Saturday, December 4, 2010

Songs of the Season - It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Our next song of the season comes from an artist whose singing "emotes more feeling in a single line than most artists conjure up in an entire album," according to ChristianityToday.com. In her very first Christmas album O Holy Night (released in 2008), singer-songwriter Sara Groves recreates classic holiday melodies that will warm your heart and point you to the Savior. Groves' rendition of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" adds a chorus that proclaims:

Peace on the earth, good will to men
From heaven's all gracious King
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels, to hear them sing

As you allow this song to lead you into the Christmas season, remember to acknowledge the magnificent grace and peace that God has bestowed upon his people through the gift of his son, Jesus.



Lyrics:
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 earth, good will to men
From heaven's all gracious King
The earth in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels, to hear them sing

O ye beneath life's crushing load
Whose forms are bending low
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps so slow

Look now for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing
Oh, rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels, and hear them sing

Singing peace on earth, good will to men
From heaven's all gracious King
The earth in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels, the angels sing, sing, sing

Still through the broken skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled
And still their heavenly music floats
Over all the weary world

Above its sad and lonely plains
They bend on hovering wing
And ever over Babel sounds
The blessed angels, the angels sing, sing, sing

And I can hear the angels sing
And I can hear the angels
And I still hear the angels sing
And I still hear the angels

Glory hallelujah!

1 comment:

  1. When I found out that this song was written by a Unitarian Minister, I started to really search the lyrics to see if this was worthy of using in worship. It is not. "Heaven's All-Gracious King" is the only title remotely referring to God. This is more deistic that Christian- and perfectly Unitarian =)

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