Forever Love
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good
Give thanks to our God, the Lord of lords
To him alone who does great wonders
Who spread the earth upon the waters
It is His love that endures
He remembered us in our low estate
And freed us from our enemies
With a mighty hand and outstretched arm
He showed us not even Pharaoh’s hard heart
Could put an end to His love
Our God’s love is a forever love
It does not change like shifting shadows
Here today in its fullest form, yet not fully known
Our God’s forever love
In the wilderness, His love endured
Each trial and test He led us through
Whether forty years or forty days,
Our God remains forever the same
And only His love can overcome!
Give thanks to the God of heaven – His love endures forever
To Him who shows His compassion – His love endures forever
To us His chosen possession- His love endures forever
Whom He rescued from the oppressor – His love endures forever
Give thanks to the God of gods – His love endures forever
To Him Who sent His only Son – His love endures forever
To reconcile all He draws – His love endures forever
To Himself because of His great love
THAT ENDURES FOREVER
Going into the season of finishing up the Psalm record (which will be called, The Fulfillment, by the way), I knew it would be fun to have a Psalm like Psalm 136, with the repeated refrain. There really is no other Psalm like it even though there are plenty of psalms with repetitive themes. What better refrain than “His love endures forever!” Because it does! I got home from church one day and the chorus was in my head. Even though God’s love endures forever – I’m confident we haven’t grasped the fullness of it – even though it is available to us today in Jesus.
By God’s grace I finished the chorus that day and started working on some verses. They came pretty naturally from the Psalm. Much to my husband’s dismay, I did not fit Og into the song, but most of the rest of the content did. It was fun to fit all the OT imagery in there. The Israelites were able to claim without a doubt that His love endures forever because He rescued them from those who enslaved them. And, I’m a huge fan of the third verse hinting at Jesus in the “forty years or forty days” line.
Then, I was stuck for several weeks on the bridge. And I still didn’t know how I was going to get the “His love endures forever” refrain in the song. I actually had given up hope on that and figured it just wouldn’t happen. But, then I got the bridge riff stuck in my head. Unfortunately, I got no sleep the night before my birthday, but in that night God gave me most of the words to the bridge. The first half of the bridge continues the themes of the psalm and the second half launches into how Jesus is the fulfillment of the song. Because, only in Jesus will we be fully rescued and redeemed. And, it is only through Jesus that God can remember our sins no more.
One of the coolest parts of this song though is that I got to take a whole crew of my Bible study peeps down to Nashville. We crammed like 18 of us in a small studio room and made a little BSF choir. They are the ones singing “His love endures forever.” And what a sweet thing. Our hearts need to remember in the midst of all that happens in this world that the devil uses to tempt us to think: “He doesn’t love you or if He does, His love isn’t great enough to save you or last through all that you do to Him.” No, in Jesus, HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER. When we accept that love, He freely lavishes it on us. Forever. And, what a sweet thing that so many in my life who have been God’s reminder to me that this is true – these will be the same people singing that truth in my ear (and yours if you give it a listen) on the record.