A fresh start, Phil Wickham’s ‘Hymn to Heaven’ sets a counterculture on modern Christian music
Megachurches that pack huge numbers are mostly set on a concert stage. We’ve become used to how Hillsong introduced mainstream Christian music—dark, emotional, fillled with dazzling lights.
Phil Wickham concerts were done in the same tradition of dark stage and spotlights. However, he may be setting a new trend with his new song, “Hymn to Heaven.”
No special lighting or drama
Phil Wickham’s “Hymn of Heaven” sets up the video in a widely stained-glass window church. Set in a “heavenly bright setting,” no dramas, just worship—the lyrics pointing to heaven.
The video is a counterculture compared to the disturbing dark video of Hillsong or Bethel’s self-adulatory worship. Hopefully, it becomes a new trend in worship, raw and filled with heavenly sunlight.
As John MacArthur puts it, “Cut out the music. Turn on all the lights—normal lightbulbs, please… try and sell that.”
Heavenly bright setting
→ Is your church a concert or a house of worship?
Lyrics of ‘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
[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
[Verse 2]
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)
[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
[Verse 3]
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
