Favourite Hymns # 3
Hearken back a song.
A chord disrupts the soul, the lyric loosens a tear.
Memories flood with blissful grief; from the melody stirs a joyful pain.
There is something sublime about standing beside a water’s edge. I often take our dog Sharley to walk along the rail trail near Fenelon, and on every occasion I take a few extra minutes to find a quiet rock and silently soak-in Cameron Lake. The lake is not a large lake as far as lakes go, yet it still impresses me. I do love the countless finger lakes spread throughout our province; how with one twist of the neck you can take in their entire breadth with a single glance. It is quite different when standing next to an ocean coastline. Strain as much as you can, you will never see the opposite side; turn to the left, only water; and a look to the right, more endless blue. If someone were to take Fenelon’s lovely Lake Cameron, pour it into the Pacific, it would have the same effect as a teardrop added to a bath tub.
I entered into church ministry during the late-nineties, a time when considerable shifts were taking place within the North American church culture. Probably the most seismic shift was the transition happening in church music. Organs and pianos were being replaced with keyboards, guitars, and worst of all, drums! Pastors as song leaders were replaced with worship teams. Hymn books were replaced by Power Point and projectors. And most notable, our ‘sacred’ hymns were replaced by contemporary worship songs. Many of these new songs were imported from across the Atlantic, from young song leaders like, Martin Smith (of Delirious), Matt Redman, Tim Hughes, and a little more tolerable, Robin Mark. Gone were the familiar hymns (*maybe one obligatory hymn remained on a Sunday morning to help appease the traditionalists), and in came a flood of new ditties, sung with different rhythms and melodies; sadly with these drastic changes also came the dramatic “worship wars.” This was a big part of the story within the church I served at in Mississauga from 1998 through 2008.
Over the course of my years at City Centre I was introduced to many new songs, some I appreciated, some I tolerated, and some I will, for polite purposes, keep my opinion to myself. With all the new songs flooding into the church, as with all songs, some stuck, while others quickly disappeared to join the old hymns and Maranatha choruses they were replacing. Surprisingly, one of the new songs that stuck, which traveled from Britain to Mississauga, was not a new song, but an old Welsh hymn, Here Is Love Vast As The Ocean. In a church, where the great anthem hymns of yesterday were being replaced by catchy and repetitive pop tunes, it was a 150 year old hymn, better than any other song, that ‘rocked’ our evolving congregation. A song, once deemed the “Love Song” of the great Welsh Revival, which took place in the early 1900s.
After leaving Mississauga, I made my way to Fellowship Baptist in Cobourg. Every church has its own rotation of songs, and Cobourg had its own unique blend of music. Although City Centre had a wonderful and talented music ministry, I don’t recall really missing it. However, after a few years in Cobourg, I found myself aching to hear and sing that old Welsh hymn.
The evening service was ending, and we had just been asked to stand to sing our closing song. In that moment, the song that came to mind was not the one everyone else was singing. For some forgotten reason, I was no longer in our auditorium, but I envisioned myself in the early morning, standing alone watching the sun rise as the ocean breakers crashed along a rugged fishing village seaside (*I am sure I was reading R.L. Stevenson at the time, one of my favourite authors). I could feel the cold morning mist, taste the salty air, and from this transportation, came the nearly forgotten words and melody of, “Here is love vast as the ocean, loving-kindness as the flood.” Then another snippet of the lost song came to mind, “On the Mount of Crucifixion, fountains opened deep and wide.” With these words, my scene changed once again. The ocean waters remained, but now I was alone on a small raised hill with an empty cross before me, and surrounding the mount was the same limitless pounding sea.
The next day, as soon as I could get to my computer, I looked up the old hymn, copied the lyrics, and attempted to listen to every version YouTube had to offer. With every listen, there came the same transportation to the crashing seaside, releasing the floodgates of my own tears — this is the power of a good song!
The first two verses of the hymn (which are the superior verses) were written by a Welsh gentleman named William Rees (1803–1891), and were first published in 1847. Two additional verses were later added, but remain unattributed. Thanks to a William Edwards, this Welsh treasure was translated into English and introduced to The Baptist Book of Praise Committee in 1900. I love songs that evoke magnificent images, and few songs, if any, do so better than this Welsh Love Song:
HERE IS LOVE VAST AS THE OCEAN
(Original verses — William Rees)
Here is love vast as the ocean, loving-kindness as the flood. When the Prince of Life, our ransom, shed for us His precious blood. Who His love will not remember; Who can cease to sing His praise? He can never be forgotten throughout heav’n’s eternal days.
On the Mount of Crucifixion, fountains opened deep and wide. Through the flood-gates of God’s mercy flowed a vast and gracious tide. Grace and love like mighty rivers poured incessant from above. Heaven’s peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love.
(Additional Verses — Unatributed)
Let me all Thy love accepting, love Thee, ever all my days. Let me seek Thy kingdom only and my life be to Thy praise. Thou alone shalt be my glory, nothing in the world I see: Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me, Thou thyself hast set me free.
In Thy truth Though dost direct me by Thy Spirit through Thy Word; And Thy grace my need is meeting, as I trust in Thee, my Lord. All Thy fullness Thou art pouring In Thy love and power in me, without measure, full and boundless, as I yield myself to Thee.
Next time you have the opportunity to stand beside a shoreline, whether it be Fenelon’s quaint Cameron Lake, or the mighty Pacific; remember all your vision will allow you to take in is nothing more than a teardrop worth of water compared to the whole.* And when you consider God’s love displayed at Calvary, remember, “Here is love vast as the ocean,” and our grasp of that love is just as small as a teardrop in comparison. “WHO CAN CEASE TO SING HIS PRAISE?”
*Lake Cameron, is roughly 14 km2 with a depth of 15 metres. The Pacific Ocean in comparison is roughly 165,200,000 km2 with a depth of 11, 022 metres (give or take a litre).
**The brief opening poem seemed to be birthed out of nowhere as I was writing this week’s reflection; I couldn’t help but share it too.
