Song
O the Glory of Your Presence
© New Glory International
Song
O the Glory of Your Presence
From The Glory of His Presence · 2005
Streaming links open the full album
Behind the song
The story behind O the Glory of Your Presence
Written by
Steve Fry
Terry MacAlmon context
Recorded by Terry on The Sound of Heaven and frequently used in live worship
Oh the Glory of Your Presence was written by Steve Fry years before Terry MacAlmon recorded it, yet it sounds completely at home within Terry's ministry because its entire movement is toward one thing: God's presence filling His people. The song does not ask the congregation to admire a worship service from a distance. It identifies the worshippers themselves as God's temple and responds with reverence, praise and expectancy.
That is one reason Terry has returned to the song so often. His approach to worship has always been less concerned with presenting a sequence of songs and more concerned with what those songs make room for. Oh the Glory of Your Presence can begin as a familiar melody, but its real strength is the space it creates. The words are few enough to stop demanding attention once the heart has understood them. The congregation can remain there, worship, listen and allow the moment to deepen.
Terry included the song on The Sound of Heaven, an album built around the conviction that true worship has a sound that cannot be manufactured. In that context, this song becomes almost a prayer over the entire project: let God's presence, not human performance, fill the place.
The song is also a clear example of why Terry has never limited his ministry to material he personally wrote. If a song carries a genuine cry for God and enables people to participate rather than spectate, it belongs in the worship journey. For Terry, Oh the Glory of Your Presence has done exactly that for years - moving attention from the music to the One the music is meant to serve.
Watch
O the Glory of Your Presence
Official Terry MacAlmon YouTube channel
The Glory of His Presence gathers some of the strongest worship moments from Terry MacAlmon's first major live-recording years into one collection. Rather than documenting a new concert or worship night, the album tells the story of a season through songs that had already become closely connected with Terry's ministry around the world.
You Deserve the Glory opens the collection with one of the most recognized moments from the World Prayer Center recordings. I Came to Worship You follows with the simple declaration that became the center of another album. Captivate My Heart, Holy Are You Lord and We Glorify the Lamb bring together prayer, holiness and adoration. You're My Glory and How Long add the personal language of dependence and hunger, while I Surrender All, Lord moves into complete surrender. How We Need the River and O the Glory bring the collection to a close in the same atmosphere that runs through the entire project: longing for God's presence.
For listeners discovering Terry's music for the first time, The Glory of His Presence became a natural doorway into the earlier albums. It brings together the songs without losing the spiritual flow that made the original recordings distinctive. This is not simply a greatest-hits collection built around popularity. The songs were chosen because together they reveal the heart of the worship ministry: exalt Jesus, welcome the Holy Spirit and make room for people to respond to God.
The title says it plainly. Across different recordings, different gatherings and different songs, one theme kept returning - the glory of His presence. This collection brings those moments together in one journey of worship.
