Sunday, December 19, 2010

O Night Divine

I love singing Christmas carols and always look forward to them in church during the holiday season.  We sing with our church to the shut ins, bringing fruit baskets and cheer every year.  I  hear them on the radio in the car, and in the stores as we Christmas shop, on commercials, and TV specials.  This time of year we are surrounded with the songs of the holidays.  I sing them as on automatic pilot, enjoying, but not always thinking beyond my voice while I sing.  One of the girls was caroling today singing: "Mark the Harold angel sings, glory to the newborn king"   

In came O HOLY NIGHT, knocking at my door.  It's always been a favorite Christmas song, the commercial I'll turn up to hear, heard often enough to almost make it trite.  However it was one of the songs chosen to sing in our choir this year and sing, and sing, and sing.   And every time I sang there was a phrase whispering to me, 'pay attention'.  Here is the the first part of the song:

O Holy Night

O holy Night the stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees.  Oh, hear the angels voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O holy night, O night divine.

Never before had those words revealed themselves in such a way.  The whole reason for that first Christmas was us, the world in sin and error pining, heavy and tired with the hopelessness of our own sin .

 Worthless, and out of hope.    

Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.  Worth, what a word,  has your soul felt its worth?   "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son",  what a price was paid.   God gave his only son to pay the ransom for our soul.   Until recently, not really noticing before and having just sung the song thoughtlessly, I thought the world was the big blue ball we live on, not really the humanity, us, Me, that the song refers to.  
  
Wow, Alisha in sin and error pining, till He appeared and my soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary Alisha rejoices,  for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.  Fall on your knees! Oh hear the angel voices, O night divine when Christ my savior was born!

My soul feels its worth, I am a Child of the King, Savior of the world.  O Holy Night!

2 comments:

Teri Amundson said...

Thank you, you have really captured the message of the song. It will change the way I sing this carol.
Well done

Unknown said...

What amazing insight. You have blessed me this morning and as I finish the details for Christmas I go with a richer appreciation of the true meaning of Christmas. Thank You.