Victor's Crown -- Darlene Zschech, Israel Houghton, Kari Jobe

 

Their ‘vision’ defied what their eyes would have told them. There’s another way to say that – ‘Don’t believe what your eyes are seeing’. And so, try reading from the International Standard Version of the Bible when you look up John 19:2-5, and notice how it’s different than virtually all of the other translations. That’s apparently what Darlene Zschech and her two collaborators, Israel Houghton and Kari Jobe, noticed, and what spurred “Victor’s Crown” in 2011. (See here the image of Christ Carrying the Cross, and wearing a crown of thorns, by 16^th Century artist El Greco.) Jesus stood on its head what wearing the thorns on one’s brow typically meant, and what the Roman soldiers evidently intended when they thrust them down on His head to cause one more stab of pain to His physical body. It was also their way to poke fun at Him, to heap yet one more bit of ignominy upon His person. We can thank Him that He was capable of enduring whatever they did to Him, and in fact turning it all upside down.

 

Darlene and her husband Mark Zschech left the Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia to become the pastors of the Hope Unlimited Church in New South Wales in 2011; it was from there just a couple of years later that ‘Victor’s Crown was written by Darlene, along with her collaborators. Darlene has shared in a video explanation (see the link below) the song’s inspiration, and what all that scene in John 19 has meant for believers. In short, his bleeding forehead and what would happen in the next few moments and hours were not the end of the story. The ‘final victory’ was in the resurrection, the defeat of death. With that, as Darlene explained, some of the lyrics that she, Israel, and Kari wrote describe what naturally results from such an amazing sequence of events. The ‘high things…come down’ and ‘strongholds…broken’. Pilate and the others, Darlene observed, thought their own power had been victorious; one has to wonder why they thought this way. Had they not perceived that He was more than a magician, that He had raised others, perhaps most notably Lazarus whom so many credible witnesses had observed (see John 11 and 12), so that His opponents even plotted to kill Lazarus too? But, they just didn’t have the power to eliminate all of the evidence; that’s what ultimately convicts criminals – they cannot erase all of the evidence. They cannot overcome because there’s too many evidence trails that lead back to them. On the other hand, Jesus has ‘overcome’, and He wants the evidence trails to lead inexorably to Himself. Darlene reminds us in the video that God underscores this point for us --- He’s ‘greater than anything anybody may be facing, and that’s the joy of the Victor’s Crown’. He doesn’t wear it just to help Himself; it’s for you and me, too.

 

The ‘Victor’s Crown’ really says it all, so this blogger doesn’t need to expound on it more here. Listen/watch it here, and just celebrate that what is sung is true, forever. Tell-show others that whatever dogs them in their terrestrial life, whatever feels like a crushing weight on their shoulders, whatever gnaws at their guts or feels empty deep inside, to get in touch with what the words of the song communicate. Bet your life on its truth.  Victor's Crown w/Darlene Zschech

 

See/hear the song story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X100Fzd5PP8

 

See here information on the image of Jesus: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_Carrying_the_Cross_1580.jpg …This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930. The image may be found inside this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_of_thorns

 

See here for information about the coat of arms of New South Wales: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coat_of_Arms_of_New_South_Wales.svg …The author died in 1922, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930. Find this image within this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales

At the Cross -- Reuben Morgan and Darlene Zschech

It was months before the 2006 Hillsong Conference in Sydney, Australia (see a picture of the Hillsong church’s convention center here), and Reuben Morgan and Darlene Zschech were deeply engaged in music-making for the upcoming live album that would commemorate that time. It’s not hard to guess what they were thinking, as the various titles of some of the songs and especially the title song of the album provide a window into that time. “At the Cross” was their joint idea, part of the album’s “Mighty to Save” message that Reuben and Darlene wanted to convey to Christian celebrants that year. His saving act is an historically pivotal moment for all of earth’s inhabitants – in the past, the present, and the future – so it’s impossible to exaggerate its significance, as well as God’s authority as Creator and Savior. He’s the holy and sovereign ruler of all, and yet Reuben and Darlene were also acknowledging Him in a very personal way, too. He died His death for me. That’s what these two songwriters wanted to say.

 

Perhaps it was the idea of Easter that first captured the imaginations of Reuben and Darlene, and how meaningful that was to each of them. In fact, the two have not shared what precisely motivated their lyrics and notes, but perhaps they’ve already said enough through the song. They wanted what He has done for the believer to be very personal, as one can see in their abundant use of the pronouns ‘I’, ‘me’, and ‘my’ – some 38 times throughout the verses and chorus. I can know Him, and He certainly knows all about me – He's ‘searched me’ (v.1), is ‘surrounding me’ (v.2), and as Darlene and Reuben say repeatedly, He ‘love(s) me’. He ‘go(es) before me’, ‘shield(s) me, and ‘uphold(s) me’ (v.3), and this songwriting duo makes it clear how He accomplishes this. ‘At the cross’, ‘blood…shed’, and ‘overcom(ing) the grave’ in the song’s chorus make the Easter connection unmistakable, but to underscore their message even further, they capture the image of Christ’s sacrificial act initiating the ‘tor(n) veil’ that opened ‘the way’ for us who are not Jewish priests to enter the Most Holy Place. It was His day when He died, but He didn’t forget us when He ripped apart that temple curtain separating us from our heavenly father. To say that event was  radical is a theological mouthful, for this idea that man could not approach or even look upon God had been His regulation since at least the days of Jacob, when he spent the night wrestling with Him (see Genesis 32:30) and yet ‘was spared’ at Peniel – almost 2,000 years before Jesus’ crucifixion. He still has a ‘holy presence’ (v.2) that should awe me, but He will also ‘stand before me’ (v.4) in eternity, as Reuben and Darlene remind me. I can regard Him with astonishment and love, all at the same time.

