[Verse 1]
For the joy of innocence
Dreaming things that don't make sense
Keep me as a child
And for the things we've left behind
The space between our heart and mind
Keep me as a child
[Pre-Chorus]
For we've grown older than our God
We've grown older than our God
[Chorus]
You are forever young
Bright morning star and unsetting sun
You are forever young
Here our Father singing out to us
When we've grown older than our God
[Verse 2]
For the gift of mountainside
Open fields and running wild
Keep me as a child
And for the times we've locked our doors
Built up walls and started wars
Keep me as a child
[Pre-Chorus]
For we've grown older than our God
We've grown older than our God
[Chorus]
You are forever young
Bright morning star and unsetting sun
You are forever young
Here our Father singing out to us
When we've grown older than our God
[Bridge]
Love is running
Toward the shadows
Dying rising
Like an echo
Growing younger
In surrender, I'm letting go
Love is running
Toward the shadows
Dying rising
Like an echo
Growing younger
In surrender, I'm letting go whoa-oa
Love is running
Toward the shadows
Dying rising
Like an echo
Growing younger
In surrender, I'm letting go
[Outro]
Eternity is in His blood
When we've grown older than our God
Oh, eternity's running through my blood
When we've grown older than our God
Older Than Our God (Forever Young)
Song Meaning
Chris Renzema states a request rather than a memory in "Older Than Our God (Forever Young)" — "for the joy of innocence, dreaming things that don't make sense, keep me as a child" — asking to stay something rather than return to it.
"For the things we've left behind, the space between our heart and mind, keep me as a child" repeats the same request against a different loss, distance between feeling and thought rather than lost wonder. "For we've grown older than our God" names the strange reversal the title points to directly, an impossible claim stated as plain fact about how it feels rather than how it actually is.
The chorus answers that impossible feeling with a truer one — "You are forever young, bright morning star and unsetting sun" — pairing two images that never age by definition. The second verse extends the request into harder territory — "for the times we've locked our doors, built up walls and started wars, keep me as a child" — admitting the loss of innocence isn't only wistful but includes real damage done. The bridge's repeated, almost breathless list — "love is running toward the shadows, dying rising like an echo, growing younger, in surrender, I'm letting go" — lets aging in reverse become an image of resurrection itself, closing the song on eternity rather than nostalgia.