worship

Exploring ‘Long Live the King’: A Worship Analysis

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

“Long Live the King,” written by Gabriel Wilson, Matt Gilman, and Nate Lapeer, seized my attention when it came out two years ago. Its vivid and theological description of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and exaltation brought me to tears in my car. It impressed the majesty and glory of Christ on my heart and imagination in a way that few songs have.

I learned it, practiced it, and was all geared up to use it for Easter 2023! Unfortunately, the third verse weirded me out. My church doesn’t really teach that Jesus descended into hell while he was in the grave, and I thought that event, the Harrowing of Hell, is what this verse was referring to. I chickened out, and we haven’t used it for church. But now I’m ready to give “Long Live the King” another look! What is that funky third verse about, is it biblical, and will it worship? Let’s check it out!

Focus

“Long Live the King” is an acclamation of Christ. It explores his suffering, death, resurrection, and glorification and hails him as king in each context.

It calls Jesus by name and uses lots of titles for him including Anointed One, Emmanuel, and Perfect Lamb. It also refers to the Holy Spirit’s role in Jesus’ resurrection. The language in “Long Live the King” is both personal and corporate; each chorus talks about lifting my hands, but the verses speak of our Messiah, our Redeemer, our victory.

Lyric Analysis

VERSES 1 & 2
These verses are sung back-to-back and recount the same events from two different perspectives.

Verse 1 is about the physical events of Jesus’ suffering, death, and burial. It picks out several significant events from John 19, so we’ll start with the crown of thorns. The writers do something really cool here by saying, “There in crown of thorn and thistle.” At first, I thought this was just a poetic liberty. After all, the crown in the Gospels only had thorns. No thistles to be seen. But where do we find thorns and thistles together in the Bible? Genesis 3:18 says of the ground, “thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.” Adam’s work is made painful and dangerous because of sin. In his death, Jesus is taking Adam’s curse upon his own head. This is something verse 2 makes explicit.

The rest of the verse recounts more familiar details: the sign reading “King of the Jews,” Jesus’ blood shed on the cross, the crimson river flowing from his pierced side, darkness falling at his death, the burial clothes, and Jesus’ interment in a tomb. This verse invites us to contemplate Christ’s suffering and humiliation. When we do, we find both grief and gratitude welling up within us.

Verse 2 deals with the spiritual realities of Christ’s work on the cross. The first line echoes the metaphor of Adam’s thorns and thistles: every curse is laid upon Christ. He bears the burden for us. He wears our sin like the robe of shame the soldiers placed on him.

Calling Jesus the “perfect Lamb led to the slaughter” recalls the words of Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter.” It also looks forward to Revelation 5:5-6, where John is told to look for the Lion, but instead finds the slain Lamb standing. This song will show us both Jesus’ humble sacrifice as a lamb and his triumphant power as a lion.

In the Old Testament, a ransom was the price paid to save someone’s life, either from slavery or from the just punishment for a crime they had committed. This is what Christ has done for us. At the moment of his death, Jesus tore the temple veil in two (Lk 23:44-46). This was the curtain that sealed off the Holy of Holies, the place where God’s presence rested. It represented the great divide between God and man, the rift between our sinfulness and his holiness. Christ’s death was a great victory because he accomplished all this, defeating sin and darkness, freeing us from our enslavement to death, and bringing us safely into God’s holy presence. Revelation 12:11 teaches us that the victory of the saints is in the blood of the Lamb.

LONG LIVE THE KING
There is no single chorus in this song. Instead, each chorus has its own words that develop what was discussed in the preceding verse. The one commonality is the repeated titular phrase: “Long live the King!”

People have been wishing long life to their rulers for millennia. “Long live the king” was the shout of the people when Samuel anointed Saul and proclaimed him king (1 Sam 10:24). Daniel even addresses King Darius, a pagan ruler, this way (Dan 6:21). To say “long live the king” is to express loyalty and submission to a ruler. It’s a statement of belief that they are the rightful and beneficial sovereign. It is an endorsement of their justice and righteousness.

In Western culture, “long live the king” is often part of the longer phrase “The king is dead, long live the king!” Traditionally, this is the announcement of the death of the former ruler and the succession of the new one. In the context of Jesus’ death, it means something completely different! It is in his dying that he is crowned and exalted.

How appropriate, then, to proclaim “long live the king” of Christ Jesus, of whom Isaiah says, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore!” (Is 9:7)

CHORUS 1
The first line of this chorus says, “the wrath of God and man now satisfied.” Many people are uncomfortable with songs that mention God’s wrath, or the idea that Jesus satisfies it. They object to the idea that a loving God should have any wrath toward his children and therefore the idea that he should send his Son to absorb such wrath on our behalf. I sympathize with their concerns, but we need to take the problem of human evil seriously if we are going to discuss God’s wrath. How can we look at genocides, murders, rapes, systemic racism, oppression of the poor, and casual acts of violence and not cry out for justice? How can we not cry out for God’s wrath to wash away the wicked? We must also remember that Jesus is not a separate entity from God; he is not merely human. He is God himself. So if one seek to blame God for creating man with our capacity for wickedness or if you think God is unjust to punish evil, remember that he stepped into our suffering and pain and took his own wrath upon himself. (Rom 2:8, Rom 3:23, 2 Cor 5:21, Gal 3:10-13, Isa 53:4-11) I think this is an excellent line because it shows that while God’s wrath is just, it is no longer directed toward us us because of Christ’s atonement. I also love that it draws the wrath of man into the equation. We humans so easily become wroth with one another, but Jesus’ death disarms our anger and violence. Ephesians 2:14 teaches that Christ broke down the dividing walls between people as well as the wall between us and God. In the shadow of the cross, how can we raise a hand against our brother or sister?

The phrase “he paid the price” echoes the early church’s understanding of atonement, called “ransom theory.” (Think Aslan dying to ransom Edmund in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.) In the Old Testament, atonement for all the people was made with continual sacrifices. Jesus has made perfect and final atonement once and for all by the sacrifice of his own body and blood (Heb 10:10).

Even sin and sickness must obey Jesus. He healed countless people during his ministry, including casting out demons (Mt 8:16-17). In the story of the paralyzed man in Matthew 9:1-8, he demonstrates his lordship over both. Not only does he forgive all the man’s sins, but he heals his body as evidence of his authority. It is important that we remember that while every sin and sickness must submit to Jesus’ authority, we are not guaranteed individual victory over each sin and sickness in our lifetime. There are sins that will continue to tempt us until we die, and each of us will eventually succumb to sickness. Even the Apostle Paul dealt with his famous “thorn in the flesh,” a persistent ailment of some kind (2 Cor 12:7). We must not take someone’s continued illness or struggle with temptation as evidence of lack of faith or evidence that God is absent.

VERSE 3
This verse is a little confusing because it could refer to a couple different things. It references several Scriptures, but the verses in question are famously hard to understand. We could be talking about the Harrowing of Hell, or we could be speaking more generally about Jesus defeating death.

In ancient Greek thought, Hades was where all the dead went, not only the wicked. It doesn’t carry the same connotations of evil and punishment as the Christian idea of hell. (Side note: Can we all agree to sing “depths of Hades” instead of “bowels of Hades?” I would really rather not say “bowels” in a worship song. 🤢) The trembling in Hades could refer to the twin earthquakes at Christ’s death and resurrection (Mt 27:54, Mt 28:2), or it could refer to death and hell themselves quaking in fear at Christ’s victory. The breath of God descending could refer to the Holy Spirit entering Christ’s tomb to bring him back to life (Rom 8:10-11), or to Jesus entering the realm of the dead to proclaim his Gospel to all the dead (1 Pet 3:18-20).

The triumphal parade seems to be a reference to Ephesians 4:8-9, which says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. (In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?).” Rather than a parade of captured enemies, as commonly seen in a Roman triumph or even in Psalm 68:8, Jesus is leading a procession of liberated captives. This procession consists of everyone who will believe in him, past, present, and future.

Either way you interpret it, this verse uses poetic and scriptural language to show the triumph of Jesus over death.

CHORUS 2
Now, instead of a the mockery and pain of a crown of thorns, Jesus, the Son of God, is crowned with many crowns. This line comes from Revelation 19:12 and also the famous hymn “Crown Him with Many Crowns.”

Jesus is the light of the world who dispels darkness and defeats death (Jn 8:12, 1 Cor 15:22-26). We would be lost in darkness on our own, but instead we are found in his light.

Another potential source of controversy in this song is the line “the souls of every sinner now redeemed.” The question here is whether this line suggests Christian universalism or universal reconciliation, the belief that all people will be saved, not only those who come to believe in Jesus during their earthly lives. I don’t think this line necessarily teaches that. The line says every sinner is redeemed, not that every sinner is saved. To redeem or ransom someone (see verse 2) means to pay a price for that person’s rescue or liberation. Jesus has paid the price for the redemption of every human being. Some may reject him and flee from him, like Hosea’s redeemed wife left him, but this does not lessen the scope of Christ’s great redemption.

VERSE 4
The Bible doesn’t give us much information about what happened inside Jesus’ tomb. We don’t know all the ins and outs of the trinitarian relationship, but it seems evident that the Holy Spirit played a major role in the Resurrection. Romans 8:10-12 says, “if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Genesis 2:7 says that when God was making the world, Adam became a living creature when the breath of life entered nostrils. So Christ’s resurrection, the breath of life reentering his lifeless body, is the moment when the New Adam inaugurates the New Creation.

The dual image of Christ as Lion and Lamb is found throughout Scripture, but especially Revelation 5:5-6. Jesus has given his life as the sacrificial Lamb and he has triumphed over death as the glorious Lion of Judah. He is alive and glorified!

CHORUS 3
The name Emmanuel means “God with us,” so it’s interesting that the songwriters use this title here, at the height of Jesus’ glorification in heaven. Even when he is so very far above us, so enthroned that the very stars worship him, he is still near to us.

Much as he has exchanged a crown of thorns for many crowns of glory, Jesus has exchanged the mocking robe of the soldiers for one of true rulership. In Revelation 19:11-16, Jesus rides at the head of the armies of heaven wearing a robe dipped in blood and bearing the name “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” His reign and victory are just, faithful, and true. None is more worthy, none is more powerful. This enthronement of the Lion/Lamb King is the event for which all of creation has been longing (Rom 8:18-22). The stars and all of creation erupt in worship, and when we sing this song, we join in with them (Ps 148), declaring “long live the King!”

Accessibility

This song has a lot of words and Scripture references, but it also paints really clear and beautiful mental images that anyone can latch onto. For instance, the final chorus references Revelation 19, Romans 8, and Psalm 148, but you don’t have to know those passages to be able to picture the resurrected King Jesus filling heaven with his presence and taking his rightful place on the throne.

The main concern I have for misinterpretation is that some people might take the line, “every sinner now redeemed” as a statement of universal reconciliation, which most Christian churches do not teach. It’s also possible for people to get hung up on the intricacies of verse 3, but I’m confident that is a tangle that only experienced church people will stumble into, and if anything it will lead them into deeper study of God’s word.

The constant refrain, “Long live the King!” is easy to pick up (though the melody gets kinda funky in the second half of the song). The verses repeat the same melodic material over and over, so I think it will be easy for a congregation to learn and sing. The choruses are a little trickier, but well within the bounds of what is congregational. The melody jumps around quite a bit (slightly more than two octaves 😬), so range may be a concern. Still, the majority of it stays within an octave+2, so I don’t think you’ll lose people except on the very highest and lowest notes.

Music

The music of this song matches the words perfectly. The beginning is somber, then becomes hopeful, driving, and finally triumphant. And man is that ending triumphant! This is one of my very favorite expressions of the glory of the ascended Son of Man, and it has brought me to tears more than once. Having said all that, dynamics are super important in this song. It’s got to start quiet, it’s got to drive hard through the middle build, and it’s got to have a big ending.

The chord structure is another one of my favorite features of this song. It largely uses the chords you expect in worship songs and pop music, but it also throws in a couple minor 5s and flat 6s that somehow open up the tonality to invoke a level of majesty that you just don’t get in your typical G D Em C worship progression.

With those funky chords, the crazy dynamics, and the wide vocal range, this song demands a lot of a worship band, and it’s not for the faint of heart.

Function

Gathering | Word | Table | Sending

I would use this song anywhere in a worship service except for the very end. It unites God’s people with a shared acclamation, it declares the story of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and glorification, and it provides us with an opportunity to respond to that story from our hearts with love, devotion, and awe. So it works well as an opening song, a song of the Word, or a Communion/response song. The tricky part is fitting it into the dynamic or energy level flow of a service, since it starts so quietly and ends huge.

I would resist the temptation to use this one as a closer. The ending is big and powerful and exciting, but it lacks the kind of call-to-action that makes for an effective sending song.

Conclusions

Will it worship? You bet!

I started writing this post several months ago, before schoolwork and life circumstances necessitated taking a break from blogging. Since then we have sung “Long Live the King” a few times in church, beginning on Easter. I found that people were profoundly moved by the song, though it was more difficult than average for a congregant to learn and be able to sing along.

