So Good To Be Here

Luther Barnes keeps this one deliberately brief, closer to a spoken call-to-worship than a fully developed song — 'I'm glad to be in service, this service one more time' names the gathering itself as the occasion for gladness, not a particular sermon or song within it. Psalm 122:1's declaration, 'I was glad when they said to me, let's go to Yahweh's house,' sits directly behind that opening line, an ancient pilgrim's excitement about temple worship applied here to an ordinary Sunday service.

'Glad to be able to see your smiling face' keeps the gladness specific and communal rather than abstract — this isn't only gratitude toward God in isolation, it's gratitude for the people gathered too. 'It's good to be here, to give God the praise' echoes Psalm 100:4's instruction to 'enter into his gates with thanksgiving,' and the song's own brevity works in its favor: it doesn't overstate a simple, honest gladness by padding it with more elaborate language than the feeling actually requires.