Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

There are many questions that people have about heaven. The following is a frequent question. We can approach each day with joy because God is with us and when our time on earth is complete we will be with Him forever in heaven. 

Will we go to heaven immediately after death or simply fall asleep until judgement day?

​When we die we will go to heaven immediately. Our spirit will leave our earthly body and go to heaven. Ecclesiastes 12:7 states this. And the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:7. When Lazarus the beggar died he went right to heaven (Luke 16:19-31). Also, Jesus told the repentant thief on the cross that today he would be with Him in paradise (Luke 23:43). 

The most recorded gospel song of all time provides a great description of this. Albert Edward Brumley wrote, “I’ll Fly Away,” in 1932. Brumley was born and raised in rural Spiro, Oklahoma. He attended the Hartford Musical Institute in Arkansas. He then returned to Oklahoma to help his family plant and pick cotton.
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Anyone who has performed any amount of farm work knows the intense physical and mental labor required. Brumley wrote the lyrics of I’ll Fly Away based on his Christian faith. He also notes, “I was dreaming of flying away from that cotton field when I wrote ‘I’ll Fly Away.’”

The lyrics of the song rely heavily on the image of departing life, which can be full of suffering and difficulty, and joining God in heaven. The words convey the opposite of a fear or sadness of death and instead brim with joy. Brumley wrote the song intending it be able to be sung by anyone. This is fitting as God desires that all people be saved and spend eternal life in heaven.
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When we are faced with difficult work or adversity we can experience mental, physical, or emotional exhaustion. We can remember that heaven is real and God will provide us strength for each day. We can approach each day with joy because God is with us and when our work on earth is complete we will be with Him forever in heaven. The words of Moses in Psalm 90:14 are a good prayer for each day. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

I’ll Fly Away

Some glad morning when this life is o’er,
I’ll fly away;
To a home on God’s celestial shore,
I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).
 
Chorus
I’ll fly away, Oh Glory
I’ll fly away; (in the morning)
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).
 
When the shadows of this life have gone,
I’ll fly away;
Like a bird from prison bars has flown,
“I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).
 
Just a few more weary days and then,
I’ll fly away;
To a land where joy shall never end,
I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).

References:
Kerr, R. (2015). “’I’ll fly away’: A brief history of the quintessential gospel song (and ten great renditions).” Retrieved from http://www.trialanderrorcollective.com/collective-collab-blogs--playlists/ill-fly-away-a-brief-history-of-the-quintessential-gospel-song-and-ten-great-renditions

Brumley, A. (1932). “I’ll fly away.”
Stohlmann, M.  (2020). The world's greatest future. ​Seattle, WA: KDP.