Recently in Sunday worship, we sang four verses of the hymn “O, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.” When Charles Wesley originally wrote the hymn in 1739, it contained eighteen verses! Many hymns we know, and love have more verses than what we customarily sing on a Sunday morning. It could be a function of bulletin space or, more likely, a nod to our time. Anything more than four verses is entirely too long.
Today’s featured carol, “Angels from the Realms of Glory” originally had seven verses. I’ll admit, the fifth verse is a bit jarring, “Sinners, wrung with true repentance, doomed for guilt to endless pains, justice now revokes the sentence, mercy calls you-break your chains” yet this strongly worded verse fits the hymn’s progression. Angels proclaim the Messiah’s birth in verse 1 that leads to shepherds’ adoration in verse 2. The sages (wise men) leave their contemplations to join the celebration in verse 3, accompanied by saints in heaven in verse 4. This brings us in verse 5 to sinners (that’s us!) who turn in true repentance to God’s mercy. The correlation between justice and mercy recalls Psalm 85, “Mercy and truth meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other” (Ps. 85.10). The hymn closes with all people bowing to Christ in verse 6 and praising our Three-in-one God in verse 7.
James Montgomery (1771-1854) composed the carol in 1816 for inclusion in his weekly newspaper. He had been orphaned as a child and was raised by the Moravians, a group known for their passion for the gospel and world mission. He was an indifferent student until a teacher took his class on an outdoor field trip to read them poetry. From that day forward, he aspired to become a poet. He worked as a newspaper publisher who leveraged his influence to challenge the exploitation of boys as chimney sweeps and the horrors of the slave trade. It landed him in jail where he wrote a collection of poems with the curious title “Prison Amusements.” The refrain, “Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn king” summons us to prayer: