Something to Live For, Something to Die For
The Story Behind the Song
The Story Behind the SongAs the day of the Lord’s wrath comes to a close (Revelation 15) the victorious ones stand on the sea of glass mixed with fire (v.2). The victorious ones stand in triumph over the Lamb’s enemy, the beast. For the victorious ones chose, in the face of death, to forsake their lives and not follow the rage of the beast. They chose not to worship the image and the beast sealed their triumph as he slew the victorious ones. In victory, they stand before the Lamb prepared to sing.
Oh how the victorious ones echo the passionate cry of eternity as they sing the song, the song of all songs, of their lovesick Bridegroom. They declare the pursuit of their hearts: that which sustained them, that which gave them the power to give their lives in such a radical way. They sing the song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb, the song of all songs.
How did I write this song?
How did I write this song?In 2003, I was in college studying music. I stayed up late one night watching TBN. They showed a movie about a boy that went back through history seeing the stories of the martyrs of Jesus Christ. When the movie was over I sat down at the piano. I was feeling the presence of the Lord and opened my Bible up to Revelation 6 and began to think about the martyrs crying out for justice around the throne. I began to cry out in song for God to give me something to live for, something to die for just as he did those martyrs of old. I wrote the verse of the song a year later when I reflected on Psalm 27:4. In 2006, I sang it at IHOP-KC for the first time. One of the singers, my friend Leah Chandler, sang out to Jesus, “You are reality, You are eternity.” I turned that into a chorus crying out to the Lord, “Give me reality, give me eternity Oh God.”
