December, 1937
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Christmas Joy on the Wings of Song By J. B. TROWBRIDGE* Los Angeles, California
“O holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend on us, we pray; Cast out our sin, and en ter in ; Be bo rn in us today. W e h ear th e Christm as angels T h e g reat glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide w ith us, O u r Lord Emmanuel.” The Christmas Hymn While th e W ord of God does not specify th a t the multitude of the heavenly ho st sang as they praised God on th e night of Christ’s b irth (Lk. 2:13), it may very well be th a t th eir message was th e first great carol— which is really a hymn. In spired by these words, many poets have been led to elaborate this tru th in th e ir own language. F o r instance, Charles Wesley, “the sweet singer of Methodism ,” w rote in th e eighteenth century: “H ark ! the herald angels, sing, ‘Glory to the new -born K ing; Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.’ ” This hymn may be called a “glori fied Christmas carol,” possessing as it does the lilting, happy movement of a carol w ith its rhythm ic swing, y et m aintaining th e deep spiritual and Scriptural content th a t charac terizes a hymn of the highest rank. In th is selection, the lyric element is outstanding—a quality th a t every good hymn m ust have in a high de gree. A hymn is made to be sung. A didactic poem may be set to music, but lacking the lyric fire, it usually does n o t go beyond the first edition, if indeed it goes th a t far. Dr. T o rrey once remarked in look ing over a poem subm itted as a hym n: “T h a t’s a good poem, but why sing it?” I t is n o t enough to say of a hymn, “ I t may be sung,” bu t ra th e r th a t “I t m ust be sung” in o rd er to reveal its real worth. The tru e lyric, such as “H ark! the H erald Angels Sing,” carries the singer o r the listener to far g reater heights em otionally and spiritually when sung th an when merely read. The m ost fam iliar of our Christ mas hymns—one th a t is always joy ful, stirring, and worshipful in its spirit—is “Joy to the W orld! the L o rd I s Come,” a paraphrase of P salm 98 by Isaac W atts. This hymn was published in W a tts’ epoch-making book (1719), Psalms o f David Im itated in the Language o f the New Testament —the book th a t made H ym ns out of Psalms. The tune “Antioch” is an old p atri
arch am ong metrical tunes, being about th e only fugue found w ork ing successfully in m odern hymn books. I t is by H andel and is th e blending of tw o themes from his Messiah, th e solo, “Com fort Ye,” and the chorus, “L ift Up Your Heads.” The Christmas Oratorio Unquestionably, th e m ost com prehensive, Scriptural, and thrilling medium^ fo r expressing th e Christ mas spirit is found in H andel’s Messiah. T he scope of this great work goes beyond th e N ativity, and deals w ith th e notable sequence of events in th e life of ou r Lord—not only bringing to a reality th e stu pendous fact of the Incarnation, but leading also to Calvary, resu rrec tion, and glorification. W e hear th e voice of th e teno r singing th e w ords of Isaiah 40:1-4: “Com fort ye my people,” and “Every valley shall be exalted,” th e chorus singing the message of the n ex t verse of th is chapter, “And the glory of th e L o rd shall be revealed, . . . fo r the m outh of th e L o rd hath spoken it,” and th e chorus again, using Isaiah 9:6: “F o r unto us a child is born.” F rom the Bethlehem manger, where we bow in adora tion, we are led on into the various scenes of Christ’s life on earth, to view H is hum iliation, to see H im rejected, spat upon, suffering the agonies of Calvary fo r us. W e stand in amazed wonder before the em pty tom b and hear those won derful w ords from Job 19, sung by th e soprano: “I know th a t my Re deemer liveth.” W e take our place w ith H im as, on th a t fortieth day after H is resurrection, H e led H is disciples out to Bethany. W e see H im taken up o u t of men’s sight, and by faith behold H im now seated “on th e rig h t hand of th e M ajesty on high.” T hen we h ear those glo rious climax choruses, “Hallelujah! fo r th e L o rd God omnipotent reign- eth!” (Rev. 19:6), and “W o rth y is th e Lamb th a t was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by his blood, to receive power, and riches, wis dom and streng th , and honor, and glory, and blessing” (cf. Rev. 5:12). As we contemplate th is future consummation, we kneel in rever ence before the M anger-Throne, thanking God fo r H is infinite Gift, and singing in glad invitation: “O come to my heart, Lord Jesus; T here is room in my h eart for Thee.”
By Ewing Galloway, N. T.
C OM B IN ING joy w ith wonder, awe, and reverence, the music of Christmas provides a me dium th rough which we may express our gratitude to God for th a t holy event, th e b irth of the Saviour, which ushered in a new. epoch in God’s divine program . Christmas music ranges from the bright, happy, folk-song _ carol to th e g reat hymns w ith th eir broader form and deeper meaning, and to the dignified, Scriptural oratorio. The Christmas Carol One of th e oldest carols is “Noel” (o r “Nowell”), probably of F rench origin, a fascinating narrative cov ering several of the Nativity stories w ith a tune of th e folk-song type, and a stirring chorus: “Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is th e K ing of Israel.” A nother w ithout which Christmas would be incomplete is th a t sweet German song, “Silent N ight, Holy N ight,” w ritten in 1818 by Joseph Mohr, a m inister of Oberdorf. The tune is by F ranz Gruber, who was his organist. These men were close friends, and on Christmas Eve the w riter presented the poem to his organist as a gift, and th e result was th is happy combination. Our own American carol, “O L it tle Town of Bethlehem ,” w ritten by the beloved Phillips Brooks, prince among preachers, is being greatly used. T he poem was composed in 1867 while th e author was m editat ing upon a visit to Bethlehem which he had taken at Christmas tim e two y ears previous. T ruly, “wherever th e gospel of Christ has gone on the w ings of song, w herever the festival of the Christ-Child is ob served, th e re is Phillips B rooks re membered, th ere h earts are lifted on th e w ings of his deathless words in praise of ‘Our Lord Emmanuel.’ ” *Member of the music faculty of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.
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