No One Is Ever Gonna Love You (More Than I Do)

I'm keeping the music theme going today--one last time... 

One of my favorite songs over the last several years is by Band of Horses (you should check them out), entitled "No One's Gonna Love You (More Than I Do)."  

Band of Horses is known for dreamy, melodic, and orchestral songs with deep meaning in the music and the lyrics.  You can't possibly capture all of it at once, which is why this particular song is one of my "most played" on iTunes.  

I've always been struck by the following lines:  

… And no one is ever gonna love you more than I do
No one's gonna love you more than I do

But someone
They could have warned you
When things start splitting at the seams and now
The whole thing's tumbling down
Things start splitting at the seams and now
If things start splitting at the seams and now
It's tumbling down
Hard

The singer is doing everything he can to convey to his beloved just how much they are loved and what that love means in the grand scheme of things.  But it seems as though the beloved doesn't get it, or doesn't want to get it. 

The world is a hard place, according to the singer, and sometimes things fall apart.  Sometimes the whole world feels like it's falling apart, and it falls hard.  At that point, the refrain comes back again...

...And no one is ever gonna love you more than I do.  

I think what strikes me the most about the way this particular song unfolds is that the refrain makes a statement that could also be construed in some contexts as a threat, a farewell jab by someone who feels spurned.  

But in this song, those words are tender, plaintive, honest, and filled with sadness.  The sadness comes from realizing that the beloved doesn't seem to fully understand the depths of the love the singer has.  And yet, he speaks his truth anyway.  

It's not even a stretch for me to imagine God as the singer of this song---a song that is being sung to you and me.  There's a verse in the Hebrew Scriptures from the prophet Zephaniah that talks about God singing over us.  I love that.  

And so as I listen to this song, I can hear the voice of God singing over me, telling me that there is no other love that can compare to the kind of love that God has for me, for everyone, for all of Creation.  

This kind of love is not repressive, coercive, or abusive.  It's the kind of love that offers a respite from all of the ways that things fall apart.  It's the kind of love that gives us a place to stand when everything feels uncertain.  

It's the kind of love that will go to the furthest lengths possible in order to restore and renew us.  It's the kind of love that we all need, but are often too afraid to embrace. 

May we embrace the never-ending love of God today, and every day.  May we be strengthened by it, sustained by it, and resurrected by it.  And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.