When I was growing up, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” by Charles Wesley (revised by George Whitefield) was one of my favorite Christmas songs — but the point of the first line went completely over my head.
Don’t get me wrong, I understood lines like “Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled” and “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.” However, there was that lead archaic imperative that escaped me for years: Hark! (Listen!).
In a 2007 Christianity Today article, Gordon Giles notes,
"In the Gospel account, the angels praise God, whereas in 'Hark! the herald angels sing,' they are inaccurately described as praising Jesus. Furthermore, Luke does not say that the angels 'sing,' and so it may well be that this reinterpretation by Whitefield has emphasized the popular but unscriptural picture of angels singing the Gloria."
While Giles is correct, we would do well to listen to and learn from the angels in Luke 2:10. Their praise and adoration towards God about the birth of Jesus is a model for what our attitude should be concerning the Christ Jesus. Why?
Angels didn’t need to be reconciled to God, but man does.