Hymn of Heaven

The next entry for my Blog is Hymn of Heaven, which was written Brian Johnson, Phil Wickham, Bill Johnson, and Chris Davenport.  It was first released June 25, 2021.  A link to Phil Wickham singing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

Hymn of Heaven

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

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

And 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

Oh, 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

And 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”

And 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”

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

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

Holy, holy is the Lord
Holy, holy is the Lord

Many times, I have heard people say, that person is such a breath of fresh air; meaning the person brings light into a challenging situation.  The writer of this song starts by saying they long for the breath of fresh air that only heaven can bring.  No matter how good or bad things are for us today, heaven will far surpass all of our hopes and dreams.  It is a place where there is no pain or sorrow and everywhere we look is perfection.  We get to spend time with Jesus, who is the one who died for us so we could spend forever with him.  That day will come when we will bow down to him in reverence as well as thankfulness for what he did for us.  Some of the greatest things in heaven, other than time with our savior, will be that there will be no more death, no more sadness, no more suffering, no more tears of sadness, and we will be reunited with friends and family who had accepted Christ and passed on before us.  Every time we experience this joy, we will be thanking Jesus for dying for us and reuniting us with  our loved ones.

It is challenging to talk about anything after thinking about the above, it all will be so so wonderful.  The problem is that we let the challenges of our life take over our daily thoughts again and again.  It all seems to be an act of desperation.  Part of the problem is that we do no pray enough, which leads us to forget about God and his role in our lives.  We are told in 1st Thessalonians 5:16-17, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”.  We need to thank God for everything he has done for us in our lives.  We should also pray for the needs of our families, our friends, our enemies, our country, and the entire world.  All of these are God’s creations, he put all of us here.   We sometimes give up hope after praying for so long, it is almost as if our desperate pleas are not being heard.  We maybe go to church and sing the songs of glory, and hear the strong message of God’s promises.  I love to listen to songs about Jesus and faith on the radio and I sing my heart out.  After I leave the church building and after I get out of my car, I seem to lose some of that joy I was just experiencing; I let life take away my joy.  As the song says, it will all be worth our pain, our suffering, and our frustration with life.  The day will come when Jesus, the one who died for us, will wipe away all of our tears and fill our hearts with joy as we begin life in our new home.  We are told this in the book of Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”  This promise is for those who have accepted Jesus as their personal savior.

The day that Jesus comes in the clouds, the people who have accepted him will rise into heaven to join all others who accepted him and died before us.  We will be part of the resurrection of millions of others.  We will all of a sudden be side by side with some of the greatest people of faith who ever lived.   Many of these will be people we have read about in our bibles, others will be some of the great leaders of faith that came after the time of Jesus, and most will be people who are regular everyday people who accepted Christ as their personal savior.  We will be standing with people who might have lived since mankind was first created, all of the God’s faithful will be together for the first time.  This entire gathering of the saved, which will be larger than we could ever imagine, will start singing Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.  Jesus, the sacrificial lamb, finally gets to hear all of his family sing praises to him and the father.

Wow, I am not sure I can even imagine the billions of voices from people of all eras of time and representing the entire earth singing at one time.  The angels will be also be joining in as the music reaches a crescendo that we ever thought possible.  What better way to honor our savior, who is the definition of holiness.  Holy, holy is the Lord indeed.

Click to See Phil Wickham Perform Hymn of Heaven

The King is Coming

We know that Jesus the King of Kings will be coming back as he promised. This song paints a picture of perhaps what it might be like if he came to your city. We don’t know when he is coming or exactly where we will see him, but we do know he will be taking the saved back home with him. As you read the lyrics and/or listen to the song, think about how you would feel and what he has done for you.

This next song for my Blog was written by: Gloria Gaither, Willam J. Gaither, and Charles Millhuff and first released in 1970. A link to the Gaither Vocal Band performing the song is at the bottom of this Blog entry.

