What might be most interesting about this hymn is what it is not. It isn’t a song of praise and thanksgiving for the unending good gifts God gives us. It isn’t a naïve song about how beautiful life is all the time. On the flip side, it isn’t a hymn of appeasement, as if our song is the only thing that will keep God from smiting us. Rather, this is a hymn of thanksgiving that very honestly raises the question of suffering.