“Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” reached its holiday prominence by a circuitous route. The tune, which originally had nothing to do with Christmas, was composed in 1840 by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), as the second movement of his Gutenberg Cantata.
Mendelssohn composed this work for the Leipzig Gutenberg Festival, celebrating the 400th anniversary of the invention of the printing press. Mendelssohn’s cantata was sung at the unveiling of Leipzig’s new statue of Johannes Gutenberg.
I suspect you can hear the music in your head as you read the tune’s original refrain:
“Gutenberg, du wackrer Mann, du stehst glorreich auf dem Plan!” “Gutenberg, you valiant man, you stand glorious on the square!”
Mendelssohn hoped to publish his Gutenberg tune with English words, but he couldn’t find a text to suit him. In a 1843 letter to Edward Buxton, one of his English music publishers, he explained: “If the right [words] are hit at, I am sure that the piece will be liked very much by singers and hearers, but it will never do to sacred words…”
In 1847, Mendelssohn directed the London premiere of his oratorio Elijah, and one of the alto choirboys was one William Cummings. Little did Mendelssohn know that in the 1850s, Cummings would be the one to attach his Gutenberg tune to a decidedly sacred poem entitled “Hymn for Christmas-Day,” from Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739) by Methodist writer Charles Wesley (17071788), the first line of which is, of course, “Hark! The herald angels sing…”
Emma Riggle
![“Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” reached its holiday prominence by a circuitous route. The tune, which originally had nothing to do with Christmas, was composed in 1840 by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), as the second movement of his Gutenberg Cantata.
Mendelssohn composed this work for the Leipzig Gutenberg Festival, celebrating the 400th anniversary of the invention of the printing press. Mendelssohn’s cantata was sung at the unveiling of Leipzig’s new statue of Johannes Gutenberg.
I suspect you can hear the music in your head as you read the tune’s original refrain:
“Gutenberg, du wackrer Mann, du stehst glorreich auf dem Plan!” “Gutenberg, you valiant man, you stand glorious on the square!”
Mendelssohn hoped to publish his Gutenberg tune with English words, but he couldn’t find a text to suit him. In a 1843 letter to Edward Buxton, one of his English music publishers, he explained: “If the right [words] are hit at, I am sure that the piece will be liked very much by singers and hearers, but it will never do to sacred words…”
In 1847, Mendelssohn directed the London premiere of his oratorio Elijah, and one of the alto choirboys was one William Cummings. Little did Mendelssohn know that in the 1850s, Cummings would be the one to attach his Gutenberg tune to a decidedly sacred poem entitled “Hymn for Christmas-Day,” from Hymns and Sacred Poems (1739) by Methodist writer Charles Wesley (17071788), the first line of which is, of course, “Hark! The herald angels sing…”
Emma Riggle](https://i0.wp.com/www.churchofgodeveninglight.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png?w=1260&ssl=1)
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6
Isn’t it wonderful we serve such a Mighty God? He is able to keep us in this present world, even though it looks dark all around with fightings and fears. If we dwell on the sorrow and spirit of fear too long it will soon bring us spiritual death. Be careful! Resist the enemy, meditate on the glad tidings of comfort and joy God has for you. God gave us all our own free will and that free will chooses either joy or sorrow. Don’t let the enemy of your soul cause you to succumb to the weight of sorrow and disappointment life brings. Accept daily the free grace, comfort and joy God has for you. Jesus birth, death and resurrection made it possible for us to have the victory and helps us rise above the cares and troubles of this life.
“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
Psalms 55:22
“As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”
II Cor. 6:7
The Bible tells us in Job 14:1 “Man [that is] born of a woman [is] of few days, and full of trouble.” We will be faced with many difficult and sorrowful things in this life. Without Jesus these sorrows can threaten to send us reeling into great despair and discouragement. The glad tidings of salvation we can possess makes our hearts rich in joy and brings us comfort and peace no matter our circumstances of life. The gospel of Jesus is the glad tidings and good news to this hurting world and the only hope it has for lasting peace and joy. As a Child of God we can rejoice always, our inner joy is not conditional on our life’s circumstances.
