"I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able
to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width,
height and depth of God's love." (Ephesians 3:17-18)
Some things may have—height as the heavens, depth as the
sea, and breadth and length as the earth. But divine love has a height which
cannot be seen, a depth which cannot be sounded, a length which cannot be
limited, and a breadth which cannot be measured! O Lord! may I know your
love in its depth, in bringing me out of the lowest hell; in its height, in
setting me on the Redeemer's throne; in its breadth, in making me an heir of
God; and in its length, in eternalizing my bliss in the regions of glory!
This love, in its depth, recovers and restores fallen man to endless
felicity; in its height, crowns and confirms the church of the first-born;
the inhabitants of the better country walk at liberty in its breadth, and
rejoice in its length, its eternal duration.
You, Lord, have, in your love, been my dwelling-place
before the mountains were brought forth; and are my dwelling-rock while I
wander in the howling desert, and will be my temple when sun and moon are no
more. Well does your love deserve a fourfold definition, that answers my
fourfold situation. You have loved me with an everlasting love, when in the
loins of my parents, therefore with loving kindness do you draw me to
yourself. You love me now, when I appear in this world, a man composed of
soul and body; therefore do you reveal yourself to me. You will love me when
I exist in a separate state, when my body is laid in the silent grave, and
my soul carried to the world of spirits; therefore, at my dissolution, shall
I enter into the joy of my Lord. And you will love me when my soul and body
are united again; therefore you will pass the gracious sentence on me, in
the sight of men and angels; and, in the sight of the whole world, present
me with a crown of life, a crown of glory, which fades not away. When I lay
weltering in my blood, it pitied me; when running on in the mad career of
sin, it converted me; and now that I am reconciled, your love will never
leave me—but at last will crown my graces with perfection.
Your glorious love extends to every point, to every
quarter. In the rugged path of life, it supports me; amidst the sorrows of
life, it comforts me; in the hour of death, it is my sun and shield; and at
the day of judgment, shall spread all heaven before me. This love, in its
depth, answers my necessities; in its height, crowns my highest
expectations; in its breadth, replenishes my soul with goodness; and in its
length, satiates my most enlarged desires of mind, and suits the eternity of
my existence. In the depth of this love, the Son of God became man: and in
its height men are made the sons of God. It locks the gates of hell, so that
I shall never fall into perdition: it opens the gates of heaven, so that I
shall enter in, to swim in an ocean of love, whose height and depth, breadth
and length, shall be the subject and the song of the church triumphant
around the throne, through everlasting day!