1 Was there ever kindest shepherd
Half so gentle, half so sweet,
As the Saviour who would have us
Come and gather round His feet?
It is God; His love looks mighty,
But is mightier than it seems:
'Tis our Father, and His kindness
Goes out far beyond our dreams.

2 There's a wideness in God's mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea;
There's a kindness in His justice,
Which is more that liberty.
There is welcome for the sinner,
And more graces for the good;
There is mercy with the Saviour,
There is healing in His blood:

3 For the love of God is broader
Than the measures of man's mind,
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind:
But we make His love too narrow
By false limits of our own,
And we magnify His strictness
With a zeal He will not own.

4 There is plentiful redemption
In the blood that has been shed;
There is joy for all the members
In the sorrows of the Head.
If our love were but more simple,
We should take Him at His word;
And our lives would be all sunshine
In the sweetness of our Lord.

Amen.