It Came upon a midnight clear
It came upon a midnight clear. This is a fascinating carol. The first verse reads:
“It came upon a midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of Gold;
‘Peace on the Earth, Goodwill to men,
From Heaven’s all-gracious king.’
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angel’s sing.”
Sometimes I wonder what it must have been like when the
angels sang. Last week I went to see ‘Messiah’ sung by the local choral
society, and I think it have me a glimpse, especially in the Hallelujah Chorus!
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if the angels came
today, to our society. Now I know it would probably look nothing like this…but
just imagine
The second and third verses of this Carol give a great
truth. The second verse reads:
“But 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.”
This is a powerful verse. When we look at the news we see
stories of countries at war with each other, the rich are getting richer and
the poor are getting poorer. Everywhere we look we see homelessness, murder,
grief and violence and we can ask,
WHERE IS THE LOVE OF GOD?
Many people may say that this God caused many of the problems.
But in reality it is man’s sin. Today I would say, Religion causes wars, God
Does not. Man causes war, God does not!
Today and every day God’s message is ‘Peace on Earth, goodwill
to men’ When God looked down 2000 years ago and saw the mess we had of the
world he didn’t give us material things – He gave us HIMSELF so that through
his death and resurrection we can be free from sin.
Today, as Christians, we are called to be light in the
darkness and sing the song of peace and goodwill. That is why at the Salvation
Army we work tirelessly, especially in this season, to spread the message of hope.
The third verse speaks about a great hope for the future it
states:
“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 splendour fling,
And the whole world give back the song,
Which now the angels sing”
I have included on this post a piano version of this carol.
Maybe today you would like to take some time to pray. Pray for a situation of
strife, maybe in your family, o in our world. Pray for peace, Pray for that day
when we will all sing the son the angels sang.
Hi Alice,
ReplyDeleteI start my response with quoting from the 2nd verse -
"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.”
With just one hug from my son I felt a warmth like no other! Then there was that look in his eye, just before, but more so just after the hug that spoke a thousand reassuring words to me. He NEVER had to say anything - I just knew!
There were days I sent him of to school un-convinced that he would be returning home! Would his heart get him through another day? "Please God let it be so!" I'd pray all day, every day! It was like sending him to the front line of the cruelest and most un-necessary war! But with that backward glance, as he boarded the school mini-bus, I knew that this was what he needed to be doing!
How did I know?
What happened to gave me the strength to close the door and get on with my day?
I don't have a clue!
But,
what I do know is in the moments of calm and peace of mind I felt, at certain times of the day, a prescence as if someone was stood right beside me, I could almost feel their breath and their touch!
I'll hold that feeling until the day that I'll die!
Was it one of god's Angels sent to guide and protect me in the hours before my child was once more returned home for the evening and night?
I thinks it was.
Sooo yes, I can imagine what it would be like with a whole choir of God's Angels descending to claim us, His believers - I long for the day that I am re-united with our 'angelic' man child, our son, our Benjamin!
Hi Alice,
ReplyDeleteI start my response with quoting from the 2nd verse -
"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.”
With just one hug from my son I felt a warmth like no other! Then there was that look in his eye, just before, but more so just after the hug that spoke a thousand reassuring words to me. He NEVER had to say anything - I just knew!
There were days I sent him of to school un-convinced that he would be returning home! Would his heart get him through another day? "Please God let it be so!" I'd pray all day, every day! It was like sending him to the front line of the cruelest and most un-necessary war! But with that backward glance, as he boarded the school mini-bus, I knew that this was what he needed to be doing!
How did I know?
What happened to gave me the strength to close the door and get on with my day?
I don't have a clue!
But,
what I do know is in the moments of calm and peace of mind I felt, at certain times of the day, a prescence as if someone was stood right beside me, I could almost feel their breath and their touch!
I'll hold that feeling until the day that I'll die!
Was it one of god's Angels sent to guide and protect me in the hours before my child was once more returned home for the evening and night?
I thinks it was.
Sooo yes, I can imagine what it would be like with a whole choir of God's Angels descending to claim us, His believers - I long for the day that I am re-united with our 'angelic' man child, our son, our Benjamin!