Marinate

At the women's conference I attended a few weeks ago, Margaret Feinberg spoke of marinating in the truth of God's fierce love for us. (You can read more in her book, Fight Back with Joy.) I love Margaret's choice of the word "marinate."

Marinating changes tough things to tender, and blah things to flavorful and fabulous.

Today I read Psalm 136. Here are the first four verses:

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

This Psalm models a poetic way to marinate in God's love. Repeat it. Sing it. Make it the theme of your day.

Psalm 136 could be a template for a simple prayer of thanksgiving:
state a blessing, and repeat his faithfulness.
Stick to recent blessings, or look back over your entire life.
Use different versions to find the phrase that sounds most natural on your tongue today:

The ESV version uses the phrase "His steadfast love endures forever."
NLT says "His faithful love endures forever."
Amplified expands on the theme, "His faithful love and mercy endure forever."
The Message states simply, "His love never quits."


I thank you, Lord, for the clouds and coolness today,
for your faithful love endures forever.
I praise you, Lord for your faithfulness in every season,
for your steadfast love endures forever.
Thank you for the spaghetti sauce bubbling in my crockpot,
for your faithful love and mercy endure forever.
Thank you for reminding me to plug in the crockpot before I left today,
for your love never quits.

photo credit: via photopin (license)