O Holy Night

I have been loving the song, O Holy Night, this Christmas season. I think because I have been digging around a little, the words are just practically jumping off the page at me when I read the lyrics. It is my understanding that between the words of Malachi (which is the last book of the Old Testament) and the genealogy of Christ (which begins in Matthew, chapter 1 of the New Testament) there is a period of about 400 years where God does not speak. This is crazy hard for me to wrap my head around because I get impatient when I don't sense His presence for like 4 days! But, anyway, Malachi closes his book with these words..."Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction." So, basically all the people that live within these 400 years are waiting for this prophecy to come true of a Savior. And it's not as if they could be confused because this is literally the last word from the Lord.

Ok, so I explain all that because it makes the words of O Holy Night (especially the 1st verse) so incredibly dramatic and joyful! Imagine waiting and wondering if the Savior would come in your lifetime and then it happening!!! So, with that knowledge and imagination...listen to or read the words of this beautiful song!

O Holy Night

O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining;

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth!

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

Till He appeared and the soul felt it's worth!

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

O night, Divine, O night when Christ was born!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His Gospel is peace

Chains shall he break for the slave is our brother

and in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His Holy name!

Christ is the Lord! And we shall ever praise him!

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

I am truly in tears reading and listening to these lyrics. No words can express how grateful I am for the love of my God who would send His only Son into this wicked world to die for me so that I can have eternal and forever life with my Father, my Creator, my Savior, my God. I can only grasp a shred of the love He has for us in loving my own children and I am just completely humbled and in awe of how God must have felt that night that Christ was born!