The 32-year
Charles Wesley was feeling in 1739 the need for a Christmas song in his homeland,
a place where the composition of songs to celebrate the holiday had been banned
over a century earlier. Consequently, not much music existed to mark the
Christmas season, giving Wesley an inspiration for an opening line to emphasize
what he felt was inspirational in his own faith. It wasn’t what he originally
wrote, but “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” carried the same message of joy and
greeting that he must have felt God had sent to earth over seventeen centuries
earlier when His own son chose make His unique entry. Perhaps Charles’ exquisite
poetry for the occasion was the product of how special he thought Christ’s
descent to earth was. Each stanza that he wrote is special, and probably is one
reason why what he crafted is still around nearly 300 years later.
Charles Wesley’s
conversion experience, at Aldersgate Street in central London, had
fundamentally changed his outlook in the year (1738) before he composed the
poem to mark the Christmas season, and so we could imagine that this incident had
a significant impact on his writing even a year later. Members of the Wesley
clan, including Charles’ brother John and his father Samuel, were ordained
members of the Church of England (Anglican). Though the Wesley brothers had
been educated by and committed to work for the church, both had an experience in
1738 that focused their lives more completely on spreading the message of God,
including by way of a new sect known as Methodism. Charles’ life was filled
with the composition of poem-hymns from that point forward, so that by the end
of his life he had authored some 6,500 hymns, including one of the earliest products
of his newfound life purpose, ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’. English Puritanism
a century earlier had dictated that all traditions associated with the Catholic
Church, and what at the time was considered the ‘unholy’ and hedonistic Christmas
festivals, be excised from official and religious life. A huge gap had
therefore developed in music that would permit Christians in England to rejoice
and appreciate Christ’s birth at the holiday, because of the reputation of
impiety surrounding the holiday that had developed. Yet, Charles’ zeal in his
renewed faith could not be contained by a cultural tradition, and perhaps his
own poetic words were a personal effort to re-center his generation of countrymen
on what the holiday should really celebrate – the arrival of deity on a mission
to save decrepit humanity. Charles’ compatriot, George Whitefield, actually
modified the original Wesleyan words of the hymn’s first line, so he deserves
some credit for what we sing today in the song’s first line and its refrain. But,
the original thoughts and the inspiration were Wesley’s, a believer who was zealous
to proclaim the profound nature of the entrance and work of Christ on earth.
Hark, including
the exclamation point (!), is undoubtedly indicative of Charles Wesley’s life outlook.
He’s saying ‘look how important is this God, don’t miss Him’ with every one of
his original 10 stanzas (merged into five modern-day verses). One verse of his
is a poignant statement, but five verses tell us that Charles’ fire burned deep
within himself. He had much to say, more than could be contained in one hymn, in
fact. But, since this one about angels singing was so close to his conversion
experience, we could say that it might have shown us what his spark looked like
initially – how brightly it burned. It kinda helps explain the rest of Charles
Wesley’s life, some 6,000 hymns later. Read all five of his verses, and see
what you think.
See more
information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of
Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J.
Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing
Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck,
Kregel Publications, 1990; 101 More Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck,
Kregel Publications, 1985; and Then Sings My Soul – 150 of the World’s
Greatest Hymn Stories, Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003.
Also see this link, showing all five original verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/h/h/a/hhangels.htm
Biography of the writer is here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/w/e/s/l/wesley_c.htm
And here….https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley
The song’s story is also here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hark!_The_Herald_Angels_Sing
See this site for some background on English Puritanism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritans
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