So, if your band is up for a challenge and you don’t mind some challenging lyrics about Jesus defeating hell, go for it! I am confident this song will bless your congregation and facilitate their heartfelt response to the gospel and the glory of Jesus.

Image by Tom Gainor on Unsplash

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

Sun Up, Sun Down: Is ‘Praise Out’ Biblical?

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

I found “Praise Out” this week in the new releases carousel on CCLI SongSelect (one of my favorite places to find new worship songs!) I wasn’t familiar with Meredith Mauldin or Joel Figueroa, and the album art caught my eye, so I gave it a listen. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since! If nothing else, Mauldin, Figueroa, Brett Lee Miller, and Marie Elizabeth Welch have crafted an effective earworm with this song. But “Praise Out” is more than that! It’s a joyful (and chill) anthem of God’s faithfulness, and it calls us to a life-rhythm of unceasing worship.

So! Let’s check out “Praise Out” to see if it’s biblical and if it will worship.

Focus

This song offers praise to God for his faithfulness as revealed in the cycles of nature.

“Praise Out” is sung directly to the Creator, mostly addressing him as You. If there was any doubt who “You” is (unlikely), the bridge explicitly calls him God.

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
I have to confess some grammatical bewilderment regarding the first two lines. I know what it means, I just can’t quite make the words into a grammatical structure that makes sense to me. I keep trying to make “intricate” into a noun so that it can be a complete sentence, but I probably just let them be poetic fragments and quit worrying about it. Sigh. 🤓

In any case, the first half of the verse is about how the intricate details of God’s created world show his character and intent. His character seems evident: creative, wise, brilliant. But what intent is demonstrated here? The next few lines tell us that his intent is to provide for us, and indeed for the whole creation. The seasons continue in their cycle, and the sparrow continues to receive its food from God’s hand. Because he is our provider, we don’t need to be anxious about our needs being met.

The example of the sparrow comes from the Gospels, where Jesus tells his disciples that not even a sparrow falls out of the sky apart from God’s will and knowledge, and that they are much more valuable to him than sparrows (Lk 12:6-7, Mt 10:29-31). In Matthew 6:26-30, Jesus goes even further, reminding his disciples that God dresses the flowers of the field and feeds the birds of the air, so they should relinquish their anxiety and have faith in God’s provision. And Psalm 84:3 says “Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.” So the sparrow is an illustration that even the humblest creatures are welcome, cared for, and sheltered in the presence of God.

This verse ends with a commitment to be like the sparrow and trust God rather than anxiously seeking to meet our own needs.

VERSE 2
This verse offers our commitment to praise God both publicly and privately. With David the psalmist and even Christ himself, we tell one another of God’s greatness and we praise him in the congregation (Ps 22:22, Heb 2:12). We also express our intent to praise God quietly and privately, as Jesus encourages his disciples to do (Mt 6:6). This ensures that our worship is not performative or a mere response to social pressure. I think most of us will be challenged by this verse, if we listen to it. We may attend church faithfully but neglect our secret time with the Lord. Or we may pray alone but refrain from participating in the collected praise of God’s people. A healthy life of worship must include both!

The end of the verse returns to our nature metaphor, reminding us of the cycle of seasons and flowers blooming in their time. As the flowers give praise in their blooming, so will we give honor to God when we experience blessing and growth. This line also calls back to verse 1 and its discussion of God’s provision. He cares for sparrow and flower alike, so we know he will provide for us.

CHORUS
The chorus is short and simple, with only 14 words. This simplicity allows us to meditate on the layers of meaning behind the sun, the ways that we can praise God in our lives, and the many ways he’s been faithful.

Sun up, sun down: There’s a lot of depth in this simple image! The Preacher of Ecclesiastes uses the rising and setting sun as an example of the enduring order of God’s creation (Ec 1:4-7). God has established the cycles of day and night, the seasons, the flowing of water, and these things endure, unlike man’s time upon the earth, which is fleeting.

The Psalms use the sun to praise God in at least four ways. First, it represents eternity. As the sun rises and sets without fail, without (apparent) end or beginning, so God’s fame and honor will endure throughout all generations (Ps 72:5, 17). Second, the sun represents the timely cycles of creation. God devised these systems and sustains them. The sun only knows when to set because God has established it in its course (Ps 104:19, 74:16). So, it illustrates God’s power and wisdom in creation. Third, the sun is a source of life and blessing, pointing toward God who is the true source of all life and blessing (Ps 84:11). Finally, in Psalm 148, the psalmist summons the sun itself to give praise to God along with all the angels, stars, sea creatures, mountains, trees, beasts, and peoples. All creation sings (literally and/or metaphorically) the praise of God the Creator.

