Glory to God

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"Glory to God" is a Christmas carol popular among American and Canadian Reformed churches that have Dutch roots. It is translated from the Dutch "Ere Zij God" and is one of the most beloved carols sung in the Protestant churches in the Netherlands.

The lyrics come directly from the words of the Angels' "Song" witnessed by the shepherds tending their flocks outside Bethlehem, praising the event of Christ's birth, as recorded in Luke 2:14[1]. There is a German version of the lyrics, known as "Ehre sei Gott", but it is impossible to determine whether the German form came before the Dutch version.

The music is attributed to an F.A. Schultz, of whom little is known except for references by others that a Franz Albert Schultz wrote a song book while working at a college in Königsberg in 1731. No copies of this book are extant. Dutch song books indicate the composition date as 1870. The music is grandiose in style, in the A-B-A form, with an extended, flowing double-amen ending. Thus it requires frequent repetition of the lyrics, something not inappropriate for an anthem of the host of angels loudly praising God (as with Revelation 4:8[2] and its context).

[edit] Lyrics

Glory to God! Glory to God!
In the highest, in the highest, in the highest!
Peace be on Earth, peace be on Earth
To the people whom God delights in.

Glory to God in the highest, glory to God in the highest!
Peace be on Earth, peace be on Earth, peace be on Earth, peace be on Earth
To the people, to the people whom God delights in,
To the people whom God delights in, whom God delights in.

Glory to God! Glory to God!
In the highest, in the highest, in the highest!
Peace be on Earth, peace be on Earth
To the people whom God delights in.

Amen. Amen.