Song
For the Lord Is Good
© New Glory International
Behind the song
The story behind For the Lord Is Good
Written by
Terry MacAlmon
Terry MacAlmon context
Copyright 2003; title song of the World Prayer Center worship evening and later included on The Sound of Heaven
For the Lord Is Good begins where biblical worship so often begins: with the character of God. The declaration that the Lord is good and that His love endures forever runs like a refrain through the Psalms and through Israel's worship. Terry MacAlmon shaped that timeless truth into a congregational song that became important enough to give its name to an entire evening of worship at the World Prayer Center.
The placement of the song is significant. Before worship becomes a response to what a person feels, it can be anchored in what is true. God is good. His love endures. Those declarations remain steady whether the worshipper arrives full of joy, carrying disappointment or simply needing to remember who God is.
That is consistent with Terry's approach to the presence of God. Worship is not an attempt to create God through emotion or music. It turns the heart toward the God who is already worthy. The music serves that turning. As the congregation repeats the truth of His goodness, faith and gratitude have room to rise.
For the Lord Is Good later became part of The Sound of Heaven, where it helps establish the album's central idea: the sound heaven recognizes is worship directed toward the true character of God. The song is not complicated, and it does not need to be. Its strength is its foundation. Before asking for glory, healing, refreshing or a visitation, the worshipper begins with confidence in who the Lord is - and worships from there.
Watch
For the Lord Is Good
Official Terry MacAlmon YouTube channel
The Sound of Heaven grew out of the expanding worship gatherings that followed the World Prayer Center years and the first Pikes Peak Worship Festival in Colorado Springs. By 2004 Terry MacAlmon's live recordings were reaching people far beyond the room in which they were recorded, yet the heart of the ministry remained unchanged: gather people, exalt Jesus and allow worship to rise freely.
The title expresses Terry's vision for the album. The sound of heaven is the sound of the redeemed giving worship back to their Savior. That idea is heard throughout the recording. For the Lord Is Good begins with celebration, followed by Here I Am to Worship and I Stand in Awe. Then the title track opens into a broader picture of worship rising from God's people. Dwelling Places and So Beautiful move into intimacy, while The Lamb Is Worthy and O the Glory turn the focus again toward the majesty and holiness of God.
My God and King carries that same devotion into a personal confession before How We Need the River closes the album as a prayer for the renewing flow of God's Spirit. The journey is deliberate: praise becomes adoration, adoration becomes hunger, and hunger becomes prayer.
The Sound of Heaven also reflects the freedom Terry has always valued in live worship. Songs are not rushed simply to reach the next track. There is room for response, for the congregation to sing and for worship to develop beyond a strict performance structure. The album captures hundreds of voices becoming one voice - a picture of people from different backgrounds turning together toward the same Savior and offering Him their worship.
