Advent Devotional ~ Then Sings my Soul Saturday (Day 7)

This week I am posting the carol Hark the Herald Angels Sing, a hymn of rejoicing, for it is my heart's desire to rejoice also. It came to mind when I found this painting by Gouguereau called The Song of the Angels. My heart was stirred as I thought of my Savior and He has done for me and I wanted to join in song and praise with all of Creation and all the Heavenly Hosts that the Savior is come!



This carol goes back a long way. It was originally written by Charles Wesley, the famous theologian, in the early 1700s. He wrote more than 6000 hymns but this is perhaps his most famous. The words we sing today are a slightly altered version put forth by friend and sometimes rival, George Whitefield. Later the song was put to the music of Mendelssohn creating the beautiful traditional hymn as we know it today.

Luke 2:10-15
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a (B)Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."

This week, I have written about and had songs almost every day... I have been inspired by music. If you are interested you can find them here. Here with us, Handel's For Unto Us a Child is Born, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song), The 23rd Psalm with the Choirboys, Create in Me a Clean Heart, and Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow.