5 You, Lord my God!
You’ve done so many things—
your wonderful deeds and your plans for us—
no one can compare with you!
If I were to proclaim and talk about all of them,
they would be too numerous to count!
Reflection
It’s time for a song about prison. It will lift you up. I’ve always been amazed by songwriters who write spiritual songs and hymns. They preach a sermon in two or three minutes. They have strong messages.
Years ago I heard a hymn I hadn’t heard before. It was written by Frederick Lehman and his daughter in 1917 and is called “The Love of God.”
Lehman was born in Germany in 1868 but came to America when he was only 4. He spent most of his childhood in Iowa and came to the Lord when he was only 11.
The story behind this song is astonishing. Lehman eventually moved to California, where he wrote “The Love of God.” Actually, he wrote two stanzas of the “The Love of God.” He couldn’t find the right words for a third stanza.
I became aware of this hymn while reading an article in the desiring God website. It was written by Marshal Segal and appeared Sept. 24, 2021.
He began by quoting Psalm 40:5, which reads, “You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.”
That, in a nutshell, was the theme of Lehman’s hymn. Segal wrote, “As with so many of our favorite hymns, ‘The Love of God’ was born in adversity.” Lehman’s once-profitable business left him packing crates of oranges and lemons in Pasadena, California. He did it to make ends meet.
“Again and again throughout history, deep and enduring trials seem to have a strange and beautiful way of swelling the waves of worship,” wrote Segal.
Working in a packinghouse wasn’t the ideal place to write hymns or love songs.
“But this was the environment the Lord chose to use.” I found that in a West Park Baptist Church website in Florida.
It went on to say that Lehman was a Christian who rejoiced in his salvation, even while packing oranges and lemons. He heard a Sunday evening sermon that was so wonderful he could barely sleep that night. The next day, while on the way to the packinghouse, the hymn began to germinate in his head and heart. The words flowed and he was able to record them. And he couldn’t wait to get home and get them on paper.
He hurried to his upright piano and began composing a melody while arranging the words to fit the tune. He finished two stanzas, but songs in those days needed three stanzas to be considered complete. He couldn’t come up with a third stanza.
Finally, Lehman remembered a poem someone had given to him. He found it printed on a card that he used as a bookmark. The words perfectly fit his song. He also noticed some words written on the bottom of the card.
It read: “These words are found written on a cell wall in a prison some 200 years ago. It is not known why the prisoner was incarcerated; neither is it known if the words were original or if he had heard them somewhere and had decided to put them in a place where he could be reminded of the greatness of God’s love—whatever the circumstances, he wrote them on the wall of his prison cell.”
The inmate was in an insane asylum and eventually died. Those tasked with painting the cell were so impressed with the words they wrote them down. Eventually, they learned the message was adapted from a Jewish poem written in Aramaic about a thousand years earlier.
Lehman went to his piano and played the words. They fit in the exact meter that Lehman had used on his first two stanzas. The last stanza went:
The last stanza went:
“Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every tree 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.”
We don’t know why this man was in an insane asylum, but we do know that he knew the love of God. The great and wonderful love of God.
What a great God we have.
by Rick Reed
For Pondering and Prayer
Even if I was in an insane asylum, I can know the love of God. A love that could fill the oceans and skies. A tremendous love.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, I need to better understand the love of God. A love that will fill me and sustain me. Love like this isn’t cheap. It cost Jesus his life. That alone should tell that God loves me abundantly. Amen.
