What’s the refrain of your life?

Have you ever been in front of the congregation during singing? If you have, then you know that in most songs the congregation loves to sing the refrain. In fact, very often the congregation struggles or mumbles through the verses of a song, and then, upon reaching the chorus, they wake up and sing with renewed gusto.

A good refrain should be the key thought stated simply and beautifully and set to music that is catchy. The refrain is the one section of the song that the congregation learns to sing well, and it echoes in their minds even throughout the week.

Refrains and mental loops

If your life were a song, what would be the refrain? What is that key thought that keeps coming back over and over in your mind? What is that message you keep repeating to yourself every day?

For many of us, our mental thought patterns are like broken records that keep slipping into the same grooves and looping back again and again. Throughout 2020 it has been hard to break out of mental loops of complaint, worry, impatience, etc.

Perhaps it is time for you to develop a new mental loop – to learn a new refrain. But what should your refrain be? Does the Bible tell us what our refrain ought to be?

A biblical refrain

I believe a case can be made that the Bible (at least the Old Testament) has a refrain of its own – a refrain that we can adopt for ourselves. The refrain is simple, yet profound. It was composed by the greatest worship musician of all time: King David.

When David triumphantly brought the ark into Jerusalem, he not only organized an incredible worship celebration, but he intentionally created a model for Israelite worship for generations to come. On that day he sang these words: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever” (1 Chron. 16:34).

Then he commanded the priests and Levites “…to give thanks to the Lord – for His faithful love endures forever” (1 Chron. 16:41).

This same refrain reverberates throughout Israelite worship. Peruse the book of Psalms, and you will find the refrain everywhere. For example, look at Psalms 100, 117, 118 and especially 136. When Solomon dedicated the temple, the priests, Levites and people repeatedly said/sang “For He is good; His faithful love endures forever” (2 Chron. 5:13; 7:3,6).

When the returning exiles laid the foundation for the rebuilt temple, they sang thanks to God “For He is good; His faithful love to Israel endures forever” (Ezra 3:11).

God’s self-description

This refrain echoes throughout even the Old Testament prophets (Is. 63:7; Jer. 31:12; 33:11; Lam. 3:22-23). You can even find echoes in the New Testament, especially in words like “grace,” “mercy” and “love.” (See, for example, John 1:14,16-17 and Titus 2:11; 3:4-7).

The refrain is a poetic take on God’s self-description on Sinai (Ex. 34:6-7), and these themes carry forward throughout Scripture as we see God’s faithful love towards His people in the fulfillment of His promises to them – ultimately resounding in the message of God’s grace and love lavished upon us through Jesus Christ.

So I would like to suggest a new refrain for your life: He is good, and His love endures forever.  When you are tempted to let your mental record fall into a negative or even sinful loop, why not choose to turn your mind to contemplate the truth that God is good, and His love endures forever? Say it to yourself. Sing it in a song. Remind yourself over and over. God is good, and His love endures forever.

May your life be a series of verses punctuated by repeated, joyful refrains of “He is good, and His love endures forever!”

Randall Curtis serves as the Rhode Island regional coordinator for the Baptist Convention of New England.