Oh, I think everyone knows this song don’t they? Angels from the realms of glory. I have written on this hymn in the past but it’s worth sharing again don’t you think? I am not familiar with all the verses listed in the lyrics below, but many hymnals shorten hymns to the most common verses.
Lyrics
Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.
Refrain
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn king.
Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing;
Yonder shines the infant light:
Refrain
Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations;
Ye have seen His natal star.
Refrain
Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear;
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear.
Refrain
Sinners, wrung with true repentance,
Doomed for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence,
Mercy calls you; break your chains.
Refrain
Though an Infant now we view Him,
He shall fill His Father’s throne,
Gather all the nations to Him;
Every knee shall then bow down:
Refrain
All creation, join in praising
God, the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising
To th’eternal Three in One.
Refrain
Author of Angels from the Realms of Glory
Born in Scotland, James Montgomery, he was the son of a pastor. He was sent to school to also enter the ministry, but failed in his studies. Over time he became a newspaperman. He even ended up in prison twice on charges of sedition. The second time he was incarcerated he wrote a book of poems called Prison Amusements.
He wasn’t the greatest newspaperman, and eventually he sold his paper. This didn’t stop him from continuing to write poetry. He also turned his hand to writing hymns and expected to be remembered best for that work. This particular hymn was first featured in the Sheffield Iris in 1816 though it wasn’t really sung in churches until 1825.
Hail to the Lord’s Anointed is another one of his songs that I have featured.
Ponderings
Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.
Isn’t that a neat verse? Can’t you just see it? Angels zipping through the skies loudly proclaiming God’s love for the world?
Makes me think… do we zip around proclaiming the wonders of the things God has done? From his works of creation, to his works of salvation. Do we take the time to talk about the wonders of God’s works?
Shepherds, Sages, Saints, Sinners… the angels go to them all. Do we? Or are we selective in who we talk to? Let’s be part of creation eh?
All creation, join in praising
God, the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising
To th’eternal Three in One.
I enjoy reading the verses of songs that are so often left out or skipped over. I think we do that partly due to time but also partly because they require a thought process that we often don’t want to engage during singing. That is one reason I love looking at hymns on the blogs. You have to slow down a bit and really process the lyrics and the purposes.