God from on high has heard;
Let sighs and sorrows cease;
The skies unfold, and lo!
Descends the gift of peace.
Hark! On the midnight air
Celestial voices swell;
The hosts of heaven proclaim
God comes on earth to dwell.
Haste with the shepherds; see
The mystery of grace:
A manger-bed, a child,
Is all the eye can trace.
Is this the eternal Son,
Who on the starry throne
Before the worlds begun
Was with the Father one?
Yes, faith can pierce the cloud
Which shrouds his glory now,
And hail him God and Lord,
To whom all creatures bow.
Faith sees the sapphire throne,
Where angels evermore
Adoring tremble still,
And trembling still adore.
O child! Thy silence speaks,
And bids us not refuse
To bear what flesh would shun,
To spurn what flesh would choose.
O child! your silence speaks,
And bids us not refuse
To bear what flesh would shun,
To spurn what flesh would choose.
Fill us with holy love,
Heal thou our earthly pride;
Born in each lowly heart,
For ever there abide.
Fill us with holy love,
And heal our earthly pride;
Born in each lowly heart,
For ever there abide.