Angels We Have Heard

We love Christmas carols, but sometimes we just sing them without thinking about what they’re really saying.   Here is the first line of a Christmas carol that began as a French song.  It was paraphrased in 1862 by an Englishman, James Chadwick.               

"Angels we have heard on high
sweetly singing o'er the plains

and the mountains in reply

echoing their joyous strains…”

Have you ever heard an angel sing?

If we listen to those words – they sound soft and gentle, don’t they?  I’m sure that the writer saw the encounter with the shepherds that way, and that’s nice, but --- sweetly singing?  I’m not so sure that is what came to the ears of the shepherds.  

I’m afraid that my mind doesn’t go there either.  Sweet?  God’s “heavenly host,” His army, announcing the birth of the King of the Universe?  I would be more inclined to believe it sounded like thunder, or a huge brass band than a sweet gentle harp.

The shepherds were frightened by the angel, and the “glory” that surrounded him, as he told them the good news of great joy.  Don’t you think that they were every bit as terrified when the angel was joined by a multitude (a huge number) of “the heavenly host” that filled the sky?

All this to say, though we know that many times God speaks to us in a gentle, quiet voice, there are times when the majesty and power of His words and His works are anything but gentle.  Afterall, He is God Almighty, and the announcement of the event that would change the course of eternity for all of mankind was surely not given in a quiet whisper.  

I suppose this idea touched my heart because so much of the time we Christians don’t look at the power of God, His majesty and might, but only His love and compassion.  I’m so glad that He is filled with power, majesty, might, and love and compassion, aren’t you?  I want to trust my powerful and majestic God who continues to treat me with gentle love, encouragement, and compassion.

Have a beautiful, power-filled Christmas season.

Love, Diane