Sing it Slowly

Pastor Gary Oser

I had a professor in Bible College who encouraged us to keep a hymnal close by our Bibles. Only the Bible is the inspired Word of God, however, there are a lot of great hymns that teach us good theology.

I think when it comes to Christmas carols (hymns), we know them so well that we sing them without thinking much about the words we are singing. I want to challenge you to take some time this Christmas season and read slowly the words of some of the carols you sing.

I would like to draw your attention to a favorite and familiar Christmas carol (hymn): Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

Charles Wesley wrote over six thousand hymn texts, but Hark the Herald Angels Sing is, in the opinion of some, his best. This song is filled with powerful Scriptural ideas.

For the sake of space, let’s look at the words of the last verse and make some observations:

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! / Hail the Sun of Righteousness! / Light and life to all He brings, / Risen with healing in His wings, Mild He lays His glory by, / Born that man may no more die, / Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth.

Chorus: Hark! The herald angels sing, / Glory to the newborn King!

Notice the great names of Jesus—Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) and Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2). The word “Light” also points to Jesus as the Light of the World (John 8:12). The words “mild He lays His glory by” allude to Philippians 2:6-7 which say, “…who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took on the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”

The words, “born that man no more may die,” remind us that Jesus came into the world to pay the penalty for sin so those who put their faith in Him can have eternal life.

Finally, the words “…born to give them second birth” reminds us that Jesus came so we can have a spiritual birth into God’s family. As Jesus said to Nicodemus (a Jewish leader), “…Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3 ESV).

This Christmas, take time to think carefully about the words of the carols (hymns) you sing.