What would we do if all the Bibles on earth were somehow lost? Of course, God is not going to let that happen. But if it did one hymnologist/theologian has suggested that we could just about reconstruct the Bible from the hymns of Charles Wesley! That’s how much Scripture is found in his approximately 6500 gospel-saturated hymns. And one of the best examples of that is “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
With so many hymns to his credit, the name of Charles Wesley (1707-1788) will pop up frequently in these hymn studies. He and his older brother, John, were raised in the home of a verbally abusive father, Samuel, an Anglican priest who fell far short of the godly life expected of a minister. John and Charles, two of the nineteen children born into the home, studied for the priesthood at Christ College, Oxford. Along with George Whitefield, they were part of what was called the “Holy Club,” to encourage one another in the disciplines of the Christian life, such as prayer, Scripture reading, communion, and journaling.
Despite such exercises, the two brothers were only Christians by virtue of their studies and then ordination. They had not yet been born again. Before that took place in 1738, they had traveled to America briefly as mission preachers. While returning to England, they encountered a violent storm, probably a hurricane, in which they realized they had no certainty of heaven if they were to drown. In contrast, they observed a group of Moravians singing with security, true believers who clearly possessed something they did not have.
Charles was present in what we would recognize as a home Bible study on May 21, 1738 when the gospel of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone captured and transformed his heart. Three days later the same thing happened to his brother John in a house nearby on Aldersgate Street. John wrote in his journal of his heart being “strangely warmed,” and of his new assurance that he was genuinely loved by God and saved by Christ. This radically altered their preaching. Today we would say they had been preaching mere morality reform (a version of a false social gospel). But from this point on they preached the glorious news of the true biblical gospel.
Having already been ordained as Anglican priests, it must have been a disappointment to find so many churches “closed” to their preaching such evangelical doctrine. And so they resorted to preaching in the streets and in the fields. These were the years of “The Great Awakening,” a revival in England and in America that saw literally hundreds of thousands of souls converted. As the Wesleys’ “fame” spread, tens of thousands at a time gathered to hear the story of God’s free gift of eternal life, received by faith and not by works, based on the merits of Jesus’ vicarious, substitutionary atonement. It’s estimated that John traveled a quarter of a million miles on horseback to proclaim the gospel.
John was the primary preacher, while Charles wrote poetry for hymns, as well as also preaching. Many of our most-loved hymns bear the name of Charles Wesley: “And Can It Be,” “O, for a Thousand Tongues,” “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today,” “Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” “Rejoice, the Lord Is King,” and many, many more. And all of these are filled with allusions to Scripture references, so much so that you could almost “footnote” each phrase with the corresponding passage in the Bible. We will do that here with his Christmas hymn, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” He originally entitled it, “Hymn for Christmas Day.”
Before we do that, here are some details about the tune MENDELSSOHN, to which we sing it today. Having been written about 50 years after Wesley’s death, he would not have known it. Felix Mendelssohn wrote a cantata in 1840 to celebrate Gutenberg’s invention of movable type, which enabled printing to bring literature to people across the world. This was about 100 years after Wesley composed the hymn to which we sing the carol. The English musician William Cummings adapted music from that cantata to fit the lyrics to “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” By the way, Wesley’s original opening line was “Hark! How All the Welkin Rings.” It was George Whitefield who changed that to the words we know so well.
Interspersed with the lyrics, here are the Scripture references Wesley probably had in mind. See how much of the Bible we could reconstruct, just from this one of his hymns. How much more could we re-build with the other 6500 of his hymns?!
Stanza 1:
Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King:
Luke 2:13-14 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly
host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
goodwill toward men!”
Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to
Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely,
that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their
trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Joyful, all ye nations, rise, join the triumph of the skies;
Psalm 67:5 Let the people praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.
Revelation 15:4 All nations will come and worship You.
With th’angelic hosts proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Luke 2:10-12 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 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.”
Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King.”
Stanza 2:
Christ, by highest heaven adored, Christ, the everlasting Lord,
Philippians 2:9-11 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed
on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every
knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and
that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.
Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the
government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Late in time behold Him come, offspring of the Virgin’s womb:
Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son,
born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were
under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
1 Peter 1:20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but
has appeared in these last times for the sake of you
Hebrews 1:1-2 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in
many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son,
whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
Matthew 1:22-25 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord
through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son,
and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded
him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son;
and he called His name Jesus.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail th’incarnate Deity,
Hebrews 10:19-20 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the
holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated
for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His
glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Colossians 2:9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His
glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and
they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King.”
Stanza 3:
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Malachi 4:2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise
with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from
the stall.
Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings.
Isaiah 9:1-2 But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in
earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with
contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the
other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.
John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world;
he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
Malachi 4:2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise
with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from
the stall.”
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.
2 Corinthians 4:14 knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Here is a link to the hymn as sung by choir with organ and brass in King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. This wonderful arrangement begins with a glorious festive trumpet fanfare.