Today is a celebration! We’ve traveled through Matthew 1 and much of Luke 1-2 and, although the Christmas Story isn’t over yet, it’s still a fabulous day to celebrate Emmanuel who is with us!! Merry Christmas!! Today let us focus on three songs which help us celebrate Jesus’s birth.
“Go Tell it On the Mountain”
“John Wesley Work, Jr., may not have written the slave song “Go, Tell It on the Mountain,” but he can take credit for us singing it at Christmas. As the son of a church choir director, Work grew up in Nashville loving music. Even though he earned his Master’s [Degree] in Latin and went on to teach ancient Latin and Greek, his first love continued to be music, and he went on to become the first African-American collector of Negro spirituals. This proved to be a daunting task for Work because they were passed down by slaves orally, from plantation to plantation; very few were ever written down. But Work proved up to the challenge, publishing [“Go Tell It on the Mountain” in] 1904 in “New Jubilee Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, in Songs of the American Negro”…. *
“Joy to the World”
This Christmas carol is a song of triumph written by a great English hymn writer. Isaac Watts was known as the father of English hymnody because he wrote many hymns at a time when most songs in worship were Psalms or biblical verses set to music. He acknowledged Psalm 98 as his inspiration for this song, but the words aren’t tightly tied to the psalm. When we hear “Joy to the world! The Lord is come,” we probably think of it as referring to Christ’s birth. But Watts had in mind a greater day – when Christ comes back to claim the world as His own. “Joy to the World” is actually a hymn about Jesus’ Second Coming!
“Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah
You’ve probably heard this song, but have you heard the story behind it? The words – or libretto – were taken from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter in the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer. They were later given to the man who set them to music, George Frideric Handel, who then created the program “Messiah” in only 24 days! “Messiah” is an oratorio – think of it as a musical without the drama – for four soloists, a 4 part choir, and 11 instruments – a 2 1/2 hour oratorio – all written by hand in 24 days! Handel’s “Messiah” is divided into 3 parts that tell the story of Christ. The “Hallelujah Chorus” comes at the end of the second part of “Messiah” – after Christ’s resurrection and ascension. In our day, we often hear it sung in Christmas settings, but it really was intended for Easter!!
Today these songs remind us of the conversation between God and humanity. As we sing songs of praise, God hears our voices. And as God speaks to us, we hear his Word and his Heart. God’s voice can be as big and triumphant as the angels that announced Jesus’s birth to the shepherds, or it can be as quiet as a whisper in our hearts. It can warn us in dreams, or give us great comfort. The message of Christmas, in part, is that Emmanuel – God with Us – hears us, responds to us, and speaks to us.
Today I pray you have renewed strength to block out the voices of this world – the voices of chaos, despair, doubt, and fear that comes from the enemy of our souls – and be able to listen to the sweet, hopeful, loving, voice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And may our God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Merry Christmas!