JESUS CHRIST >> Birth
SDAH 122
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Text
1
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th’ angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”
2
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 th’ incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”
3
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 we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!”
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) Luke 2:13-15 (b Isa 9:6; Luke 2:12, 14; Matt 1:23 (c) Mal 4:2; Phil 2:7; John 3:7
Author
Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Year Published
1788
Theme
BIRTH OF JESUS
Hymn Tune
MENDELSSOHN
Metrical Number
7.7.7.7.D.Ref.
Arranger / Harmonized / Paraphrased
Arr. from Mendelssohn, 1840 (1809-1847) by William H. Cummings, 1856 (1831-1915)
Hymn Score
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Recommended Reading
Charles was the other Wesley. Alongside his brother John who was considered the main guy behind the founding of Methodism, it was Charles’ hymns that pushed through the envelope of being “just another religion.” His lasting and well-known hymns have captivated Christians all around the world. Through his poetic lines, we are able to sing many hymns with such deep theology.
It was said that he wrote 8,989 hymns. That’s 10 lines of poetry every single day for 50 years. And we are privileged to have sung some of those hymns. Tell me, don’t these hymns ring a bell for you?
Charles was the other Wesley. Alongside his brother John who was considered the main guy behind the founding of Methodism, it was Charles’ hymns that pushed through the envelope of being “just another religion.” His lasting and well-known hymns have captivated Christians all around the world. Through his poetic lines, we are able to sing many hymns with such deep theology.
It was said that he wrote 8,989 hymns. That’s 10 lines of poetry every single day for 50 years. And we are privileged to have sung some of those hymns. Tell me, don’t these hymns ring a bell for you?
Notes
Get to know the hymns a little deeper with the SDA Hymnal Companion. Use our song leader’s notes to engage your congregation in singing with understanding. Even better, involve kids in learning this hymn with our homeschooling materials.
This hymn by Charles Wesley (1707-1788; see Biographies) appeared first in John and Charles Wesley’s Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1739, under the title “Hymn for Christmas Day.” There are 10 stanzas of four lines each, beginning:
Hark, how all the welkin rings
Glory to the King of kings.
In 1753 this was changed to the present wording by George Whitefield; since then, other minor alterations have been made, including, in 1782, the repetition of the first two lines as a refrain.
The tune MENDELSSOHN is part of the second movement of Festgesang an die Kunstler (Festival Song for the Artists), composed by Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847; see Biographies), for the Gutenberg Festival in Leipzig in 1840 to commemorate the 400th (approximately) anniversary of the invention of printing. It was arranged as a hymn tune in 1856 by William Hayman Cummings to Flt Wesley’s words and named in honor of the original composer. Mendelssohn himself prophesied— falsely, as it turned out—that while singers and hearers might like the tune, it would never be appropriate for sacred words.
William Cummings was born on August 22, 183 1, in Sidbury, a village near the Devon coastal town of Sidmouth. As a boy he was a chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and later in the Temple Church. In 1 847 he was appointed organist at Waltham Abbey, and in that year he sang in the performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, conducted by the composer. He was noted as a successful tenor soloist and from 1879 to 1896 was professor of singing at the Royal Academy of Music. He conducted the Sacred Harmonic Society and in 1 896 was chosen to succeed Joseph Barnby (see Biographies) as principal of the Guildhall School of Music, retaining that position until retirement in 1911. The University of Dublin accorded him an honorary D.Mus. degree in 1900. He composed one cantata, but was recognized as an authority on the life and works of Henry Purcell (see SDAH 607). Cummings died at Dulwich, south London, in June, 1915.
-from Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White
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