There is something extra special about the music of Christmas. It warms the soul like the glow from a fireplace on a cold winter’s night and it is inviting. Steven Curtis Chapman has said, “I love Christmas music and there’s nothing like getting together with friends at Christmas time to celebrate with music the incredible reality of the Savior’s birth.”
Christmas music like the new CD by Garth W. Smith titled A Sacred Christmas reminds us of the real reason that we celebrate the season. Each song on the eleven-track CD which was released on 10 November 2017, tells the wondrous story of the One who was born in a stable in Royal David’s city with a cradle for His bed on that sacred, holy night, for there was no room for Him in the inn.
The first song on the CD, “For Unto Us A Child is Born,” announces the birth of the King of Kings and the Lord of lords – He who would be the Savior of the world – He who was born to die for the sins of all mankind. Little did the world know, nor did Mary possibly realize, that the tiny baby that she held in her arms and caressed with loving kisses was and is the Son of God.
The words of the third verse of the second song on the CD, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” – “How silently, how silently; the wondrous gift is given! So, God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of His heaven” – remind us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3,16:17).
As a person listens to the beautiful renditions of the songs “Still, Still, Still,” “Gesu Bambino,” “Santa Lucia – Swedish Carol,” “Away in A Manger,” and “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” the words to the first verse of the fourth song on the album “I Wonder As I Wander” repeat softly in their minds – “I wonder as I wander out under the sky, how Jesus the Savior did come for to die. For poor on’ry people like you and like I… I wonder as I wander out under the sky.”
The song “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” reminds us that no matter the situations that we may face in life, Emmanuel – God is with us. He has promised that He would never leave us or forsake us. And so, we can rejoice as we sing, “O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer; Our spirits by Thine advent here; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadows put to flight.”
The last two songs on the CD “Heaven’s Hallelujah” and “O Holy Night” reminds us of the sacredness of the birth of our Savior and that on that blessed night the heavens rejoiced. We too should rejoice and lift our voices singing “Joy to the World!”
“In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:4,5).