I’ll keep on singing Your praise out: So, along with the sun and all creation, we offer our continual praise from the time we rise to the time we lay down to sleep.

Faithful right now: My first interpretation of this line is that God is faithful right now. As he’s established the seasons and the day and night, as he’s provided for us and been present in the secret and in the open, so we can trust that he’s present in this very moment, whatever we are doing, experiencing, or facing. I still think that’s the primary meaning of this line, but it could also be a commitment on the part of the worshiper. Because of God’s faithfulness, we commit right now to keep singing his praise faithfully regardless of current circumstance.

BRIDGE
“Glory to God in the highest” is the song of the angels who announce Jesus’ birth to the shepherds in Luke 2:14. Joining them, we offer God not only some praise and glory, but the highest praise and glory.

We return here to the picture from Psalm 148, in which everything in creation sings the praise of its Creator. The New Testament reveals that the Creator is Jesus. Colossians 1:16-17 says of Christ, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” This bridge invites us to revel in the beauty and rightness of everything God has made coming together to worship Jesus. This is the symphony of creation.

This picture should also carry our thoughts forward to the day of Christ’s return. Right now, the creation is broken, longing to participate in the freedom and glory of God’s children (Rm 8:18-24). But one day, the family will be reunited, the creation will be healed, and the song will be perfect, glorious, and unending.

Accessibility

You don’t need an extensive church background or Bible education to understand this song, but you do need to exercise a little bit of abstract thinking. “Sun up, sun down,” is a metaphor, but it’s not a difficult one to find meaning in. The rest of the song is similar: easy to understand with just a little bit of effort, and deepening in meaning the more that you contemplate and connect different sections to Scripture.

The rhythms of this song are repetitive and easy to learn. The melody is the same, though the big skips on the chorus are a little tricky. The range is 8+5 which is wider than I prefer, but pretty typical for current worship music.

Music

One of the refreshing things about this song is its chill, (mostly) acoustic instrumentation. It’s driven by an acoustic guitar with support from bass, piano, and a drum kit played with brushes. There are some prominent synth effects, but they’re bright, sparkly, atmospheric sounds rather than big pads and horns and strings. As the song continues, there’s some additional electric guitar, and a chorus of background vocals that build in near the end. This song works as well with a single piano or guitar as with a whole band, a valuable trait for worship leaders who find themselves in varied circumstances from week to week.

“Praise Out” has excellent dynamics. I love the way the volume pulls back at the first chorus to focus in on the heart of praise that underlies the words. After that, it follows the normal worship song dynamic progression, getting a little louder for verse 2 and chorus 2, and then dropping down to start the bridge quiet and build from there. I really get caught up in the build on this bridge through the end of the song. It’s like the song keeps ascending as the praise continues ascending to God’s throne.

The chord progression is easy to learn and memorize. The rhythms are easy except for the one syncopated lead line that starts in the intro. The synth stuff can be in a backing track (available on Loop Community and Multitracks) or just omitted. In the recording, Joel does some falsetto on the high notes in the chorus so that the first couple times aren’t as loud, but it could easily be transposed so that this isn’t necessary. Overall, I think this song will be very playable for a volunteer worship team.

Function

Gathering | Word | Table | Sending

“Praise Out” works best as a call to worship. It could also function as a sending song, calling the congregation to live out continual worship, praising God in every moment.

I would pair “Praise Out” with a reading from Matthew 6:26-30 to speak about God’s provision or Psalm 148 to show how all creation offers praise to God. Colossians 1:16-17 would also be a great fit, as it encapsulates the special relationship between Jesus and creation.

Conclusions

Will it worship? Definitely!

“Praise Out” gives us an opportunity to reflect on the constancy of God’s provision, and it does so by referring to nature and its constant cycles in a way that would be at home in the Psalms. It also gives us an opportunity to offer our whole lives to God in praise, reminding us that worship is not just a Sunday-morning song, but a posture of living. The melody is easy to learn, and the words achieve accessibility without sacrificing depth of meaning.

I hope to introduce this song in Sunday worship real soon as it seems especially appropriate for springtime. Maybe you’ll join me!

