Great Is The Lord

Album: Housefires III (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is a track from Atlanta worship band Houseflies third album, Housefires III. It is the oldest song on record and is based on Psalm 96: 4. ("Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods.")
  • Houseflies vocalist Pat Barrett wrote the song with his friends Daniel Bashta and Ben Smith. He told NewReleaseToday the story of the track:

    "The song came out in an afternoon with us writing at my house. It came out of Psalm 96. It's a very proclaiming song, announcing that the Lord is great and worthy of praise. That's a lyric in the song, 'great is the Lord, most worthy of all praise.' We started writing based on that Psalm, and Ben had an idea for the bridge melody after reading those words.

    Psalm 96:4 says 'Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.' We realized that was the chorus. It felt simple, and yet it really made us want to start singing the song right away. We did. After we finished the song, we each led the song at our three different churches the next Sunday morning, which was powerful."
  • The bridge was something that Ben Smith came up with when he premiered the song at his church. Barrett recalled: "After we led it that Sunday, Ben let us know he started singing the spontaneous line 'in the morning, in the evening, at the end of all days, I'll sing, I'll shout, You are worthy of praise.' That wasn't part of the original song."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.

Adam Duritz of Counting Crows

Adam Duritz of Counting CrowsSongwriter Interviews

"Mr. Jones" took on new meaning when the song about a misguided view of fame made Adam famous.

Psychedelic Lyrics

Psychedelic LyricsMusic Quiz

Whoa man! Do you know which band came up with these cosmic lyrics?

Which Restaurants Are Most Mentioned In Song Lyrics?

Which Restaurants Are Most Mentioned In Song Lyrics?Song Writing

Katy Perry mentions McDonald's, Beyoncé calls out Red Lobster, and Supertramp shouts out Taco Bell - we found the 10 restaurants most often mentioned in songs.

Yacht Rock Quiz

Yacht Rock QuizFact or Fiction

Christopher Cross with Deep Purple? Kenny Loggins in Caddyshack? A Fact or Fiction all about yacht rock and those who made it.

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.