It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
Read Psalm 130:5-8.
5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
6 I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
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David was waiting for God to help him out of his troubles. His biggest trouble was his sin. Why was he sure God would help him? (v. 7) In what did David put his hope? (v. 5)
Sin makes life hard. What troubles have you caused because of your sin? What troubles do you have because you live in a world made difficult and painful because sin ruined life on earth?
Like David, we put our hope in God’s love and God’s Word too. Take a good look at stanzas four and five below. When life is hard, why should we listen to the angels’ song (God’s Word!) on Christmas night? Close with a prayer thanking Jesus for coming to be our helper in all our troubles and trials.
You can sing along with this hymn online at:
1. It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old,
“Peace on the earth, good will to men From heaven’s all-gracious King” –
The world in solemn stillness lay To hear the angels sing.
And still their heavenly music floats O’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plain They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o’er its Babel-sounds The blessed angels sing.
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not The love song which they bring; –
O hush the noise, ye men of strife, And hear the angels sing!
4. And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the wing; –
Oh, rest beside the weary road And hear the angels sing!
5. For lo! the days are hastening on By prophet bards foretold,
When, with the ever circling years Shall come the age of gold;
When Peace shall over all the earth, Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song, Which now the angels sing.