The Message of “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentleman”
Many of the old Christmas carols were written and sung over 200-plus years ago. According to online research, there seems to be a much older date for the carol, "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”. And when we hear the proper English words of this song, we imagine proper, Victorian-clad men and women in puffy sleeves, caroling in perfect harmony to unsuspecting villagers. Think: “Tiny Tim and Scrooge”.
However, this Christmas carol is the Gospel story taken from the second chapter of Luke with a final verse of prayer that I found to be similar to Zachariah’s prayer of praise found in Luke, chapter 1. The title and first line,” God rest ye (you) merry” means: “may God grant you peace and happiness", but mistakenly sung with a misplaced comma. Instead of the phrasing, “God Rest, You Merry Gentlemen”, it should read: “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”.
This carol is not about “merry gentlemen” needing rest, but rather a Gospel blessing for all mankind to find peace or “comfort and joy” in the Good News of the Messiah’s long-awaited arrival on Earth.
I was skeptical of the placement of the comma AFTER the word, “merry" and looked for some sort of confirmation elsewhere. In a 1977 edition of Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Book on p. 144-145, I found a copy of the music and words to this “traditional English” Christmas Carol. The title on the page: “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”. Comma after “Merry”!
That proper, English phrasing sounds awkward to our ears in 2023. Imagine an Amazon deliverer or coffee shop barista saying: “God grant you peace and happiness, fine lady or good man!” But, in the light of the Truth and story told in "God rest you merry...” the words, “Happy Holidays!” fall far short of the reason for Christmas joy.
A possible interpretation of the carol:
God rest ye merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
Remember Christ our Saviour
Was born on Christmas Day;
To save us all from Satan’s power
When we were gone astray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy;
O tidings of comfort and joy.
God grant you peace and happiness,
Let nothing rob you of this news,
Remember Christ our Saviour
Was born on Christmas Day;
To save us all from our sins
When we go our own way.
O good news of comfort and joy,
God’s comfort and joy;
Good news that gives man comfort and joy.
The second through sixth verses of "God Rest You Merry...” tells the story of the angel’s message to the shepherds and of the shepherd‘s visit to the Christ-child. But the seventh and final verse mirrors the words of Zachariah’s praise “to the Lord, the God of Israel who has come and has redeemed his people”.
Before the Luke 2 account of the Birth of Christ, in Luke 1:8-20, we find Zachariah, a priest and father of John the Baptist whose life was also the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah 40:3. Then, in Luke 1:68-71, after the prophesied birth of Zachariah’s and Elizabeth’s son John, we read “Zachariah’s Song” of praise and worship to God along with prophecy about the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah:
Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel for he has visited and redeemed his people and he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. - Luke 1:68-71 (ESV)
The seventh verse of “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”:
Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth deface.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy;
O tidings of comfort and joy.
Today we sing praise to God
Wherever we find ourselves
United in love with other believers in Christ
Together taking on
This holy time of Christmas
(Forgetting our idea of “happy holidays”)
Oh Good News of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Good News! That gives us comfort and joy.
Mary sang a song of rejoicing and praise to the Lord. (Luke 1:46-55) Zachariah’s song of praise is recorded in Luke 1:68-75. And, in The Message Bible, we read in Luke 2:13-14, “At once the angel (Gabriel) was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him."
May we also “rest merry” in the peace and true happiness that our Father provides through His Son, Jesus. It is important for those of us who know Jesus as our Savior to sing these carols of praise to Him so that future generations will know of the real comfort and joy that is only found in Jesus.