Image by Olga Filonenko on Unsplash

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

LITTLE DRUMMER BOY –  Katherine Kennicott Davis

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

Most of us are familiar with Bing Crosby‘s version of “The Little Drummer Boy,” and some of us grew up watching the stop motion television special with the same name. More recently, it’s been covered by the Pentatonix and for KING & COUNTRY. This song originates with the pen of Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941, and it was first recorded ten years later by the Trapp family of Sound of Music fame (thanks, Wikipedia!).

But is “The Little Drummer Boy” biblically accurate, and should you sing it in church? Excellent questions! Many traditional Christmas songs are obviously not worship songs (looking at you, Frosty and Rudolph!) while others are eminently Christ-centered. This one is a little trickier because it seems to sit somewhere in the middle. Let’s imagine ourselves in the scene this song paints and ask, will it worship?

Focus

“The Little Drummer Boy” teaches the importance of bringing God our best, whatever that may be, and it does so through a simple fictional story of a poor boy playing a drum for baby Jesus in the manger.

This song isn’t addressed to God, and God isn’t the main subject. It’s primarily about the drummer boy and his gift. Jesus is portrayed as a poor, newborn king in a stable. Some versions call him Baby Jesus (or Jesu), but others just say “little baby.”

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
The first verse seems to be from the perspective of the wise men. Matthew 2:1-18 gives us their story in Scripture. As the song says, they had come to honor the baby king, and they offered him gold, frankincense, and myrrh, fine gifts indeed. So far, so good!

This verse also perpetuates the misunderstanding that the wise men came to visit baby Jesus at the manger. Matthew indicates that their visit took place at a house, not a stable, and Herod’s murder of all male babies in Bethlehem two years old and younger indicates that Jesus was likely a year or two old at the time. Is this an important error? I don’t know. I don’t see the harm in compressing the nativity story for narrative purposes, and I don’t think this inaccuracy has any practical or theological implications.

VERSE 2
Now we shift to the perspective of the little drummer boy himself. He’s a fictitious character inserted into the nativity story as a stand-in for ourselves. The drummer boy sees that baby Jesus is poor like he is, and he regrets that he has no gift to offer alongside the treasures presented by the wise men. I appreciate that this verse encourages us to identify with the poor, a regular concern of Christ and his disciples in the New Testament (Matt. 19:21, Luke 14:13, Rom. 15:26). In lieu of lavish gifts, the drummer boy can only offer his skill as a musician in worship.

VERSE 3
The author imagines Mary and the animals participating in the music. Again, fictitious, but harmless.

An important principle is presented in the line “I played my best for Him.” In the Old Testament, the Israelites were commanded that their sacrifices to God should be the best of their produce and livestock (Exo. 34:26, Num. 18:29). The New Testament teaches that in all our work we should strive for excellence, taking the perspective that our work is for the Lord, not merely for human masters (Col. 3:23-24).

Is response to the drummer boy’s gift, the baby Jesus smiles. This is reflective of Jesus’ attitude toward those who give generously out of their poor estate. In the story of the Widow’s Offering, Jesus elevates the humble gift of a poor widow above the large sums offered by the rich (Mark 12:41-43). Similarly, he honors Mary of Bethany for pouring out expensive perfume on him in worship rather than taking financial considerations into account (Mark 14:3-9). It seems clear that Jesus’ concern is the total offering of the heart in worship, not the monetary value of the gift.

Accessibility

This song uses a fictionalized version of a Bible story to make a simple point from the heart. I don’t think anyone who is paying attention will miss that. The message of giving the best that we have to Jesus instead of fretting about what we don’t have is easy for even a seeker or brand new believer to understand.

It is possible that someone could misinterpret this song as saying that God doesn’t want your money, just your worship or your talents or spiritual gifts. This would be an error. God wants your whole heart, and if he has your heart, your time, money, and talents will all become glad sacrifices (Matt. 6:21).

The repetitive melody and pa-rum-pum-pum-pums are easy to learn, and the whole song falls within the range of a minor 7th, so it is very singable.

Music

The song is short and has a simple 3-verse structure. Contemporary arrangements sometimes add instrumentals for added excitement. The tonicization in the middle of each verse adds tonal interest. This song can range from simple to very difficult depending on the arrangement chosen.

Conclusions

I’ve gone back and forth a few times while writing this post! At first, I thought this song would be a no. Then as I meditated on the line “I played my best for him,” and thought of the baby Jesus’ smiling on this offering like the adult Christ smiled on the widow’s offering, I changed my tune. God wants our hearts, and a heart devoted to Jesus will always offer him its best. This is an offering that God delights in. That is a timeless truth that bears repeating. Then I thought about whether this song is really to God or about God, and if I’m honest, it’s neither.

