The Songs Tell the Story: A Family Advent DevotionalSample

The Song of Joy Despite Sorrow

Have you ever sung this hymn at Christmastime?

Almost every year, one of the grade levels is assigned this famous African-American spiritual. It’s hard to say when this song was written. It was originally sung by people who had been forced into slavery. Very few of those people were given the chance to learn how to read and write, but they created and sang some of our favorite songs.

John Wesley Work, Jr. was the son of a church choir director. He grew up in Nashville and earned a master’s degree in Latin. He taught Latin and Greek, but his first love was always music. He began to collect and record the spiritual music that had been created by the people who were forced to be slaves. “Go Tell It on the Mountain” is one of the songs Mr. Work learned and then recorded in his book.

The people who first sang “Go Tell It on the Mountain” shared the same Christmas message the shepherds had announced. They wanted to proclaim “that Jesus Christ is born!”

Many of those early slaves had very hard lives, and their songs reveal their sadness. This Christmas hymn was a hymn of hope to people who needed it and a reminder that Jesus was born to offer us his strength and his direction for our lives, even in our struggles.

For some people, Christmas can be a hard season. You probably know someone who is needs joy this Christmas. Families go through struggles, friendships can be broken, and school can be difficult sometimes.

But the message of Christmas doesn’t always have to be about happy moments.

Joy is possible even when happiness isn’t. The message of Christmas is found in the words of the shepherds and those early slaves. “Jesus Christ is born,” and Jesus can show us the way to his quiet, comforting joy.

Who needs that message today?

Will you “go tell it” to them soon?