During this week leading up to Christmas, I will be posting a different Top 10 List each day focusing on a different aspect of Christmas music. Today’s Top 10 List comes from Ben Plunkett. You can visit Ben’s blog at http://plunkett1.wordpress.com/ or find him on Twitter @Plunketting
The Top 10 Most Theologically Rich Christmas Songs
I’m no Carologian, but I’m guessing thousands of Christmas songs and hymns have been written these past 2000 years. And Christian Christmas songs continue to be written. I did not review them all. Therefore, every Christmas song and hymn ever written is not represented here. I simply reviewed the songs I have heard or come into contact with.
10. Mary, Did You Know?
Mark Lowry composed the words to this song in 1984. I’ve never been a Mark Lowry fan, but you gotta admit the guy is pretty talented. The entirety of this song is a huge question—and a great one at that. It addresses Mary. Did she truly comprehend the immense magnitude of what was happening? Did she know the nature of Jesus life-changing existence? Did she really understand that her Son would renew the very fabric of existence? Did she know that He would even be renewing His own mother? Did she know that her Son would someday rule not only the whole world, but the whole universe? Sometimes the questions are just as important as the answers. This song proves that.
9. What Child Is This?
The words to this song were composed in 1865 by William Dix.
Picture this: The scene is a little stable full of livestock. Shepherds adoring the baby as He sleeps on His mother’s lap. Pretty cute scene, right? What an amazing fact that the little baby that lay in the manger was God Himself! A casual onlooker would be shocked to know that this baby was none other than Christ the King! That is the surprising picture this song paints. This innocent babe who lay in this humble stable before these humblest of citizens was the Messiah of the universe!
The baby slept. In the second stanza He is referred to as “the silent Word.” Even as a sleeping, silent baby He was pleading for sinners.
Hold your breath, the theology of this list is about to get deeper, a lot deeper. (Help, I’m drowning in theology!)
8. Dost Thou in a Manger Lie?
The words of this song were composed by Jean Maubern in 1494. It was translated into English by Elizabeth Charles in 1868.
This song pictures an individual questioning the infant Jesus Himself. This person is asking why the Creator and Master of the universe is lying in a humble manger. In the second stanza Jesus replies. This is not to be taken as if it actually happened. It is a hypothetical situation in which the infant utters the reply He might give to the questions. He says how “pitying love for fallen man” compelled Him to come down because we were a “race deep lost in sin.” He did more than become like a man. He identified with us completely. The “sinner riches” became His as well.
In the last stanza the inquiring individual responds to Jesus’ reply. The response is rejoicing. I picture this as the nonbeliever who has just heard the beauties of the gospel message. As always, it is God Himself who does the convincing work.
7. Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne
The words to “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne” were written in 1864 by Emily Elliot.
The primary point of this song is the tremendous humility God expressed by lowering Himself for our benefit. He left His heavenly throne to come as a man to save us. He did this for us yet room for Him was not even made in a humble inn. We should all be entirely embarrassed that our human representatives showed gratitude toward our Lord in this way. But this was far from the last time humanity would be hard on Jesus. From beginning to end, the earthly life of our Lord was a huge burden. The beginning of the third verse makes an allusion to Matthew 8:20 in which Jesus referred to all earthly creatures as having a place to rest except Jesus Himself. He was saying that His life was a difficult one and those who followed Him could expect the same.
We rejected Jesus while He was on earth. However, the song goes on to reveal that we can be redeemed. No room was made for Him in a humble inn, but we can freely choose to make room for Him in our hearts—forever!
6. Hark! A Herald Voice Is Calling
Many are unfamiliar with this great song. It is a very old hymn written first in the 5th or 6th century. It was translated into English by E. Casswall in 1695.
The song is filled with beautiful, theological imagery. In the first stanza a herald urges us to cast away “dreams of darkness.” The second stanza refers to Christ as a “Sun” who “shines up on the morning skies.” The third stanza calls Christ “the Lamb so long expected.” He “comes with pardon down from heaven.” Finally, the fourth stanza tells how our “defender” will one day return in glory.
It is more than beautiful. It tells the whole story, the whole truth. The third stanza wonderfully urges us toward the ideal response: “Let us haste, with tears of sorrow, One and all to be forgiv’n.”
5. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
This song was written in the 12th century. In 1851 John Neale translated it into English.
Look at all the names of Jesus presented in the song: Emmanuel, Rod of Jesse, Day-Spring, Key of David, Lord of Might. These are all tremendous names. Yet the writer chose to focus primarily on the name Emmanuel. Why is this?
The name Emmanuel means “God With Us.” The name showed that Jesus was more than a good man who did some good things. It showed Him to be the divine Messiah, God Himself who came as a man to save us. And that is what the song is praising. It is praising and glorifying in the fact that God came to be with us. He came to save us. He came to “ransom captive Israel” and “lonely exile.”