So, in summary, I think I have to give “Little Drummer Boy” a no for Sunday worship. Will it worship? Not really, though it might meditate. In my opinion, a kernel of truth couched in a cute fictional story isn’t the best use of the limited time we have to sing together on Sunday morning. But it is a beautiful kernel! If you’re looking for a Christmas Carol that expresses this idea more fully, I would encourage you to consider “In the Bleak Midwinter.”

In any case, our diminutive percussionist friend is a much better witness to Christ than either a nasally effulgent reindeer or an anthropomorphic snow creature, so let’s call it a soft no. 😉🎄

Image by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

HYMN OF HEAVEN – Phil Wickham, Bethel Music, Brian Johnson, Zahriya Zachary

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment
crowd with raised hands

Image by Edwin Andrade from Unsplash

What will heaven be like? Many songs attempt to answer that question, and it’s a hard one! One of my favorite N.T. Wright quotes is a reminder that all the clues we have about our eternal state are “signposts pointing into a fog.” We know some vague outlines about what heaven is, and what the new earth will be like, but we don’t have a lot of specifics. “Hymn of Heaven” focuses on the one activity we know is central to heavenly life: worship.

“Hymn of Heaven,” written by Bill Johnson, Brian Johnson, Chris Davenport, and Phil Wickham, was released in 2021 on Phil Wickham’s album of the same title and Bethel’s Homecoming. (The title track of that record is also about heaven, and I reviewed it here.) So what is the hymn of heaven mentioned in the song’s title? What does heavenly worship look like? Is this song based on Scripture? Will it worship? Answers to all these questions and more! Just keep on reading.

Focus

This song eagerly anticipates worshiping God in heaven. Accordingly, the focus is on glorifying God by singing of his holiness both in eternity and in the present. The other main theme is imagining what heaven will be like, and the emphasis here is still on all the angels and saints praising God together. The song also directly links our future in heaven with Jesus’ death and resurrection.

This song uses third person language to refer to God, calling him the Lord, the Lamb, and God. The first verse uses “I/me” language, but the rest of the song is all “we/us,” emphasizing the unity of believers in worshiping God.

Lyric Analysis

THE TITLE

Christians and non-Christians alike tend to have a lot of misconceptions about heaven. Perhaps the biggest one is that heaven is where we will spend eternity. This is not what the Bible teaches! Heaven is where believers who have died are joyfully present with God now, but they will not be there forever (Phil. 1:23, Luke 23:43). At the end of this age, we are going to dwell with God forever on a renewed earth, not float with him in the clouds (Rev. 21:1-4). Randy Alcorn has written a great article on this subject that was helpful in my research, and I encourage you to read it for more information!

I think preachers and songwriters often use the word “heaven” as a shorthand for dwelling-with-God-and-all-believers-from-all-time-in-the-New-Jerusalem-on-the-new-earth. It’s not my favorite practice because I think it contributes to confusion and misconceptions about our eternal state, but I understand why we do it. In fact, I’ll probably do it in this blog without realizing it. 🤦‍♂️

So, next time you hear someone use the word “heaven,” ask yourself if they’re really referring to heaven, where God is now, or the new earth, where we will spend eternity with him.

Having said all of that, the hymn of heaven referenced in the title seems to refer to three lines in the song. “Holy, holy is the Lord” occurs at the end of each chorus and is a shortened version of what the four living creatures are constantly saying around God’s throne in heaven (Rev. 4:8). The other two lines occur at the end of verse 3—”worthy is the Lamb who was slain” and “forever he shall reign”—and both are quotes of heavenly worship from the book of Revelation. So the title “Hymn of Heaven” is spot on. Good job, Phil & Friends!

VERSE 1
In this verse, the singer imagines his or her personal experience of being in heaven (technically probably the New Jerusalem, especially since the rest of the song is very focused on the final resurrection, but we talked about that already). He imagines breathing the air, feeling no pain, seeing Jesus in person, and walking with him. He refers to Jesus as “the One who bled to save me,” (1 Pet. 2:24) which I appreciate, because it links our presence in heaven with Jesus’ redeeming work on the cross.

CHORUS 1
One day, every knee will bow at the name of Jesus (Phil. 2:9-11). One day, death itself will die (Rev. 20:14, see also “Death, be not proud” by John Donne). One day, we’ll stand face to face with Jesus and worship him (1 Cor. 13:12, Rev. 7:9-12). But what day are we talking about? We’ve already probably got a good idea, but let’s wait for the verses to let us know for sure.

