O Love Divine, That Stooped to Share

O Love divine, that stooped to share
Our sharpest pang, our bitterest tear!
On Thee we cast each earthborn care;
We smile at pain while Thou art near.

Though long the weary way we tread,
And sorrow crown each lingering year,
No path we shun, no darkness dread,
Our hearts still whispering, “Thou art near!”

When drooping pleasure turns to grief,
And trembling faith is changed to fear,
The murmuring wind, the quivering leaf,
Shall softly tell us Thou art near!

On Thee we fling our burdening woe,
O Love divine, forever dear!
Content to suffer while we know,
Living and dying, Thou art near!

This particular hymn was written in 1859 by a fairly famous American – Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.  Mr. Holmes’ son may be more familiar to those students of American history and the law. His son was a famous Supreme Court Justice in the early 1900’s, but Mr. Holmes Sr. was well-known in his own right.  Mr. Holmes was a physician, professor, lecturer and author.  He was one of the famous “Fireside Poets.”  “Old Ironsides” is one of his most famous literary works.  It is a poem about the Navy ship – USS Constitution.  On hearing about the Secretary of the Navy’s plan to break up the old ship, Mr. Holmes wrote the poem “Old Ironsides” in a matter of days.  The outcry resulting from his poem caused such a stir that the Navy changed it’s plan to dismantle the ship and instead rebuilt her.  The ship is now part of a museum in Boston, Massachusetts.

I like to think that many of you are like this ship.  Battle tested and maybe even battle scarred.  But rather than tossed aside and dismantled as no longer useful in God’s fleet, you are honored, respected, and are a living reminder of the faithfulness of God.  God hasn’t forgotten the battles that you have fought on His behalf.  God is not going to let you sink into despair.  No, He has a great plan for His children.  A plan to one day honor them for their faithfulness and commitment to the cause of Christ.

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• “Earthborn care” – This phrase really made me think.  Aren’t all cares “earthborn?” Are there any “heavenborn” cares?  If Heaven is a place of no dying, no crying and no sinning, I would guess it is a place where there are no cares either.  On earth, we tend to create and “birth” cares sometimes in our worry and fretting.  We sometimes create care, concern, and worry in situations where it need not exist.  If cares can be born on earth, I also wondered if they can die too?  The Bible recognizes the reality of cares.  Jesus spoke about the cares of this world in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13.  He also commanded us to cast our cares on Him (I Peter 5:7).  I think it is good to recognize the reality of cares in our lives, but I also think it is important to recognize that they aren’t “Heaven-born” and that we can let these earthborn cares die off by casting them upon the Lord.

• “We smile at pain when Thou art near” – When I first read this phrase, I wondered if this was a statement of arrogance.  Does someone really smile at pain?  Does smiling at pain necessarily make the pain go away?  I don’t really think so.  However, as I read further on, the author tells us the key to smiling at pain. It doesn’t come from arrogance and pride.  It doesn’t come from quoting Scripture at our pain (although I am not discounting the power of the Word).  The key to overcoming pain is in being near the Lord.  It is having Him close to us.  It is knowing confidently that we are in the hollow of His hands, and that nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from His love.

• “The murmuring wind, the quivering leaf shall softly tell us Thou are near” – Have you ever watched a leaf on a tree that has gone dormant in the fall, but the leaf remains connected to the tree?  I have several oak trees in my yard that seem to hang onto their leaves way into the winter.  The leaf shakes and quivers with the wind, but here’s the truth I get from the author’s imagery.  The leaf is still connected to the tree.  The leaf can endure howling winds.  The leaf can hang on in spite of all the other leaves that have been tossed by every wind that blows.  In Psalm 1, the Bible tells us about the Blessed man.  The man whose leaf does not wither.  That is the kind of man I want to be.  But to be that “Blessed” man, I have to follow the first part of Psalm 1.  The Bible says “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”  That promise is conditional.  The blessing follows the obedience.

To be honest with you, I’ve struggled with the word that originally drew me to this song.  It is the word “stoop.”  The more I think about the word “stoop,” I don’t know if it is sufficient to describe what Christ did for us.  It is not as if He “bent down a little” to help us in our need.  We didn’t just stub our toe, and need a shoulder to lean on.  It is not as if He pulled His car over on the side of the road to help us change a flat tire.  It is as if we wrecked our car going 100 miles per hour, and are on the verge of death.  He didn’t call the ambulance to come help us.  He got His Hands bloody saving us from our sin and utter destruction.  Christ left the glory and perfection of Heaven to come to His creation that has been so marred by sin.  His creation that is so far from how it was originally created.  He left perfection to come to, not just imperfection, but to utter filthiness.

But as much as I struggle with the word “stoop,” I couldn’t agree more with the word “share.”  We have a Savior that shared our pain.  Our fear.  Our hurt.  Our rejection.  He shared our sin by carrying it’s penalty to Calvary.  The Message paraphrase of Hebrews 4:14-16 reads as follows “Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.”

I am glad today that He “stooped” and that He “shared” and I know you are too.