Hillsong UNITED – Hosanna

As many of you know already, Hillsong is a megachurch in Australia with several family churches around the world.  They have a massive collection of songs that have earned countless awards under the labels Hillsong UNITED and Hillsong Worship.  They have two other groups that appeal to younger listeners: Hillsong Young & Free and Hillsong Kids.

Also, check out my entire list of Hillsong reviews and Christmas songs, Seasons and Prince of Heaven.  This review marks my 33rd Hillsong review, adding to what is arguably the largest collection of content that examines Hillsong lyrics.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Hillsong-united-hosanna-lyrics.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.  I strongly encourage you to consider the potential blessings and dangers of this artist‘s theology by visiting Resources.

1. What message does the song communicate?

Hillsong describes their vision for the future of Christianity and the world.  Elements include:

• Forgiveness granted to believers who choose to receive it
• Death and destruction for unbelievers
• A great assembly that eternally worships God
• A new generation who selflessly trusts God, led by example through our obedience

Hillsong bows before God and prays for a resurgence, that a great multitude of people would come to Christ and do as He commands.  They desire spiritual healing, that their eyes would be opened, that God teaches them to love others as He did, abhor evil that He despises, and live completely sold out for Christ.  Hillsong looks forward to the day they enter eternity, forsaking their mortal body and joining the foreseen heavenly procession.

Score: 10/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

The entire song exuberates with Scriptural goodness.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-3: References Jesus’ second coming, which includes destruction and judgment for unbelievers (1 Thessalonians 5:2-4, 2 Peter 3:10, and Revelation 19:11-16).

Line 4: Repeats line 3.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1-3: In direct contrast to Verse 1, Verse 2 describes Jesus’ shed blood that washes away our lawbreaking (Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 9:22, 1 Peter 1:2, and 1 Peter 1:18-19), enabling His people to worship in song (1 Chronicles 16:23, Psalm 33:3, Psalm 96:1-2, Psalm 98:1, and Psalm 149:1).  In this manner, God is merciful (Exodus 33:19, Psalm 86:5, Psalm 145:9, Lamentations 3:22-23, Luke 6:36, Romans 9:15-16, Ephesians 2:4-5, Titus 3:5, Hebrews 4:16, and 1 Peter 1:3).

Side Note: Before I review each song, I pray about writing the review and listen to the song in question.  In most cases, I remain impassionate, listening intently to the words to comprehend their meaning.  However, the moment that I heard “The people sing”, I immediately saw a vision of a great assembly before the throne of God, singing in unison.  It was such a beautiful sight that I started crying uncontrollably.  My tears did not cease until the song was over.

Line 4: Repeats line 3.

[Chorus]

Lines 1 and 2: This word comes from the Koine Greek term “hósanna” and appears in Matthew 21:9, Mark 11:10, and John 12:13 to exclaim Christ as “help” or “save, I pray”. Christ is the Savior who takes away our sins (Isaiah 53:7-11, Matthew 1:21, John 1:29, Galatians 1:4, Galatians 3:13, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 3:18, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 3:5, and Revelation 1:5), connecting this word to Verse 2, lines 1 and 2.

Lines 3 and 4: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

[Verse 3]

Lines 1-3: “Their” refers to a previous generation that went to be with the Lord.  As Christian parents, our job is to train up our children in holiness so that when they grow up, they won’t depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).  We must never forget that children will often emulate our behavior far more frequently than do as we say.  For a new generation to rise up with selfless faith (Psalm 119:36, Proverbs 19:17, Luke 6:35, John 15:12-14, 1 Corinthians 10:24, Galatians 5:14, Ephesians 4:29-32, Philippians 2:3-4, 1 Thessalonians 5:15, and 2 Peter 1:3-7), we must show them by our example (1 Corinthians 11:1 and James 1:22-27).

Line 4: Repeats line 3.

[Verse 4]

Lines 1-3: We pray for revival, prostrated before God (Psalm 80:3-7, Psalm 80:19, Psalm 85:4-6, and Jeremiah 3:22-23).

Line 4: Repeats line 3.

[Bridge]

Line 1: Mirrors David’s prayer after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and indirectly murdered her husband (Psalm 51:10).

Line 2: Hillsong prays that God will open their spiritual eyes (2 Kings 6:17, Matthew 13:16-17, Luke 24:31, John 3:3, John 9:39, Acts 26:12-18, 2 Corinthians 3:12-18, 2 Corinthians 4:6, and Ephesians 1:18).

Line 3: Hillsong prays that they may live as Jesus did (1 Corinthians 11:1, Ephesians 5:1-2, 1 Peter 2:21, 1 John 2:6).

Line 4: Sin break God’s heart (Ezekiel 6:9-10).  If Hillsong desires to be like Christ, they should hate the things God hates (Deuteronomy 12:31, Psalm 5:4–6, Proverbs 6:16-19, and Hosea 9:15).

Line 5: Hillsong prays that they surrender to God’s will (Psalm 43:5, Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 10:38, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-38, Mark 10:28, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27, John 15:1-11, Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 11:6, James 4:7-10, and 1 Peter 5:6).

Line 6: Hillsong will inherit eternal life with God (Mark 10:29-30, John 3:15-16, John 3:36, John 4:14, John 5:24, John 5:39-40, John 6:27, John 6:40, John 10:28, John 17:3, John 20:31, Romans 5:21, Romans 6:22-23, Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Galatians 6:8, 1 Timothy 1:16, 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 2:11, Hebrews 5:9, 1 Peter 5:10, 1 John 2:23-27, 1 John 5:10-13, 1 John 5:20, Jude 1:20-21, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 7:16-17, and Revelation 21:3-4).

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will immediately recognize its Christian roots, with words and phrases such as “coming on the clouds”, “sin”, “hosanna”, and “faith”; However, some might interpret it as Judaism as the Old Testament also points to these elements.

Those outside Christianity will likely interpret most of the song as I’ve described in section 1.  However, I’m uncertain if they will understand Verse 1 as Christ’s death and destruction upon them.  It depends on how deeply they studied eschatology.  Most will probably think that “coming on the clouds” is about Jesus’ second coming.

For many unbelievers, “sin” is about making mistakes, but not breaking God’s laws.  Bridge’s opening line clarifies this somewhat, but not to the point where they would think “I’ve violated God’s commandments”.

Score: 7/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God as Hillsong calls believers to emulate Jesus, forsake sin, and show others how to love like Jesus.  Through these practices, Hillsong’s vision of revival may come to fruition, avoiding the eventual judgment that will destroy unbelievers.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Hillsong UNITED’s Hosanna is beautiful.  Its wonderful lyrics stirred my heart emotionally, a feat that is rare with most Christian music. Hillsong’s foresight aligns with Scripture, namely, God’s judgment on mankind, Christians who experience God’s love and mercy, God’s cleansing power that removes our brokenness, and spiritual awakening that draws new believers to live as Jesus did.  This glorifies God.  Many unstudied unbelievers will struggle with the concept of sin and the meaning of God’s returning with fire and subsequent shaking earth.

I highly recommend it for corporate worship.  Seeker-sensitive churches should explain the concept of sin and God’s judgment on unbelievers before worshipping with this one.

Final Score: 9.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Hosanna (listen to the song)

Artist: Hillsong UNITED

Album: All of the Above

Genre: Rock

Release Year: 2017

Duration: 5:31

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