^ Handel, entering fully into the spirit of this narrative, represents the angel as singing this announcement ; and there can be no doubt that he is right. This was a grand solo sung by one
^ T. D. Bernard, Smgs of the Holy Nativity, 116.
ST. LUKE II. 13, 14 47
of the leading choristers of heaven. But when the angel had sung his solo, his companions joined in the chorus — " Suddenly there was with him a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of good will." ^
4. This song of the angels, as we have been used to reading it, was a threefold message — of glory to God, peace on earth, and good will among men ; but the better scholarship of the Eevised Version now reads in the verse a twofold message. First, there is glory to God, and then there is peace on earth to the men of good will. Those, that is to say, who have the good will in themselves are the ones who will find peace on earth. Their unselfishness brings them their personal happiness. They give themselves in good will, and so they obtain peace. That is the true spirit of the Christmas season. It is the good will that brings the peace. Over and over again in these months of feverish scrambling for personal gain men have sought for peace and have not found it ; and now, when they turn to this generous good will, the peace they sought comes of itself. Many a man in the past year has been robbed of his own peace by his misunderstandings or grudo-es or quarrels ; but now, as he puts away these differences as unfit for the season of good will, the peace arrives. That is the paradox of Christianity. He who seeks peace does not find it. He who gives peace finds it returning to him again. He who hoards his life loses it, and he who spends it finds it : —
" Not what we give, but what we share, For the gift without the giver is bare ; Who gives himself with his alms feeds three. Himself, his hungering neighbour, and Me.,.
That is the sweet and lingering echo of the angel's song.
^ The second member of the hymn celebrates the blessing to mankind, according to the A.V., in the familiar words, " On earth peace, good will toward men " ; or, according to the K.V., in the less graceful English, " Peace on earth among men in whom he is well pleased." The literal renderings would be, in the first case, " On earth peace, in men good pleasure " ; in the second, " On earth peace, in men of good pleasure." Two different readings are
^ D. Davies, Talks with Men, Women and Children, v. 386.
48 THE SONG OF THE HEAVENLY HOST
thus represented, each of them supported by large authority. The difference is only in the presence or absence of a final letter.^
^ Such was the text of the angels on the night of our Saviour's birth ; and to that text our Saviour's life furnished the sermon. For it was a life of holiness and devotion to His Father's service, a life spent in doing good to the bodies and souls of all around Him ; and it was ended by a death undergone on purpose to reconcile man with God, and to set earth at peace with heaven. Here is a practical sermon on the angel's text, the best of all sermons, a sermon not of words, but of deeds. Whoever will duly study that practical sermon, whoever with a teachable, inquiring heart will study the accounts of our Saviour's words and actions handed down in the four Gospels, will need little else to enlighten him in the way of godliness.^
Glory to God.
1. " Glory to God in the highest." It is the first doxology of the gospel — brief words, yet bearing up the soul into illimitable regions of thought ! Is it a proclamation — " There is glory to God in the highest " ? or is it an ascription — " Glory be to God in the highest " ? It is both ; for ascriptions of praise are also proclama- tions of fact. Glory given to God is only some manifestation and effluence of His own glory, recognized by created intelligences, and reflected back in adoration and joy. So it is here. In the birth of a Saviour which is Christ the Lord, the mystery of the Kingdom has begun, and the glory of God has appeared. It is a glory of mercy to repair spiritual ruin, of wisdom to solve problems of sin and righteousness, of judgment to convict and condemn the powers of evil, of faithfulness to fulfil promises to prisoners of hope, of grace to conduct a history of salvation, of love to be manifested in the ages to come. This is the glory recognized by the heavenly host in the holy Nativity and celebrated in their responsive praise.
^ The first words of it are, Glory to God ! and a most weighty lesson may we draw for ourselves, from finding the angels put
^ T. D. Bernard, Songs of the Holy Nativity, 162. * A. W. Hare, The Alton Sermons, 80.