“Oh the Deep, Deep Love”

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
– Micah 7:18–19 (ESV)

There is a legend surrounding this hymn by Samuel Trevor Francis, which states that he wrote this hymn as a personal testimony after nearly committing suicide as a young man by jumping into the Thames River off London’s Hungerford Bridge. While there is little evidence to corroborate the story, it still stands as a hymn that brings to our song God’s sustaining, powerful and immeasurable love that transcends our understanding. We sing in this hymn of the love of the Father who sent His son, the propitiation (a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath and turns it to favor) for our sins, and who is interceding for His own.

“The second line of this hymn describes the love of Jesus as “vast, unmeasured, boundless, free.” In our finite, physical world, it is difficult to genuinely comprehend this concept. The ocean is the largest thing on earth. Its deepest point is deeper than the highest mountain on earth, yet God’s love is deeper still. From any point on the coast, we can see just a small fraction of the sea. We know that the vast ocean has boundaries, but God’s love is boundless.”hymnary.org

The version we are singing together is a new melody written by Bob Kauflin (Sovereign Grace Music), that includes a new chorus to respond to these rich verse texts:

Oh 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 Your love,
leading onward, leading homeward
to Your glorious rest above.
 
(Chorus)
Oh the deep, deep love,
All I need and trust
is the deep, deep love of Jesus.
 
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus.
Spread His praise from shore to shore,
how He came to pay our ransom
through the saving cross He bore;
How He watches o’er His loved ones,
those He died to make His own;
How for them He’s interceding,
pleading now before the throne.
 
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
far surpassing all the rest.
It’s an ocean full of blessing
in the midst of every test.
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
mighty Savior, precious Friend.
You will bring us home to glory,
where Your love will never end.
 
– Words: Samuel Trevor Francis; alt. Bob Kauflin; Music: Bob Kauflin © 2008 Sovereign Grace Music