There's a wideness in God's mercy

76 Wellesley. 8. 7. 8. 7.

1 There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
   like the wideness of the sea.
   There’s a kindness in God’s justice,
   which is more than liberty.

2 There is welcome for the sinner,
   and more graces for the good.
   There is mercy with the Savior,
   there is healing in his blood.

3 For the love of God is broader
   than the measures of the mind,
   and the heart of the Eternal
   is most wonderfully kind.

4 If our love were but more simple,
   we should rest upon God’s word,
   and our lives would be illumined
   by the presence of our Lord.
                         Frederick W. Faber
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
I've always loved this hymn from the time I was a child. It speaks wonderfully of the expansive love of God. Interestingly, especially for a Methodist hymnal, there appears to be a verse that is inserted after verse 2 that was omitted.

But we make God’s love too narrow
   by false limits of our own,
   and we magnify its strictness
   with a zeal God will not own.

That's a good Methodist sentiment; not sure why they omitted it.

The other interesting thing I just learned is that the author, Faber, was raised strict Calvinist! He later converted to Roman Catholicism, but said that his role models for hymns were the Wesleys, William Cowper, and John Newton. Fascinating stuff that I'm discovering in blogging through this very familiar hymnal!
</idle musing>