I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the very modern hymns.
Today’s song is Blessed from 2002.
Like so many hymns, it has the general feel of a Psalm, particularly Psalm 84:
Psalm 84
How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
In the Old Testament, once the temple was built, God manifested His presence there. And people felt a sense of God’s presence when they visited. In the gospels, Jesus Himself manifested God’s presence. And after He ascended into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit, who dwells in each believer. In the New Testament era, it’s no longer about a physical location. He pointed this out to the woman of Samaria:
John 4:19-24
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
So, wherever you are, you can be in God’s presence. I would think that this was so for some even in the Old Testament, but some then, and even now, are heavily reliant on props. I can see how being in a beautiful cathedral might make a person more aware of God’s presence, but that’s all down to human psychology 😀.
When you come to Christ, you are in a special place, even if you’re not in any special physical place. Think of the following verse:
Ephesians 2:6-7
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Notice how Paul speaks in the past tense. We are already seated in the heavenly realms. It’s a little like someone who’s been accepted as a student into Cambridge University being a Cambridge student even before he’s physically gone to Cambridge. And when you’re among other believers, you might feel God’s presence in a special way. I think that this even happens when I watch YouTube. Some churches feel threated by the web. Will people rely on web resources rather than churches? Maybe so. But I wonder if this might be part of God’s plan to spread the gospel to the whole world and to provide what fellowship gives . It isn’t always easy for people to get the church, but mutual encouragement isn’t restricted to churches.
Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
So, though I go to church on most Sundays, I don’t have to be in church to dwell in God’s house. I can feel His presence anywhere, and more so if I’m with others or watching sermons, podcasts, or hymns on YouTube 😀.
Here are some other versions of today’s song:
