Lyrics: Frederick Lehman, 1917.
Music: Frederick Lehman, arranged by his daughter, Claudia Mays.
Theme: As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. John 15:9.
Frederick Lehman: “The profound depths of the lines moved us to preserve the words for future generations. Not until we had come to California did this urge find fulfillment, and that at a time when circumstances forced us to hard manual labor. One day, during the short intervals of inattention to our work, we picked up a scrap of paper and added the first two stanzas and chorus to the existing third verse lines.”
Brother Maynard calls this hymn “The Greatest Hymn Ever Written” and recounts the entire story of its genesis, a story that includes an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and poet, an anonymous inmate in an insane asylum, and Mr. Lehman, a Nazarne pastor and hymnwriter.
Than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell.
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled
And pardoned from his sin.
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.
When hoary time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall;
When men who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call;
God’s love, so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
I remember this hymn from earliest childhood because my mother used to hum and sing it frequently, and she still does. In fact, I heard her singing “It shall forevermore endure, the saints’ and angels’ song” just a couple of weeks ago in my car.
