The song was written by Jackson, Teddy Riley, Andreao "Fanatic" Heard, Nate Smith, Teron Beal, Eritza Laues and Kenny Quiller.
In an interview with SoulCulture on December 22, 2010, Riley stated that the upcoming album from BLACKstreet would feature a cover version of "Heaven Can Wait".
Mark Anthony Neal of SeeingBlack.com praised the song, saying, "['Heaven Can Wait'] features arguably one of Jackson's best vocal performance since Thriller's 'The Lady in My Life'.
Bill Johnson from The Urban Daily listed "Heaven Can Wait" as one of several songs that kept Invincible "simple and smooth [and] that excel the most".
"[9] NME gave a mixed review to the song, saying "around this point you realise that Jackson is no longer pioneering—this would be a good Usher ballad.