’Twas the night before Christmas;
the very first one,
That most holy of nights
when God gave us His Son
A little town lay quiet
in the hours before morn,
Not knowing that Immanuel
soon would be born
A woman cried out,
Mary labored in pain,
She caught her breath once,
then cried out again
And Joseph, her husband,
formed a mattress of hay
For there was no room
in which they could stay
Mary lay down,
concern filled her heart
A stable was no place
for the King’s life to start
Her thoughts drifted back
to that Nazareth
When an angel first spoke
of the wonder to be
‘May it be unto me’,
she replied, greatly awed
As the angel assured her
of the power of God
Her life on that day
had forever been changed
As she blessed her great God
and rejoiced in His Name
Her gaze turned to Joseph,
quiet and strong
Watching over her now,
as he had all along
Joseph smiled down
at the girl in the hay
His life had also
been changed on that day
‘Joseph,’ the angel declared.
‘Be strong in your heart’
‘For God is at work,
and you have a great part.’
‘To bring the Messiah
into the world
As the prophets have spoken
since ages of old.’
Another sharp cry
brought his mind back to life
and he knelt down in the hay
next to his wife
The time had arrived,
and soon it was done
Mary gazed with great wonder
at her firstborn, a son
Here now He lay
in the straw of a stall
The infinite God,
so tiny and small
Away to the north,
three men lifted their eyes
To look upon a special star
that again filled the skies
Their quest for the King
had begun months ago
When they saw from their home
that very same glow
They smiled and they laughed
and picked up their pace
More eager than ever
to look on His face
Some shepherds were camped
in the fields that same night,
When they were enveloped
by a very great light.
The glory of God
exploded the sky,
They fell to the ground,
convinced they would die
And then, through the radiance,
to their jubilation
An angel appeared
with a great declaration
The Angel spoke kindly,
with words reassuring,
A message of God’s great love
so enduring.
‘Do not be afraid,
for I bring you good news
A wonderful joy,
for all Gentiles and Jews’
‘As God, in His love,
promised in ages long past,
His Word is wonderfully
fulfilled at last!’
‘In Bethlehem
there is now born the Savior
Christ the Lord, a small babe,
lying there in a manger.’
The shepherds arose
and quickly in haste
Made their way to the town
and found the child in His place
The Magi arrived,
and rejoiced with great joy
The King of the Ages,
a small baby boy.
And then with a sound
that shook heaven and earth
the armies of God
gave a new song its birth
‘Peace to the world!’
They were heard to exclaim,
‘All glory to God
and praise to His Name!’
Soon the stall was empty,
and with joyful tears Mary wept
And for the first time in all of eternity…
God slept.
