Hark the herald angels sing1/10/2024 “11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”Ĥ But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. Here are the full, current lyrics to Hark the Herald Angels Singīorn to give us second birth.Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ![]() Ever since that time, Hark the Herald Angels Sing has been a standard hymn for celebrating the birth of Jesus. Whether this was a begrudging or a wholehearted endorsement of the changes, I think we can agree that this is one example of a Wesley hymn being greatly improved by a slight revision. Lyrics as they appeared in John and Charles Wesley’s 1780 Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists In the very same hymnal where John wrote against the “nonsense and doggerel” of other men altering their lyrics actually includes Whitefield’s changes to this hymn! Here’s how they published it in 1780: Yet it seems that their friend Whitefield my have been able to change the lyrics without causing offense. Therefore, I must beg of them one of these two favors: either to let them stand just as they are, to take them for better for worse or to add the true reading in the margin, or at the bottom of the page that we may no longer be accountable either for the nonsense or for the doggerel of other men.”ĭid Charles share John’s feelings about others altering their hymns? It is possible, if not probable, that he did. None of them is able to mend either the sense or the verse. But I desire they would not attempt to mend them, for they are really not able. Now they are perfectly welcome do to so, provided they print them just as they are. “Many gentlemen have done my brother and me (though without naming us) the honor of reprinting many of our hymns. In the preface to the 1780 Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists, John Wesley wrote: We are sure, however, that in general the Wesleys didn’t appreciate people tinkering with their lyrics. In addition several smaller changes, he most significantly changed out the mysterious “welkin” line to “Hark the herald angels sing” and finished it with “glory to the newborn king.” (The final two lines eventually dropped out long after Whitefield made his edits). It was actually famed evangelist George Whitefield, a friend of John and Charles Wesley, that made the adjustments when he published this song in his Hymns for Social Worship in 1753. So who changed this line to what we sing today? The word appears not to have been very commonly used in Wesley’s day, and it is pretty much non-existent in our vocabulary today. It is ringing because of the joyful exaltation of the heavenly host. ![]() Well, it comes from an Old English word “wolcen” and simply means cloud, sky, or heavens. ![]() What on earth is a “welkin” and why would it ring? While there are other differences, the first line is what stands out. The hymn, under the title “Hymn for Christmas-Day,” originally went as follows: It was first published in Sacred Hymns and Poems – Charles’ first joint hymnal with his brother John. The prolific hymn writer Charles Wesley first wrote these lyrics in 1739, a year after his conversion ( See the hymn he wrote to commemorate that event).
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