“When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, We’ll sing and shout the victory.” The words of this song were written by Eliza Hewitt in 1898. The song remains a favorite almost 125 years later. It is easy to understand why when you really think about the words. That’s exactly what we will do today.
STANZA #1:
“Sing the wondrous love of Jesus, Sing His mercy and His grace”
The song begins emphatically with the word “Sing.” Notice the verb of the sentence begins the sentence. Twenty passages in the OT begins with the word “Sing.” This is somewhat unusual. Normally when one is seeking to convince another to do something, he begins by trying to establish the case as to why he should do something. Not here. Why? Well, it is not just because we are commanded by our Lord to sing. Singing out is a natural response to the amazing love, mercy and grace of our Lord!
Without His love, mercy and grace, how lost we would be! Lost in this life, and with no hope in the life to come. Paul says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13). Paul and Silas could not even contain themselves when imprisoned for the sake of Christ (see Acts 16:25). Are you restraining too much praise for the Lord?
“In the mansions bright and blessed, He’ll prepare for us a place.”
This line of the song is based especially on the passage in John 14 where Jesus offers the apostles comfort by informing them that He is going to prepare a place for them and where He is going, there they may be also.
The word “mansion,” that some older versions use, is not a good translation, but the emphasis of the text is on the certainty of the place or location in the Father’s house. According to Peter, it is imperishable and kept by God for us (see 1 Pt. 1:3-5). Sing!
STANZA #2:
“While we walk the pilgrim pathway, Clouds will overspread the sky; But when traveling days are over, Not a shadow, not a sigh.”
Not all will be well during our pilgrimage here. Dark clouds will come in various forms (see Jm. 1:3). One thing is certain, Satan would love to use trials to discourage us and even derail us on our journey to heaven. He does not want us to complete the journey. He wants us to turn back like a sow to the mud (2 Pt. 2:20-22). He wants us to lose our grip on Christ.
We are reminded that this life is a pilgrimage. There is great encouragement in the fact that all discouragements are headed to a definitive end! (See Paul’s view of life and eternity in 2 Cor. 4:16-5:5.) When the earthly life of the Christian comes to an end, not only will there be no dark clouds, there won’t even be any sign of a shadow. There will be no cause of a sigh in heaven. Sing!
STANZA # 3:
“Let us then be true and faithful, Trusting, serving every day:”
Since we know we are here but for a little while and that better things are in-store, we persevere no matter what comes our way! By persevering I mean what the song means… we remain loyal and faithful to our God! We keep on trusting Him. Everything that He has told us is true and can be and should be completely and whole-heartedly embraced!
So we keep walking the pilgrim pathway! We continue to “walk by faith” (2 Cor. 5:7). We continue on that narrow way that leads to heaven (Mt. 7:13-14). We continue to walk in the light of our Lord where the blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from our sins (1 Jn. 1:7). Moses kept going because he was “looking to the reward” (Heb. 11:26).
Even in the darker times, Christians continue to worship their God and serve the brethren and their fellow man. Sing, and serve too!
“Just one glimpse of Him in glory Will the toils of life repay.”
And while it may be challenging for us to keep on going and living for our Lord, that first glimpse of our Lord will be sufficient for all the difficulties we struggled through on this earth.
Two thousand years ago, when people came to understand who Jesus really was, they fell before Him in awe. Yet at that time His appearance was like that of any other man (see Is. 53:2). But some day we will behold our Lord in all of His glory, an image that we do not have the capacity to fully appreciate at this moment. Sing!
CHORUS:
“When we all get to heaven. What a day of rejoicing that will be!”
The Scripture indicates that there is cause for rejoicing right now (see Phil. 4:4). Much of that is based on the hope that Christians live with. But the day is coming when our hope will be actualized. That hope will no longer be something that we read about and trust will come, but something that we behold and experience.
The rejoicing on that unending day will be unparalleled. Nothing can take it away from us. There will be no sickness nor death there (Rev. 21:4). There will be no evil individuals there to rob us of our joy or cause us harm or fear (Rev. 21:8)… just peace, joy and thankfulness in the presence of our Lord and those who have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb!
“When we all see Jesus, We’ll sing and shout the victory.”
Everybody likes the excitement of a good victory. When your team wins, it is fun and exciting. But we are talking about the ultimate victory. The victory over sin, Satan, and death. After you win this victory you will never lose again! In fact, you will never need to fight another battle! And this wholesome celebration will never come to an end and never fail nor lose its glory.
When we all get to heaven. Let’s all go! Let’s keep our bags packed and ready for our departure. Let’s make decisions that lead us and others in that direction. Let’s resolve to walk in humble fellowship with our loving Lord each and every day who truly keeps us singing as we go!
Daren Schroeder
