“Give thanks to the Lord , for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of Lords. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights— His faithful love endures forever. the sun to rule the day, His faithful love endures forever. and the moon and stars to rule the night. His faithful love endures forever. He remembered us in our weakness. His faithful love endures forever. He saved us from our enemies. His faithful love endures forever. He gives food to every living thing. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His faithful love endures forever.”
Psalms 136:1‭-‬9‭, ‬23‭-‬26
Psalm 136 was written in a song form named “call and response”. The worship leader would “call” or make a statement. The worshippers would then “respond” or reply with a repeated phrase. We still use this form in song writing today. In music lyrical form, it would appear like this:

Leader: Give thanks to the Lord , for he is good!

Worshippers: His faithful love endures forever.

L:Give thanks to the God of gods.

W:His faithful love endures forever.

On and on the song would go, reminding the congregation of God’s faithful love. The leader’s song would often tell a story.

The leader in this song continued, “Give thanks to the Lord of lords”, “He alone does mighty miracles, like making the heavens and placing the earth between the waters. He made the lights in the sky-the sun to shine during the day and the moon to shine at night. In other words, the Psalmist is singing out the story of creation.

In the verses we’ve ommited,
the songwriter continued to tell of how
God rescued the Nation of Israel from Eygpt.

Finally, the songwriter tells his story from personal experience.

L: He remembered us in our weakness, saves us from our enemies and gives food to every living thing . . . Ending with Give thanks to the God of Heaven.

The response was always the same–

W: His faithful love endures forever.

The fact is that we often have to be reminded of God’s goodness and often have to be reminded that we belong to Him. Kind of like the song that says, “You’re a good, good Father, it’s Who you are”, followed by “and I’m loved by You, its who I am”! There are songs are perfect and have been written for centuries to remind us of Who God is, who we are and of what we believe.

Think of a song that you know that acheives this purpose today, then sing that song to God today. It can be life changing!

Think about it!