The
authors/composers wanted to say something about what they believed, as a holiday
to celebrate the Resurrection drew near. Phil Wickham kept in contact with
Brian Johnson with his texting device and the two finally had what they wanted
to say about “Living Hope” as Easter approached in early 2018. Phil had been in
the music-writing and performance world for a while, and the sprit of music had
been in him since childhood, so was it an accident that brought this song forth,
making it a top-10 hit? Looking at the breadth of his life, one might say it
was a foregone conclusion that Phil would write what he did with the help of
Brian. Yes, Phil has been musically successful, but he’d probably tell anybody
who’d listen that he owed a lot of that to those surrounding him. Phil evidently
learned a lot about living hope by having many others pinpoint the source of
that phrase for him to see.
Phil
Wickham must have known since his childhood days in San Diego that music would
be his calling, leading him to craft music and nine albums by the time “Living
Hope” took its place on Christian music charts in 2018. His parents and a brother
likewise have been involved in music in churches in southern California, so
Phil’s decision to seek out his own faith expression – with the encouragement
of his parents – via music at age 13 in his youth group was part of the family’s
DNA, you might say. “Living Hope” wasn’t the first success for Wickham, but the
third he’d written to be a top-10 Hot Christian Songs charted composition. How
Phil felt about this song and his obvious success reveals that he hasn’t
allowed all this to cloud what really matters – the sentiments expressed in the
words he wrote. Reflecting on the song, Phil indicates he feels ‘rescued’ from ‘death’,
an expression that must resonate with so many others who he says have taken up
the song as an ‘anthem’ in the churches where he and Brian Johnson conduct praise
worship. Its expression of ‘truth’ and redemption is what Phil says he hopes
others will ‘…cling to (it) as well’. You
can imagine that Phil and Brian might have been deep into their bibles and what
the ancient apostle said to give them the song-title that they co-wrote (1
Peter 1:3). They also took note of the exclamation mark in this same verse that
this ancient writer (Peter) used to express the passion believers have for this
transport of death into life. That comes through in how the two songwriters
echo Peter’s unbounded celebration and realization. We’re all freed!
What would
it feel like not only to get out of prison, but to have one’s record expunged? That’s
the sense that Phil Wickham and Brian Johnson convey in “Living Hope”. Their
metaphors in the praise chorus include ‘…death has lost its grip’ and ‘…broken
every chain’, so that everyone hearing would appreciate how slaves set free might
feel. The ‘chasm’ and the ‘mountain’ (v.1) have been overcome. It’s in verse 3
that we all cling to the ‘Roaring Lion’ as we think of confronting the grave,
the inevitable. The phrases above are some powerful reminders, some vivid
imagery that speaks to the conscience of my mortality. It’s coming, isn’t it?
That death is real, I cannot deny. But, so is living hope. Grab on to that.
See this link for information about the song:
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