Our Hope Is Sure
This water’s deep, over my head
Still faith I’ll keep, for underneath the veiling sea
For refuge I have fled
Chorus:
And my hope is sure
My hope is sure
It is certain and secure
It is an anchor for my soul
It is an anchor for my soul
Like drifting waves, we rise and fall
To harbor safe, we are carried by what’s buried,
At the bottom hope remains
(Chorus)
Bridge:
So hold fast, O my soul, hold fast
To your confidence, hold to the end
O, my brothers and my sisters, hold fast to his promises,
He will lift your heads, he will lift our heads
Final Chorus:
And our hope is sure
Our hope is sure
It is certain and secure
It is an anchor for my soul
He is an anchor for my soul
Song notes:
“So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf…” Heb. 6:17-20a
The book of Hebrews has ended up as sort of the background for the whole album, and in this song I wanted to sum up all the “wondering and wandering” and encourage myself and others to consider Jesus, our hope and the anchor of our souls, who has gone ahead of us. I also hinted at the myth of Pandora’s box (or jar) because it caught my attention how, in the myth, evil was released from the box but then hope was left inside. In a beautiful contrast to that idea, Jesus took on all sin and evil on himself, died and was buried (left at the bottom so to speak), but then was raised. The grave could not hold him. Instead, he is our forerunner into God’s presence, an anchor in our future home. Because of this, we have hope.