Hymn of Heaven by Phil Wickham
Author/Composer Information: “Hymn of Heaven” by Phil Wickham is a popular worship song that one may hear fifteen times a day while listening to K-Love. The song was released on June 25, 2021. It was produced by Fair Trade Services on Phil Wickham’s album, “Hymn of Heaven”. The lyrics were written by Phil Wickham, Brian Johnson, Bill Johnson, and Chris Davenport and the producer was Jonathan Smith. This song is so popular that it is currently number two on the Hot Christian Songs chart produced by Billboard (second to “The Goodness” by Tobymac featuring Blessing Offor).
Phil Wickham is a modern leader, singer, and songwriter in Christian Music and has been since his self-titled debut in 2006. He is from San Diego, California. Wickham admits that he did not know what God’s plan for his life was at first so he prayed for clarity and his prayer was answered while he was performing in the UK with his mainstream band. He says, “I felt His [God] smile in that moment and heard Him saying that this is where He wanted me to be — leading people to worship Him.”
Biblical Basis: “Hymn of Heaven” encourages people to acknowledge that fact that we long to be with Jesus in Heaven. It emphasizes Jesus’ second coming and the reuniting of believers with God. The song also encourages believers to praise the Lord for He alone is holy and that no matter what is going on on the earth right now, one day we will be reunited with Him in glory forever. This song never explicitly quotes any scripture word for word, however scripture is deeply rooted in all of this song. Here are a few scriptures that I believe support the text in this song:
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the songs of God” (Romans 8:18–19).
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
“Therefore God has also highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above all other names. That at the name of Jesus, every knee would bow of those in heaven, and those on earth, and other those under earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–11).
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing” (Revelation 5:12).
Textual Analysis: This song is organized as such: Verse 1, Chorus 1, Verse 2, Chorus 1, Verse 3 (repeated once), Chorus 2 (repeated once), Tag (repeated twice). Each verse pulls from different passages in the bible, each will be mentioned beside the verse.
Verse 1:
How I long to breathe the air of Heaven (2 Corinthians 5:1–9)
Where pain is gone and mercy fills the streets (Revelation 21:4)
To look upon the One who bled to save me (John 14:2)
And walk with Him for all eternity (John 14:2)
Chorus 1:
There will be a day when all will bow before Him (Philippians 2:9–11)
There will be a day when death will be no more (Revelation 21:4)
Standing face to face with He who died and rose again (1 Corinthians 13:12)
Holy, holy is the Lord (Revelation 4:8)
Verse 2:
And every prayer we prayed in desperation (Romans 8:18–19)
The songs of faith we sang through doubt and fear (Romans 8:18–19)
In the end, we’ll see that it was worth it (Romans 8:18–19)
When He returns to wipe away our tears (Isaiah 25:8)
Chorus 1:
There will be a day when all will bow before Him (Philippians 2:9–11)
There will be a day when death will be no more (Revelation 21:4)
Standing face to face with He who died and rose again (1 Corinthians 13:12)
Holy, holy is the Lord (Revelation 4:8)
Verse 3 (repeated once):
And on that day, we join the resurrection (Revelation 5:12)
And stand beside the heroes of the faith (Revelation 5:12)
With one voice, a thousand generations (Revelation 5:12)
Sing, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (Revelation 5:12)
Chorus 2 (repeated once):
So let it be today we shout the hymn of Heaven (Phillippians 3:20)
With angels and the saints, we raise a mighty roar (Revelation 5:11–12)
Glory to our God who gave us life beyond the grave (Revelation 5:12)
Holy, holy is the Lord (Revelation 4:8)
Tag (repeated twice):
Holy, holy is the Lord (Revelation 4:8)
This song in and of itself is written for believers because of the fact that non believers can not relate to longing for heaven in the way the sincere followers of Christ can. “Hymn of Heaven” invites the believer the join in singing about our longing for Heaven and to be with our creator. This is a theme that I believe is present and consistent throughout the Bible. Passages throughout both the Old and New Testaments emphasize God’s people’s not only want, but need to be with Him.
Musical Evaluation: “Hymn of Heaven” is originally written in E Major. The song moves mostly from the tonic chord, and different inversions or suspensions of the tonic (I, E), to the pre dominant chord (IV, A), to the dominant chord, (V, B), then back to the tonic. This is a very typical structure for most modern worship songs. This song moves through a I, IV, V pattern most of the song. The areas that aren’t predominant or dominant, leading to cadences, are prolonging the tonic, E, by using different inversions of the chord and suspension of it. Because of the chord simplicity in this song, it works well in a setting of a full worship band as well as a more acoustic setting for a simpler feel. This song is written in 4/4 time which makes it a fairly simple rhythm to learn.
Effectiveness in Corporate Worship: I think that this song would be a good song to lead during a corporate worship service because it praises God for being holy. It is a fairly simple song musically and the choruses are all basically the same so they are pretty easy to pick up on. The only reason why this song might not be great to lead in corporate worship is because it does not have an appeal to the unbelievers in the congregation. However, the flip side of that coin is that when your are planning a church service, one probably plans mostly towards the believers in the church since that is a majority of the congregation.
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