Contemporary Christ artist Phil Wickham was 18 years old when he began his career in 2002. Since then, he released ten albums, including:
- Give You My World (2003)
- Phil Wickham (2006)
- Cannons (2007)
- Heaven & Earth (2009)
- Response (2011)
- The Ascension (2013)
- Children of God (2016)
- Living Hope (2018)
- Christmas (2019)
- Hymn of Heaven (2021)
He received a Dove award in 2019 for Worship Recorded Song of the Year for his song Living Hope.
You are viewing: Who Wrote Hymn Of Heaven
Also, check out my other Phil Wickham reviews.
Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Phil-wickham-hymn-of-heaven-lyrics.
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1. What message does the song communicate?
This song is about believers looking forward to eternal life with God post-death. Death will be abolished. Tears will be wiped away. Pain will cease to exist. We will stand face to face with our Maker, joining the saints and angels in prostration. We will worship Him and sing about how great God is, including Christ’s loving sacrifice that made forgiveness of sins possible.
My only criticism is Verse 2’s opening lines. It’s not true that all prayers and songs are cries to God in despair. Some are offered when we’re at peace, confused, joyful, and angry. I understand that this song came as an outflow of the present COVID crisis and social unrest, and it could be viewed as prayers that were only prayed in desperation, but it could be worded better.
Score: 9/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
Almost all of it aligns with God’s inspired Word, except possibly the first few lines of Verse 2.
[Verse 1]
Lines 1-4: Wickham looks forward to eternal life (Mark 10:29-30, John 3:15-16, John 3:36, John 4:14, John 5:24, John 5:39-40, John 6:27, John 6:40, John 10:28, John 17:3, John 20:31, Romans 5:21, Romans 6:22-23, Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Galatians 6:8, 1 Timothy 1:16, 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 2:11, Hebrews 5:9, 1 Peter 5:10, 1 John 2:23-27, 1 John 5:10-13, 1 John 5:20, Jude 1:20-21, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 7:16-17, and Revelation 21:3-4), where there’s no pain and suffering (Revelation 21:4). His entry is based on Christ’s atoning work (Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, John 19:30, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 9:22, Hebrews 9:26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9).
[Chorus]
Line 1: Wickham proclaims that in the future, all humanity will bend the knee to Jesus (Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10-11).
Line 2: Death will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14).
Line 3: The first part is possibly a reference to 1 Corinthians 13:12. The second references Christ’s death (see Verse 1, line 3) and resurrection (Matthew 28:1-20, Mark 16:1-20, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29, Acts 1:3, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
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Line 4: Christ is holy (Mark 1:24, Luke 4:34, Acts 3:14, Acts 4:27-30, 1 John 2:20, Hebrews 7:26, and Revelation 4:8).
[Verse 2]
Line 1: Perhaps I’m taking this too literally, but not all prayers are out of desperation. For example, consider the prayers of Hannah of thanksgiving (1 Samuel 2:1-10), Solomon’s prayer for wisdom (1 Kings 3:7-9), and John’s prayer of good health (3 John 1:2). None of these were offered in anguish. Is there some prayer offered in pain? Sure! Many of the Psalms contain prayers amid suffering (Psalm 22 is a prominent example). But, all of them? Certainly not.
On the other hand, it could be interpreted as “every prayer [that] we prayed in desperation”, which would be fine. It doesn’t seem clear to me which interpretation is correct.
Line 2: Again, I don’t think all of us sing through “doubt and fear”. Hannah’s prayer happens to be a song. Women sing about David in 1 Samuel 18:7. Mary wasn’t doubting and fearful when she sang about Jesus in Luke 1:46-48. However, as stated in line 1, if interpreted with the invisible “that” thrown in, then it would be fine Biblically.
Lines 3 and 4: We all must choose if eternal life is worth the cost (Luke 14:25-33). Christians believe He is. God removes our tears (Isaiah 25:8, Revelation 7:17, and Revelation 21:4).
[Verse 3]
Lines 1-4: Although it’s not specific, it’s also not inconceivable that the Old Testament heroes will join us when we say, “worthy is the Lamb that was slain” (Revelation 5:11-12). Maybe we’ll sing it too!
Lines 5-8: Repeat lines 1-4.
Line 9: God reigns for all eternity (Exodus 15:18, Psalm 10:16, Psalm 29:10, Psalm 145:13, Psalm 146:10, Lamentations 5:19, Daniel 4:3, Daniel 6:26, Micah 4:7, 1 Timothy 6:16, 1 Peter 5:11, and Revelation 11:15).
[Outro]
Lines 1-3: See Verse 3.
Line 4: God is holy (Leviticus 11:44-45, Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 20:7,1 Peter 1:15-16, and Revelation 4:8).
Lines 5-10: Repeats lines 1-4.
Score: 9/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Unbelievers should easily interpret similarly to my conclusion in section 1, with Wickham opting for everyday language and few Christianese terminology. This song speaks of bleeding to save, God’s holiness, the word “Lord”, and One who died and rose again. These point outsiders towards a Christian worldview.
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I’m not sure if unbelievers will pick up on Verse 2’s possible errors, but I doubt that it will affect their overall interpretation.
Score: 9/10
4. What does this song glorify?
While it glorifies God that we remember and celebrate His sacrifice, bowing down and praising Him alongside our brethren, these lyrics contain a few poorly-worded statements that have the air of untruth, veiling it slightly.
Score: 9/10
Closing Comments
Phil Wickham’s Hymn of Heaven is decent. It focuses on life after we physically die, where we join in unison with brethren and angelic beings, prostrating before the King of kings and proclaiming His value and worth. We will show gratitude for Christ’s sacrifice. Tears, pain, and death will be no more. This song contains a few potential misstatements about all prayers in desperation and songs amid doubt and fear. Still, it glorifies God overall. Unbelievers should easily comprehend this song, though I am uncertain how the aforementioned issues will affect them.
It’s hard to recommend a song that contains potential errors; However, if you disagree with me or are willing to overlook them, feel free to sing it for corporate worship.
Final Score: 9/10
Artist Info
Track: Hymn of Heaven (listen to the song)
Artist: Phil Wickham
Album: Hymn of Heaven
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 2021
Duration: 4:28
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
Updates:
11/02/2021 – After conversing with several users about all prayers prayed in desperation, I decided to temper the language to say potentially, Wickham says all prayers are prayed in desperation. I also increased the song’s overall score, from 8/10 to 9/10.
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHO
