1 Christians, awake! salute the happy morn
Whereon the Savior of the world was born;
Rise to adore the mystery of love
Which hosts of angels chanted from above;
With them the joyful tidings first begun
of God Incarnate and the Virgin's Son.

2 Then to the watchful shepherds it was told,
Who heard the angelic herald's voice: "Behold,
I bring good tidings of a Savior's birth
To you, and all the nations upon earth.
This day hath God fulfilled His promised word;
This day is born a Savior, Christ the Lord."

3 He spake: and straightway the celestial choir
In hymns of joy, unknown before, conspire;
The praises of redeeming love they sang,
And heaven's whole orb with alleluias rang:
God's highest glory was their anthem still,
Peace upon earth, and mutual good will.

4 To Bethlehem straight the enlightened shepherds ran,
To see the wonder God had wrought for man;
And found, with Joseph and the blessèd maid,
Her Son, the Savior, in a manger laid:
Amazed, the wondrous story they proclaim,
The first apostles of His infant fame.

5. Let us, like these good shepherds, then, employ
Our grateful voices to proclaim the joy;
Trace we the Babe, who has retrieved our loss,
From His poor manger to His bitter cross;
Treading His steps, assisted by His grace,
Till man's first heavenly state again takes place.

Amen.

The Hymnal: Published by the authority of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1895

Scripture References:
all st. = Luke 2:1-20

John Byrom (b. Broughton, Manchester, England, 1692; d. Manchester, 1763) wrote this text in 1749 as a Christmas present for his daughter Dorothy. Originally in eight stanzas, "Christians, Awake" was printed in broadsheet around 1750 and then in Byrom's posthumous Miscellaneous Poems (1773).

The original stanzas 1-6 were all narrative. Many hymnals delete at least some stanzas, primarily as a gesture of goodwill to congregations who would find it difficult to sing all eight stanzas in this very long meter! The Psalter Hymnal version of the text includes Byrom's first and second stanzas, based on the familiar Christmas story in Luke 2:1-20. Stanza 3, a combination of Byrom's original stanzas 7 and 8, is a theological commentary on this narrative.

Byrom studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, England, and then received a medical degree in Montpellier, France, although he never practiced medicine. Instead, he made his living teaching a form of shorthand he had devised, for which he received a parliamentary monopoly for twenty-one years. John and Charles Wesley (PHH 267) were among his pupils–John used this shorthand for his voluminous journal entries and Charles for jotting down hymns at unusual times and places. Byrom was attracted initially to Methodism and later to the Quakers. He wrote many poems, some of which became hymn texts. His collected Miscellaneous Poems were published posthumously in 1773.

Liturgical Use:
Christmas Day worship service, especially as the opening hymn on Christmas morning.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook