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 Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
I think of this as one of the main Christmas hymns. It’s certainly my favourite in terms of lyrics.
It was written back in 1738 by Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley. Charles wrote over 6,000 hymns. The first line originally was “Hark how all the welkin rings”, “welkin” meaning the heavens. George Whitefield later changed the opening to the familiar version we know today.
The Wesleys and Whitefield were very much the beginnings of modern evangelicalism. They asked people to come to Christ as individuals and not just rely on their cultural Christianity. There was nothing new about such a notion, but they made a massive impact throughout the UK, Ireland, and America. It’s interesting that though Ireland is Roman Catholic and is sometimes a little resentful towards Protestant England, you’ll often find little towns proudly stating something about John Wesley visiting their town. Here’s an example: Durras, West Cork.
Let’s examine the lyrics:
A key phrase of verse 1 is “God and sinners reconciled”. Without the death of Christ, there would be no way back to God for us. That’s why the message of the angels was such good news. But we need to personally repent and trust in Christ, which is why the message of the gospel needs to be spread throughout the world.
Hark! the herald angels sing:
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With angelic hosts proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! the herald angels sing:
"Glory to the newborn King!"
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The big emphasis of verse two is how amazing the incarnation is. I sometimes think of what it would be like to become an ant for 33 years. I think that I’d decline if someone offered me the opportunity 😄. But that’s nothing like the step that the Son of God took. Some get confused by the term “Son of God”. How can God have a son? Well, a human son is a faint illustration of what it means. A little plastic soldier is a little bit like a human, but a human is so much more.
Christ by highest Heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! the herald angels sing:
"Glory to the newborn King!"
The Son of God existed before time was created, so there was never a time when he came into existence. The other classic Christmas Hymn “O Come All You Faithful” has the line:
God of God, Light of Light, Lo He abhors not the virgin's womb
It’s like looking at the sun. Are you seeing light from the sun or are you seeing the sun itself? The light that you see is the sun. But there’s more to the sun. So, the Son of God is God, but there’s also the Father and the Holy Spirit. And there’s even so much more to God that we’ll ever see.
We surely know very little about what God is like in himself. Just as our brains present us with a model of reality that works even if it falls short, I think that God presents us with a picture of himself that works for us. We can speculate to some degree but we very quickly run into trouble if we start to think too highly of our speculations or if we drift away from the Scriptural presentation.
We do know that there’s one God, that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are God and that they relate to one another. It’s not one person appearing in three different forms. There really are three persons in the one God. It’s truly amazing that God loves us so much that he became one of us. And the Son of God remains human forever, but never stopped being God the Son.
In verse 3, what’s meant by “Born that man no more may die”? Well, we do die, but death as we know it is almost like a bit of an illusion. We sleep for 8 hours but when we die, we instantly enter into eternity. And if we trust in Jesus, we enter into heaven/paradise. That’s why Jesus was able to tell the dying thief that he would be with him in paradise that very day. The line “Born to give them second birth” is a reminder of how the Holy Spirit brings us to life. Some think that this happens after we trust in Christ, but others (including me) believe that it’s that new birth that opens our eyes and hearts to believe.
Hail the Heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n 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 newborn King!"
John 3:3
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
Here are some other interesting versions of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”.
Hibernia Gospel 