“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’” Luke 2:13 - 14
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
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, goodwill to men
From heavens all gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
Peace on the earth, goodwill to men
From heavens all gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.
By Shannon Pederson
This may be the only commonly sung Christmas carol in our hymnals that does not mention the birth of Christ! The focus is rather on the song of the angels, “Peace on the earth, good will to men,” taken from Luke 2:14.
This Christmas hymn was written by Edmund Hamilton Sears, a Unitarian minister in Wayland, Massachusetts, in 1849. It was a troubled time. The California Gold Rush was creating excitement, but was also disrupting the lives of men and women caught up in Gold Fever. The Industrial Revolution was pulling people from their small, marginal farms to the cities, where they often just exchanged one form of poverty for another. And, of course, the tensions over slavery, which would soon plunge the nation into its most terrible war, were already present.
In that troubled context, Sears wrote this hymn that emphasizes peace as a gift from "heaven's all-gracious king." He portrays angels bringing peace to a still-weary world. Sears describes a painful view of life, but offers hope through the four verses of the song.
Sears didn't start from scratch when he wrote this hymn at Christmastime. A dozen years earlier, he had written a poem entitled, "Calm on the Listening Ear." He pulled that poem from his files, made some revisions, and this hymn was born. Richard Storrs Willis, music critic for the New York Tribune, and editor of the Musical Times was inspired to put music to Sears' poem.
One hymnal editor put it so well when he said, the “hymn’s central theme contrasts the scourge of war with the song of the angels’ ‘peace to God’s people on earth.’” He suggests this is one of the earliest social gospel hymns written in the U.S.
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear was first sung at an 1849 Sunday School celebration. It has been enjoyed by millions ever since.
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” Luke 2:15
This may be the only commonly sung Christmas carol in our hymnals that does not mention the birth of Christ! The focus is rather on the song of the angels, “Peace on the earth, good will to men,” taken from Luke 2:14.
This Christmas hymn was written by Edmund Hamilton Sears, a Unitarian minister in Wayland, Massachusetts, in 1849. It was a troubled time. The California Gold Rush was creating excitement, but was also disrupting the lives of men and women caught up in Gold Fever. The Industrial Revolution was pulling people from their small, marginal farms to the cities, where they often just exchanged one form of poverty for another. And, of course, the tensions over slavery, which would soon plunge the nation into its most terrible war, were already present.
In that troubled context, Sears wrote this hymn that emphasizes peace as a gift from "heaven's all-gracious king." He portrays angels bringing peace to a still-weary world. Sears describes a painful view of life, but offers hope through the four verses of the song.
Sears didn't start from scratch when he wrote this hymn at Christmastime. A dozen years earlier, he had written a poem entitled, "Calm on the Listening Ear." He pulled that poem from his files, made some revisions, and this hymn was born. Richard Storrs Willis, music critic for the New York Tribune, and editor of the Musical Times was inspired to put music to Sears' poem.
One hymnal editor put it so well when he said, the “hymn’s central theme contrasts the scourge of war with the song of the angels’ ‘peace to God’s people on earth.’” He suggests this is one of the earliest social gospel hymns written in the U.S.
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear was first sung at an 1849 Sunday School celebration. It has been enjoyed by millions ever since.
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” Luke 2:15