History of Hymns: 'Hope Will Not Fail'

“Hope Will Not Fail”
by David Bjorlin

Hope will not fail,
no, hope will not fail.
Though anguish and apathy seem to prevail,
no, hope will not fail;
hope, hope will prevail.

© 2022, 2024 GIA Publications., Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

“Hope Will Not Fail” is a well-received collaboration between text writer David Bjorlin (b. 1984) and composer Mark Miller (b. 1967). This hymn reflects a message of holy social justice and joyfully advocates God’s message of hope, peace, joy, and love into our world. Bjorlin, an ordained minister at Evangelical Covenant Church, also serves as an assistant professor of worship at North Park Theological Seminary and University. Miller, an associate professor of church music, director of the chapel, and Composer-in-Residence at Drew Theological School and a lecturer in the practice of sacred music in the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University, also serves as the minister of music at Christ Church (United Church of Christ and American Baptist).

Bjorlin highlights the empowering words of the hymn, providing a clear message of hope for our world. He weaves a theological intersection between love, peace, hope, and joy, themes often associated with Advent. These universal Advent themes connect broadly with the ecumenical community of believers. They also provide a stark contrast to the chaos, oppression, and despair pervading the current world context. Bjorlin punctuates each stanza with an alliterative pair of terms that describe the pain and chaos many feel today: “anguish and apathy,” “vengeance and violence,” “mourning and misery,” and “hatred and hopelessness.” Highlighting Advent themes brings issues of social justice to the forefront during a liturgical season where such issues may not receive such elevation. Bjorlin further enhances the universality of the piece, referencing the scripture passages of Romans 5:1–5, an exposition on peace and hope, and the familiar chapter on love, 1 Corinthians 13.

Compositionally, performers and listeners will feel a sense of the ground shifting beneath them as Miller provides moments of harmonic instability that heighten an awareness of Bjorlin’s vivid text choices in each eleven-syllable phrase. Exemplified through the use of syncopated suspensions, Miller further evokes the heightened desperation of our world. However, this despair is met with harmonic hope illustrated by chord substitutions and secondary dominant chords. This chordal movement bursts forth as a ray of light, speaking to the power of hope and love as core beliefs that will prevail. Such harmonic movement also lends itself as a social justice call to sustain hope and live into actions for change.

The piece welcomes an improvisational, gospel styling. Bjorlin indicates that text substitutions may be spontaneously incorporated in the four-syllable phrases with such appropriate one-syllable texts as “God, faith, grace, truth,” and so on. For Bjorlin and Miller, God’s hope will prevail in this world. Bjorlin speaks to this in his blog post of November 2024 writing,