God and the Watchmen

Photo Credit: Unknown

God rest ye merry, gentlemen;

Let nothing you dismay.

Remember Christ, our Savior,

Was born on Christmas day,

To save us all from Satan’s pow’r

When we were gone astray.

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy!

O tidings of comfort and joy!

Surprisingly, there are no “merry gentlemen” in this Christmas carol - unless we count the fellows doing the singing! All being well, the gentlemen referred to would have been in nightshirts and nightcaps and sound asleep. The comma between “merry” and “gentlemen” suggests it’s their rest that should be merry, not the gentlemen!

The authors of this song of redemption are unknown, but tradition has it they were watchmen, paid extra by the local burghers to guard the town over the Christmas period. Their job usually would have involved patrolling the nighttime streets with a lamp. They would announce the time on the hour, following that with a reassuring “And all’s well!” At some point though, perhaps overcome by the Christmas spirit, they seem to have started singing!

Reminding their cozy patrons that they were saved through Christ, the watchmen also encouraged those listening to love each other in Christian brotherhood. All hearing their song should entrust their night’s rest to God, and the knowledge of Satan’s inevitable defeat should be enough to

make that rest a merry one.

Surprisingly in such a happy song, Satan is mentioned twice, but the presence of his name does nothing to lessen the overwhelming “tidings of comfort and joy!”

The tune may have been brought to the English West Country by French merchants, but the lyrics were born on the streets of an unknown English town in the fifteenth century. The publication, in 1833, of Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern brought them to a wider audience.

In taking the news of Christ’s birth out into the frosty street with a joyful song, those unknown believers may well have been the world’s first Christmas carolers. If the watchmen could have foreseen how popular caroling would become, they probably would have been very merry gentlemen indeed!

Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. 1 CHRONICLES 16:9

(From Silent Night: The Stories Behind 40 Beloved Christmas Carols, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission)

1. God rest ye merry, gentlemen,

Let nothing you dismay;

Remember Christ, our Saviour,

Was born on Christmas Day,

To save us all from Satan’s pow’r

When we were gone a-stray:

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;

O tidings of comfort and joy.

2. In Bethlehem in Jewry

This blessed Babe was born,

And laid within a manger

Upon this blessed morn;

The which His mother, Mary,

Did nothing take in scorn:

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;

O tidings of comfort and joy.

3. From God, our heav’nly Father,

A blessed angel came,

And unto certain shepherds

Brought tidings of the same,

How that in Bethlehem was born

The Son of God by name:

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;

O tidings of comfort and joy.

4. “Fear not,” then said the angel,

“Let nothing you affright,

This day is born a Saviour,

Of virtue, pow’r and might;

So frequently to vanquish all

The friends of Satan quite”:

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;

O tidings of comfort and joy.

5. The shepherds at those tidings

Rejoiced much in mind,

And left their flocks a-feeding,

In tempest, storm and wind,

And went to Bethlehem straightway

This blessed Babe to find:

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;

O tidings of comfort and joy.

6. But when to Bethlehem they came,

Whereat this Infant lay,

They found Him in a manger,

Where oxen feed on hay;

His mother, Mary, kneeling,

Unto the Lord did pray:

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;

O tidings of comfort and joy.

7. Now to the Lord sing praises,

All you within this place,

And with true love and brotherhood

Each other now embrace;

This holy tide of Christmas

All others doth deface:

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;

O tidings of comfort and joy.

DO YOU KNOW?

40 days in a calendar year equals to one month and 10 days, or to be more specific:

- 3,456,000 seconds

- 57,600 minutes

- 960 hours

- 5 weeks and 5 days

- 10.96% of 2019