This hymn is known as "The Love Song of the Welsh Revival." It was the central hymn throughout the 12 months of the 1904 revival across Wales. "It was a movement that went uniquely beyond key individuals in one place" (Kristyn Getty). It comprised many people, gathering in little churches all over Wales. There were no advertisements or promotions to draw attention to it. The testimonies of those who witnessed it described it as little fires popping up throughout the landscape with no organization, common spark, or traceable connection. "It was a revival of prayer and song, of repentance, and of confidence in God's Word" (Kristyn Getty).
Here Is Love was written, initially in only two verses, by a Welsh independent preacher named William Rees toward the end of his life. Rees was well-known and recognized by his contemporaries for his gift of preaching. But it wasn't until roughly 30 years after his death that his hymn would have an impact still felt around the world today.
The Getty hymn writing team took on the daunting task of writing a third and fourth verse to Rees' original two-stanza hymn. Other writers have attempted this but have struggled to capture the poetry and language of the original author. I humbly believe these two new verses have done what others could not.
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
Simon Peter Sutherland (singer-songwriter, filmmaker, and Theologian) writes regarding Rees's imagery in this hymn, "To describe the love of God as vast as the ocean, is to imply there is something to be feared. As great and vast as the ocean is, many have perished in its waves."
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,
and Heaven's peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.
The Apostle John writes, "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:8-10).
On the morn of resurrection,
Mercy filled the thirsty grave
Where the stone of death burst open,
Springs of life flowed unrestrained.
Love no heart could ever measure
Joy no sorrows will outrun
Rush upon the soul believing
in the risen reigning Son.
The grave was not thirsty for mercy. Death only thirsts for more death. Yet Christ, by His righteousness, fulfilled the prophecy found in Hosea 13:14, "I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death..." God's mercy upon His chosen filled the grave not with what the grave desired but what it detested yet could not overcome. In this way, God's power and dominion are on full display for all, conquering death, overcoming its grasp, renewing life, bestowing love beyond measure, and imparting "joy no sorrows will outrun."
O this love, vast love of Jesus
bids us come and drink and live.
To this weary world of longing,
what more could our Savior give?
Now to Christ who fully loved us
And who freed us from our sin,
Be all glory and dominion
Everlasting praise to Him.
Revelation 5:2-5 & 9-10, 'And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?" And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, "Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals." And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."
It's estimated that over 100,000 people came to know the Lord due to the Welsh revival. Dr. Sam Storms reflects on the results of that awakening. "During the time of revival, the police were left with virtually nothing to do, and the courts were empty. Saloons and bars shut down for lack of business. Public drunkenness was almost non-existent. Old debts, many long forgotten, were paid off in full. Traveling theatrical agencies canceled their engagements, as everyone was in church! It was said that horses everywhere were in complete confusion - they had become accustomed to responding to their master's profane shouts and kicks and cursing, virtually all of which had disappeared."
On that Christmas Sunday in 1904, G. Campbell Morgan closed his sermon by saying, "Let no man hear of what happened in Wales and try to start it in his own land. Why? Because no man started it in Wales! We cannot produce revival. We can only pray that God would be gracious to us and send it in abundance!
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