Tuesday, December 2: “Angels We Have Heard on High,” by For King + Country
“Angels We Have Heard on High” tells of the angels’ proclamation that the Savior has been born. The lyrics are written from the perspective of the shepherds sitting in a field in Luke 2:8-18, watching their flocks by night, as this news is proclaimed in the sky above them. The hymn originated sometime in the early 1800s and was translated a few decades later into the English version most of us recognize. But its chorus line, the Latin phrase “Gloria, in excelsis Deo”—Glory to God in the highest—was preserved in its original language.
We can learn so much from how people of different social statuses reacted to the news of Jesus’ birth. When King Herod heard the prophecy that a new “king of the Jews” had been born, his reaction was grotesque. His fear of losing his power led to the slaughter of thousands of innocent baby boys.
When angels appeared to these shepherds, the shepherds, too, were terrified—but unlike Herod, they weren’t a bunch of cowards afraid of a baby. They trusted the angel. They were awestruck by the song in the sky, and then they ran to see the miracle. That’s how these humble sheep herders who slept outside got to meet Jesus—trust, awe, and action.
“Angels We Have Heard on High” gives us a stroke of high language in the middle of its more plainspoken words. It’s a moment when what’s considered highbrow and the elite is made accessible to the rest of us as we sing in our pews—a moment central to this beautiful ode to how God reveals Himself first to the meek.
Conversation starter:
“When you picture the angels singing in the sky to the shepherds, what does it look like in your imagination?”
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