Meditations

What comes to mind when you hear someone say, “He/she is my lover?” What image comes to your mind when you hear the word, ‘lover?’ Perhaps phrases like my lover, lover’s lane, true lover, dream of a lover, music lover, find a lover, animal lover, etc.  These and other phrases like these are what comes to mind at first. We often associate the word to a physical or an emotional relationship. Songs and poems have been written about it. According to the dictionary the word is defined as, “a person having a sexual or romantic relationship with someone outside marriage.”

How many of us think about Jesus as a lover? We readily identify him as Savior, Lord, teacher, healer, and brother. But as a lover? Based on the definition we do not associate Him with the word, but He is. As we look at the intimate relationship Jesus desires to have with those that are His, He is more than just a friend, He is the lover of our soul.
The hymnist paints an image of Jesus as a lover, one that loves unconditionally and deeply. Throughout the bible God expresses His eternal love. It is expressed by God Himself. God the Father told of loved the Son (John 3:35) and the Son told of His love for the Father (John 14:31).

The is not much known about what inspired Mr. Wesley to write this hymn. Most of what has been written as to why has been written as conjecture, none of which we can be certain is true. The most often told account claims the hymn was written as Charles lay hiding in the hedges after preaching and being chased and beaten by unfriendly townspeople. “Jesus, lover of my soul” is counted as one of Wesley’s most personal hymns. His reference to Jesus as a “lover” made some squeamish at the idea, especially to express it in public worship.

This hymn expresses the idea showed in God’s greatest demonstration of love, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) God gave His only begotten Son so that all would have an opportunity to be redeemed back to Him. That is the greatest demonstration of love. He paid the debt of sin we owed so that our souls would not be lost eternally.

This hymn was a favorite of many great leaders, and it continues to speak to the hearts of many today. It has pricked at the hearts of men, causing them to be converted. It answers the question, "Does Jesus love me? Charles Wesley’s hymn “Jesus, Lover of My Soul” speaks of the saving, protective, nurturing love of the Lord Jesus Christ that the apostle Paul wrote about, “The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20b). This hymn speaks to the depth of Jesus’ love, He is “the lover of my soul.”
 

Jesus, lover of my soul; Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll; While the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Savior, hide; Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.
Other refuge have I none; Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.

"I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39