*Pedantic grammatical side-note: I’m 96% sure it should be “with him who died” rather than “with he who died” since “he/him who died and rose again” is a noun phrase that serves as the object of the preposition “with.” But it’s fine. My eye’s not twitching; what are you talking about? Moving on.*

VERSE 2

This verse is one long thought, not three complete sentences. So the first line is not saying that every prayer is desperate, but rather that every desperate prayer will be worth it in the end. The same with line 2: it’s worth it to sing songs of faith in the midst of hardship. The last line describes Jesus wiping away our tears (Rev. 21:4). I find great comfort in knowing that human suffering matters to God, that it isn’t wasted. In Psalm 56:8, David says that God keeps his tears in a bottle, and Psalm 116:15 even calls the deaths of the saints precious to the Lord. This does not mean that God enjoys our suffering, but that he is with us in it, and that it matters to him.

The final line also makes explicit what day this song is talking about: the day of Jesus’ glorious return when he will wipe away all our tears (Matt. 25:31-32, Rev. 21:4).

*Tired eschatological side-note: I’m not going to wander off into the weeds of end-times interpretation here. In some views, the day of Jesus’ return and the day of the final judgment might be separated by a thousand years, while others place them in rapid succession. Whether or not the Day of the Lord is in fact a literal 24-hour day is irrelevant to this song’s message.*

VERSE 3

Now “that day” is identified with the final resurrection of all the dead (Rev. 20:12-13), when we will stand before God’s throne and join either the sheep—those who obey God and love one another, the heroes of our faith—or the goats who do not (Heb. 11:39-12:2, Matt. 25:31-46). In Revelation 5, John sees larger and larger groups joining in the praise of Jesus. The line “worthy is the Lamb who was slain” is part of what he hears hundreds of millions of angels singing around God’s throne. Later in the book, loud voices in heaven also declare that Jesus will reign forever and ever (Rev. 11:15).

CHORUS 2

With the second chorus, the author encourages us not to wait until we die to sing Jesus’ praise. Heaven is praising God right now, and we have the opportunity to join in the song the angels and saints are already singing around his throne. We’re firmly in “now/not yet” territory here, recognizing that God has already given us eternal, resurrected life, and even though we can’t fully experience it yet, we can begin to live it out by singing the songs of heaven and living to glorify God here and now.

Accessibility

I think most people will be able to understand this song. The imagery of heaven and Jesus’ return are clear in use plain language. People who are unfamiliar with Scripture may not understand that Jesus is the “Lamb who was slain,” but most Christians will. The transition from “there will be a day” to “let it be today” might also confuse some people, but I think the song explains itself well enough that a little reflection will clear up the confusion. I don’t think anything in this song requires explanation beforehand.

The melody stays within an octave for the majority of the song, which is ideal for congregational singing. It increases to an octave+3 during the triumphant line “forever he shall reign” and the end of verse 3, and chorus 2 has an alternate melody that falls in that same range. That’s a larger range, but pretty normal for worship songs. Just keep those high notes in mind when choosing what key to set the song in.

Music

This song has a standard worship song dynamic arc. There’s no bridge, but verse 3 serves a similar musical function, bringing the volume down for a minute before building back up for some big closing choruses.

I’m partial to the Bethel version featuring Brian Johnson and Zahriya Zachary rather than the Phil Wickham studio version. I think the live worship environment makes such a difference with a song like this where the whole point is that God’s people are singing to him together.

If you’re a worship leader, make sure you have played through this song and double-checked your chord sheet before distributing it in practice. There is nothing super difficult, but the third line of each verse and chorus has some quick, extra chords with alternate bass notes, and the chord sheet I downloaded from Worship Together did not have them labeled correctly.

Conclusions

There are lots of songs that eagerly anticipate heaven. What I like about this one is that it does so by focusing on the real point of heaven: all of God’s people from all time, united with all creation in worshiping him forever. Instead of talking about golden streets, mansions, or even being reunited with lost loved ones, this song has its eyes fixed on Christ and his Bride the Church.

I also love that the three lines referred to as the hymn of heaven within the song all come from the Book of Revelation. So Phil & Co. aren’t just guessing at what kinds of praise we will give to God, they’re drawing the exact words from the praise God receives in heaven even now.

Will it worship? Yes! And in “Hymn of Heaven,” that’s the whole point.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.