Piano Demo
0:00
Hymnal Number
773Resource Type:
Keys included:
Bb
About this Hymn
A man who goes between two hostile armies and negotiates a peace represents very dimly and remotely the Divine Mediation in Jesus Christ. On the Divine side, this does not represent the fact at all. For God has no hostility towards his creatures; the enmity is all on one side, and the fearful chasm and antagonism between the Divine nature and human nature do not require any treaty-making or going between, that God may understand us, and be made placable towards us. . . . He is peace-maker in that he opens between both the streams and courses through which the Divine Peace flows to man and reconciles him, so to say, under the omnipotence of the Divine Love. – Edmund H. Sears
Lyrics
Verse 1
It came upon the midnight clear,
that glorious song of old,
from angels bending near the earth
to touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, good will to men,
from heav'n's all-gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay
to hear the angels sing.
Verse 2
Still through the cloven skies they come,
with peaceful wings unfurled,
and still their heav'nly music floats
o'er all the weary world:
above its sad and lowly pains
they bend on hov'ring wing,
and ever o'er its Babel sounds
the blessed angels sing.
Verse 3
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
the world has suffered long;
beneath the heav'nly strain have rolled
two thousand years of wrong;
and man, at war with man, hears not
the tidings which they bring;
oh, hush the noise, ye men of strife,
and hear the angels sing.
Verse 4
O ye, beneath life's crushing load,
whose forms are bending low,
who toil along the climbing way
with painful steps and slow,
look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing:
oh, rest beside the weary road
and hear the angels sing!
Verse 5
For lo! the days are hast'ning on,
by prophet bards foretold,
when with the ever-circling years
comes round the age of gold;
when peace shall over all the earth
its ancient splendors fling,
and the whole world give back the song
which now the angels sing.
It came upon the midnight clear,
that glorious song of old,
from angels bending near the earth
to touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, good will to men,
from heav'n's all-gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay
to hear the angels sing.
Verse 2
Still through the cloven skies they come,
with peaceful wings unfurled,
and still their heav'nly music floats
o'er all the weary world:
above its sad and lowly pains
they bend on hov'ring wing,
and ever o'er its Babel sounds
the blessed angels sing.
Verse 3
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
the world has suffered long;
beneath the heav'nly strain have rolled
two thousand years of wrong;
and man, at war with man, hears not
the tidings which they bring;
oh, hush the noise, ye men of strife,
and hear the angels sing.
Verse 4
O ye, beneath life's crushing load,
whose forms are bending low,
who toil along the climbing way
with painful steps and slow,
look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing:
oh, rest beside the weary road
and hear the angels sing!
Verse 5
For lo! the days are hast'ning on,
by prophet bards foretold,
when with the ever-circling years
comes round the age of gold;
when peace shall over all the earth
its ancient splendors fling,
and the whole world give back the song
which now the angels sing.
Copyrighted lyrics may be used in corporate worship in accordance with a valid CCLI license. Lyrics should be displayed unaltered and include author and copyright information. All other uses require permission from the copyright holder.
Attribution & Copyright
Words: Edmund H. Sears, 1849
Music: Richard Storrs Willis, 1850, rev. 1861
Music: Richard Storrs Willis, 1850, rev. 1861