“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King!
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.”
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’ angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King!
Christ, by highest heaven adored:
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of the favoured one.
Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see;
Hail, th’incarnate Deity:
Pleased, as man, with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel!
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King!
Hail! the heaven-born
Prince of peace!
Hail! the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die:
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King !”
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Charles Wesley and George Whitefield/ Felix Mendelssohn
Dear God, I was at a a Christmas concert last night, and it was so worshipful it occurred to me that it might be fun to do a series on Christmas hymns. This is one that always sticks in my head, so I thought I would start with “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
I want to start by saying I recognize these songs are not scripture so I won’t treat them as such. What I’d like to do with these songs is try to put myself in place of the author and look to see what they want to call out in the Christmas story.
I’ll start with the fact that this song is pure joy. When you sing it, even if you don’t know the words and you just hear the music, Mendelssohn communicates joy. When the authors of the lyrics (I think many tweaked them over the years, but Wesley and Whitefield are largely credited with the original lyrics) picked this tune, they must have been drawn to something they wanted to use to bring out the glory of angels appearing and bringing news beyond imagination.
In the first verse, the angels are credited with saying, “Glory to the newborn King! Peace on earth and mercy mild. God and sinners reconciled. Christ is born in Bethlehem. Glory to the newborn King!” Then the rest of the words are apparently the authors’ charge to us.
- Joyful all ye nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies. With angelic hosts proclaim Christ is born in Bethlehem: The angels are here with great news. Amazing news. We must join them in their joy and rejoicing.
- Christ by highest heaven adored. Christ the everlasting Lord. Late in time behold him come. Offspring of the favoured one. — Now the authors are telling us who Jesus is. His identity. He is adored by the highest in heaven. He is everlasting. He is also the offspring of Mary.
- Veiled in flesh the Godhead see. Hail the incarnate Deity. Pleased as man with men to dwell. Jesus our Emmanuel. — I don’t think I’ve ever noticed the phrase “veiled in flesh the Godhead see.” That is great poetry and says so much. I don’t know that I’ll ever sing thing song again without thinking of that one phrase. How beautiful. And it is declarative with the rest of this verse: Jesus is God and part of God.
- Hail! the heaven-born Prince of peace! Hail! the Son of Righteousness! Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings. — More declarations about who Jesus is, but this one gets into his righteousness and ability to heal and save us. It uses the word “risen.” He brings light and life. This is great news the angels are telling us here.
- Mild he lays his glory by, born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth born to give them second birth. — And this is why Jesus came. He laid down his glory so that we might have hope. He was born to raise us and give us second birth.
Father, thank you for this inspiration. Thank you that you gave these men these lyrics. Thank you that you gave us this truth. And thank you for my hope. It makes all of the difference in my day.
In Jesus’s name I pray,
Amen
Emails to God 