved ones, died to call them all his own;
how for them he intercedeth, watcheth o'er them from the throne.

3. O the deep, deep love of Jesus! Love of ev'ry love the best:
'tis an ocean vast of blessing, 'tis a haven sweet of rest.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus! 'Tis a heav'n of heav'ns to me;
and it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to thee!

Samuel Trevor Francis 1834-1925

A lovely hymn set to numerous, uplifting tunes like: “Morning has Broken,” and “Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow”. How deep is the love of Jesus? Francis’ words hint at it: vast, boundless, free, rolling like a mighty ocean, underneath us, all around us, leading onward, leading homeward…what a powerful witness this hymn can be!

Its author, Samuel Francis was a Plymouth Brethren layperson who struggled spiritually as a young man. He moved to London for work, but he knew things weren't right. One night while walking London Bridge over the Thames, he contemplated suicide, but there, while looking over the rail at the rushing waters of the Thames, he had a spiritual encounter that renewed his faith. Later he became a successful merchant, but his real passion was hymn writing and open-air preaching, which occupied most of his remaining life. He traveled widely, preaching for the Plymouth Brethren and became famous throughout Great Britain and the world as a speaker. He wrote this hymn as a response to his faith encounter on that bridge.

Prayer: O Lord, in dark times we are grateful for a love that, as St. Paul once wrote, “Nothing in all creation can separate us from.” May this deep, deep love of Jesus continue to empower and enable us in this life; and in the next! Amen.

Two of my favorite versions of this hymn from YouTube: