Still More Christmas Favorites

This is my final batch of favorite Christmas tunes. Taken together, this list makes for good listening, and more importantly, the song lyrics contained within yield very sound doctrine. Read all three of my "Christmas Tune" posts and notice the sound doctrine of the lyrics.

O Come, All Ye Faithful

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
Oh come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
come and behold Him, born the King of angels;
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

God of God, light of light,
lo, He abhors not the virgin's womb;
very God, begotten not created:
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
sing, all ye citizens of heaven above;
glory to God in the highest:
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

See how the shepards summoned to His cradel,
leaving their flocks, draw nigh with lowly fear;
we too will thither hend our joyful footsteps;
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing:
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

What Child Is This?

What child is this, who, laid to rest
On Mary's lap, is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come peasant king to own Him,
The King of kings, salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise the song on high,
The Virgin sings her lullaby:
Joy, joy, for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!

Silent Night

Silent night! Holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
round yon virgin mother and child,
Holy infant so tender and mild,
sleep in Heavenly peace!
sleep in Heavenly peace!

Silent night! Holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight;
glories stream from Heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,
Christ, the Saviour, is born!
Christ, the Saviour, is born!

Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, Love's pure light
radiant beams from Thy Holy face,
with the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.

More Christmas Favs

Here are a few more of my favorite Christmas tune lyrics:

The First Noel

The first Noel the angel did say
was to certain poor shepards in fields as they lay:
in fields where they lay a-keeping their sheep
on a cold winter's night that was so deep.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
born is the King of Israel.

They looked up and saw a star,
shining in the east, beyond them far:
and to the earth it gave great light,
and so it continued both day and night.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
born is the King of Israel.

And by the light of that same star
three wise men came from the country far;
to seek for a King was their intent,
and to follow the star wherever it went.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
born is the King of Israel.

This star drew nigh to the north-west;
o'er Bethlehem it took its rest,
and there it did both stop and stay,
right over the place where Jesus lay.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
born is the King of Israel.

Then entered in those wise men three,
fell reverently upon their knee,
and offered there in His presence
their gold and myrrh and frankincense.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
born is the kind of Israel.

Then let us all with one accord
sing praises to our heavenly Lord,
that hath made heaven and earth of nought,
and with His blood mankind has bought.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
born is the King of Israel.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconcile.
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with the angelic host proclaim,
'Christ is born in Bethlehem'

Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King.
Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold him come,
offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail, the incarnate deity,
pleased as Man with to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel!

Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King.
Hail, the heaven-born Prince of peace!
Hail the Son of righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King.

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old,
from angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold:
'Peace on the earth, good will to men, from heaven's all-gracious King!'
The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come with peaceful wings unfurled;
and still their heavenly music floats o'er all the weary world;
above its sad and lowly plains they bend on hovering wing,
and ever o'er its Babel sounds the blessed angels sing.

But with the woes of sin and strife the world has suffered long;
beneath the angel strain have rolled two thousands years of wrong;
and man, at war with man, hears not the love song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing.

For, lo! the days are hastening on, by prophet bards foretold,
when with the ever-circling years, comes round the age of gold,
when peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendours fling,
and the whole world give back the song which now the angels sing.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by
Yet in the dark streets shineth, the everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above
While mortals sleep the angels keep their watch of wondering love
Oh morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth.
And praises sing to God the king, and peace to men on earth.

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.

Oh holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today
We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.

Romans 3:13-18

"Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit" [Psalm 5:9]. "The poison of vipers is on their lips" [Psalm 140:3]. "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness" [Psalm 10:7]. "Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know" [Isaiah 59:7,8]. "There is no fear of God before their eyes" [Psalm 36:1].

Our condition is in our speech. Paul in v.13-14 says that our sinfulness is declared by the words we speak. We lie; we curse; we deceive; and we do it with our mouths, and it comes from our hearts. Matthew 12:34; 15:18; Luke 6:45. These verses declare that the mouth speaks what the heart feels. And who would deny that? James 3:8-12 shows the power of the tongue, which blesses God and curses man; that should not be! Cross-reference Romans 10:8-10 with 1 Corinthians 12:3. The change that occurs when the Spirit makes us willing to believe is a heart change, and it affects what we say with our mouths.

