His love endures forever.

These were the words that broke my silent reverie as I was getting up to leave my secret spot… it was as if those were the last words Jesus wanted to leave me with before I left that place…

And my heart broke out in the Chris Tomlin song, one I haven’t heard in years, but my heart remembered every single word of his rendition of Psalm 136 and these words became the cry of my heart,

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever…

I’m sad to say, but if we’re being honest here, it is rare when I can actually sing these words and find these verses are the true cry of my heart when I’m going through something difficult. Oh, it is no problem to feel and sing those praises to Him when everything is great, but one of the biggest lessons in the last year God has been teaching me is the joy in separating our joy from our circumstances. Last night was another chance to experience that. But I had come from that time of wrestling and pouring out my heart to God, laying out my fears and confusion and then just shutting up and letting His heart minister to mine… and I left in a spirit of worship.

Someone has said, the goal of prayer is the presence of God, and when we’re in the presence of God we have nothing better we can think to do, but worship.

I was just looking up the exact reference for these verses in writing a card for someone, and found eight different references with those exact words, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” I was floored. I thought it was in the psalms a few times, but found it in these other books, quoting David’s psalms:

1 Chronicles 16:34-35: 34 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 35 Cry out, "Save us, O God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, that we may glory in your praise."

Or we find it as the first words starting out chapters 106 and 107 in the Psalms, a declaration of giving praise and thanks to our Lord and Savior before anything else is said…

I love the progression in Psalm 107:

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say this— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 3 those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. [a] 4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. 5 They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 7 He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. 8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, 9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Or, we see those words here as a battle cry in Psalm 118:

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let Israel say: "His love endures forever." 3 Let the house of Aaron say: "His love endures forever." 4 Let those who fear the LORD say: "His love endures forever." 5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free. 6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies. 8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes. 10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. 11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. 12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off. 13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me. 14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

The Lord is my strength and my song… what incredibly powerful words…

I feel those few simple words, His love endures forever, that I heard as I was walking away were beautiful reminders of who is my strength and who to look for in the battle…

And I feel maybe that was part of what the Lord was telling me. I know things aren’t all figured out, but I am ABOVE all things… remember that my love ENDURES forever…

So my heart can sing and my heart can trust you… before any answers are provided, before the circumstances have changed, my heart can choose to say, lord, blessed be your name… All I needed to know in order to move forward from that place, was being reminded of who He is, and that His love endures forever…