God’s Perfect Love

"O Love That Will Not Let Me Go"

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

     George Matheson (1842-1906) wrote the words to this much-loved hymn while feeling intensely lonely and afraid.
     Years back, his fiancé had broken their engagement upon learning he was going blind. Despite that challenge, Matheson had followed God’s call to a fruitful pastoral ministry — with his sister’s assistance. Now his sister was getting married, and Matheson worried about who would take care of him and if anyone would ever want to marry him.
     Amid such despair, Matheson later shared, God gave him all four verses of this hymn in about five minutes. It’s a poignant reminder that God’s love sustains us even when human love falls short.

     George never did marry but he continued to prove the truth of this hymn, that there was a love that would never let him go:  the love of Christ for the sinner. The love that was demonstrated for all the world to see at the cross of Calvary. 

     His hymn remains a particular favorite of those Christians whose lives are touched by tragedy and loss but who know that underneath them are the everlasting arms of a loving God and Savior.

I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.

Jeremiah 31:3 CSB