Christmas would hardly be complete without ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’. Charles Wesley composed some 6000 hymns, but this ranks amongst his best.

Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the new-born King,
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled.

Joyful, all ye nations, rise
Join the triumph of the skies;
With the angelic host proclaim,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.

The carol originally began “Hark, how all the welkin rings, Glory to the King of Kings”. Welkin being an old English word for the sky or the vault of Heaven. It is said that in 1739 as Wesley was on his way to morning service he heard the church bells ringing as if the sound came from Heaven and he remarked, “It was as if the whole sky rang with God’s glory.” And so this “Triumph of the skies” appears in the first verse. The tune for the carol was composed by Mendelssohn in 1840 as part of a larger work to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the invention of printing.

On a personal note, I was converted early in 1946 and I shall never forget singing this carol the next Christmas. I’d sung it before but now the full weight of the words warmed my heart as the “Good tiding of great joy” were proclaimed verse after verse.

A boy looking in a shop window saw this advert, “Have the best Christmas yet.” Looking at his friend he said, “It’s pretty hard to beat the first one!” You can go back to the first Christmas by reading the gospels which describe His life from His cradle to His crucifixion and magnificent resurrection. Then thank God for the greatest Christmas present of all, “Eternal Life” through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. [ Romans 6:23 ]