Scripture Verse

The angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Luke 2:10

Introduction

Words: James R. Mur­ray, in The Prize, ed­it­ed by George F. Root (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Root & Ca­dy, 1870), pag­es 144–45.

Music: Sey­chelles James R. Mur­ray, 1870 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
James R. Murray (1841–1905)

Background

In the 1870 pub­li­ca­tion of this song, it was ac­com­pa­nied by a ser­ies of ques­tions and an­swers, to be read be­fore each verse:

Question 1: How was our Sav­ior’s com­ing an­nounced?

Answer: And the an­gel said un­to them, Fear not; for be­hold, I bring you good tid­ings of great joy, which shall be to all peo­ple, for un­to you is born this day in the city of Da­vid, a Sav­ior which is Christ the Lord. Luke ii; 10, 11.

Question 2: Where was Je­sus born?

Answer: Jesus was in born in Bet­hl­ehem of Ju­dea, in the days of Her­od the King. Matt. ii; 1.

Question 3: What guid­ed the wise men to the man­ger?

Answer: And lo, the star, which they saw in the East, went be­fore them, till it came and stood ov­er where the young child was. Matt. ii; 9.

Question 4: Who kept wick­ed Her­od from kill­ing the young child Je­sus?

Answer: Be­hold, the an­gel of the Lord ap­pear­eth to Jo­seph in a dream, say­ing, Arise, and take the young child and his mo­ther, and flee in­to Egypt, and be thou there un­til I bring thee word; for Her­od will seek the young child to de­stroy him. Matt. ii; 13

Question 5: When again did an an­gel ap­pear un­to Jo­seph?

Answer: But when Her­od was dead, be­hold, an an­gel of the Lord ap­pear­eth in a dream to Jo­seph in Egypt, say­ing, Arise, and take the young child and his mo­ther, and go in­to the land of Is­ra­el: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. Matt. ii; 20.

Lyrics

And, as in old­en days,
The an­gels went before
To speak the com­ing of the Lord,
So now, and ev­er­more,
The an­gels of His love
Go on be­fore His face,
To find, in hum­ble, low­ly hearts,
For Him a dwell­ing place.

So, in our youth­ful hearts,
May Christ the Sav­ior come;
Though poor and small the place for Him,
Yet there may be His home.
By doing kind­ly deeds,
By lov­ing self the least,
Christ may be born in ev­ery heart
As in the an­cient East.

So, ov­er all your hearts
May shine the star so fair,
The light of hea­ven­ly truth, and love,
To show the Lord is here.
And may we bring to Him,
As wise men did of old,
The gift of ear­nest, lov­ing souls,
More pre­cious far than gold.

Thus, like the wick­ed king,
Our sins do seek to kill
The ho­ly things with­in our minds,
And all good thoughts to still.
But if we try to love
Our Sav­ior and His ways,
He’ll send an an­gel from above
To guard us all our days.

So, if we strive aright,
To do the Mas­ter’s will,
Our wrong de­sires and thoughts will die,
And good our bos­oms fill.
Thus may we ov­er­come
Our sins on ev­ery hand,
Till, guid­ed by the an­gels bright,
We reach the pro­mised land.