Hark! How all the welkin rings!  It kind of rolls trippingly off the tongue, doesn't it?  Well, that's what one of the world's top 10 Christmas songs^* may have been without a bit of a rewrite from an old college buddy.

But, what on earth is/are welkin, you ask?  And what is the song?

First things first.  In 1737, Charles Wesley, one of the most prolific hymn writers of all time, sat down and penned these words:

 Hark, how all the welkin rings,
“Glory to the King of kings;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”

Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
Universal nature say,
“Christ the Lord is born to-day!”

Christ, by highest Heaven ador’d,
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 men to appear,
Jesus! Our Immanuel here!

Hail, the heavenly 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 them second birth.

Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conquering seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.

Now display thy saving power,
Ruined nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to thine.

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface;
Stamp Thy image in its place.
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy love.

Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the life, the inner Man:
O! to all thyself impart,
Form’d in each believing heart.

By now you realize the song is Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!.  A college chum of Wesley's, George Whitefield, published the song, not Wesley himself.  In doing so, he changed some of the words without consulting Wesley.  Whitefield, who was not the scholar Wesley was, apparently had a simpler way to phrase the concept of “welkin”, which means “the vault of heaven” or sky. 

The verse to which Wesley was referring, Luke 2:13, does not literally refer to angels singing.  Instead, it refers to the heavenly host with the angel doing all the singing.  “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God...” in both the KJV and ESV.  Wesley apparently took that to mean the sky itself opened up in praise, while Whitefield simplified it to mean more angels.

This change so angered Wesley that he never sang Whitefield's modified version of his song.

Regardless, the song as we sing it today follows through on Wesley's tendency to provide “a condensed course in biblical doctrine in poetic form”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 angelic hosts proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem."
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King."

Christ, by highest heav'n 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 men to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King."

Hail the heav'n born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris'n 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 them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Come, Desire of nations, come!
Fix in us Thy humble home.
Rise, the woman's conqu'ring seed,
Bruise in us the serpent's head;
Adam's likeness now efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place;
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King."

By the way, here are the top 10 Christmas songs, taken from a recent Christianity Today poll.  There are 11 in the list, but personally, I've never heard of the song “Other”.

·       Silent Night: 18%

·       Joy to the World: 9%

·       O Come, O Come, Emmanuel: 8%

·       O Come, All Ye Faithful: 7%

·       Other: 7%

·       What Child Is This?: 6%

·       Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: 5%

·       Angels We Have Heard on High: 4%

·       O Little Town of Bethlehem: 1%

·       The First Noel: 1%

¹Osbeck, Kenneth W.  101 More Hymn Stories, Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1985