"Love Like an Ocean”

“For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is His also. The sea is His, and He made it: and His hands formed the dry land.” Psalm 95:3-5.

God has revealed so much to us about Himself and His Heavenly Hand at work in our lives through His amazing creation- the ocean. He sunk the mighty depths, set her boundaries, tuned her with times and seasons, and traced her currents with His hand.

He is the Master of the sea! He delivers us out of deep waters. He brings the storm and the still.

Our Master reveals His love for us by:

*the sands of the sea – When God is illustrating that which is uncountable and unknowable, He uses the phrase “the sand of the sea” or “the sand that is on the seashore.” Joseph gathered corn in Egypt as the sand of the sea (Gen. 41:49); God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding more than the sand of the sea shore (1 Ki. 4:29). Job’s grief was heavier than the sand of the sea (Job 6:2-3). God tells us in Jeremiah 33:22 that the sand of the sea cannot be measured.

God created the marine animals that live in the shells that wash to the shore. Time, pressure, wind, and water turn those shells into infinitesimal bits of sparkling, sandy seaside. Only that God could number and notice every soul. The sands of the sea are innumerable and immeasurable to us, but known to God. “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding” Is. 40:28.

*the treasures of the wind and sea – The word “treasure” is used in two variations in the Bible. There are treasures of riches- silver and gold. Then there is another kind of treasure- intricate, amazing, wealth of God’s creation. The Bible speaks of the treasures of the wind and sea (Jer. 10:13 & 51:16), treasures of the snow and hail (Job 38:22), and even treasures of darkness (Is. 45:3). What does treasure on earth teach us about God in heaven? First, Matthew 6:19-20 teaches us that all treasure on earth is corruptible and vulnerable, but treasure in heaven is incorruptible and eternal. In fact, the reproach of Christ and rewards in heaven are of greater value than any earthly treasure (Heb. 11:25-26). Best of all, in Jesus Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). The unsearchable riches of Christ, which are spoken of in Ephesians, are more unsearchable than the sand, and greater than the treasures of the wind and sea.

*the depths of the sea – Here is another magnificent lesson revealed in the deep waters of the mighty oceans. “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” Micah 7:18-19. There are secrets hidden in the ocean depths that oceanographers will never discover. Just so, the Lord says of His children, “their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”

*the storms of the sea – “But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: the Lord of hosts is his name” Isa. 51:15. The children of Israel traveled through the midst of the sea (literally) when under His hand (Ex. 14:16). To think that the Only One Who knows the true depths of the ocean is the One who promises to go with us through the deepest of waters! What a promise! “The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea” Psalm 93:4.

Truly, God’s love is like an ocean. After all, “The sea is His, and He made it!” His love is greater than the sands of the sea, richer than the ocean’s hidden treasures, deeper than the lowest depths, and mightier than life’s fiercest storms.