In this series, I explore some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. I grew up with rock music, so it’s not such a shocking thing for me to explore these. Back in my earlier years as a Christian, we had the old hymns and some modern choruses that originated in the 1970s charismatic movement. As time went on, I started to prefer the older hymns.
Nowadays, I try to maintain an interest in all Christian music. It’s easy to find “trendy” Christian music annoying, even as a Christian 😀. I don’t know why. But I’m trying to overcome that prejudice. Perhaps the older hymns give us more a sense of history, but many of these would have been similar to popular music of their day.
Anyway, today’s hymn is House of the Lord. It’s from 2021.
I don’t ever remember hearing this one in church. Perhaps it’s not as easy to perform as some of the other modern songs. The term “House of the Lord” comes from Psalm 23, The Lord’s My Shepherd:
Psalm 23:6
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever
When we go to be with Christ, or if he comes back before we do, we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. But in a sense, we can dwell in his house even now, in a spiritual sense. Once we repent and trust in Christ, the door is open. In the Old Testament, God’s presence was manifested in various places, chiefly in the tabernacle and temple.
Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
When Jesus came, being with him was far more significant than being a physical temple. And when he departed, he sent the Holy Spirit. In the early church, buildings held no significance.
Being among other believers felt like dwelling in the house of God.
And drawing close to God, even if we are alone, feels like being in the house of the Lord. Because the Holy Spirit manifests God’s presence. Yet we always yearn for a deeper sense of His presence.
For some, going into a beautiful church building might give them a sense of God’s presence. But God isn’t in the building. It’s more related to an inner sense of his presence. I think that this is primarily what was in David’s mind when he wrote the psalm. And when we get to heaven, the sense of his presence will be much much more vivid than anything that we experience in this life.
Whenever I hear new hymns, I start to think of songs with similar themes from my youth. I used to love this one, which is based on another Psalm, Psalm 16.
I always like to explore the various versions of hymns on YouTube. Here are some alternative versions:
And here’s a guitar tutorial. I think I’ll give it a go now 😄. I see bass and drum tutorials on YouTube too for the song.
Hibernia Gospel 