The King Is Coming

The marketplace is empty
No more traffic in the streets
All the builders’ tools are silent
No more time to harvest wheat
Busy housewives cease their labors
In the courtroom no debate
Work on earth is all suspended
As the King comes thro’ the gate
O the King is coming
The King is coming
I just heard the trumpets sounding
And now His face I see
O the King is coming
The King is coming
Praise God, He’s coming for me
Happy faces line the hallways
Those whose lives have been redeemed
Broken homes that He has mended
Those from prison He has freed
Little children and the aged
Hand in hand stand all aglow
Who were crippled, broken, ruined
Clad in garments white as snow
O the King is coming
The King is coming
I just heard the trumpets sounding
And now His face I see
O the King is coming
The King is coming
Praise God, He’s coming for me
I can hear the chariots rumble
I can see the marching throng
The flurry of God’s trumpets
Spells the end of sin and wrong
Regal robes are now unfolding
Heaven’s grandstand’s all in place
Heaven’s choir now assembled
Start to sing “Amazing Grace”
O the King is coming
The King is coming
I just heard the trumpets sounding
And now His face I see
O the King is coming
The King is coming
Praise God, He’s coming for me

We know that the King will be coming back as he promised and this song paints a picture of perhaps what it might be like if he came to your city. We don’t know when he is coming, but we are told every eye will see him. As you read the lyrics and/or listen to the song, think about how you would feel and what he has done for you. This song is not about the theology of the rapture and the second coming, but about the impact Jesus might have if he arrived at an entrance to your city. I get excited as I think about the words in this song and the emotions it brings.

With today’s social media and news media, we can always be aware of everything going on around the world at any time. The word starts to spread that Jesus has been seen and is heading into the city. Of course everyone wants to see him, especially the believers. Non-believers, the majority of whom have probably heard about Jesus, want to see this curiosity, this person proclaiming to be the son of God.

The malls, shopping centers, schools, offices will all be vacated as the word of his coming spreads. As the traffic backs up, people get out of their vehicles to run to a location where they think they can see the King. The moms and dads who are at home are running out with their children, the sounds of all construction ceases, and all other activities cease. The only sounds are the whispers of “he is coming” and “can you see him yet.” Everyone is focused on this one event.

The trumpets start to sound, announcing his arrival, and the noise level in the crowd rises as they strain their necks to see him or perhaps seek higher ground as they try to see him. All of a sudden the first people see the King and the noise level rises among the crowd. Maybe some are just praising him at the top of their lungs, some may be dancing with joy, and some may just be standing in awe. I am sure that the crowd is pressing forward as people just want to be closer to him or to touch him. Each of the believers know that he has come to take them home. There will be many people with their faces plastered to the windows. Every floor with windows overlooking the arrival is packed with onlookers and their happy faces. The people who have accepted Christ have been redeemed and they are probably overwhelmed to see the man who died for them so they could join him in eternal life.

The people who survived broken homes, abuse, abandonment, infidelity are there because they found their way to Christ, perhaps the only love they have ever felt. The song references people who have been freed from prison and this could be the actual release from a physical prison or maybe a release from a prison of sin and despair. I am not sure it means that the person in the real prison was actually released, but it is someone who knows that they have spiritual freedom because of Christ and also have eternal life.

The little children who are probably looking on in awe and maybe not understanding all that is going on, but have heard about the King from their parents. The elderly or aged, are standing there with the children and perhaps reflecting back to the time they came to know Jesus, a good reason for their faces to be glowing. The elderly can sense that their aches, pains, and struggles in life are finally over and that they are nearing a reunion with their loved ones whom they have lost over the years.

The closer the King gets to us, the louder the rumbling of the chariots become. Our hearts are racing and we are filled with emotion as he draws closer. The crowds are getting bigger and the trumpets are getting louder and we can finally see his face. We are ready to be swept away from a sinful world that we battle every day. The angels are in their flowing robes and have formed their choir in the grandstands of heaven. Can you just imagine the sound of them singing Amazing Grace? I can feel the emotion just thinking about that time, that sound, and what is waiting for me.

We have run the race and fought the fight and we, as the redeemed, are finally coming home.

Click to hear the Gaither Vocal Band sing The King is Coming