2 To us a child of hope is born;
  To us a Son is given;
And him shall all the earth obey,
  And all the hosts of heaven. 
His name shall be the Prince of Peace,
  Forevermore adored,
The Wonderful, the Counselor,
  The great and mighty Lord.

     John Morrison, 1781.

96 Christmas.  C.M.

The Angel’s Message (208)

While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
  All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down,
  And glory shone around.

2 “Fear not,” said he,—­for mighty dread
  Had seized their troubled mind,—­
“Glad tidings of great joy I bring
  To you and all mankind.

3 “To you, in David’s town, this day,
  Is born of David’s line,
The Savior, who is Christ, the Lord;
  And this shall be the sign: 

4 “The heavenly babe you there shall find
  To human view displayed,
All meanly wrapped in swathing bands,
  And in a manger laid.”

5 Thus spake the seraph; and forthwith
  Appeared a shining throng
Of angels, praising God, and thus
  Addressed their joyful song: 

6 “All glory be to God on high,
  And to the earth be peace: 
Good-will henceforth from heaven to men
  Begin and never cease!”

     Nahum Tate, 1696.

97 Zerah.  C.M.

The Chorus of Angels. (210)

Calm on the listening ear of night
  Come heaven’s melodious strains,
Where wild Judea stretches far
  Her silver-mantled plains.

2 Celestial choirs, from courts above,
  Shed sacred glories there,
And angels, with their sparkling lyres,
  Make music on the air.

3 The answering hills of Palestine
  Send back the glad reply,
And greet, from all their holy heights,
  The day-spring from on high.

4 “Glory to God!” the sounding skies
  Loud with their anthems ring—­
“Peace to the earth, good-will to men,
  From heaven’s eternal King.”

     Edmund H. Sears, 1835.

98 Antioch.  C.M.

Psalm 98. (200)

Joy to the world! the Lord is come: 
  Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
  And heaven and nature sing.

2 Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns: 
  Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
  Repeat the sounding joy.

3 No more let sins and sorrows grow,
  Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow,
  Far as the curse is found.

4 He rules the world with truth and grace,
  And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness,
  And wonders of his love.

     Isaac Watts, 1709.

99 Antioch.  C.M.

Christ’s Mission. (202)

Hark the glad sound! the Savior comes—­
  The Savior promised long;
Let every heart prepare a throne,
  And every voice a song.