Heavenly Host

Heavenly Host

Words and Music: William Billings, 1786

1. Methinks I see a Heav'nly Host,
Of Angels on the Wing;
Methinks I hear their chearful Notes,
So merrily they sing:
'Let all your Fears be banish'd hence,
Glad Tidings I proclaim,
For there's a Saviour born to Day,
And Jesus is his Name.

2. Lay down your Crooks, and quit your Flocks,
To Bethlehem repair;
And let your wand'ring Steps be squared
By yonder shining Star.
Seek not in Courts or Palaces,
Nor royal Curtains draw;
But search the Stable, see your God
Extended on the Straw.

3. Then Learn from hence, ye rural Swains,
The Meekness of your God,
Who left the boundless Realms of Joy,
To ransom you with Blood.
The Master of the Inn refus'd
A more commodius Place;
Ungenerous Soul of savage Mould,
And destitute of Grace.

4. Exult ye Oxen, low for Joy,
Ye Tenants of the Stall,
Pay your Obeisance; on your Knees
Unanimously fall.
The Royal Fuest you entertain
Is not of common Birth,
But second in the Great I am;
The God of Heav'n and Earth.'

5. Then suddenly a Heav'nly Host
Around the Shepherds throng,
Exulting in the threefold God
And thus address their Song:
'To God the Father, Christ the Son,
And Holy Ghost ador'd;
The First and Last, the Last and First,
Eternal Praise afford.

Note: A setting can be found in Roy Ringwald's Book Of American Carols (2004).