Voices in the Silent Night: Poems about the Christmas Story

By David J. Partie

The "silent night" of Jesus's birth, as the popular Christmas carol would lead us to believe, is not so silent after all! In the account of the nativity of the Savior and what happens before and after that holy and blessed night in Matthew 1:18-2:18 and in Luke 1:5-2:40, there are twenty-one voices of individuals or groups giving their own perspectives on this sacred event. These twenty-one persons or groups form three circles of seven each who respond in significantly different ways to the nativity. This collection of Christmas poems is designed to give a voice to each of them and to encourage all of us to raise our own voices in praise of the newborn King!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781685263393

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Introduction

God's Voice Resounds

The Spirit Hovered

An Anthem for Angels

Out of the Mouth of Zacharias

Elizabeth's Miracle

John Remembers

Gabriel's Gift

Mary, the Mother of Messiah

The Story of Quirinius

Caesar's Declaration

One Winter Night

Surprising the Shepherds

The Animals Adore Him Too

Outside the Stable

The Innkeeper's Lament

The City of the Star

Jerusalem's Unrest

Advisors to the King

A Rival King

Anna's Song

Simeon's Song

About the Author

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Voices in the Silent Night: Poems about the Christmas Story

David J. Partie

ISBN 978-1-68526-338-6 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68526-339-3 (Digital)

Copyright © 2023 David J. Partie

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Introduction

So the silent night of Jesus's birth, according to the familiar Christmas carol, wasn't so silent after all! At least, that was what I discovered when I began writing poems about the people and the supernatural beings who were involved in some way or another in the Christmas story. Several years ago, I wrote The City of the Star about the arrival of the Wise Men from the east to worship this newborn King, Outside the Stable about Joseph, and One Winter Night about the blessed birth of our Savior in the stable in Bethlehem. When I read and reread the passages about the events before, during, and just after Jesus's birth from Luke 1:5–2:40 and Matthew 1:18–2:18 to write these poems, I discovered that there were twenty-one individuals or groups mentioned by these two Gospel writers.

I also observed that these individuals or groups could be arranged in three circles, with seven individuals or groups in each circle:

the inner circle of those directly involved in the birth of Jesus, including the three persons of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and the angels, specifically Gabriel;

the middle circle of those who witnessed the miracle of Jesus's birth or were closely related to Mary and Joseph, such as Zacharias, Elizabeth, and John the Baptist; and

the outer circle of those who did not fully understand or completely misunderstood the significance of Jesus's birth and his identity as Emmanuel, God with us. These included Caesar Augustus, Herod, and the chief priests and scribes who advised Herod.

We might not think that Quirinius, the governor of Syria, had anything to do with the birth of Jesus, but there he is in Luke 2:2. On the other hand, we have the amazing words of Gabriel to Mary about how a virgin will give birth to the