I have been reviewing some modern worship songs, but I’ve taken a break to explore some Advent and Christmas hymns. 😀. Today, I’ve chosen Angels We Have Heard on High. Today also happens to be my favourite day of the year. Why? Well, on Christmas day, I always end up thinking that Christmas will be over tomorrow. On the 23rd, it’s still on its way 😀.
I’m inclined to get this one mixed up with Angels from the Realms of Glory because both of them have 00000000000000000000000000000000000000 😄 bits in them. The song is based on “Les Anges dans nos campagnes”, a French carol first published in the early 1800s. The long, cascading “Glo-o-o-o-ria” is taken directly from the Latin “Gloria in excelsis Deo” found in Luke 2:14.
Luke 2:14
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
I wonder if that’s where U2 got the inspiration for their 1981 Gloria song? It certainly includes a little but of Latin. And U2 recorded a Christmas song back in 1987.
Bono often appears in a charity busking event in Grafton Street Dublin on Christmas Eve or before (this year). It must have been tough for him trying to get home amidst all the autograph hunters etc 😄.
Anyway, back to the hymn. It’s interesting that so many hymns touch on angels. So much surrounding angels seems like myth and fantasy. But in the Scripture, they’re simply messengers from God who appear in human form. We don’t know much about them. Like us, they were created by God. Some, including Satan, rebelled at some stage and are widely known as demons. Unlike us, there doesn’t appear to be any way back to God for evil angels. But many angels remained loyal to God and serve as his messengers. Sometimes, angels appear in visions as strange creatures. But most, when they appear, look just like us. Interestingly, when someone asked Jesus about marriage in heaven, this is how Jesus replied:
Matthew 22:30
At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.
The love and joy of heaven will be much better than anything on earth. so we won’t miss marriage. It doesn’t say that we’ll be exactly like angels in heaven. But it makes me wonder if angels are more like humans than we realize. We assume that because they appear, they don’t have physical bodies, but if we could travel in time, we might suddenly appear in different places and at different times. It wouldn’t mean that we have no bodies. It would just mean that we’re not subject to our current limitations.
In Scripture, angels are called ministering spirits, but we don’t know if spirits are permanently invisible. If they’re part of a community worshipping together in heaven, one would think that they can see each other and communicate. But we’ll discover the full truth if and when we get to heaven. One thing that we do know is that they love to sing hymns.
Let’s explore the lyrics – like many other carols, it simply tells the story:
1. Angels we have heard on high,
Sweetly singing o'er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.
Refrain:
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
2. Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavn'ly song? [Refrain]
3. Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing.
Come, adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord, the newborn King. [Refrain]
4. See him in a manger laid,
Whom the choirs of angels praise.
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid
While our hearts in love we raise. [Refrain]
Verse one mention mountains echoing the singing. I don’t remember anything about mountains singing, unless it means that the singing was echoed by the mountains. Some Old Testament pictorial language speaks of mountains singing:
Isaiah 55:12
“The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing.”
Psalm 98:8
“Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together.”
Perhaps such verses emphasize how creation points to God, as expressed in Psalm 19.
Here’s some interesting versions of the hymn:
Hibernia Gospel 