Our condition is in our behavior. Paul in v.15-17 explains that our sinful state is proven by our deeds. It’s in our hearts, our mouths, and our feet. Our actions are simply the outworking of the thoughts of the heart and the words of the mouth. And they’re sinful. Our actions are unworthy. Even our civil good deeds are done with false motives. Our good deeds are like filthy rags. We have no good in us. And that is proven by what we do. Romans 14:23 “Everything that does not come from faith is sin.” Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” No “good deeds” are done by unbelievers. Do you agree?

Our condition is seen in our impiety. Paul in v.18 wraps it up here, explaining with force that there is no fear of God before our eyes (the eyes of unbelievers). The Old Testament teaches us that the beginning of the knowledge of the Lord is the fear of God. There is no knowledge of the Lord apart from the fear of God. To fear God is reverence and awe, having Him as your prime goal, for Him to be the One that you care about more than anybody else in the world, for His approval to be all that matters, for His will to be what you really want, regardless of what that is, to have God at the very center of your thoughts, the center of your actions, and the center of your desires. And Paul says that none of us, as unbelievers, fear God in this way.

Sure, we may have feared judgment, but we certainly didn’t understand it. We were impious and ungodly, just as all unbelievers are. So having demonstrated from our impiety, from our deeds, from our words, and from our hearts how sinful mankind is, Paul has set us up to embrace the only way out of this mess—Jesus Christ. And those of us who are already saved can better appreciate God and what He has done to save us from the power of sin. We can rejoice in the good news that there is righteousness that reconciles us to God that comes from outside of us. We don’t produce it or even contribute to it, all we do is receive it and rest on it by faith. That is the greatest news ever heard.

Romans 3:10-12

As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one" [Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20].

Our condition is in our hearts. Paul in v.10-12 says that our sin runs deep into the core of our being. We talked about total depravity a while back, and this is it again. There is no one righteous, not even one. All our righteous acts or good deeds are like filthy rags to the Holy One of Heaven. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. This is the big one. And in the Greek, ekzeteo (ek-ze-TAY-o), and in the Old Testament Hebrew, Darash (daw-RASH), it means exactly what it says: “to seek out, search for; to seek out for one’s self, beg, crave; to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, or require.” Nobody craves the One, True God, and it’s due to our sinful heart condition.

There is no one who seeks God. Now this is hard to grasp in our day and age of seeker-sensitive church movements. But what Paul is saying here is that no one desires the One, True God. He’s too demanding, He’s too Holy, He’s a consuming fire that will undo us at His presence.
Remember what Job said after being confronted by God? “I am unworthy—how can I reply to You? I put my hand over my mouth. I have no answer; I will say no more….I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” Look what happened to Isaiah when he was brought into the presence of God. He was undone, literally turned inside out and cut open at the sight of the Theophany. Look what happened when Peter was confronted by Jesus Christ while fishing in Luke 5. He was convicted that Jesus was more than a mere man, and he said, “Go away. I am sinful.” Look again in Luke 8 when Jesus calmed the sea. Those with Him were filled with “fear and amazement.” “Who is this?” they asked. So no one, with the exception of those already believers, desires our God. Isaiah 53:2-3 “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him; there was nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him; He was despised and rejected, like one from whom we would hide our faces; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.”

Unbelievers do not seek this God. Paul makes that very clear. We do not become God-seekers until we are found by Him. Once we are made believers, then it is true that we seek Him. He has made us willing, and because of that, we want Him; we desire Him. Because we have been changed, we do good; but still, even then, it is God Who works in us. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So it’s God working through us. It’s never just us. Paul concludes this point: All have turned away and become worthless; no one does good, not even one. We must understand this to properly understand grace. There is nothing valuable in me. I contribute nothing to the equation of salvation. It’s all of grace. It has nothing to do with me. These are hard words to hear, but that’s exactly what Paul has been saying since Romans 1:18.