One of my favourites of the ‘early’ Hosanna! Music songs is this one, I Hear Angels, by Gerrit Gustafson, from the album ‘Forever Grateful‘ with worship led by Marty Nystrom, whom I have featured on my blog before.

I love songs like this (especially with such superb piano tracks!), and ‘Holy are You Lord‘, because this is one of the main themes of Heavenly worship – Holy, Holy, Holy – as described in the various Heavenly visions in the Bible, for example, in Revelation 4:8 or Isaiah 6:3. If you’re singing this, you’re singing the worship of Heaven. The worship of those angels and humans described in those passages, the worship of people who can actually see Jesus in all His amazing wonder, power and glory – this is their song. And so it is only right that we join in; even here in our earthly place where there’s suffering, pain and decay, still we can celebrate ahead of time, as it were, in the ‘here and now’ where we know only in part and not in full (1Cor13:12); where we can see the outworkings of God’s plans in all His genius, and rejoice in them!

Here’s the song, then – I Hear Angels.

Enjoy!

I hear angels singing praises
I see men from every nation
Bowing down before the throne
Like the sound of many waters
Like a rushing wind around us
Multitudes join the song

And a symphony of praise arises
Tears are wiped away from eyes
As men from every tongue and tribe all sing

Holy holy, God Almighty
Who was, Who is and is to come
All the angels are crying “holy”
To the Lamb Who sits upon the throne

Holy holy, God Almighty
Who was, Who is and is to come
All creation is bringing glory
To the Lamb Who sits upon the throne

I see One Who’s full of wonder
Eyes of fire, voice of thunder
Shining bright, His Majesty
All the colours of the rainbow
Circle Him and fill His temple
So beautiful this is to me

And a symphony of praise arises
Tears are wiped away from eyes
As men from every tongue and tribe all sing

Holy holy, God Almighty
Who was, Who is and is to come
All the angels are crying “holy”
To the Lamb Who sits upon the throne

Holy holy, God Almighty
Who was, Who is and is to come
All creation is bringing glory
To the Lamb Who sits upon the throne
To the Lamb Who sits upon the throne

I believe I have personally heard angel voices singing.

It has happened to me only once, in about 1992, when I was in a prayer meeting in a hired room in Otley Civic Centre, in Otley, West Yorkshire. During a high, awe-filled lull in the open worship (which I was leading), I could hear music; voices and yet it was not voices; singing but the sound was more like trumpets of all different sizes. I couldn’t hear any words. No other party was in the building at the time; the sound was coming from somewhere below the room we were in. It wasn’t very loud, but it was real, and I shall never forget the sound.

To this day, I still believe this was angel voices worshipping along with our group’s high praise. I’d never heard anything like it before – in fact, it was like nothing I had ever heard –  and I haven’t heard anything like it since. Fascinating!