Deeper Than the Deepest Ocean

“His love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1-9)

It was late August 1987, a couple days after I gave birth to our third child, Michael, when I looked out the window of my hospital room and saw a beautiful rainbow.  Southern California doesn’t get much rain during the winter and a summer shower is even more rare.  I was reminded that day of God’s promise to send rainbows as a testament to his love and faithfulness: “When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds, and I will remember my promise to you and to every being, that never again will the floods come and destroy all life. For I will see the rainbow in the cloud and remember my eternal promise to every living being on the earth” (Genesis 9: 14-17, Living Bible).  God’s love for us is much like a parent’s love for his or her child.  Scripture tells us that our heavenly Father has adopted us into his family and that he loves us deeply. 

God’s love for us is apparent from the first pages of Scripture to the last, as demonstrated in next Sunday’s Scripture texts.^[1] The texts remind me of the words to the Petula Clark song “My Love” substituting “God’s” for “my”: “God’s love is deeper than the deepest ocean, wider than the sky; God’s love is brighter than the brightest star that shines every night above; and there is nothing in this world that can ever change God’s love for me.” 

 Psalm 136 affirms and reaffirms God’s never-ending love for us with this refrain: “His love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1-9).  We never need worry that God’s love will run dry, or that his kindness and mercy will stop. There is nothing we can do or say to turn off the spigot of God’s love.  It flows freely like a great moving river.  It flows abundantly.  He never turns his back on us.  His love endures forever.

Jesus’ love for his disciples and the people he encountered was evident. They flocked to him.  He was winsome and loving.  He shepherded them.  He cared for them and about them.  He healed them: “And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces.  They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed” (Mark 6: 56).  He loved them.  He helped them.  He healed them. His love endures forever.

Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus that it was his prayer that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3: 17-19a).  God’s love for us is deeper than the deepest ocean, higher than the highest mountain, wider than the sky, and it shines brighter than the brightest star.

Human love helps us understand God’s love for us, but it is the tip of the iceberg compared to God’s love for us. There is no beginning or end to God’s love.  He is always with us.  He always has our best interests at heart.  He wants only the best for us. He suffers when we suffer. He laughs with us and he cries with us.  He feels our pain and our sorrow.  He touches us in our anxiety.  God’s love is a bottomless well of living water that surrounds us, comforts us, embraces us, heals us, and provides for us.  Reach into the bucket—the Word—that brings the living water of God’s love to you.  Someone said that the Bible is God’s valentine to us.  His love for us is expressed in the pages of Scripture.  You will be strengthened and refreshed when you drink daily of the living water in Scripture where God expresses his love for you.

Prayer: ‘’God of love bring us back to you.  Send your Spirit to make us strong in faith and active in good works. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”  (For All the Saints: A Prayer Book For and By the Church, Frederick J. Schumacher, Ed., Vol. I, p. 834). 

Diane Cieslikowski Reagan

^[1] The Scripture texts for next Sunday are Genesis 9: 8-17; Psalm 136: 1-9; Ephesians 3: 14-21; Mark 6: 45-56. Another version of this blog was published in July 2018.