December 18 

God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen 

TEXT AND TUNE: English Carol, 18th c.

When this carol was written, you would not have heard it in church. That is because, for its day, it was much too frivolous and happy! The church music of the eighteenth century, even at Christmas, was somber, slow, and for some, far too severe for real celebration. It is possible this was written in rebellion—not to be sung in church, but in the streets or homes of believers who saw the birthday of Christ as a time for joyous celebration. Since no name is associated with either the text or the tune, perhaps they felt safer in anonymity.

Some suggest that the word “merry” is better translated “mighty.” We do not agree, and research reveals no time when the word merry was employed to describe strength. A brief study of English literature from Shakespeare, Shelley, or Tennyson employs phrases such as “rest you fair,” “rest you happy,” and “rest myself content.” The somewhat archaic couplet “rest you” is similar in use to our modern expression, “rest assured” or “rest easy.” It is the placement of the comma after the word “merry” and not after “you” that clarifies this entreaty of joy to people who may be in dismay. Charles Dickens employed this song in his great story A Christmas Carol. But it was too much for Scrooge, who rejected it and all it proclaimed.

As you sing this hymn … it could be the most encouraging and uplifting song of your season! Rather than being a song about coming home for Christmas, or Santa’s visit, or trips in a sleigh, here, you are singing of your encounter with the One by whom all dismay and fear and sadness is conquered. This is not a vertically directed lyric of praise. It is a horizontal entreaty to “be of good cheer” with much more than merely positive thinking. The repeating refrain proclaims the two pillars of blessings—comfort for our sorrow and pain, and joy for our sadness and misery.

So consider an old tradition that is seldom done today: recruit another family and go caroling in your neighborhood. Or sing at your office party or at a senior living home. From this hymnal, choose the songs and stanzas you have most easily committed to memory and share the joy. You never know who will hear you or who is living in “dismay” or is sadly “astray.” Your gift of song may be what is needed for sad souls.