Signs of the Morning

Angel of Light

"Watchman, Tell Us of the Night"
Christmas Hymn of the Day

Author: Sir John Bowring

Isaiah 21:11-12
“The burden against Dumah.
He calls to me out of Seir,

‘Watchman, what of the night?

Watchman, what of the night?’

The Watchman said, ‘The morning comes,

and also the night.

If you will inquire, inquire.

Return! Come back!’”

“Watchman, tell us of the night, what its signs of promise are.”
“Traveler, o’er yon mountain’s height, see that glory-beaming star!”
 “Watchman, doth its beauteous ray aught of joy or hope foretell?”
“Traveler, yes, it brings the day, promised day of Israel.”
 
“Watchman, tell us of the night; higher yet that star ascends.”
“Traveler, blessedness and light, Peace and truth its course portends.”
“Watchman, will its beams alone gild the spot that gave them birth?”
“Traveler, ages are its own; See! It burns o’er all the earth!”

“Watchman, tell us of the night; For the morning seems to dawn.”
“Traveler, darkness takes its flight; Doubt and terror are withdrawn.”
“Watchman, let Thy wandering cease; hie Thee to Thy quiet home!”
“Traveler, lo, the Prince of Peace, Lo, the Son of God is come!” Amen ~

(used by permission - public domain)

Meditation

“Signs of Morning?”

This beautiful Advent hymn, based on Isaiah 21:11-12, was written by Sir John Bowring in the early 19th Century. Bowring was proficient in five different languages before he was sixteen years old and yet chose English as the language for this hymn, in which he asks the question, first asked in the Isaiah scripture passage, “Watchman, tell us of the night.”


The hymn provides a moving word picture dramatizing a dialogue between a “watchman” standing on the wall of the city of Jerusalem, and a “traveler”. It may also be experienced as a Messianic hymn as it interprets “morning” to mean the “new day”, the coming of Christ, the “Sun of Righteousness” who shall come to bless the earth with peace and truth. Old Testament prophecy is blended with New Testament imagery of the star seen by the Wise Men in the East. In this scene, it is the dark of the night and a voice cries out to the Watchman for information, who reports signs of the morning to come, and tells the Traveler to return later to make his inquiry about what wonders and miracles may occur as the "light" dawns. This hymn is one of the great missionary hymns of the church.


The hymn tune most commonly associated with this hymn is one of my favorites. It is also used frequently as a setting for "Jesus, Lover of My Soul", and is known as Aberstwyth.


All of us have had experiences in which the night has seemed too long to bear, and during which we have longed for signs of the morning. We may have been restless and unable to sleep for some reason, and have lain awake, listening to the sounds of the night, possibly fearful and certainly fretful, tossing and turning, watching the minutes tick off the clock, and literally longing for morning, for any sign at all that morning would indeed come!

You may have experienced a time when you were traveling late at night, looking for a place to stop to rest and having difficulty finding such a place. How wonderful at such a time to find one of those little signs on the Interstate that says “Exit – Lodging, Food, Gas” etc. Certainly this traveler outside the city wall in Jerusalem found himself out late in the night, possibly fearful of events going on around him that he couldn’t quite explain, and longing for the morning. How good he must have felt to find a watchman to ask and to hear the watchman report signs of morning to come.

Imagine his surprise when he returned later and inquired about the wonders of the previous night! Morning not only came, but it brought the day, the “promised day of Israel”. The Prince of Peace, the Son of God, had come during the night when this traveler was fearful and weary and longing for signs of the morning. What a morning! There is a spiritual titled "My Lord, What a Morning!" All I can add to that title is “Amen, my Lord. What a morning, indeed!”


Prayer ~ Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for coming to us in the midst of our darkness, when, possibly, we least expect You. We praise you for sending Jesus to fulfill your promise of a Messiah, a Deliverer, a Savior, to save us from our sins, and to bring light into that darkness. Help us to see the signs of morning to come when we are fearful and traveling about in the darkness, and give us songs in the night to praise your name for your goodness and your blessings to us. Amen ~


Activity – Think about what the signs of “morning to come” have been in your life during periods of darkness. Reflect on the anxiety you may have experienced because of the “night” and its fear of the unknown. If you are able to identify a watchman who gave you messages of hope and peace, think of a way to let that person know how much he/she meant to you in that hour. Reflect on the wonder of the Advent season and the certainty that “morning is coming” and that Christ comes anew to bring peace to our troubled souls.