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Songs of Christmas: Angels from the Realms of Glory

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There are quite a few Christmas songs that have the word “Angels” in their title – or at least in their lyrics. This is because the angels had such a prominent role in the events of Christmas.. Two of those carols are “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “Angels from the Realms of Glory.” As I thought about an “angelic” carol to examine in this series on Christmas songs, I decided to look at one a little less popular: “Angels from the Realms of Glory.” I think both the background of the song and the words themselves can help us understand how classic Christmas songs developed as well as remind us of some key truths about Christmas.

The Writer and Writing of the Song
James Montgomery, a newspaper editor in Sheffield, England, wrote the words to this song in 1816, and it first appeared on Christmas Eve of that year as a poem under the title “Nativity”. While it may seem odd that a hymn was written by a newspaper editor, this was not the only song composed by Montgomery – he wrote around 400 hymns and many contemporary hymn books today still contain a number of hymns. Born in Scotland, Montgomery’s father was a pastor in Moravian Brethren tradition who would later go to the West Indies as a missionary. Montgomery did not go there with his parents, as he was at a boarding school, and both of his parents passed away while on the mission field, leaving their 12-year old son an orphan. It seems that he struggled with his faith for a time, but he ultimately embraced the Christian faith and expressed that faith, in part through his poems. He began writing poetry at a young age and even sold some of his poems on the streets. At age 25 he became editor of a newspaper and would remain its editor for 31 years. Poetry, rather than journalism, may have been his great passion, as he is remembered more for his poems, particularly hymns, than his work as a newspaper editor.

The inspiration for this particular poem was Luke 2:13-14, when the angels announce, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” In fact, when Montgomery republished it in 1825, he titled the hymn “Good Tidings of Great Joy to all People.” This republication led to it becoming more widely known like many hymns, however, it came to be known by the first line rather than the title of the poem. Since Montgomery wrote only the words and not the music, a number of tunes have been used to sing it. The one most widely known in America is “Regent Square” by Henry Smart while a different tune is more common in England. 

The Words of the Song
One of the distinguishing features of the song is its refrain: “Come and worship / Come and worship / Worship Christ the newborn king.” That refrain reflects the fact that the song itself is really a call to worship, inviting various groups to worship Jesus. 

The first group is the angels, as the same angels that witnessed the creation of the world now have seen and are to announce the birth of the one that has come to bring salvation to God’s people (“Ye who sang creation’s story / Now proclaim Messiah’s birth”). These words don’t just recall the events of the Christmas story with the angels announcing to the shepherds that Jesus is born, but also Job 38:4-7 that speaks of the angels singing at creation. Another passage that these words brought to my mind is 1 Peter 1:12, which speaks about the fact that the angels are both servants of God in the plan of salvation but also anxiously watching to see how it unfolds. 

The second verse moves to the shepherds who are “in the fields abiding.” These shepherds are called to worship after being reminded of the truth that “God with man is now residing / Yonder shines the infant light.” In Jesus’s birth, God has come to be with us; this infant shines in a way that no one else does.

Like many other Christmas songs, the next group described are the magi or wise men. The call for them to worship in verse three calls them “sages” and invites them to “leave your contemplations.” This is because Jesus’s birth is greater than what their visions could be (“Brighter visions beam afar”); the fact that these Gentiles hear is a reminder that Jesus was not just hope for Israel, but the “great Desire of nations” and that God gives something practical to summon them (“Ye have seen his natal star”).

Verse four could have different two referents when it says “Saints.” It could be a call for all Christians to worship God. Or it could be a call back up to heaven, as it says these saints are “before the altar bending / Watching long in hope and fear.” This group would seem to be those saints who are now in heaven, as seen in Revelation 6:9-11. They are crying out for God to come and bring judgment, and this will happen now. I’m not sure what Montgomery’s intention was, but I think the connection to Revelation added some interesting depth to this song.

The first four verses seem pretty standard in different renditions I have found, but there are three other verses out there as well. I have not been able to determine with any confidence if Montgomery wrote all of them. I came across accounts that said the original poem had five verses (here and here) while others (here and here) say the fifth verse was written by Montgomery but added a few years after the poem. I’m not sure which is true; regardless, it seems that by the 1825 reprinting, the first five verses were part of the song. From what I found in brief research, the sixth verse came from another Christmas carol published by Montgomery (in the same collection as this one) that reflected upon Phlippians 2 and the seventh served as a doxology in an 1857 collection of hymns. 

The fifth verse is one often left out, both because of the question about when it was added, but also because it can seem a bit of a “downer” as it speaks about sin  (“Sinners, wrung with true repentance / Doomed for guilt to endless pains / Justice now revokes the sentence / Mercy calls you—break your chains”). That being said, it is a good reminder that Christmas is about a child born for sinners and calling for us to repent; to worship Him rightly, we need to repent truly. And this repentance is called for by the promise of God’s mercy; that God has revoked the sentence of justice upon us and it is his mercy that calls for us to come to repentance. This seems an appropriate way to end such a song. 

The seventh verse also serves as a fitting conclusion, as it connects all the various groups called to worship and the nature of worship when it notes, “All creation, join in praising / God the Father, Spirit, Son / Evermore your voices raising / To th’eternal Three in One.” While the focus of Christmas is often on Jesus, we must not forget that His coming is the work of the Triune God and thus praise not just the Son, but also the Father and the Spirit as well. 

Lest I forget the other verse to this song that circulates, here is the sixth verse: “Though an infant now we view him / He shall fill his Father’s throne / Gather all the nations to him / Every knee shall then bow down.” What great words to remind us that Jesus was born an infant but did not stay that way and will not be constrained by a crib. He is the king who has come to gather all nations to him so that every nation will bow down. The theme of worship is found in those words once again. 

As we head towards Christmas, let us heed the call found in this song and make sure that we are indeed worshipping Christ, as he is the newborn and ever-reigning king that all creation – in heaven and earth – has been waiting for and should marvel at in wholehearted worship.

Questions about the Bible or theology? Email them to Pastor Brian at Theology@WeAreFaith.org. You can also request to receive weekly emails with our blog posts by filling out the information on the right side.

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