It Came Upon a Midnight Clear -
Luke 2:13-14 Suddenly a great company of the
heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in
the highest heaven,
and on earth
peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” began as a poem called “The
Angel’s Song” composed by Edmund Sears, a Unitarian minister in 1849. The most popular US version of the poem set
to music is a tune called “Carol” written by Richard Storrs Willis in 1850. The pairing of the two makes the popular
carol the first Christmas Carol written in the United States. It was written in the aftermath of the war
with Mexico and in the midst of a rising internal conflict in the US regarding
slavery. This conflict would lead to the
Civil War just a few years after the poem was written. Sears himself was recovering from a
devastating illness and depression that had forced him to resign his pastorate
in 1847.
I find it compelling that Sears wrote these words in the
midst of national and personal conflict and struggle:
"Peace on the earth, goodwill
to men,
From heaven's all-gracious
King."
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.
Sears imagines the first-century
world being quiet and attentive enough to actually hear the angels song and
message. While it is easy to argue that
the original angels message was not heard or heeded by most original hearers,
stay with the progression of Sears’ thought.
The second verse proclaims that, “Still through the cloven skies they come
with peaceful wings unfurled,” witnessing that the Angels still sing for every
generation their “glorious song of old.” The angels message of peace is
proclaimed to every generation.
Then comes the controversial and
thus, most often skipped third verse:
Yet with the woes of sin and
strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have
rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears
not
The love-song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of
strife,
And hear the angels sing.
Sears is pleading with humanity to
hear the message of peace in a world obsessed with its many conflicts.
The fourth verse (in most
versions, the third verse) is a more personal appeal aimed at comforting those
like Sears himself who are struggling with the burdens of life:
And ye, beneath life's crushing
load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow. . .
He witnesses that the angels
never-ending song is for them as well and invites them to “rest beside the
weary road and hear the angels sing!”
The poem finishes with the fifth verse imagines a world who finally
hears and heeds the message of peace:
For lo!, the days are hastening
on,
By prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years
Comes round the age of gold
When peace shall over all the
earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the
song
Which now the angels sing.
This song has never been one of my
favorites because it does not explicitly mention Jesus. But I have to say it has moved up in my
personal rankings this year because it has helped me hear the angels’ message
of peace more than I ever have before.
If ever the world needed to “hear the angels sing” their message of
peace and comfort, it is now.
Question: Can you hear the Angels’ timeless song of
peace being sung over you this year?
Prayer: God is Highest Heaven, may we hear your song
of peace over “life’s crushing load” this most holy of seasons. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray again for all of our health care workers
Song: David Torbett -
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear – There are obviously more polished versions of
this song, but I wanted a version that included the almost always omitted third
verse.
