of Heaven was written during probably the most frustrating , confusing kind of fear-invoking time of 2020 . For me , where it wasn ' t just the virus , it wasn ' t just COVID . There was a lot of social unrest , a lot of name calling , and a lot of hate . A lot of frustration , a lot of miscommunication both politically and socially , virally , emotionally , you know ? We were not allowed to meet for church . There was that moment in the late spring , early summer . It was like a four-week period of time that I was just thinking , “ What is happening to our country , to our world ?” And I remember even feeling a lot of pressure to take stances on social media .
People were saying , “ And where do you stand on this ? Why aren ' t you talking about that ? Why didn ' t you say this ?” Everybody was just ready to pounce . Everybody was on edge . But I ' m also thankful that in 2020 I had a more consistent waking up in my house and not having really anywhere to go . So , it was much more thankful to recreate the habit of just spending time with Jesus in the morning and realizing that I haven ' t been doing this the way I should . And I remember in those times just praying to Jesus and opening up the Scriptures and writing in my prayer journal . God met me in an amazing way . And my prayer kept on being , “ Jesus , all of these things are vying for my attention and whether it ' s because of fear or because this or that , I need You to take the throne of my heart and be King today . And please , please let You be the highest place . Bring perspective to everything else today , so that I can walk , maybe not with happiness all the time , but that I can walk with joy so that I can go through today with peace , so that I can confront situations with wisdom and love . You know , I need you at the top ”. And as that prayer kept on coming out through 2020 , there was also just looking at the world and seeing the unrest and frustration , fear , and weirdness financially for people . And I just kept that being my prayer . We are just people looking for hope .
Hymn of Heaven was largely written in 2020 with a great desire for people to have hope . Not the shaky ground that the world has to offer . It ’ s
this idea that tears are going to be wiped away . We ’ ll be going to see Him face to face . Let it be today that we walk in tandem with the will of God . Let it be today when Jesus takes the kingship of my life . Let it be today where heaven meets earth and starts spreading around . So that ' s why that song actually has two choruses . It sings one chorus the first two times , just a hopeful look towards the future , but it sings , a second chorus two times where it says , so that ' d be today . “ We shout the hymn of heaven with angels and the saints . We raise a mighty roar to our God who gave us life beyond the grave . Holy , holy is the Lord ”. And that idea of the hymn … when I looked it up in Webster ' s Dictionary , it ' s a very short , simple definition . It says that a hymn is a religious song of praise to God . And so , I ' m just like , you know … I think this record is supposed to be called Hymn of Heaven .
There ’ s a song called , “ House of the Lord .” We can sing that song at any time . Not because we ' re always happy , but because we know Who we ' re singing to , and we know who He says we are .
There ' s another song called “ Battle Belongs ”, and it says that if we believe Jesus came , then we can trust that He ' s got a plan and purpose . There ' s another song called , “ His Name is Jesus ” because it says the King is in the room .
It ’ s Always Been You
Battle Belongs
Come see the scars on his hand , the King is in the room , well , watch the dark flee at His command . And there ' s another song called , “ Where I ' m Standing Now ”, and it says “ Out of the wilderness into your deliverance where I ’ m standing now ”. It says , “ I ' m standing on the chain breaking , miracle making , powerful name of Jesus .”
[ WM ] “ It ’ s Always Been You ” also sounds like a sung prayer . You ’ ve done a beautiful video on the beach in support of it . What can you tell us about this song ?
[ Phil ] Yeah , I think maybe every song on the record comes from a place or perspective of “ Wow God , I ' m seeing you in a new light ! Are You showing me something bigger about Yourself ? I wanna sing it back to You and worship , and craft it in a way where others might be able to catch the same idea , the same moment , the same inspiration , and their hearts can be in the same place too ”.
So many of my songs are written from that perspective … a now I ' m going to worship You because of it !
[ WM ] I believe the song “ Battle Belongs ” was the first single out from the project . You also released a great version in Spanish alongside singer Christine D ’ Clario . What can you tell us about this song and any impact that you are aware of upon the people of God ?
[ Phil ] Yeah . The song has been so special . It has such a special life because it was written at the end of 2019 . I remember when it came out , I immediately knew , you know , after you ' ve been doing this a while , you just , you just know when something is special and unique . And just in my heart , I just thought , I just knew that God has plans for this song . It ' s such a fight song . It ' s such a faith song . But honestly , I was , when I wrote it , I was not needing … I was not lacking , like in a place of doubting . Or I was not needing faith . Or I was not in a fight . And I remember thinking like , who is this song for ? Cause I don ' t think it ' s for me . And where did it come from ?