There is a Wideness in God's Mercy

~ by Maurice Bevan

There's a wideness in God's mercy

Like the wideness of the sea;

There's a kindness in his justice

Which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth's sorrow

Are more felt than up in heaven;

There is no place where earth's failings

Have such kindly judgement given.

For the love of God is broader

Than the measure of man's mind;

And the heart of the Eternal

Is most wonderfully kind.

But we make his love too narrow

By false limit of our own;

And we magnify his strictness

With a zeal he will not own.

There is plentiful redemption

In the blood that has been shed;

There is joy for all the members

In the sorrows of the Head.

There is grace enough for thousands

Of new worlds as great as this;

There is room for fresh creations

In that upper home of bliss.

If our love were but more simple,

We would take him at his word;

And our lives would be all gladness

In the joy of Christ our Lord.