Isaiah 25:6-9 vs. “This Is Our God”

Why it matters

A declaration is only as strong as what stands in front of it. Isaiah puts three verses in front of his. A feast. A shroud pulled off the nations. Death swallowed. Tears wiped away. Then the sentence lands. The song supplies grounds too, and its writer names them in public: the cross and the empty grave. Those are not a rival rescue. Verse 8's clause about death is the one Paul reaches for in 1 Corinthians 15:54, and its clause about tears turns up again in Revelation 21:4.

Helpful comparison

Toggle this page to the WEB and the same divine name the song's bridge uses stands four times in the passage itself. Nothing about that fails the reverence checks. It is sung as an answer to a question about who rescued the singer, which is ascription, not filler.

Verse 9 is a place the translations part. The BSB reads the saving as done, “He has saved us.” The WEB and the KJV read it as still coming, “he will save us.” The translation toggle on this page will show you the swap. What does not move is the frame around it. All three keep the frame. The BSB has “in that day it will be said”; the WEB and the KJV have “it shall be said in that day.” So in every version the sentence is quoted speech, assigned to people on a day the prophet had not reached.

That matters for where the song sits. The song looks back. Isaiah's speakers are looking back too, but from further down the road, after the clause in verse 8 has come true. Paul treats that clause as still future in 1 Corinthians 15:54, and its neighbour about tears reappears in Revelation 21:4. So the rescue is one rescue, told at three points on the clock.

On what other people file under this song: Worship Together, which describes itself as “a song discovery and resource platform,” lists “1 John 4:9–10; 1 Peter 2:24” in its Scripture Reference field. Neither is Isaiah. An index entry is a reading by whoever filed it, not a reference the song gives. The tie to Isaiah 25:9 here rests on the sentence itself, which anyone can look up.

The two published reviews disagree about whether to sing it, and the disagreement is worth reading plainly. The Berean Test scores it 9.5/10 and calls it appropriate for corporate worship. Protestia says the song “contains no false teaching, but it does have some clarity issues,” then declines to recommend it on grounds about the people who wrote it rather than about the words. This page checks the words.

Sources

• Wikipedia — “This Is Our God” (song) · (released January 13, 2023 on Fair Trade Services; lead single from *I Believe*; writers Brandon Lake, Pat Barrett, Phil Wickham, Steven Furtick; producer Jonathan Smith)
• Worship Together — This Is Our God · (the same four writers; CCLI #7211413; “Scripture Reference: 1 John 4:9–10; 1 Peter 2:24”; the site describes itself as “a song discovery and resource platform”)
• Songfacts — This Is Our God · (Wickham to Billboard: “This song is a declaration of who Jesus is and what He's done for us”; the late-2021 two-day writing retreat at Elevation Church in Charlotte)
• Air1 — Faith Behind The Song: “This is Our God” · (Wickham calls it a “line in the sand” and a “manifesto,” and says singing it is like “preaching to my own soul”)
• The Berean Test — Phil Wickham, This Is Our God · (final score 9.5/10; “This song is appropriate for corporate worship”)
• Protestia — Theological Song Review: This Is Our God · (“The song contains no false teaching, but it does have some clarity issues”; the closing recommendation turns on the writers, not the lyrics)
• Phil Wickham — This Is Our God (Official Music Video) · (the embedded upload; YouTube oEmbed gives author_name “PhilWickhamVEVO”)