In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.” Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!” Luke 2:8-14
Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, “Do you hear what I hear?”
My words…
On the night that Your Son arrived as a baby in Bethlehem, heaven burst open. An angel with a multitude of the heavenly host erupted in praise, piercing the silent night. The shepherds and their sheep turned heavenward in awe. I’m not sure if the angelic host sang, shouted, or chanted – it doesn’t matter. Their praise could not be contained. Oh, to be a shepherd in the fields that night! The praise of angels heralding the birth of God With Us must have caressed their ears like no other sound on earth. Did they eventually forget the majestic tones? Perhaps they re-lived it in their dreams? I don’t believe that one could hear the sound of angelic praise and not be forever changed. I long to hear that sound – the sound heard by lambs in the field that night. The lambs knew praise when they heard it. Did they praise, too?
My praise cannot compare to that of the angelic host. Even my best words of adoration and gratitude are gritty, cold, and lame in comparison. Yet You hear them and You accept them, gladly. So I lift my heart to You. It is swollen with great joy as I recall the blessed event of the birth of Jesus. I praise You as the Father who sent Your Son away from Your side, away from His heavenly home, and I praise the Son who loved me so much that He went.
