Phil Wickham – His name is Jesus

Contemporary Christian artist Phil Wickham was 18 years old when he began his career in 2002.  Since then, he released ten albums, including:

• Give You My World (2003)
• Phil Wickham (2006)
• Cannons (2007)
• Heaven & Earth (2009)
• Response (2011)
• The Ascension (2013)
• Children of God (2016)
• Living Hope (2018)
• Christmas (2019)
• Hymn of Heaven (2021)
• Hymn of Heaven (Acoustic Sessions) (2022)

He received a Dove award in 2019 for Worship Recorded Song of the Year for his song Living Hope.

Also, check out my other Phil Wickham reviews.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Phil-wickham-his-name-is-jesus-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.

1. What message does the song communicate?

Wickham says many things about Jesus.  He is:

• Ruler
• Scarred on His hands
• Illumination that eliminates shadows
• Jesus
• He frees us
• Powerful
• Healer
• Savior
• Wants all to be saved
• Rose again
• Unique

At the beginning of the song, Wickham’s call to action is to “come and see”.  This informs me that these lyrics are intended for an unbelieving audience, though they could also include Christians.

Score: 10/10

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

All of it.

[Verse 1]

Line 1: As we will find out later, this is Jesus (Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 11:10, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-6, Luke 1:32-33, John 12:15, John 18:37, 1 Timothy 6:13-16, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 19:11-16).

Line 2: As discovered by “Doubting Thomas” in John 20:27.

Line 3: Repeats line 1.

Line 4: Christ drives out darkness (Psalm 107:10-16, Luke 1:79, John 1:1-13, John 12:46, Ephesians 5:8, Colossians 1:13, and 1 Peter 2:9).

[Pre-Chorus]

Line 1: See Verse 1, line 1.

Line 2: Repeats line 1.

[Chorus]

Line 1: See Verse 1, line 1.

Line 2: Repeats line 1.

Line 3: Borrows from John 8:12.

Line 4: Those who are His are free (Psalm 119:45, Isaiah 58:6, Isaiah 61:1, John 3:16-21, John 8:31-36, John 10:10, Acts 13:38-39, Romans 6:1-23, Romans 8:1-4, Romans 8:20-21, 1 Corinthians 6:12, 1 Corinthians 7:21-23, 2 Corinthians 3:17, Galatians 2:4, Galatians 3:13, Galatians 3:22, Galatians 5:1, Galatians 5:13, Colossians 1:21-23, Hebrews 2:14-15, and 1 Peter 2:16 ).

Line 5: He is powerful (Nehemiah 8:10, Psalm 22:19, Psalm 28:7-8, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 118:14, Psalm 119:28, Isaiah 12:2, Isaiah 33:2, Isaiah 40:29-31, Habakkuk 3:19, Matthew 11:28-30, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Ephesians 3:16, Ephesians 6:10, and Philippians 4:13).

Line 6: He rules eternally (Exodus 15:18, Psalm 10:16, Psalm 29:10, Psalm 145:13, Psalm 146:10, Lamentations 5:19, Daniel 4:3, Daniel 6:26, Micah 4:7, 1 Timothy 6:16, 1 Peter 5:11, and Revelation 11:15).

Lines 7 and 8: Repeats lines 3 and 4.

[Verse 2]

Line 1: As backed up throughout all four Gospels with too many references to list here.

Line 2: Wickham’s prayer that more miracles will occur today.

Line 3: A call to Casper the friendly ghost.

Line 4: Christ is the Savior (Isaiah 45:21-22, Hosea 13:4, Luke 1:47, Luke 2:11, Acts 13:23, 1 Timothy 2:3, Titus 2:13-14, and 1 John 4:14).

Line 5: All are welcome to repent and trust in Him (2 Peter 3:9).

Line 6: Those who are His will receive Jesus’ power, the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11). Also, for Scripture on the Holy Spirit living inside us, see Acts 6:5, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:16-19, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 5:18, and 2 Timothy 1:14.

[Hook (1)]

Line 1: Repeats Verse 2, line 3.

Line 2: Repeats Chorus, line 4.

[Bridge]

Line 1: What love could be greater than a perfect God (Isaiah 53:9, Matthew 27:24, John 19:4, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 Peter 2:21-23, and 1 John 3:5) who paid the penalty (Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, John 19:30, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15-26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9) for sinners who don’t deserve it (Matthew 18:7-9, Matthew 25:41, Matthew 25:46, Mark 9:43, Romans 6:23, Jude 1:7, and Revelation 14:11 )?

Line 2: He did this so that we can inherit eternal life (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).

Line 3: He rose from the dead (Matthew 28:1-20, Mark 16:1-20, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29, Acts 1:3, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8).

Line 4: There is no one like Him (Exodus 8:10, Exodus 9:14, Deuteronomy 3:24, Deuteronomy 33:26, Jeremiah 10:6, 1 Samuel 2:2, 2 Samuel 7:22, 1 Kings 8:23, 1 Chronicles 17:20, Psalm 86:8, Psalm 89:6, Psalm 113:5-6, Jeremiah 10:7, Isaiah 40:18, and Isaiah 46:9).

Lines 5 and 6: He has all authority (Matthew 28:18).

Line 7: Combines His reign and victory over the grave.  See Verse 1, line 1, and line 3.

Line 8: Essentially repeats line 4.

Lines 9-16: Repeats lines 1-8.

[Hook (2)]

Line 1: Yes, followed by another Casper cat call.

Line 2: Repeats Bridge, line 4.

Line 3: Repeats Pre-Chorus, line 1.

[Post-Chorus]

Lines 1-10: Repeats/Essentially repeats Bridge, lines 1-8.

Line 11: Essentially repeats Verse 2, line 3.

[Outro]

Line 1: Repeats Chorus, line 2.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

As stated in section 1, “come and see” sets Wickham’s audience as unbelievers. They will know immediately that it’s Christian because it explicitly mentions Jesus, Healer, miracles, Savior, and resurrection. The whole thing is written in everyday language, with points easy to comprehend.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies Jesus as the loving Savior whose sacrifice and subsequent resurrection make forgiveness of sins possible for those of us who choose to receive it.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Phil Wickham’s His name is Jesus is awesome. It calls unbelievers to “come and see” the goodness of the Lord, Christ died for us and was resurrected to make possible the forgiveness of sins. He rules forever. These bring Him glory. Unbelievers should easily interpret similarly.

I highly recommend this song for corporate worship.

Final Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: His name is Jesus (listen to the song)

Artist: Phil Wickham

Album: Hymn Of Heaven

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2021

Duration: 5:21

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

Updates:

05/31/2023 – Forgot to write text to summarize section 2.  Thanks to Tyeisha for finding it!