Singing Handel’s “Messiah

In 1741, George Frideric Handel famously composed his sacred oratorio, “Messiah,” in less than a month, locked away from all distractions, writing furiously from morning to night.

The text of “Messiah” is made up entirely of Scripture—passages like Isaiah 40 (“Comfort my people… prepare the way of the Lord”), Matthew 1:23 (“Emmanuel, God with us”), Isaiah 9:6 (“Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”), Luke 2:14 (“Glory to God in the highest”), John 1:29 (“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”), Isaiah 53 (“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows”).  And more—so much more:  Pure Bible!  Hallelujah!

If ever a musical composition amounted to a call to worship, “Messiah” is it!  And, of course, millions of believers in Jesus are swept up in joy and wonder to take it in.  And yet—and this is jarring—for others it’s just great classical music, nothing more.

And so, I have mixed feelings when secular groups perform this work.  An ad popped up on Facebook recently:  the Philadelphia Orchestra and Symphonic Choir would be performing Handel’s “Messiah.”  I felt a certain sadness, knowing that at least some of the musicians have no faith in Christ and no longing to see him praised.  How can they utter such weighty, wonderful lyrics?  The best they can do is “mouth it” and act like Christ-worshippers.

So, then, what are we to do when music with explicitly Christian content lingers in the culture as a kind of residue of a previous generation’s devotion to Christ?  What are we to think when “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” blares over the speakers at the grocery store:  “Glory to the newborn King”?

I recommend:  pray! Ask the Lord to open the eyes of spiritually blind hearts to see the truth of the gospel being sung.  And also:  talk about it. Ask people what they think of these words—it might give you an opportunity to share your love for the Messiah!