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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for November 23, 2010
“Gloria in Excelsis Deo”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
It’s dark now everyday when I go home from work.
Last night I turned onto my street and lo and behold, Christmas lights! I guess my neighbors hustled out over the weekend and put their decorations up.
For me, it’s just now starting to sink in that Christmas is coming. I guess it will really hit Friday when the radio station switches to all Christmas music.
I love Christmas music, and I like to save it, to listen to it only at Christmas time.
I’m a little that way with the Christmas story. I know it’s good all year, but it really sparkles for me at this time of year.
You’ll find it in Luke chapter two, and one of my favorite verses is Luke 2:14. The shepherds were out in the fields, watching their flocks at night. All of a sudden an angel of the Lord appeared, and the glory of the Lord shone all around them.
The angel announced the birth of the Savior, and now let’s pick up the story in the King James Bible. “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host.”
The Amplified Bible says it was “a heavenly knighthood.” The New Living Translation says it was “a vast host of others – the armies of heaven.”
I would like more details, please! What did they look like? How big were they? Were they armed? What were they wearing?
I imagine they were regal, dignified, strong – and lots of them! They came flooding in like an exclamation point on the angel’s announcement.
So there they were, a multitude of the heavenly host, and what did they do? Did they sing?
Well the Bible doesn’t say anything about them singing, but they did say something. And the shepherds understood it, so either it was spoken in their own language, or they were given a supernatural ability to understand the heavenly language.
And what was this great thing spoken by the heavenly host? Here it is, just one sentence. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
They made that declaration, then off they went into heaven. The angel encounter was over.
But what they said still burns brightly 2,000 years later all over the world. And even though it was originally spoken, it has been sung in countless songs, especially Christmas songs.
And I love it! I love singing “glory to God in the highest.” There is something about it that makes my heart soar with praise for the Almighty.
“Glory to God in the highest” may sound kind of generic, but it shows up nowhere else in the Bible except here in Luke 2:14.
That verse is so extraordinary, it’s been given a special name. It’s called the Gloria in Excelsis Deo. That’s from the Latin Vulgate translation for “Glory to God in the highest.”
You might recognize it from the popular Christmas hymn “Angels We Have Heard on High.” Maybe you didn’t know it, but when you sing that chorus you are singing in Latin, “Gloria, in excelsis Deo;” glory to God in the highest.
If you don’t know your Bible that well, maybe you think the “heavenly host” shows up all the time, but believe me, it doesn’t. This is it. Yes, there are other divine encounters, but this is the only time the Bible says the heavenly host appeared to men, and this is the one sentence they left for us.
It’s that sentence that kicks off one of my favorite selections from the Book of Common Prayer from 1662. Listen to this and see if it doesn’t stir up the desire to give glory to God in the highest. Here it is:
“Glory be to God on high,
And in earth peace, goodwill towards men,
We praise Thee, we bless Thee,
We worship Thee, we glorify Thee,
We give thanks to Thee, for Thy great glory
O Lord God, heavenly King,
God the Father almighty.
O Lord, the only-begotten Son Jesus Christ;
O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
That takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy upon us.
Thou that takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy upon us.
Thou that takest away the sins of the world,
Receive our prayer.
Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father,
Have mercy upon us.
For Thou only art holy;
Thou only art the Lord;
Thou only, O Christ,
With the Holy Ghost,
Art most high
In the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
So as we enter the Christmas season, may your heart be singing “Glory to God in the highest.”
And may your heart soar with praise every time you think of those glorious angelic words of the heavenly host.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
(close with finale of “Gloria” by Michael W. Smith)
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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