We give thanks to You, O God
For Your name is near
We give thanks to You, O God
For You have brought us here

You chose this time
You chose this place
You chose these people to show Your grace

We give thanks to the Father of Mercy
We give thanks to the Author of Love
We give thanks to the Giver of the Son

We give thanks to You, O God
For You have seen us through
We give thanks to You, O God
For what You said will come true

We give thanks to You, O God
For You have seen us through
We give thanks to You, O God
For what You said will come true

You chose the poor
Tou chose the lost
You chose the nails, betrayal, and cross

As for us, we'll declare this forever
We will sing to the God who loves
We will stand up and fight for the last
Until the first shall be lifted up


words and music by Andrew Osenga / ©2006 The Velvet Eagle Sings (ASCAP) (adm. by the Loving Company)

Behind the Song:
'I wrote this song in Ecuador during the 'Share the Well' trips. It’s based almost entirely on Psalm 75, which says it was to be sung 'to the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy.’' So apparently we mistitled this song. Anyway, we had been writing all these story songs, hoping to inspire people to action to help the folks living in these not-so-great conditions. The thing was, most of the believers I saw in Ecuador and India seemed to be happier and more content than most of the American believers I know. They knew they needed God and they knew He was there for them and loved them and that, truly, was all they wanted.

I couldn’t help but be both humbled and encouraged by this. It drove me to Scripture and since I was in such a songwriting zone the verses that seemed to find me and comfort me wound their way into a song within the hour. The idea of both the Psalm and this song is that God places us where He does for His reasons, and that we’re to be grateful for that. Both the hard things and the good things are there by His grace. This is something that is so hard for me and my friends to really believe, but it seemed to come so naturally to these Ecuadorian families who had nothing but their Compassion sponsorships and a couple of chickens.

My goal in writing this song was that it could be sung corporately, by the people there in Ecuador and by my church here in Nashville, and to put Scripture into the mouths and ears of different groups of people and hope that they could both find joy from the grace and sovereignty of God.' - Andrew Osenga (Caedmon's Call)