As With Gladness Men of Old

Text by: William C Dix 1860

Tune: Dix By Conrad Kocher 1838

Dix:  http://youtu.be/AHbHkQMKvYU

Bernotski:  https://youtu.be/bOqaCUz74N4

1. As with gladness, men of old
   did the guiding star behold
   as with joy they hailed its light
   leading onward, beaming bright
   so, most glorious Lord, may we
   evermore be led to Thee.

   2. As with joyful steps they sped
   to that lowly manger bed
   there to bend the knee before
   Him whom heaven and earth adore;
   so may we with willing feet
   ever seek Thy mercy seat.

   3. As they offered gifts most rare
   at that manger rude and bare;
   so may we with holy joy,
   pure and free from sin’s alloy,
   all our costliest treasures bring,
   Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King.

   4. Holy Jesus, every day
   keep us in the narrow way;
   and, when earthly things are past,
   bring our ransomed souls at last
   where they need no star to guide,
   where no clouds Thy glory hide.

   5. In the heavenly country bright,
   need they no created light;
   Thou its Light, its Joy, its Crown,
   Thou its Sun which goes not down;
   there forever may we sing
   alleluias to our King!

William Dix wrote this hymn on January 6, 1859 while he was recuperating from an extended illness. We do not know what had made him ill, but it was severe enough to keep him home and bed bound for several months. In the days before easy entertainment, where you flip on the television to while away the hours of your illness, there may have been little you could do to pass the time than to read and in the case of Mr. Dix, write. He was too ill to attend Epiphany services that day so he spent his time reading the story of the Magi in Scriptures and contemplating what it may mean. By the end of the day he penned this hymn but kept it in his private papers until the next year when it was published.

Dix continues the theme of “light” which so predominates this season. The beaming light of the star led the “men of old” to the light of Heaven. The use of light to lead God’s people harkens all the way back to the Israelites in the desert with the flame which led them at night. At the end of the second stanza we have a powerful connection which places the events of Bethlehem in context to some of the oldest parts of Scripture. Through Moses, God commanded that an ark be built to hold the 10 Commandments and to be covered with the Mercy Seat of God. It was here that the presence and will of God was made known to the people of Israel and where the propitiation of the nation’s sin was dispensed after the shedding of blood.

The Mercy Seat was made of solid gold and was atop the Ark of the Covenant and kept in the Holy of Holies in the temple. Dix contrasts the glory of the golden Mercy Seat with the manger which is really a feeding trough. And the child in the trough will be the propitiation for the entire world; the Final Sacrifice. It is this final sacrifice which will bring our ransomed souls into the light of heaven when everything has passed away.