 

It's also clear that Reuben and Darlene expected the picture of the sacrificing God at the cross would be transformative. How could anyone look upon someone dying in such a way and not be affected? Some of us may still feel that God is distant and far-removed from what goes on in daily life here on planet Earth, but these songwriters ask you and me to not forget the bit of history that Jesus was remaking on that day. He ‘tore the veil’, and ‘made a way’ that wasn’t there before. The veil and the separation it created had been the norm for thousands of years. Imagine something so true, seemingly forever, and then it is eliminated. It’s a comparatively weak analogy, but remember when the Berlin Wall was breached (1989), and the utter jubilation that residents there felt that day? Remember the goosebumps, as you saw it on the TV screens? (Check out the video link below.) Watch, and multiply that – how many X times? – to get what Jesus did.

 

Information about one of the composer-authors: Darlene Zschech - Wikipedia

Information about one of the composer-authors: Reuben Morgan - Wikipedia

A link to the information about the album on which the song first appeared: Mighty to Save (Hillsong album) - Wikipedia

 

See a stirring video of the day the Berlin Wall fell here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmRPP2WXX0U

 

See Hillsong Convention Centre image information here: File:Hillsong Convention Centre.jpg - Wikimedia Commons.  This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Tatie2189. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: Tatie2189 grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

 

Shout to the Lord -- Darlene Zschech

Is her experience in writing this song perhaps the preferred method? Was that maybe what Australian Darlene Zschech concluded after she wrote and “Shout(ed) to the Lord” in 1993? She might also say that an ancient anonymous songwriter deserved some of the credit for what she composed. Darlene was probably in Sydney (see an historic picture of it here), and pretty far geographically from the origin of the Psalm that she read that day, but she was surely closer to that writer and to the Creator whom he extolled when she was finished with her poem. Her experience is an object lesson for anyone who is feeling stressed-out and wondering if her life is going to be overcome by finances and family responsibilities. Cling to Him, call out to Him with a shout, a yell filled with trust. That was her therapy for one tension-filled day.

Darlene Zschech was having a rough day. Maybe it was one or the combination of her kids’ needs and the anxiety over money that she feared might not stretch far enough. Sometime during the day, Darlene had had enough, and she sounded retreat. At least for a little while, she needed a respite inside a space where she would not have pressing needs demanding her time. A small room that happened to have a piano was her refuge, where she opened a bible and read one of the Psalms. She didn’t even know this particular Psalm’s author’s identity (Psalm 96, sometimes called one of the ‘orphan’ psalms), but that didn’t matter. This centuries-old poet said something she needed. If all the earth could be coaxed to praise the Creator, Darlene did not want to miss out on that experience. The seas, the fields, and the trees, and indeed all the families of nations were entreated to give God a joyful response to His being. He brings salvation, and isn’t that enough? But, there’s so much more to Him, according to this unidentified poet. Maybe it was the mounting items that Darlene ticked off as she read verse after verse, but she says her despair lifted bit by bit, and she wanted to shout. So, she did, with her own pen. And, with the help of the keyboard nearby, she composed her response to the psalmist. She ultimately decided that at the end of the day, ‘nothing compares to the promise I have in You’, perhaps as the anxious thoughts she had earlier tried to reassert themselves. She must have felt a weight come off of her shoulders, because she mentioned the episode to a minister at the church. Hearing that a song had emerged, he wanted to hear it. This is part 2 of the story…

Darlene was frankly a very uneasy when the minister (with a friend, reportedly also present) came by the house to hear the product of her epiphany. ‘Stand way over there, and turn around’, was more or less what she told them, because she didn’t want to see the pained expressions on their faces. Every few seconds, she stopped to see if their indulgence of her musical expression had worn thin. But no, they were excited about Darlene’s song, and wanted to use it at the church. Perhaps it was the circumstances of its gestation and emergence into this tense woman’s world that captured the imagination of those who first heard it. Can you hear others saying ‘Darlene sounds like me!’ It is true isn’t it? I have anxious times in my life, and really breathe uneasy wondering about the future sometimes. Is that you too? Darlene says ‘me too’. Life happens, but God is. He’s the I Am. Jump and shout about that!

      

  

See a brief version of the song story in this source: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006.  

Also see this link that also tells a broader version of the song story: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/darlene-zschech/shout-to-the-lord

 

See also here, for a very short version of the story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shout_to_the_Lord

 

Read about the author-composer here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darlene_Zschech

 

The author-composer’s official website: https://www.darlenezschech.com/about