Yes, we rejoice that He freed us from “Satan’s tyranny” and the “depths of hell.” He came to give us “victory o’er the grave,” to “disperse the gloomy clouds of night,” to “death’s dark shadows put to flight.” But greater still He came to “open wide our heavenly home” and to “make safe the way that leads on high,” and to “close the path to misery.”
It is significant that the final stanza recalls the giving of the Law to Israel. God gave the Law that revealed sin. Now He was coming to give a law greater than that Law. He would give a new law in the form of Jesus Christ. Now we are no longer bound to the ancient Law. We are therefore no longer bound to sin. We have been set free through Jesus Christ. We have been reunited with God to live for and with Him forever.
4. O Little Town of Bethlehem
The words of this song were written in 1867 by Phillips Brooks. The words came to him one night as he rode from Jerusalem to Bethlehem by horseback to deliver a Christmas Eve message.
To be honest I’d never held this song in very high esteem—until I really read the words. The first couple of stanzas are very good but really nothing special. The last three stanzas of the song put it in this high place on the list.
The third stanza speaks of a “wondrous Gift.” This is obviously Jesus who “God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heav’n.” The gift, “the dear Christ enters” into the hearts of the “meek souls” (those who are humbled in their weakness and depravity) who “receive Him still.”
The fourth stanza personifies some key elements. It speaks of “misery” crying out to the child for help. It speaks of “charity” (love) standing watch and “faith” holding “wide the door.” This event causes a disturbance in our wretched world. “The dark night wakes” and “the glory breaks.”
In the fifth stanza the speaker begs God to make this be true. He begs God to “descend to us,” to “Cast out our sin,” to “enter in.” He asks God to not only be born in Bethlehem but to be “born in us today.” As we have seen Emmanuel means “God With Us.” That makes it significant that the speaker ends his plea by referring to Jesus as our Lord Emmanuel.
3. Let Heaven and Earth Combine
The words of this song were composed in 1744 by the inimitable hymnist and Methodist co-founder Charles Wesley. Let me just say that when it came to theologically rich hymns, Wesley was the man. Two of his Christmas songs have earned a place in the top five here.
There are songs and stories written with such precision, skill, and knowledge that it boggles the mind. This is such a song. No word is wasted, no phrase is needless. Every phrase of every stanza is dense with divine meaning. This song might very well in itself in itself convince a sinner of the truth of Christ. Every word of this relatively unknown song is so noteworthy. Here it is in its entirety. Enjoy!
Let earth and Heaven combine,
Angels and men agree,
To praise in songs divine
The incarnate Deity,
Our God contracted to a span,
Incomprehensibly made Man.
He laid His glory by,
He wrapped Him in our clay;
Unmarked by human eye,
The latent Godhead lay;
Infant of days He here became,
And bore the mild Immanuel’s Name.
See in that Infant’s face
The depths of deity,
And labor while ye gaze
To sound the mystery
In vain; ye angels gaze no more,
But fall, and silently adore.
Unsearchable the love
That hath the Savior brought;
The grace is far above
Of men or angels’ thought:
Suffice for us that God, we know,
Our God, is manifest below.
He deigns in flesh t’appear,
Widest extremes to join;
To bring our vileness near,
And make us all divine:
And we the life of God shall know,
For God is manifest below.
Made perfect first in love,
And sanctified by grace,
We shall from earth remove,
And see His glorious face:
His love shall then be fully showed,
And man shall all be lost in God.
2. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
The words to this song were written by Charles Wesley in 1739.
Christmas tunes are great, but sometimes they can be distracting. Sometimes in singing these hymns we do not realize the beauty of the theology of what we are singing. Yes, Christmas music is great, but Christmas is really in the words of our Christmas hymns. (That being said, Christmas ain’t over until I’ve heard some Jingle Bells Rock.) The popularity of the tunes of these last two songs sometimes keeps us from considering the awesomeness of their theology. The last two songs in this list are so perfect I’m not going to offer much in the way of commentary. Do your best to hone in on the beauty:
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 the angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem”
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”
Christ by highest heav’n 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 man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
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
Ris’n 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!”
1. O Holy Night
Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure composed the words to this song in 1847.
O Holy Night is by far my favorite Christmas song secular or Christian. I suppose, then, that I might be wrongly biased in placing it here. I doubt it, though. I’ve gone over and over the song through the years. In my mind its beauty and perfection are unmatched in Christmas hymns. I present to you numeral uno on my list:
O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O’er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
Coming later this week….
The Best Modern Christmas Songs
The Worst Covers of Christmas Songs
The Worst Christmas Songs
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