“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.”

I’m a fan of modern worship, but there’s something deeply resonant about an old-school hymn that speaks to me in a way that few of the newer worship songs can. Maybe it’s that people by and large wrote better back then. Maybe it’s that they had deeper and better theology.

Whatever the case, this one is from a hymn called “The Love of God Is Greater Far” written in 1923 and penned by Frederick Martin Lehman. I know because I just looked it up, but this is one that I don’t remember ever singing back in the day. Or maybe it’s just one of those third verses to hymns that we always skipped.

But still, it’s a beautiful reminder of the lavish — even prodigal — love of Father God for His children. It’s something to remember on the dark days and cold nights of pain and loss when God doesn’t seem near.