December 03, 2023—The best verses you've never heard
Hark the Herald Angels Sing is one of those Christmas classics. And the third verse makes such a glorious ending:
Hail the Heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Risen with healing in His wings;
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the new-born king”
Except that’s not the end of the song!
Did you know the original has ten verses, not a paltry three?
Did you know the original doesn’t say a single thing about Herald Angels?! It was originally titled Hymn for Christmas-Day by Charles Wesley in 1739, and he said to hark to the ringing Welkin.
HARK how all the Welkin rings
“Glory to the King of Kings,
“Peace on Earth, and Mercy mild,
“GOD and Sinners reconcil’d!
Joyful all ye Nations rise,
Join the Triumph of the Skies,
Universal Nature say
“CHRIST the LORD is born to Day!
CHRIST, by highest Heav’n ador’d,
CHRIST, the Everlasting Lord,
Late in Time behold him come,
Offspring of a Virgin’s Womb.
Veil’d in Flesh, the Godhead see,
Hail th’ Incarnate Deity!
Pleas’d as Man with Men t’ appear
JESUS, our Immanuel here!
Hail the Heav’nly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and Life to All he brings,
Ris’n with Healing in his Wings.
Mild he lays his Glory by,
Born—that Man no more may die,
Born—to raise the Sons of Earth,
Born—to give them Second Birth.
Come, Desire of Nations, come,
Fix in Us thy humble Home,
Rise, the Woman’s Conqu’ring Seed,
Bruise in Us the Serpent’s Head.
Now display thy saving Pow’r,
Ruin’d Nature now restore,
Now in Mystic Union join
Thine to Ours, and Ours to Thine.
Adam’s Likeness, LORD, efface,
Stamp thy Image in its Place,
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy Love.
Let us Thee, tho’ lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the Inner Man:
O! to All Thyself impart,
Form’d in each Believing Heart.
It was George Whitefield who slightly altered the words to “Hark! The Herald Angels sing” in 1758, nearly twenty years later. The meaning is roughly the same. Whitefield also removed the eighth and tenth verses. I’m sure his intentions were good.
But it was Sir David Willcocks and Reginald Jacques who totally gutted the best verses of all in 1961, more than two hundred years later.
Let’s look at those wonderful ending verses again:
Come, Desire of Nations, come,
Fix in Us thy humble Home,
Rise, the Woman’s Conqu’ring Seed,
Bruise in Us the Serpent’s Head.
That is the great hope of every Christian through the ages. Come, Lord Jesus! Come and destroy Satan, finally and fully.
Now display thy saving Pow’r,
Ruin’d Nature now restore,
Now in Mystic Union join
Thine to Ours, and Ours to Thine.
This is the great joy of every Christian through the ages. Being reformed into the image of Christ. But Wesley didn’t want to stop there:
Adam’s Likeness, LORD, efface,
Stamp thy Image in its Place,
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy Love.
In other words: Lord, please completely obliterate every likeness we share with Adam, our fallen federal head. Lord, please completely stamp your own image into us instead.
Let us Thee, tho’ lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the Inner Man:
O! to All Thyself impart,
Form’d in each Believing Heart.
This is the great prayer of every Christian through the ages.
I think I’ve found my new favorite Christmas carol. Well, new to me.