The lyrics are a poetic struggle to define something that "surpasses knowledge".
: The opening lines declare that God’s love "goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell," emphasizing that no person is beyond the reach of grace. The Love of God - Mercy Me [With Lyrics]
While often associated with , who wrote the primary verses in 1917, the most famous lines of the hymn—the third verse—carry a much older story. The lyrics are a poetic struggle to define
