This carol begins with a prayer of blessing. The anonymous author of this 15^th C olde English Christmas carol prays for all who know Christmas to be a merry time of year to also know and experience God-rest. God-rest is another way of saying what the Bible calls “the peace that passes all understanding.” God-rest is a deep, abiding assurance and comfort. A restfulness in a restless world. A rest given by God to those who seek rest in Him.

That seems an unusual request for a Christmas carol. Christmas means joy. On the other hand, it is often the case that those times that are meant to be the most joyous can be also filled with loneliness, worry, and frustration. So the author calls to us all…

Let nothing you dismay


He recognizes the potential for dismay to rob our Christmas of its highest joy. Maybe this Christmas your heart misses that special loved one who has passed away. Maybe you find yourself a bit lonely this Christmas in missing out on those special gatherings of friends and family. Maybe there is strife at home this Christmas, trouble at work, financial strain, sickness. There are any number of reasons, real or imagined, that could cloud the joy of Christmas and seek to replace our right to rejoice with despondency and dismay. And so the author turns our attention to the greatest gift ever to be known to man, a gift that we as believers not only know of, but posses and have…

Remember, Christ, our Saviour
 Was born on Christmas day

This news, this glad tiding, changes everything! The fact that Christmas is about the coming of Christ is such news of magnificent proportions that it not only counters our feelings of dismay, it disrupts them, it dismantles them. Christ has come. The promised Messiah has arrived. The Anointed One, the Son of God, has come to us. He has bridged the gulf between God and man. The Prince of Peace has entered into our turmoil. The Giver of eternal life has removed the threat and power of sin and death. Whatever may cause and feed our feelings of dismay at Christmas, the Christ of Christmas has come to answer and defeat every single one. The only way that death or separation from loved ones or the troubles and trials of this life have ultimate sway over our lives is if they have the last word. But Christ has come, and He has the final say. And His word is life and forgiveness and peace and reconciliation and everlasting bliss in the presence of God. His word overcomes every other word.

He was born not only as the answer to the many sorrows and troubles of this life; He was born as the answer to our greatest sorrow and trouble of this life – our sin, our separation from God, our alienation from all the untold and unimaginable joy of being reunited and reconciled with God. And so the author of this carol continues…

To save us all from Satan's power
 When we were gone astray


That my dear friends is the beauty of Christmas. The glad tidings of joy. The good news of the Gospel. He, and only He, could become one of us and pay our sin debt for us and thereby free us from the power of Satan.

O tidings of comfort and joy,
 Comfort and joy
, O tidings of comfort and joy