"O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" -- A Hymn Love Story
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For "O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" lovers
This is the Web page for you! Here we have the back stories (the Scripture, the setting), the side stories, YouTube videos, and associated ramblings about "O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus," complete with lyrics and links to sheet music and guitar chords -- all FREE.
My name is Deeann D. Mathews, and this is one of a large set of pages I'm doing about my favorite hymns (some of which you know, and others of which you don't -- but you will!). In one of my many other lives, I am the Creative Director of Praising Pilgrims Music, a little music publishing company that has brought the world The Free HIMbook, a directory of links to free sheet music (chords now being added) for more than 400 hymns. Here's the secret: I am a hymn NUT, and I'd like you to share my passion with me. So, here is my little offering, a little sacrifice of fellowship and doing good toward God and toward you all around the powerful hymn, "O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus." Enjoy!
(the first image -- that "heavenly heart" -- was created by Paul B. Roman, and can be freely and legally accessed at commons.wikimedia.org -- search for Plismo!)
Cabrillo Ocean -- from David Roberts
and Wikimedia Commons
My name is Deeann D. Mathews, and this is one of a large set of pages I'm doing about my favorite hymns (some of which you know, and others of which you don't -- but you will!). In one of my many other lives, I am the Creative Director of Praising Pilgrims Music, a little music publishing company that has brought the world The Free HIMbook, a directory of links to free sheet music (chords now being added) for more than 400 hymns. Here's the secret: I am a hymn NUT, and I'd like you to share my passion with me. So, here is my little offering, a little sacrifice of fellowship and doing good toward God and toward you all around the powerful hymn, "O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus." Enjoy!
(the first image -- that "heavenly heart" -- was created by Paul B. Roman, and can be freely and legally accessed at commons.wikimedia.org -- search for Plismo!)
"O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" YouTube
Men, singing about REAL love
Enjoy the power while you read!
"O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" YouTube 2
A deep, dark, rich piano solo
Slow, simple, and direct . . . great for reading by and singing along!
Back Story and Ramblings
Excerpted from "The Singing Devotional," Vol. 1
Some of us have been singing "Jesus Loves Me" since before we could spell Jesus, and just about everyone in the English-speaking world has heard this beloved song some time in their childhood. And most of us have heard John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And with that verse go familiar images like this:
But go back and look at John 3:16 again. God the Father gave God the Son because God the FATHER loved everyone in the world enough to make a way that all could be saved. Which is not to say that the Lord Jesus Christ does not love those whom He has saved; quite to the contrary. One might say His love is more narrowly focused, as we can see in John 17, in which He prays to His Father for His disciples:
John 17:9 -- I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine.
Just how much room is involved in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ is hinted at by the Apostle Paul in the prayer he prayed for the Ephesians:
Ephesians 3:14-19
14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15. Of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16. That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;
17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18. May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Verses 18 and 19 are the glorious background of the first verse of "O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus"; the oceanic metaphor was the best Trevor S. Francis could find, for the volume of the oceans are about the nearest thing to infinity that we can directly and intimately experience:
O 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 Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!
Ephesians 3:18-19 also tells us something stunning: God wants us to comprehend "the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." For us to comprehend that which goes beyond knowledge we definitely do need the help of God, and notice that the whole Trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- were mentioned in the previous verses! So, clearly, God has an investment in us knowing about the deep, deep love of Jesus -- He has put down a beautiful secret that very few people ever find out.
Speaking of secret -- you can often find out how much somebody loves you by listening in on what they ask, in private, for other powerful people to do for you. John 17 is our divinely appointed listening post to the prayer the Lord Jesus Christ made to God the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane while eleven of His disciples slept and Judas was on his way to betray Him. There are several things that the Lord Jesus Christ asked for His own -- the requests can be perfectly comprehended, but the implications of the answers are indeed beyond human knowledge to fathom.
In John 17:11, the Lord Jesus asked his Father to keep all those that "they may be one, as We are." In verse 21-23, the Lord Jesus also requests for His own that they experience the oneness shared by the Father and the Son not only between themselves, but also with the Godhead! Now of course, we finite beings will NEVER become God -- but within those limits, how close is possible?
