“The Love of God”, written by Frederick M. Lehman, 1917 v. 3 by Meir Ben Isaac Nehorai, 1050
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.
Refrain:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
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.
“The Love of God” had its roots in an 11th century German Jewish
poem, written in Aramaic, called “Hadamut Millan”. Throughout the poem, the
theme of God’s eternal love and concern for His people is evident.
The 90 (!) acrostic couplets were composed in 1096 by Rabbi Mayer of
Worms, Germany. This poem was (and still is) read during Shavuot, the Festival
of Weeks. The poem was read just before the Ten Commandments were recited in
the synagogue.
The second stanza of Akdamut Millan is in the Jewish Prayer
Book:
At God’s command is
infinite power,
Which words cannot
define.
Were all the skies
parchment,
And all the reeds pens,
and all the oceans ink,
And all who dwell on
earth scribes,
God’s grandeur could not
be told.
Johanan ben Zakkai, a great rabbi during the Second Temple period(30 AD- 90 AD) who studied under Rabbi
Hillel, said, “If all the heavens were
parchments, and all the trees quills, and all the seas were ink, it would still
be impossible to write down even a part of what I learned from my teacher.”
In 1917, Mr. Lehman and his daughter had been composing a new hymn
entitled “The Love of God”. However, after the second stanza, they lacked
inspiration to complete it. During that time, you didn’t have a hymn unless it
had three verses, reflecting the Trinity.
While travelling, they visited a
German insane asylum and learned that one of the patients had recently been put to death. On the wall of his cell
the following words had been penciled:
“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.”
Amazed, Lehman and his daughter realized that those words perfectly matched
the rhythm of their new hymn, which became the third verse.
The hymn was published
in 1920, but it would take another 25 years until the hymn really “caught on.”
The medieval prayer which spoke of the POWER of God, was translated by
the man in the asylum to the LOVE of God. Even while facing execution, he
praised God for His endless love, never knowing that his words would be sung by
so many believers around the world. 