Exegeting the Hymns 23 - Hark The Herald Angels Sing (King of Heaven)

Hark The Herald Angels Sing (King of Heaven)
w/m Charles Wesley | Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy | Jason Ingram | Paul Baloche

Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled
Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With angelic hosts proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King

Hail the heav'n 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

King of Heaven come down
King of Heaven come now
Let Your glory reign shining like the day
King of Heaven come
King of Heaven rise up
Who can stand against us
You are strong to save
In Your mighty name King of Heaven come

Christ by highest heaven adored
Christ the everlasting Lord
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a virgin's womb
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 the newborn King

Merry Christmas everyone! Today, I’d like to look at the popular practice of taking an old hymn and adding a new chorus to make the song more contemporary. This is not a new phenomenon, but it seems to be more prevalent now than ever. Sometimes, this is done very well and revolutionizes an older hymn, making the truths more accessible to a new generation, like Chris Tomlin’s Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone). And sometimes, it takes a great theological message and shackles it to a chorus with a clearly sub-standard one. It is very popular to do this with Christmas carols. I’m not sure if it is done for the purpose of revitalizing songs, or to increase royalty checks, but I do actually enjoy many of them. Joy to the World (Unspeakable Joy) is one of my favorites, as is Angels from the Realms of Glory (Emmanuel), both of which we sing here at MABC. However, today, I’d like to look at one that I feel misses the mark and leaves me very confused. I do this for the purpose of helping us to think about what we are singing. Sometimes, we sing a song without even understanding what it is about, so I’ll step out of my role in talking about what I like in songs and look at what sloppy, cliche writing looks like.  

We all know the popular Christmas hymn by Wesley and Mendelssohn, Hark the Herald Angels Sing. This one is not hard to exegete. The song looks at, obviously, the birth of our Lord and the praise of the angels announcing His advent. Hark the herald angels sing “Glory to the newborn King. Peace on earth and mercy mild”, God and sinners reconciled. I love how Wesley jumps immediately to the very reason Christ came to earth… to seek and to save that which was lost. Joyful all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies with angelic hosts proclaim “Christ is born in Bethlehem”. Hark the herald angels sing “glory to the newborn King.” He calls all nations to join the song of the angels, "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

Hail the heav'n born Prince of Peace. Hail the Son of righteousness. Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings. Here, Baloche switches around the verses, which is not a problem except for those who are used to singing them in a certain order. Although it says He brings life to all, we know that not all are saved and have eternal life with Christ in heaven. Jesus brought light to the world and life to all who repent of their sin and trust in Christ for salvation. In that context, the healing that Wesley speaks of is spiritual healing from the curse of sin and death. Mild He lays His glory by speaks of the Kenosis when Jesus “Emptied Himself” (Philippians 2:7). Gotquestions.orgexplains it this way, “Jesus did not cease to be God during His earthly ministry. But He did set aside His heavenly glory of a face-to-face relationship with God. He also set aside His independent authority. During His earthly ministry, Christ completely submitted Himself to the will of the Father.” Born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give them second birth. Again, this is not a universalist look at the atonement where everyone is born again, but must be taken in context of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation will be saved. John 6 says, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

Baloche, then, inserts the second verse: Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord, late in time behold Him come, offspring of a virgin's womb. This verse affirms the Deity of our Lord and His virgin birth. Then, in a move that absolutely bewilders me, Baloche drops the second half of that verse and repeats the second half of the third verse beginning with “Mild He lays…” When I see this, I immediately harken back (pun intended) to how many churches and artists drop the second verse of in Christ Alone because they want to avoid the reference to the “Wrath of God”, so I ask, what is in the second half of that verse they may have wanted to dodge? Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail the incarnate Deity, pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel. While I see nothing controversial in this verse, some may: It speaks of God taking on human flesh. This is a pillar of the Christian faith, so much so that one cannot be saved apart from belief in this. “Hail the incarnate Deity” reemphasizes that fact. He speaks of the Deity of Christ in the earlier verse, so I can’t figure out why this part of the song is left out. Possibly a mistake made in the studio that they didn’t bother to fix. Either way, we fix it when we sing this song.

However, the part that bothers me most is the chorus. King of Heaven come down. Baloche has a way of taking his already written songs and mashing them into standard hymns whether the themes fit or not. Not only is this lazy songwriting, but is often confusing as to the message. I have listened to the original song, “King of Heaven” and it’s a good song that speaks to God building His Kingdom here now as well as the day when every eye shall see Him. The problem comes when you mash the two songs together. They may musically sing well together, but the themes are not the same and it gets confusing. When he sings King of heaven come down, King of Heaven come now. Let Your glory reign shining like the day King of Heaven come, Is he speaking of the context of the original song or of the context of Hark the herald Angels Sing? Is it Israel singing “O Come O Come Emmanuel”, or is it the apostle John who is saying “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus?”  

The next words add a little clarity: Who can stand against us? You are strong to save in Your mighty name, King of Heaven come. So clearly, this is looking at the future, but that isn’t the theme of Hark the Herald Angels Sing. None of it is theologically wrong, just confusing. I have tried to put a few random song ideas together to make one coherent song… and sadly, it usually sounds like… I put a few random song ideas together to make one coherent song. I love Hark the Herald Angels sing, and I like King of Heaven, but just don’t like them together. Just something to think about as you celebrate the birth of our Lord this Christmas.​​

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