Hymns about Love of God

The Love of God is the fountain of salvation and the everlasting kindness of the Father toward His people in Christ. Scripture declares that God is love, that He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, and that nothing can separate the redeemed from His love. This love is holy, not indulgent of sin; it seeks, saves, chastens, and keeps. Theologically it precedes our response: we love Him because He first loved us. Hymns on this theme therefore begin with wonder rather than with self-congratulation, marveling that the High and Lofty One sets His affection upon dust.

In hymnody the love of God is sung as steadfast, searching, and stronger than death. Texts may linger on electing mercy, on the Cross as love's brightest display, and on daily providence as love's quiet care. Themes of assurance, gratitude, intimacy with God, and returning love in obedience appear throughout. Some hymns are tender and personal; others are vast doxologies that stretch language toward the immeasurable. Because love can be sentimentalized, the best songs keep love joined to truth, holiness, and the blood of the covenant.

In worship these hymns warm cold hearts and prepare for Communion and for sermons on the gospel's motive. In personal devotion they comfort the accused and the lonely, teaching the soul to rest in divine affection rather than in fluctuating feelings. Teachers use them to open the breadth and length and depth and height of love revealed in Christ. Sung in faith, they draw the church to adore the God whose lovingkindness is better than life.