Hymn of Heaven

Photo by Kaushik Panchal on Unsplash

Hymn of Heaven was written by Bill Johnson, Brian Johnson, Chris Davenport, and Phil Wickham in 2021, was released on Wickham’s album of the same title as well as Bethel’s album Homecoming. This song gives us a glimpse of what heaven will be like, specifically the one thing we were all created to do: worship. The song has two main focuses/themes, glorifying God through singing and imagining what heaven will be like. We have a future in heaven because of what Christ did on the cross.

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Verse 1

How I long to breathe the air of heaven

Where pain is gone and mercy fills the streets

To Look upon the one who bled to save me

And walk with Him for all eternity

Heaven is a topic that isn’t discussed often. The Bible gives us some description, but it’s almost unfathomable. Revelation (7:17,21:4,21) gives us a better description and picture of it, and yet it is still so hard for us to picture. I believe it’s because heaven is nothing like earth. Since God dwells in heaven it is absolute perfection, and we, as sinners cannot begin to understand that. Verse 1 provides us with so much hope. There will be no more pain and suffering, we will be face to face with our Savior and Creator, and have the privilege of walking with Him forever. Heaven sounds pretty great to me.

Chorus

There will be a day when all will bow before Him

There will be a day when death will be no more

Standing face to face with He who died and rose again

Holy holy is the Lord

Again, the chorus is continuing to provide hope and make known the perfection of heaven. The lyrics further explain those in Verse 1, and many of these lyrics have been taken straight from Scripture. The chorus also introduces God’s holiness, which is such an important aspect of this song. God is holy and because of that, he alone is worthy of our praise.

Verse 2

Every prayer we prayed in desperation

The songs of faith we sang through doubt and fear

In the end we’ll see that it was worth it

When He returns to wipe away our tears

Notice the language change in Verse 2. It switches from “I/me” to “we/us” for the remainder of the song. The song changes from being very personal to emphasizing the unity of believers in heaven worshipping God. We continue to get more lyrics about God redeeming and restoring us. First it was “where pain is gone” in Verse 1, then “There will be a day when death will be no more”, and now “When He returns to wipe away our tears.” This is what it’s all about: God redeeming and restoring His creation, the one He made in His image, to its original design/intent.

Bridge

On that day we join the resurrection

And stand beside the heroes of the faith

With one voice a thousand generations

Sing “worthy is the Lamb who was slain”

Forever He shall reign

These lyrics just give me chills every time I read them, they’re so insanely powerful. They provide a great sense of imagery. You can almost try to picture a thousand generations lifting up the name of the Lord. Nothing will be prohibiting us, just pure and authentic worship to the King.

Chorus 2

So let it be today we shout the hymn of Heaven

With angels and the Saints we raise a mighty roar

Glory to our God who gave us life beyond the grave

Holy holy is the Lord

“We raise a mighty roar.” Can you begin to hear that? Can you hear a thousand generations lifting up their voices to worship the King of all kings? In the end, God will restore His people. We will one day be wholly serving God without a single blemish or blot. We will fully be His and He will be ours.

Musical Evaluation

Phil Wickham has a relatively high voice for a man, and when he releases his songs they’re usually released in the key that fits his voice. Although, not all people can sing as high as him. If I were to do this song in a church or congregational setting the key would most definitely have to be lowered to match the range of most people. This song is really beautiful when it is sung with definite vocal parts. When you hear the soprano, alto, tenor, and bass split in the bridge it makes the song that much more powerful.

Overall, I would use this song in church or congregation settings, but maybe as a special. I think it would be wise to have your choir and/or worship team work on this one a few weeks prior to really nail the harmonies and voicing splits.

I love this song so much! The theology and message is insanely powerful and almost gives an actual glimpse of heaven. How I long for the day when every nation, tribe, and tongue will sing “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!”