Jessie geeks out on her Christmas carol : )

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Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have been enjoying a great, healthy and happy holiday with family and friends.

I had a nice, quiet Christmas on the farm with my girls. It got pretty cold on Christmas Eve, and we had some frozen pipes and some equipment that wouldn’t start, but all of the people and animals made it through. God is good!

I’m going to talk about a Christmas carol today and I just gonna warn you now, I can really geek out on hymns. Like, I might be going to embarrass myself. If you really want to see that, keep reading. : )
My mom was a music major and church organist/pianist. I play a bunch of different instruments, but the piano is my favorite and one of my very favorite things to do is sit at the piano and play through the hymnbook.
Hours fly by and I don’t even notice.
Unfortunately, I can’t sing (one of the things I am most looking forward to in Heaven is finally being able to sing in key – I am going to be in that choir and sing harmony at the top of my lungs. When I die, that’s the picture you need to have of me – singing with a huge smile on my face for my Jesus!)
So, I don’t sing words out loud, because I love my family, and I want them to allow me to keep living here, but I always sing every word of every verse in my head. Sometimes I repeat verses because I love them so much. (I told you I was going to geek out and embarrass myself!) I won’t say I have the entire hymnbook memorized, but…that’s mostly because I collect hymn books and have a ton of different ones.
Anyway, one of the reasons I love hymns is because there is so much doctrine in them.
Christmas carols are full of scripture as well and the carol I wanted to talk about today, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, is brimming with Bible.
Written by Charles Westley not long after his conversion, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is brimming with scriptural references, and, maybe because of his recent conversion, it also has a strong message of salvation.
I absolutely love this carol. It has so much more meaning to me now than it used to as I’ve read the Bible through over and over and recognized the phrases I have memorized from this hymn and realized how closely it lines with scripture. Almost every line is actually a Bible verse that Mr. Westley put into his own words…or not!
Let me show you!
Luke 2:13-14 says:And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!

And here are the first four lines of this carol:

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”

Wow. Do you see how closely the first four lines follow that scripture? (I do want to point out that the Bible says the angels were SAYING. There’s no mention of singing. That’s not to say they weren’t singing, but the Bible does not say they were.)

Then we have these four lines:

Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With the angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

They are a paraphrase of these two verses in Luke 2:10-11And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Read this verse from Matthew 1:23 and see how closely verse 2 aligns with it:  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;

Christ the everlasting Lord;

Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.

Also, I Timothy says:  God was manifest in the flesh.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.

Isaiah 1:6 says:  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

And then we have verse three:

Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Okay, and I admit, these next two lines are two of my favorites.

Malachi 4:2 says: Malachi 4:2, KJV: But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; 


Light and life to all He brings,
Risen with healing in His wings.

Incidentally, if you love hymns too, you might know that The Comforter is Come also has a stanza based on Malachi 4:2.

We have these two verses from Corinthians and John:

I Corinthians 15:54 This mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 

John 3:7 Ye must be born again.

And Mr. Westley writes: 


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.

In Haggai 2:7 we read, And the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory,

And the song says:

Come, Desire of nations, come,

Fix in us Thy humble home;

Genesis 3:15 says, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed,

Bruise in us the serpent’s head.

I Corinthians 15:45-47 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,

Stamp Thine image in its place:

Second Adam from above,

Reinstate us in Thy love.

And, of course, those last few lines are showing salvation, talking about the old man – in the likeness of Adam – being removed, and “stamping” (don’t you love that?) Jesus on us instead. When we trust Christ and are “born again” God doesn’t see our sin anymore. When He looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Jesus. And all of it – the birth of Christ, His death and resurrection, was because of God’s great love for us. Such a fitting ending to a song that is basically Bible verses in poetic form. Be still my heart. : )

Just a beautiful hymn of doctrine and salvation, celebrating the birth of our Lord.

If you’ve made it this far, I suppose you can tell that hymns are one of my great passions. What a joy to get to talk about such a doctrine-rich carol with you today.

I wish you all a beautiful and prosperous New Year!

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USA Today best-selling author Jessie Gussman writes sweet and inspirational romance from her farm in central Virginia. Having attended, but never graduating from the school of hard knocks, Jessie uses real life on the farm to inspire her cowboy, rural and blue-collar fiction.

When she’s not chasing kids, cows and the occasional roll-away haybale, Jessie enjoys wading in Naked Creek and not cleaning her house. Most of the time her main goal is to keep from catching herself on fire…again.

If you enjoy fun stories with vivid characters showcasing strong families with a ribbon of faith tying everything together, you might enjoy Jessie’s books.

32 thoughts on “Jessie geeks out on her Christmas carol : )”

  1. Thank you so much, Jessie, for the way you showed us how the song really correlates with the Bible verses. I hope you have a very Blessed and Happy New Year!

    • Thank you! It might be stretching it to say it’s the “history” of the carol, but it really is – the scripture is the basis from which the carol was birthed. Have a blessed and prosperous New Year!

    • Sweet! It’s crazy the biblical references that are in plain sight! It’s like singing Bible verses. Happy New Year, my friend!

  5. Thank you for your inspiration on this carol and in your books. I enjoy everything you write. Looking forward to the new year and all it will bring.

    • Aww! Thanks for your kind words! I hope 2023 finds us writing and reading together still. Have a blessed New Year!

  8. Thank you for your blog and explaining how that Christmas carol relates to the scriptures. I love all your stories and you bring joy to my heart. Thanks for being an inspiration to all of us and for sharing your talents in words and in music.

  10. thanks so much for sharing this about this song and your passion for hymns. my mom and grandmother were the same. I love to soak up these kind of things. have a fabulous weekend

  11. I love singing hymns!! I really enjoyed the way you broke down the song with the Bible verses!! I always thought that it was sad that a lot of churches don’t sing hymns anymore. When my son was home, he would play hymns out of an old hymnal on the piano. He knew how much I enjoyed listening to him.

    • Yes, so many of the songs Christians sing today are not rich with Scripture and doctrine. More “feel good” music than music that honors the King. Glad you have a son that plays! How nice!

  16. Jessie, hymns and praise songs are how I memorized most of the Scriptures that I HAVE memorized! And, it’s a LOT! I have found singing hymns to be the easiest way. When I taught children’s Sunday School for, EVER, lol, and when I used to help teach Children’s Church and, of course, I taught Children’s Choir, they learned so much Scripture from learning their songs. Even the books of the Bible I taught them through singing. I’m a hymn fanatic, too, and I love the history behind the hymns!!

    • Yes! Oh, absolutely yes! Children’s songs are SO perfect for learning scripture. Also, I would have loved to have you as my teacher! Have a blessed New Year!

  17. A great post for a great hymn. I remember singing it at Hoch Auditorium at KU. The acoustics were perfect. Sadly, the building caught fire and is no longer an auditorium but the walls still stand. It is now a lecture hall but the old name stays on the exterior.

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