25 Days of Advent: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

The lyrics from this song were originally a poem by Longfellow. He wrote it just months after the Civil War's bloody engagement at the Battle of Gettysburg. It is about Christmas, yes, but even more so about peace.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
'There is no peace on earth,' I said,
'For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.'

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.'

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Hate is strong. "Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." John 3:19

But God is not dead, or sleeping, or unaware, or uncaring. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts... [My word] will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 56:8-9, 11

"He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." Psalm 121:3-4

The wrong, ultimately, shall fail. "Woe to the wicked! The will be paid back for what their hands have done." Isaiah 3:11

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you game me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." Matthew 25:41-43, 46

The right, ultimately, shall prevail. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade." 1 Peter 1:3-4

"Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore." Psalm 125:1-2

And there will be everlasting peace. "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:3-4