The Son of God came to bring us salvation and to abide with us. Remember this precious promise always when life gets too heavy.
“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
John 14:18
—Tammy Edwards
Noel Regney, wrote the lyrics to this carol and his pianist wife, Gloria Shayne composed the music. A writer sickened and weary from war, wrote it during the Cold War when the world was yearning for peace and hope. The world is still weary and still seeking for peace today, the political wars work to keep controversy stirred up constantly with the main purpose to divide us. We have a hope though, Jesus came to this earth to bring peace into the hearts of all men.
“Do you hear what I hear?”
“Said the king to the people everywhere
Listen to what I say
Pray for peace, people, everywhere
Listen to what I say
The Child, the Child sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
“Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:”
Isaiah 59:1
Every man who is destitute of the Spirit of Christ, runs swiftly to evil of some sort; but those regardless of Divine truth and justice, are strangers to peace. If we shut our eyes against the light of Divine truth, it is just with God to hide from our eyes the things that belong to our peace. The sins of those who profess themselves God’s people, are worse than the sins of others. And the sins of a nation bring public judgments, when not restrained by public justice. Men may murmur under calamities, but nothing will truly profit while they reject Christ and his gospel.
(Matthew Henry Commentary)
Remember Child of God, this world is a stranger to peace. The world keeps the flames of division, hatred and strife alive. Recognize the enemy has one objective and it is to steal, kill and destroy. Hear the good news today. Jesus came to bring lasting peace in our earthen temple. A heart and life devoted to God can wear the garment of this world loosely and not let the sins of this world steal that inward peace and joy in their souls no matter what calamities are around them.
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;”
John 14:16
The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Psalms 29:11
Let us pray for peace and practice it in our lives daily.
—Tammy Edwards
“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32
In John 1:1 it reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. “The plainest reason why the Son of God is called the Word, seems to be, that as our words explain our minds to others, so was the Son of God sent in order to reveal his Father’s mind to the world.” (Matthew Henry).
Do you want freedom from sin? Do you want deliverance and soul peace? Do you desire to have hope and lasting eternal joy that isn’t conditional on your life circumstances? Look up to Jesus, He is that perfect light to guide our steps. Be as the wise men, keep following that guiding light, pray and study God’s Word. God will lead you with His still small voice.
The Lord is especially mindful of His children’s needs. He is ready and waiting to help guide us through our trials of faith and the troubles we endure. He is steadying our feet to keep us from falling. He desires that we remain faithful and trust Him always, even when things around us don’t look well. He’s our ever present help in time of trouble. He shines His light upon our path to guide our steps and to give us a blessed life here and eternal hope. He hears our sincere prayers and is ready to answer when we call upon Him. He is near us always when He lives within our hearts.
“And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” Isaiah 58:11
What a beautiful promise! We can safely trust the Lord as our guiding light through life. God won’t force His light upon us, He wants us to willingly choose today to open our eyes and follow that perfect light all the way through our life.
—Tammy Edwards
This Christmas carol originally was composed by Charles Wesley in 1737. He jotted down the line “Hark! How all the welkin rings, glory to the King of Kings” that was the inspiration for this carol. Welkin, a word foreign to most of us today, means the “vault of heaven makes a long noise.” Doesn’t that just open up your imagination to that first Christmas night?
