There is a hope
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
18:13
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Story behind the song
7
I particularly enjoyed writing this song, as the melody really was a collaborative process. Usually I find with co-writes that someone comes with a melody idea that is almost complete, and it just needs a tweak here and there to be finished. In this case, my good friend Mark Edwards had come with a number of fantastic melodic lines, but they didn’t quite seem to flow together. So I found myself inserting little melodic ideas that linked them, and as we each sat in turn at the piano, the song acquired a flow and a shape that worked really well.
We also set ourselves a challenge – to make every musical phrase different from the others. It occurs in a handful of well-known hymns (Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, Jerusalem), but not many; and it certainly is very different from the kind of hymns Keith and I write. It also makes it a bit harder for congregations to learn! But I hope it is worth the effort…
Lyrically, I had wanted to write a song about hope for a long time, as I felt it was a much misunderstood aspect of the Christian life. Hope plays a huge part in all of our lives, but the sad fact is that many of the things we put our hope in, even as Christians, are insubstantial and uncertain – a better job, recovery from illness, success for our children, and so on. But none of them come with any guarantees.
Christian hope is different. It deals with things we haven’t received yet, but we can be absolutely certain we will get them! The hope that no matter how dark and difficult life gets, Christ will always be there with us; the hope that one day we will see Him face to face. These are future certainties that lift our heads and give us real hope and confidence in life.
We also set ourselves a challenge – to make every musical phrase different from the others. It occurs in a handful of well-known hymns (Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, Jerusalem), but not many; and it certainly is very different from the kind of hymns Keith and I write. It also makes it a bit harder for congregations to learn! But I hope it is worth the effort…
Lyrically, I had wanted to write a song about hope for a long time, as I felt it was a much misunderstood aspect of the Christian life. Hope plays a huge part in all of our lives, but the sad fact is that many of the things we put our hope in, even as Christians, are insubstantial and uncertain – a better job, recovery from illness, success for our children, and so on. But none of them come with any guarantees.
Christian hope is different. It deals with things we haven’t received yet, but we can be absolutely certain we will get them! The hope that no matter how dark and difficult life gets, Christ will always be there with us; the hope that one day we will see Him face to face. These are future certainties that lift our heads and give us real hope and confidence in life.
This is going to be a classic! Our praise band tried it for the first time last Friday, and it was quite a challenge...we were going to save it for a future service, but our minister was incorporating a few of your songs into our evening service last Sunday, and that was one of them. So we did it - and it was so powerful! We love your songs cos they have a celtic sound that suits our Highland setting! God bless you for sharing your gifts with us.
I love this music. As a preacher of the Gospel when you find yourself more and more fighting the battle, you know when people are being won for Christ and yet there is this constant fight with the evil one and his army and at times you become weary and set low. To sit down and listen to praises like 'there is a hope' is like sitting by the well and drinking in God's refreshing water.
One of those songs which instantly 'grabbed my heart' as soon as I heard it! Beautiful melody, uplifting Bible-based words and a blessing from start to finish. Sang it as a solo today.....(bless those dear old folk who listened!), then taught it to our congregation this evening. They may not have 'got it' yet, but they will!!
May you keep on blessing the church for years to come!
In His Royal Service,
Philip Campbell (Coleraine. NI)
I love this too! We sang it in our parish church in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and it was an awesome filled experience. To bring out the celtic feel we included a verse from a solo violinist who happens to be 6 or 7 years old. We are faithful to the Townend and Getty music and believers that through music we can touch hearts and Christ will do the rest.
After hearing the Salvation's song on the YouTube, I followed one link to listen to this one 'There is a hope'. I can't remember for how long I did not hear a song about Hope. This song is so touching and I immediate put down several lines of translated lyrics in Chinese. Two days later, the final version were finished. I recommended to the Chorus of my church. I believe it touches heart.
This was played at the end of a funeral service yesterday and was extremely appropriate as the deceased had couragaeously fought a long illness before God finally called him home. Through this song this lovely guy (48 year old) showed us how to die well in Christ!!
When all is said and done, few Christian songs and hymns stand the test of time. I believe "There Is a Hope" is one that will. It has solid, Biblically-based lyrics that are masterfully joined to a sensitive and compelling melody that speak to a longing in the Christian heart. Thank you for stiring and encouraging my heart and reminding me of the Living Hope we have as followers of Christ.