January 4 

Brightest and Best of the Stars of the Morning 

TEXT: Reginald Heber

b. April 21, 1783, Cheshire, England

d. April 3, 1826, Trichinopoly, India

Reginald Heber was born into an aristocratic Yorkshire family. He could read the Bible fluently at age five and astonished even his parents with his understanding of its content. He won a prize for a poem about Palestine at age seventeen. Educated at Oxford University and surrounded by the beautiful writings of Shelley, Keats, and Byron, Heber wrote fifty-seven poems, most of which remain in print today. As a young man, Heber’s devotion to God developed into a great passion for missions. His hymn “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains” was an expression of this burden. At age forty, he moved to India where he became the Anglican Bishop of Calcutta (Kolkata). After only two years, he was overcome by heat stroke and unexpectantly died at age forty-two. His widow discovered his hymns in a trunk and compiled them into a book. Among them was “Holy, Holy, Holy” and this hymn, “Brightest and Best of the Stars of the Morning.”

TUNE: James P. Harding

b. May 19, 1890, London, England

d. February 21, 1911, London, England

Little is known about James Harding except that he was the choir director of St. Andrew’s Church in Islington, London, for thirty-five years. He also served as a civil servant for London. He composed choral anthems, for which the tune MORNING STAR was created. Its dignity has made this a much-loved hymn and tune.

As you sing this hymn … you are fully entering into the meaning of the word Epiphany. Although this text never uses the term wise men, it is as if we are those who followed the brightest star in the sky to find the King whom it announced. Revelation 22:16 refers to Jesus as the “bright morning star.” As He illuminates our earthly pilgrimage, we recognize Him as “Maker [Creator] and Monarch and Savior of all!” Such a revelation begs the question, “What shall we offer Him?” Surely we cannot worship empty-handed. Are there jewels or pearls or any gifts of gold worthy of this King? Does the story of the wise men’s offerings provide a pattern of how we must worship?

Heber understood that we do not “buy” this King’s favor with treasures of gifts. “Vainly,” he says, would we attempt to win God’s favor by material gifts or offerings. Not even being good enough, going to church enough, or reading our Bible enough—no actions of ours will win our soul’s release from the slavery of sin. The riches God wants from us are our hearts’ adoration. He seeks our submission to His gift of grace in forgiveness. Although Heber grew up among earthly riches, no doubt it was in the poverty of Calcutta that he saw the prayers of the poor as the greatest thing God seeks. “God be merciful to me a sinner” must be our Epiphany prayer.