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 welcome for the sinner,

And more graces for the good;

There is mercy with the Savior; 

There is healing in His blood.

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.

For the love of God is broader

Than the measure of man's mind;

And the heart of the Eternal

Is most wonderfully kind.

If our love were but more faithful,

We should take Him at his Word;

And our life would be thanksgiving

For the goodness of the Lord.

This song came to mind on New Year’s Eve.  I have heard and read variations on the lyrics, but the message is the same.  I think BJ has a recording of this song that ends, “If our love were but more simple, we would take Him at His Word, and our lives would be more loving, in the likeness of the Lord.”  But maybe I am making those words up!  But that it is what it sounds like to me.  Either way, great truth.  Wish there were a better tune for this song in our church hymnal, but, sadly, there is not.  An offer was made to pay someone to write a new tune.  We shall see what becomes of that.

God is merciful and so should we be.  Are we?