Music of Advent: “Hail blessed morn”

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, December 22nd. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Up next, our fourth installment of the music of Advent. The selections offered in preceding weeks have been a mix of ancient and new expressions of faithful waiting. Once again this year we’ve created a Spotify playlist of all our selections. The link to that is in today’s transcript and show notes.

EICHER: This Sunday marks the fourth Sunday of Advent. And since it is also Christmas Eve, WORLD correspondent Bonnie Pritchett has selected songs whose themes reflect the message of both services.

BONNIE PRITCHETT, REPORTER: Christmas Eve services often close with the lights dimmed, candles lit, and – if your church services are like the ones I grew up with – singing Silent Night.

MUSIC: [A Cradle in Bethlehem—Nat King Cole]

That 200-year-old hymn, like many others, takes us back to the place of our Lord’s birth and the few precious moments Mary and Joseph had with their newborn son – time before shepherds, wisemen, and a mad king disturbed their peace.

NAT KING COLE: Sing sweet and low, a lullaby till angels sing amen. A mother tonight is rocking a cradle in Bethlehem…

American songwriter Larry Stock and Canadian Lyricist Alfred Bryan captured those moments in their 1952 song A Cradle in Bethlehem. Nat King Cole popularized the song on his 1960 album “The Magic of Christmas.”

COLE: A little child shall lead them. The prophets say of old. In storm and tempest heed him until the bell is tolled…

The baby - God incarnate - came to redeem the world. But, in the meantime, at the manger…

COLE: A mother tonight, is rocking a cradle in Bethlehem.

Mary and Joseph probably tried to get some much needed rest. But outside their humble accommodations, God was stirring a weary world from its spiritual slumber.

SINGER: Hail blessed morn, see the great Mediator, down from the regions of glory descend…

Angels and a star directed shepherds and wisemen toward Bethlehem.

Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning is an early 19th century hymn that considers what gift to give this new king. Ricky Skaggs joined Kristin and Keith Getty in this 2021 version called Brightest and Best.

SINGER: Say, “Shall we yield him in costly devotion fragrance of Edom and offerings divine.”

Vicar Reginald Heber wrote the hymn. Its lyrics note that of all the gifts offered the infant redeemer, only one mattered.

SINGER: Vainly, we offer each ample oblation. Vainly with gifts would his favor secure. Richer by far is the heart’s adoration. Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.

Following the angel’s instructions, the shepherds found the Christ child and the unsuspecting Mary and Joseph.

SINGER: Joseph dearest, Joseph mine help me cradle this child divine…

Christians have long recreated the nativity scene that includes those first humble worshippers. In the 16th century, Leipzig, Germany’s popular mystery plays combined the sacred and secular to tell the story of Jesus’s birth.

SINGER: Gladly, dear one, lady mine help I cradle this child of thine…

A cast of singers portray the many characters who make their way to the now busy manger. The song Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine comes from those centuries-old mystery plays. The band Blue Water Highway includes four of the song’s verses in this 2023 release. The modern rendition breathes new life into an old story.

SINGER: He came among us at Christmastime, at Christmastime in Bethlehem. Men shall bring him from far and wide love’s diadem. Jesus, Jesus, lo he comes and loves, and saves, and frees us. Lo he comes and loves and saves and frees us.

For WORLD, I’m Bonnie Pritchett.

[WORLD Radio Advent 2023 Spotify playlist]

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