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 Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Luke 2:10–14
Words: Horatius Bonar, Hymns of the Nativity, and Other Pieces (London: James Nisbet, 1879), pages 8–10, alt.
Music: Long Beach Daniel B. Towner, 1912. Published in Life Songs, edited by John D. Brunk & Samuel F. Coffman (Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Mennonite Publishing House, 1916), number 71 (🔊 pdf nwc).
Now angels down have flown,
Now glory bright has shone,
Now shepherds see the light and hear the voice:
Fear not; behold, I bring
Glad tidings of your king;
Let all the nations of earth now rejoice.
Sing a new song tonight,
Sing, all ye stars of light,
The Lord of Glory leaves His glorious heav’n.
To earth behold Him come
From His celestial home;
To us a child is born, a son is giv’n!
O music of the past,
The sweetest and the last
Of all the notes of ages gone is this,
That tells of His great birth,
That sings of peace on earth,
And man restored to more than primal bliss.
O lingering night, speed on!
Arise, thou golden sun,
And bring in eager joy the day of days.
When the eternal Word
Creation’s King and Lord,
Takes flesh that He may flesh to glory raise.
O wailing winds, be still,
O’er sea and plain and hill;
O storm and thunder, halt your tumult, cease;
And breathe, thou loving gale,
Thy odors soft exhale,
To greet the coming of the Prince of Peace.
He comes to breathe our air,
Our very flesh to wear;
He comes to die our death, to bear our load;
He comes to still our fears,
To wipe our falling tears,
To heal and bless us—O Jesus of God!
Over yon silent peak,
I see the foreglow break,
That tells of glory earth has never known;
The glory of the King,
To whom all tribes shall bring
Their deepest homage, praise, honor and crown.
Sing out, ye sons of men,
A louder, loftier strain!
Lift up your voice, O happy, blest Bethlehem!
Let psalm and hymn ascend,
And with the incense blend
Arising from thy shrine, Jerusalem!