How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place

May 11, 2015 | My Jottings

Michael’s funeral was held on Friday, February 13th, 2015, at our church. I know it was my own husband’s service, so of course I would be blessed by it, but over these last three months I have thought back to it again and again and thanked God for every person, every song, every word.

I didn’t know that one of my dearest friends and SAGs, Gail, had brought her camera and was videotaping much of the service. Later her husband Mark put all the separate clips on a DVD and brought it over to me. I sat here in my office and watched each one, laughing and crying all over again. What a gift!

Our daughter Carolyn and her husband Jeremy (parents of five!) were the first to sing at the funeral, and I’m sharing their song with you today, at the end of this post. Every Christmas Eve, at my request, Carolyn and Jeremy sing for us the Irish Traditional Version of Psalm 84, or “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place,” and every year I sob as they sing. It’s just one of those songs of scripture that touch something so deep in me I have no words to describe what I’m feeling. I knew when Michael died and we were all planning his funeral that I would want Carolyn and Jeremy to sing it. I’m grateful they agreed, because I know they wondered if they would get through it without crying.

As I sat in the front row and took it all in, thrilling to my daughter’s beautiful voice, the words to this song took on a new meaning to me. Because surely, as Michael was suffering with Parkinson’s for the last many years, and then dying during the last week of his life, his soul was longing and fainting, for the courts of the Lord to see, as the psalm says. What an appropriate song this was for Michael’s life and funeral service.

I’ve included the words here, so you can follow along if you like, and the video is below.

How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place — (Psalm 84)

How lovely is thy dwelling place
O Lord of hosts to me
My soul is longing and fainting
The courts of the Lord to see
My heart and flesh they are singing
For joy to the living God
How lovely is thy dwelling place
O Lord of hosts to me

Even the sparrow finds a home
Where she can settle down
And the swallow she may build her nest
Where she may lay her young

Within the courts of the Lord of hosts
My King, my Lord and my God
And happy are those who are dwelling where
The song of praise is sung

How lovely is thy dwelling place
O Lord of hosts to me
My soul is longing and fainting
The courts of the Lord to see
My heart and flesh they are singing
For joy to the living God
How lovely is thy dwelling place
O Lord of hosts to me

I’d rather be a gatekeeper
And only stay a day
Than to live the life of a sinner
And have to stay away
For the Lord is shining as the sun
And the Lord is like a shield
And no good thing does He withhold
From those who walk his way

How lovely is thy dwelling place
O Lord of hosts to me
My soul is longing and fainting
The courts of the Lord to see
My heart and flesh they are singing
For joy to the living God
How lovely is thy dwelling place
O Lord of hosts to me

Thank you for stopping by here, as always. I pray you experience God’s love and peace this week,