Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

• Luke 2:13-15

“Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King:
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th’angelic hosts proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Refrain:
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King”

Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold him come,
offspring of the Virgin’s womb:
veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th’incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Immanuel. [Refrain]

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth. [Refrain]”

• Charles Wesley, Hark, the Herald Angels Sing

Caroling was such an important part of Christmas.  I was probably caroling before I could read.  I remember walking from house to house with other members of the youth group and even before I was old enough for youth group.  No one invited us in for cocoa and cookies.  All of that was waiting back at the church.

For the past two years, I have dissected carols during the Advent Season for quizzes.  I plan to do so again, but maybe in yet another different vein, and the carols that I choose will be some that are very popular and that I have not yet used.

The third carol for 2023 is Hark, the Herald Angel Sing.  My mother, who was the choir director and church organist most of her life, even filling in during the last few years, thought this carol by Charles Wesley was the most accurate.  But I made some stretches to get this to fit with various verses.  Question 2 could have two different answers in that the carol has the wrong people saying the words.  So, if you go by what is said, it is one line of the carol, or who said it, it is another line.  Question 5 is a bonus in that one Bible verse was used in two different places of the same verse in the carol.  No error here, but two answers apply in the quiz.  And I would never fault a composer for shuffling the words of a Bible verse to get the meter right or rhyme the line, but I would quibble if the shuffling changed the meaning.  But overall, it is a good carol with a lot of Biblical backing.

I will quote a verse, or a part of a verse, of Scripture and you can suggest a line that matches it.

The Questions:

?	Scripture	Bible Reference	Line from the Carol
1	Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.
2	But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
3	“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
4	Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.
5	Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
6	For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7	When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
8	For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

I think every time I hear this carol, I will think of the Charlie Brown Christmas special.  I grew up with that thirty-minute television special.

You have a downcast Charlie Brown.  He makes matters worse by getting the most pathetic Christmas tree ever.  Of course, I have seen a few equally pathetic Christmas trees since then.  But all seems fine when Linus loans his blanket to hold up the tree and they start singing.

I would let folks keep the blanket if that really worked in life.  But God is going to make sure things are righted in the end, if not beforehand.

Bible References:

?	Scripture	Bible Reference	Line from the Carol
1	Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.	Psalm 47:1
2	But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.	Luke 2:10-11
3	“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”	Luke 2:14
4	Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.	Psalme 41:13
5	Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.	Isaiah 7:14
6	For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.	Isaiah 9:6
7	When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”	John 8:12
8	For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.	John 3:16

This concludes the carol quizzes for this year.  There are still more carols to choose from.

Maybe if you have a favorite carol that I have not used, you could suggest it for next year.

Ummm.  Nope.  That might not be so good.  If I find errors between the Scripture and the carol, you might either not like the carol or not like the quiz or both.  I guess this has to be a blind selection process.

   …

   …

   …

The Answers:

?	Scripture	Bible Reference	Line from the Carol
1	Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.	Psalm 47:1	Joyful, all ye nations, rise
2	But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.	Luke 2:10-11	with th’angelic hosts proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!” or Hark! the herald angels sing   One angel mentions the Messiah and city of David (Bethlehem) and the host says peace on earth, so both might apply.
3	“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”	Luke 2:14	Christ, by highest heaven adored
4	Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.	Psalme 41:13	Christ, the everlasting Lord
5	Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.	Isaiah 7:14	offspring of the Virgin’s womb: … Jesus, our Immanuel.
6	For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.	Isaiah 9:6	Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
7	When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”	John 8:12	Light and life to all he brings
8	For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.	John 3:16	born that we no more may die

And here is the Kings College Choir with David Willcocks (descant) singing Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.  It is worth waiting for the last verse to hear a young boy singing the descant.  This was done in 2021 and I doubt if he could still do it.

Here is A Charlie Brown Christmas, with their version Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.

And here is Celtic Women performing Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.  Again, another descant, but this time by a woman who is a professional.

Maybe you are tired of the Chip Davis version, but I cannot get enough of it.  I hope you enjoy the Mannheim Steamroller version.

If you like these Saturday morning Bible quizzes, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Saturday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.