“God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.” Psalm 47:8
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th’unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is well known for his famous poem about Paul Revere. But did you know he also wrote poems we now sing in church?
Two years before writing the poem that this song is based on, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lost his second wife in a fatal fire.
Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth,
I said,
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
He also had his oldest son crippled in the Civil War and upon hearing church bells felt the despondency of the war and penned these words. I’ve included verses we don’t normally sing but read them with the Civil War in mind.
Then from each black, accursèd mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn, the households born
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
What suffering and yet in the end Longfellow concludes that God is NOT dead and the right WILL prevail.
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.
May we keep that in mind today as we look at our suffering world and may be keep our joy vibrant even with the stark reminders of sin and suffering around us.
God is still on the throne!