The following events took place in my car while listening to a Christmas CD. One particular song on this CD started with “O come O come Emanuel and rescue captive Israel”. As I was listening to this ‘angelic’ music, I started thinking about what it would be like to hear the angels sing. Then I remembered a passage of scripture in Luke, chapter two, where a great company of heavenly host entertained the shepherds with a song of praise to God.
“How do you think the shepherds felt that night”, I asked Tracy. Before she had the chance to say anything I was already in an imaginary world, picturing the exuberance and the overwhelming feelings of total joy those men must have felt as they heard, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests”.
“The Bible says they were terrified”, Tracy said. My wife was right. I was a little disappointed. In my imaginary world, I wanted the shepherds to be excited, thrilled and filled with overwhelming feelings of peace and joy. Music is supposed to make you feel better, isn’t it? Most likely, the shepherds, shocked by the appearance of the angels, needed some time to sort through what just happened. But hold on, the Bible does tell us that these men glorified and praised God. What a joy to know that a Savior has been born to us! (Luke 2:11)
