Joy in the House of the Lord
There are songs that just catch you in the spirit. In a world that is still trying to rebuild, there came a song that spoke to the heart of who we are. Phil Wickham wrote “House of the Lord” in the summer of 2020 while the world was shuttered. He writes this in the midst of the church trying to “get back together”:
We worship the God who was, we worship the God who is, we worship the God who evermore will be. He opened the prison doors, he parted the raging sea. My God, He holds the victory. There's joy in the house of the Lord. There's joy in the house of the Lord today. And we won't be quiet. We shout out Your praise!
For most of the 20th century, the house of the Lord was meant as the church building. It was the place in which we gathered as a corporate body. However, when something global happens that keeps the people from its building… Does worship end? Or better still is there no more joy in the House of the Lord?
To answer that, we would have to rethink what we have been taught in modern culture as to what the house of the Lord is… To answer this question, we look to Paul as he taught in Athens. In Acts 17, Paul tells the Greeks that “the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man” (Acts 17:24 ESV).
In the Israelite tradition, the temple is where the Spirit of God rested… where he dwelt among the people. Now thanks to the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross, Paul tells us the Spirit no longer resides in the temples made by human hands… So where did it move…?
Paul goes on to say to the Corinthian church, “don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17 NIV).
The temple where God’s spirit resides… the house of the Lord is each and every believer made new in Christ… Our worship… Our joy comes from within the temples made by God because:
We were the beggars, now we're royalty. We were the prisoners, now we're running free
We are forgiven, accepted, redeemed by His grace. Let the house of the Lord sing praise!
Watch HERE
We worship the God who was, we worship the God who is, we worship the God who evermore will be. He opened the prison doors, he parted the raging sea. My God, He holds the victory. There's joy in the house of the Lord. There's joy in the house of the Lord today. And we won't be quiet. We shout out Your praise!
For most of the 20th century, the house of the Lord was meant as the church building. It was the place in which we gathered as a corporate body. However, when something global happens that keeps the people from its building… Does worship end? Or better still is there no more joy in the House of the Lord?
To answer that, we would have to rethink what we have been taught in modern culture as to what the house of the Lord is… To answer this question, we look to Paul as he taught in Athens. In Acts 17, Paul tells the Greeks that “the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man” (Acts 17:24 ESV).
In the Israelite tradition, the temple is where the Spirit of God rested… where he dwelt among the people. Now thanks to the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross, Paul tells us the Spirit no longer resides in the temples made by human hands… So where did it move…?
Paul goes on to say to the Corinthian church, “don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17 NIV).
The temple where God’s spirit resides… the house of the Lord is each and every believer made new in Christ… Our worship… Our joy comes from within the temples made by God because:
We were the beggars, now we're royalty. We were the prisoners, now we're running free
We are forgiven, accepted, redeemed by His grace. Let the house of the Lord sing praise!
Watch HERE
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