IT CAME UPON THE MIDNIGHT CLEAR
Words: Edmund H. Sears, 1850, add. Jeff Koonce, 2021
Music: Richard S. Willis, 1850, arr. Jeff Koonce, 2021
lyrics
It came upon the midnight clear,
that glorious song of old,
from angels bending near the earth
to touch their harps of gold:
"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.
“Gloria in excelsis Deo!”
“Gloria in excelsis Deo!”
Still through the cloven skies they come
with peaceful wings unfurled,
and still their heavenly music floats
o'er all the weary world;
above its sad and lowly plains,
they bend on hovering wing,
and ever o'er its Babel sounds
the blessed angels sing.
“Gloria in excelsis Deo!”
“Gloria in excelsis Deo!”
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.
O rest beside the weary road,
and hear the angels sing!
“Gloria in excelsis Deo!”
“Gloria in excelsis Deo!”
For lo! the days are hastening on,
by prophet seen of old,
when with the ever-circling years
shall come the time foretold
when peace shall over all the earth
its ancient splendors fling,
and the whole world send back the song
which now the angels sing.
“Gloria in excelsis Deo!”
“Gloria in excelsis Deo!”
Building on the hymn-writing and hymn-singing legacies Red Mountain Church in Birmingham, AL. We believe hymns are a middle
path of worship style between “traditional” and “contemporary” bringing together the richness and depth of traditional hymns and the modern musical sensibilities of contemporary worship....more