Toni’s Title
The Lord is God and He is good.
ESV Title
His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
Literary Type
This is a hymn.
Hymns
Hymns extol the glory and greatness of God as it is revealed in nature and history, and particularly in Israels’s history. Hymns praise God in general terms for his power and faithfulness as creator of the cosmos, ruler of history, and creator/redeemer of Israel to bring blessing to all the world. Israel’s hymns stress God’s active involvement in the life story of Israel. Hymns typically demonstrate motives for worshipping and praising God. A clear example is Psalm 117, the shortest psalm, just two verses:
1 O praise the Lord, all you nations; *
praise him, all you peoples.
2 For (= Hebrew ki) great is his loving-kindness towards us, *
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever.
Praise the Lord.
Hymns were used for exuberant worship in the temple and the synagogue. The people of God before the Incarnation invite us to celebrate and praise with them in hope of the kingdom of God and his Messiah. Hymns, like all psalms, show Christians how to praise God who has acted in creation, in revelation, and in redemption, and who is acting decisively in establishing his kingdom on earth. They do not ask anything; they simply rejoice in God’s presence.
Examples: Psalms 8, 19:1-6, 33, 66:1-12, 100, 103, 104, 145-150, and others
NT Prayer Guide
Eph. 1:3-14
Note that the verse numbering in the New Coverdale version below differs from the ESV.
Superscription
A Psalm for Giving Thanks.
100
Jubilate Deo
1 O be joyful in the Lord, all you lands; *
serve the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with a song.
2 Be assured that the Lord, he is God; *
it is he that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
3 O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; *
be thankful unto him, and speak good of his Name.
4 For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting, *
and his truth endures from generation to generation.