Oh, Beautiful Star of Bethlehem

Oh, beautiful Star of Bethlehem
Shining afar thru shadows dim,
Giving a light for those who long have gone,
And guiding the wise men on their way (their way)
Unto the place where Jesus lay,
Beautiful Star of Bethlehem shine on (shine on)

CHORUS
Oh, beautiful Star (beautiful, beautiful Star),
Of Bethlehem (Star of Bethlehem),
Shine upon us until the glory dawn (glory dawn);
Oh, give us Thy light to light the way into the land of perfect day,
Beautiful Star of Bethlehem shine on (shine on).

Oh, beautiful Star, the hope of light,
Guiding the pilgrim thru the night.
Over the mountain till the break of dawn (the dawn),
And into the light of perfect day it will give out a lovely ray,
Beautiful Star of Bethlehem shine on (shine on).

Oh, beautiful Star, the hope of rest,
For the redeemed the good and blest.
Yonder in glory when the crown is won (is won).
For Jesus is now that Star divine, Brighter brighter He will shine.
Beautiful Star of Bethlehem shine on (shine on).

I recently was given a copy of the history of this particular song from a great pianist and dedicated “Hymn of the week” reader.  It is not a very old song, but one written in 1938 by a Tennessee farmer.   Robert Fisher operated a small dairy farm just south of Murfreesboro.  He was a religious man and served as a deacon at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church.  One summer afternoon, Mr. Fisher felt inspired to sit down and write the words to “Oh, Beautiful Star of Bethlehem.”  Although he was a farmer, he did not write this song sitting on his back porch overlooking a pastoral setting.  He didn’t write the words sitting under a starry sky thinking about Christ’s Advent.  No, he wrote the words inside his dairy barn while seated on a milk stool.  His daughter later helped him compose the music to this song, and it has been recorded by several well-known artists including The Judds, Patty Loveless, and Bill and Gloria Gaither.  I just like the fact that this layman/farmer was inspired to write words that have since been spread around the world.  It is an example of how God can use someone from “humble beginnings” to impact the world.  It gives me hope that He can even do something with a city boy from Oklahoma.

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• “Guiding the pilgrim thru the night” – The Bible has several phrases it uses when it describes the people of God.  In some places, we are His chosen people.  Other places we are referred to as the “Children of God.”  We are also called strangers and “peculiar people” as well.  In this song, we are called “pilgrims,” and in a lot of ways I think that is appropriate.  Like the pilgrims that came to America, they felt the call of God to go to a strange land.  We too are called by God to go spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  Pilgrims were also hard working people.  I hope that this could be said of us today.  Finally, pilgrims may have seem liked “wanderers” to the outside world – Not having a plan of where they were going or what exactly they were going to do when they got here.  But they believed that God was leading them.  I hope that we, whether it seems like we have a plan or not, are confident that God has a plan for us, and that He is “guiding the pilgrims thru the night” because we know from Scripture that He is.

• “For the redeemed, the good, and blest” – When I read this lyric, I thought of myself and said “Well, two out of three ain’t bad.”  I can agree with the “redeemed” and the “blest” adjectives, but I don’t really know how “good” I am.  Because of God’s great mercy and grace, I can consider myself as part of the “redeemed.”  Because of His great generosity and love, I can consider myself as one who is “blest.”  But when it comes to my own goodness, I really struggle with that.  I am the one living in a glass house in so many ways, so to consider myself “good” is really a stretch.  But I am reminded of what Scripture says about my goodness and my righteousness.  Romans 4:4-5 says “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.  But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works.”

When I was a kid growing up in Oklahoma, there was a phrase my parents used to say to me and to my brothers when we would leave the front door open.  They would say “Were you born in a barn where the door swung shut?”  I always thought that was a dumb question because both of my parents knew exactly where we were born because they were present at our births (at least my Dad was in the waiting room when we were born).  They knew all of us were born in Midwest City Hospital.  

This hymn was written by a man one afternoon in his dairy barn.  This song was truly “born in a barn” with milk stools and dairy cows.  But it also reminded that Jesus was born in humility – in a barn or a stable.  But I am thankful that “the door did not swing shut” when He was born.  No, the door opened wide with His birth.  Listen to these words of Jesus found in John Chapter 6:

“Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.  All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.“

Aren’t you glad today that He came? That He came in a manger in a humble stable, and that by His Advent, the door to God opened wide for you and for me?  That He came to give us life and life more abundantly?  If we go to God through Jesus, the Only Door, we will be saved.  Hallelujah!!!!