Carol Three—It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Today’s carol, It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, was written by Edmund H. Sears (1810-1876) and the tune, named simply “Carol”, was composed by Richard S. Willis (1819-1900). Mr. Sears was a Unitarian minister in Boston, Mass. He wrote this poem in 1849 and the next year Mr. Willis wrote this joyful music for it. It is one of the few carols of the 19th century that declares the real Christmas message, “Peace on earth, good will towards men.”
It was one of the first carols ever written by an American author and has appeared in just about every hymnbook in print since. While being trained in the Unitarian denomination, he once declared, “I believe and preach the divinity of Christ.”[1]
Mr. Willis was no slouch either. Not only was he a rather well-known American musician of the 19th century, but he was also a close intimate friend of Felix Mendelssohn’s, having studied music composition for six years in Germany.
Biblical Connection
Luke 2: 13 & 14 give some biblical foundation for Sears’ carol, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men.” This carol was written during a time of much social and political unrest in American history, being written just 10 years before the outbreak of the civil war. Words like “beneath the crushing load” speak of the pressures of the day but the carol ends with a note of optimism,
“when peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendors fling, and the whole world gives back the song, which now the angels sing.”
The theme of angels (messengers of good news) plays prominently in this carol, being mentioned in every stanza. Angels figure prominently in the whole story of Jesus’ birth. It was the angel who told Mary of her pregnancy. It was an angel who convinced Joseph to take Mary as his wife. It was an angel who delivered the good news to the shepherds. It was a choir of angels who declared his birth. It was an angel that warned the three wise men to not go back to Herod after having met the baby king.
The Carol
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
It came upon a 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
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
All 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
For lo, the days are hast’ning on
By prophet bards foretold
When with the ever-circling years
Comes round 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.
Summary
We know that the sky over Bethlehem was clear on the night Jesus was born (whenever that was) because a bright shining star was responsible for helping the magi find their way to the Baby King.
However, we all know that the sky above isn’t always clear but clouded over in our lives with the cares and pressures of “life’s crushing load,” that is evident, even at Christmas. This season can represent extra cares and pressures of life for many people. May we follow the admonition of scripture this Advent season and seek to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2).
[1] Osbeck, K.W. (1985). 101 More Hymn Stories. Kregel Publications.
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