For those of you who enjoy singing hymns in church, I find God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen to be an enjoyable hymn to sing and research. Here are some things I learned about the song.
There should be a comma between the words “merry” and “gentlemen.” It is an unfortunate consequence of the pace of the tune itself which has brought about the idea that the address is to “merry gentlemen.” Rather, the truth is that the Lord is being asked to “keep” the gentlemen in merriment. I even found one place where the idiom “rest you merry” was treated as one phrase, like “jump in the shower.” A phrase which, when taken literally doesn’t exactly mean what it has come to mean colloquially.
My initial research also indicated that the word “merry” actually meant “mighty;” but I found the more I dug into the etymology of the word and into credible sources, it is correct to interpret the word “merry” in that great hymn as you might think: jovial, mirth or pleasurable. It actually derives from “mirth.”
The idea is that we are beseeching God to keep us merry, happy, even joyful! Upon closer inspection of the lyrics, we do see that it appears the song is far more about joyfulness in the coming of the Savior than “mightiness” in any sense.
Nevertheless, I even chose to add my own lyrics to the end of the song. If you want, sing that along with the tune, and I hope you find it encouraging and rich in biblical truth.
The door to God’s Heavenly place
By this pure son was breached.
Yet in spite of these glad tidings
Some still remain unreached.
With urgency and fervency,
the gospel must be preached.O, tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O, tidings of comfort and joy
Merry Christmas!