Hark the Herald Angels Sing (Grace Now Shines)

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The Story Behind Hark the Herald Angels Sing (Grace Now Shines)

Charles Wesley penned this hymn in 1739, originally beginning, “Hark how all the welkin rings.” (The word “welkin” meant “heaven.”) Later, the evangelist George Whitefield revised the opening line to the familiar “Hark! The herald angels sing”.

This Christmas carol is a theology of salvation wrapped in music. Every line declares the incarnation—God and sinners reconciled, light and life to all He brings. Wesley wanted believers to grasp that Christmas was more than the birth of a child; it was the dawning of redemption. When we sing it, we’re not just recalling the angels’ song—we’re proclaiming the gospel that still rings through heaven and earth: “Glory to the newborn King.”

In that same goal and vein of grasping that Christmas was more than just the birth of Jesus, I wrote an original chorus to further the message of redemption and grace that brought the work of the cross as the completion of the birth of Christmas:

“Peace has come, the veil is torn,
Grace now shines where hope was worn”

Bible Verses & Biblical Themes in Hark the Herald Angels Sing (Grace Now Shines)

• Main theme: The incarnation and the reconciliation of God and sinners
• “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
• “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” (Luke 2:14)
• And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. (Matthew 27:50-51)
• “For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things… making peace by the blood of His cross.” (Colossians 1:19–20)

Chords & Lyrics

Here are the lyrics, chords will have to come later.

Hark the Herald Angels Sing (Grace Now Shines)

Krystal Craven

Verse 1:
Hark! The herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
peace on earth, and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled
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

Chorus:
Peace has come, the veil is torn
Grace now shines where hope was worn

Verse 2:
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 man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King

Chorus:
Peace has come, the veil is torn
Grace now shines where hope was worn

Verse 3:
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace
Hail the Sun 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 us second birth
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King

Chorus 2x:
Peace has come, the veil is torn
Grace now shines where hope was worn

Peace has come, the veil is torn
Grace now shines where hope was worn

Outro:
Grace now shines where hope was worn