Songs of Christmas

I've always wanted to write a Christmas song, but there are so many beautiful ones out there already that make this a truly difficult endeavor. The other difficulty in writing a Christmas song is getting past the cliches and the obvious. Christmas is so simple, and at the same time, so full of mystery… but how to express that in words?

The Christmas carols of old say it best:

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing.


But have you ever sung past the standard first verse of the well-known carols? Some of them speak wonderful theology and profound thoughts that go beyond the birth, the angels, and the shepherds. See if you can recognize which Christmas carols these verses are from:


Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name!
Christ is the Lord, oh praise His name forever,
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim.

(O Holy Night, by J.S. Dwight and A. C. Adam)


How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming;
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

(O Little Town of Bethlehem, by Phillips Brooks)

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see;
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel,
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail! the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail! the Son 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 newborn King!"

(Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Charles Wesley)


Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through
The cross be borne for me, for you,
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The babe, the son of Mary.

(What Child is This?, by William Chatterton Dix)