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are so together they are ONE, and have been forever, and will be forever. There has been perfect union of love, joy, fellowship, holiness, power, wisdom, grace, and truth between the persons of the Godhead from eternity past to now to eternity future -- everything that has ever occurred and ever will occur was planned by all persons of the Godhead in an expression of perfect unity -- and as far as it is possible for finite beings to experience that, the Lord Jesus requested it for His own.
In John 17 the Lord Jesus also asked His Father to protect His own from evil (verse 15), and to sanctify His own through the Father's truth -- "Thy Word is truth," the Lord Jesus notes in verse 17. Speaking of the Word, the Lord Jesus reported that He had given the Word (verses 8 and 14), the glory He and His Father shared (verse 22), a manifestation of the name and character of the Father (verses 6, 7, and 26), and the love shared between the Father and the Son (verse 26) to His own. Big, big gifts indeed!
But wait! There's more! In John 17:24, the Lord Jesus asked, "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world." Now there are several places where my brain runs out there. All those that love the Lord Jesus will be in Heaven because of His specific desire that they be there -- but look at why He desires it! My mind can't go back before the foundation of the world, so it completely stops when we get to trying to imagine what kind of glory God the Son must have since God the Father has been piling on His beloved Son since eternity past. By implication: What kind of eyes and whole body are the Lord Jesus' own going to have in eternity, for them to be ready for a sight like THAT?
I know what you're thinking -- "Didn't you say this was the prayer of the Lord Jesus for His disciples? They walked around with Him for three years, and I understand why this would get them some special favors. But what does that have to do with us living today?" I knew you would ask. So did the Lord Jesus, which is why He put in His prayer what I consider to be one of the most precious passages in the entire Bible:
John 17:20-21
20. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word;
21. That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.
The disciples' word, or testimony, is commonly called the New Testament. We have already looked at the testimony of the apostles John and Paul; John gave us John 3:16 to let us know that God the Father made a way to be His own, and Paul pointed up exactly what is to be believed about God the Son:
I Corinthians 15:3-4
3. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures;
4. And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
Believe that -- rely on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ to take away your sins and give you His perfect righteousness before God by grace alone -- and you too are among those Whom He prayed for in John 17. Is it any wonder that Christians have been crying out their praise for so great a salvation, and all that it entails? Oh, indeed, the deep, deep love of Jesus!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o'er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o'er them from the throne!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
'Tis an ocean full of blessing, 'tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, 'tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!
The Three Crosses by Peter Paul Rubens, ca. 1624 -- courtesy of
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and Wikimedia Commons
But go back and look at John 3:16 again. God the Father gave God the Son because God the FATHER loved everyone in the world enough to make a way that all could be saved. Which is not to say that the Lord Jesus Christ does not love those whom He has saved; quite to the contrary. One might say His love is more narrowly focused, as we can see in John 17, in which He prays to His Father for His disciples:
John 17:9 -- I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine.
Just how much room is involved in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ is hinted at by the Apostle Paul in the prayer he prayed for the Ephesians:
Ephesians 3:14-19
14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15. Of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16. That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;
17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18. May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Verses 18 and 19 are the glorious background of the first verse of "O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus"; the oceanic metaphor was the best Trevor S. Francis could find, for the volume of the oceans are about the nearest thing to infinity that we can directly and intimately experience:
O 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 Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!
Ocean Waves -- from Sean O'Flaherty and Wikimedia Commons
Ephesians 3:18-19 also tells us something stunning: God wants us to comprehend "the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." For us to comprehend that which goes beyond knowledge we definitely do need the help of God, and notice that the whole Trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- were mentioned in the previous verses! So, clearly, God has an investment in us knowing about the deep, deep love of Jesus -- He has put down a beautiful secret that very few people ever find out.