That heavenly host of angels were heralds of Jesus birth to the lowly Shepherds. “And suddenly there was with a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Luke 2:13-14. The night when the heavenly birth of Jesus and the angels of heaven and men became one family. “Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named:”. Ephesians 3:15
The redemption of the world is for his glory to the highest. If we’re to see Jesus and have that peace in our earthen temple on earth, we must meet His conditions, there must be a confession and bidding farewell to this world. We must become humble in heart, not proud in spirit. The heavenly host came to the lowly Shepherds, they didn’t go to the pious chief priests, for they were not prepared in their hearts to receive the good tidings of great joy. While you have breath, don’t delay, get acquainted with God. You don’t know how many days you are promised. Let the light of God bring you life, repent and accept the free gift of Salvation. It will bring light, peace and the promise of eternal life to your soul. “And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.” I John 2:25
—Tammy Edwards
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Psalms 119:105
Jesus the star of Bethlehem is still leading us today if we will follow. Come and follow Jesus! We must have a godly sorrow which worketh true repentance. If you haven’t repented and invited Christ to be your Savior today, now is the day of salvation. He is our only hope for a happy content life that is full of peace and joy. This contentment is an inward grace from Gods, it isn’t conditional on our circumstances, nor what season of life we’re in. When God’s light is in your heart it will point souls to Christ and lift up Jesus in this world. For Jesus is the light of the world and when we follow Him we will not walk in darkness….”but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12
The Christian life is living above this world, it draws us closer to God and nearer heaven, our heart is fixed on our eternal home, for this world is not our home, we’re just passing through. “But on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” That light will illuminate the minds of men. It will diffuse the light of heavenly knowledge, and give off a warm glow of The Divine love of God to those within your influence.
Friend, let that light illuminate and guide your life that it may lead souls to Jesus.
—Tammy Edwards
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil.” I Corinthians 13:4-5
Love is the gospel message of Christmas. The amazing love of God to this world is through the gift of His Son Jesus. Jesus sacrifice for us teaches us how to love one another. He went about doing good. Love worketh no ill to anyone, love is the fulfillment of the law. Love breaks all the chains of division, unforgiveness and bitterness. Love brings unity and peace in our lives, marriages, families, congregations and every relationship we have.
When we love as Christ, we will have the same sincere love and happiness for others as we do for ourselves. The love of God in our hearts is an active burning love that lives in obedience to the whole law of God.
Having a knowledge and understanding of the law of God without a charitable hear is of no value to us and a dead religion. Doing good to others will do nothing for us, if it does not first come from our genuine love to God. We can even manifest a charitable heart yet withhold our own heart from God, this will profit us nothing eternally. If we look for a reward and acceptance for our good works that stems from a corrupt and selfish heart. Perfect Love is the opposite of self-seeking praise; it does not desire to hurt, neglect or offend others. Christian Love always prefers others over themselves. This active Christian love in our hearts shows the gospel of Peace to this dark and sinful world more than anything. Examine your heart today! Is this divine fervent love active in our life and bringing about the gospel of peace in your life? Lord help us to be praying, watchful and diligent to let this divine love move us and guide us to share the gospel of peace with this dark and sinful world.
—Tammy Edwards
“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8b
The Christmas story begins in an unlikely place. If asked, many would say in the Gospels, with an angel’s visit, with a virgin and her betrothed. But the need for Hope was found in a garden when the first woman encountered a serpent, partaking then of forbidden fruit and when the first man decided to doubt God’s Word and follow the path of temptation yielding to sin.
It began with banishment and thorns and pain. It was followed by death and the reign of the serpent was unbroken for centuries. By placing the story of Christ’s birth in the larger storyline of the Bible it opens up its significance to us.
Genesis 3:15 is the first Messianic prophecy of Scripture.
“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Amplified Version
God implemented the ritual of sacrifice for sins. He sent Moses to lead His children to the Promised Land. He gave Kings to lead them, but all led imperfectly, and God’s chosen people often strayed, complained, worshipped idols, married idolaters, fell into captivity of heathen nations, repented of their sin until God would deliver them.
Then, in the fulness of time, God sent his Son, born of a Virgin into the world. Born of flesh to condemn sin in the flesh. When Christ died, that serpent bruised his heel, but on the third day Christ rose triumphant and in the life of every Christian he daily ‘bruises Satan`s head’. Our victory comes from Christ!
Come, Desire of nations, come,
fix in us thy humble home;
rise, the woman’s conquering Seed,
bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface;
stamp thine image in its place.
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy love.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"
