“O sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples.”
Psalm 96:1-3 (RSV)
The purpose of Christmas carols are to inspire us to declare the glory of Jesus as the newborn King. As we read the lyrics in these traditional carols, they are so profound, our souls are inspired. Here is a brief background story of some of my favorite Christmas carol lyrics.
The oldest medieval hymn, originally written in Latin, in an 8th century monastery, and translated into English in 1851 by an Anglican priest, John Mason Neale. It’s one of my favorites;
O come O come, Emmanuel;
“O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.”
In 1818, a church organ broke down on Christmas Eve and a poem written by an Austrian priest was turned into a song and sung by a children’s choir with only a guitar accompaniment. The words were translated into English in 1820 and the song was Silent Night;
“Son of God, Love’s pure light,
radiant beams from Thy Holy face,
with the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.”
A French poem written by a once atheist Jewish poet, Placide Cappeau, who was inspired after reading the gospel of Luke in 1847. He wrote the poem with these inspiring lyrics, which later became the song, Oh Holy Night;
“Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Til He appears and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.”
In 1739, Charles Wesley, a Methodist, prolific hymn writer, wrote the carol, Hark the herald angels sing;
“Christ, by highest Heaven adored; Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.”
I love that there is such variety in the languages and backgrounds of those who wrote all these lyrics.
Lord, we lift our hearts up to you as we sing these carols this Christmas, and may these lyrics lead us to rejoice in your arrival, declaring your glory in every carol we sing. Amen
(Old carols are great classics, here’s my favorite new song)
“Because of Bethlehem” written and performed by Matthew West