Speaking of secret -- you can often find out how much somebody loves you by listening in on what they ask, in private, for other powerful people to do for you. John 17 is our divinely appointed listening post to the prayer the Lord Jesus Christ made to God the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane while eleven of His disciples slept and Judas was on his way to betray Him. There are several things that the Lord Jesus Christ asked for His own -- the requests can be perfectly comprehended, but the implications of the answers are indeed beyond human knowledge to fathom.
In John 17:11, the Lord Jesus asked his Father to keep all those that "they may be one, as We are." In verse 21-23, the Lord Jesus also requests for His own that they experience the oneness shared by the Father and the Son not only between themselves, but also with the Godhead! Now of course, we finite beings will NEVER become God -- but within those limits, how close is possible?
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are so together they are ONE, and have been forever, and will be forever. There has been perfect union of love, joy, fellowship, holiness, power, wisdom, grace, and truth between the persons of the Godhead from eternity past to now to eternity future -- everything that has ever occurred and ever will occur was planned by all persons of the Godhead in an expression of perfect unity -- and as far as it is possible for finite beings to experience that, the Lord Jesus requested it for His own.
In John 17 the Lord Jesus also asked His Father to protect His own from evil (verse 15), and to sanctify His own through the Father's truth -- "Thy Word is truth," the Lord Jesus notes in verse 17. Speaking of the Word, the Lord Jesus reported that He had given the Word (verses 8 and 14), the glory He and His Father shared (verse 22), a manifestation of the name and character of the Father (verses 6, 7, and 26), and the love shared between the Father and the Son (verse 26) to His own. Big, big gifts indeed!
Christmas Presents -- courtesy of the U.S. Navy and Wikimedia Commons_with_Christmas_presents_during_the_ship%27s_return_to_Naval_Station_Pearl_Harbor.jpg)
But wait! There's more! In John 17:24, the Lord Jesus asked, "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world." Now there are several places where my brain runs out there. All those that love the Lord Jesus will be in Heaven because of His specific desire that they be there -- but look at why He desires it! My mind can't go back before the foundation of the world, so it completely stops when we get to trying to imagine what kind of glory God the Son must have since God the Father has been piling on His beloved Son since eternity past. By implication: What kind of eyes and whole body are the Lord Jesus' own going to have in eternity, for them to be ready for a sight like THAT?
I know what you're thinking -- "Didn't you say this was the prayer of the Lord Jesus for His disciples? They walked around with Him for three years, and I understand why this would get them some special favors. But what does that have to do with us living today?" I knew you would ask. So did the Lord Jesus, which is why He put in His prayer what I consider to be one of the most precious passages in the entire Bible:
John 17:20-21
20. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word;
21. That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.
The disciples' word, or testimony, is commonly called the New Testament. We have already looked at the testimony of the apostles John and Paul; John gave us John 3:16 to let us know that God the Father made a way to be His own, and Paul pointed up exactly what is to be believed about God the Son:
I Corinthians 15:3-4
3. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures;
4. And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
Believe that -- rely on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ to take away your sins and give you His perfect righteousness before God by grace alone -- and you too are among those Whom He prayed for in John 17. Is it any wonder that Christians have been crying out their praise for so great a salvation, and all that it entails? Oh, indeed, the deep, deep love of Jesus!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o'er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o'er them from the throne!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
'Tis an ocean full of blessing, 'tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, 'tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!
The Pacific Ocean -- from Wicki and Wikimedia Commons
After you've checked your Bible . . .
. . . you might enjoy this look at the deep love of Jesus
But remember:
The "gentle" Lord Jesus is nobody's sentimental fool!
"O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus," lyrics
Get it all right here!
"O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus," by S. Trevor Francis and John Zundel, 1875
O 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 Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o'er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o'er them from the throne!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
'Tis an ocean full of blessing, 'tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, 'tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!
"O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus," music
Sheet music, that is . . .
- The Free HIMbook, O Section
- Just scroll down until you find it -- enjoy!
"O The Deep, Deep Love Of Jesus," CHORDS
For all you guitarists out there . . .
- "O The Deep, Deep Love Of Jesus," CHORDS
- From the Praising Pilgrims Music Chordbook!
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