mgpcpastor's blog

So, Christmas is nearly upon us. This morning at mgpc we considered Isaiah chapter 2:1-5 and the exhortation to consider these last days as a time of fulfillment, expectation and preparation.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be singing lots of songs that reflect aspects of the first coming of Jesus as part of our ongoing anticipation of His second coming.
The last fourteen years in particular have involved preparation of carols evenings and Christmas day services. My carol master list has about forty-five songs on it, most of them from traditional sources with a few more recent compositions. Interestingly you can pretty much forget contemporary material at Christmas, everyone wants songs they know and love. And besides, they only sing them once a year.
Still, I like variety, and since I’ll end up singing about twenty-five to thirty Christmas songs at three or four different services over the month I’m always on the lookout for songs I don’t know. That’s how I discovered ‘In The Bleak Mid-Winter’. apparently it’s one of the most popular English carols.
It has a fine pedigree. Christina Rossetti’s winsome poem is well complemented by very sensitive and singable music by Gustav Holst. It evokes romantic imagery and response without lapsing into triteness or sentimentalism.
It is true that the carol does not directly address Christ’s atoning work, but it does exhort worship and consecration to Him.
The song seems much loved by secular and Christian singers who record Christmas albums. It also has its own wikipedia page.
Here is a set of the lyrics. The third verse seems to be frequently omitted.
1.
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.
2.
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
3.
Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.
4.
Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.
5.
What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

Just to add a little culture to proceedings, here’s Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and friends singing ‘In the Bleak Mid-Winter’.