Scripture Verse

The star…stood over where the young Child was. Matthew 2:9

Introduction

portrait
Luke H. Wiseman
1822–1875

Words: Ben­ja­min Gough, in Christ­mas Min­strel­sy, by Jo­seph Will­iams & Hen­ry J. Gaunt­lett (Lon­don & Man­ches­ter, Eng­land: No­vel­lo & Brem­ner, 1864), num­ber 6.

Music: Fa­vers­ham Luke H. Wis­eman (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Gough (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Gentle star of Beth­le­hem!
Guided by thy light I go;
Lead me by thy lam­bent flame:
Show the in­fant Je­sus, show!
Star! above all other stars out­vy­ing,
Shine up­on His place of rest,
Humbly in a man­ger ly­ing,
On His vir­gin mo­ther’s breast.

There He sleeps, the great, the low­ly,
Heav’n’s in­car­nate, earth’s de­sire;
Gather round Him, an­gels holy,
Bow be­fore Him, son and sire.
Eastern sag­es come and meet;
Bend in awe which dares not stir;
Pour your of­fer­ings at His feet,
Gold and frank­in­cense and myrrh!

Shepherds, keep­ing watch by night,
Still abid­ing in the field,
See! an an­gel clothed in light,
All in ma­jes­ty re­vealed.
Hark! the hea­ven­ly mes­sage sound­ing,
Joyful tid­ings ev­ery word;
Go! with hearts in glad­ness bound­ing,
Go and wor­ship Christ the Lord!

Earth! earth! earth! with Hea­ven unit­ing,
Shout the tri­umphs of the day!
Men with an­gels, join in­vit­ing
Love’s own hal­le­lu­jah’s lay!
Angels fill the up­per sky,
Mortals swell the glow­ing strain—
Glory be to God on high
Peace on earth, good will to men!

Holy Je­sus, in Thy meek­ness,
Stooping from Thy throne di­vine,
Power brought down to hu­man weak­ness;
Might and ma­jes­ty are Thine!
Babe of Beth­l’em, we adore Thee!
All man­kind in Thee shall trust,
All earth’s mil­lions bow be­fore Thee,
And Thy foes shall lick the dust!

Hail! in­car­nate Sav­ior, hail!
God and man—the liv­ing Word;
By Thy might Thou shalt pre­vail,
Bethle’m’s babe is Da­vid’s Lord.
Gird Thy sword up­on Thy thigh,
Ride in glo­ry and re­nown.
Conquering Je­sus! God most high!
Wear the uni­vers­al crown!

illustration
The Star of Bethlehem
Gustave Doré (1832–1883)