Daniel P Warner

Blinding light streamed through the thin walls of the tent, like a flash of the mid-morning sun off a lake. Except this light kept shining. Brightening, even. Outside, the sheep bleated in panic. The night duty shepherd shrieked.

Papa leaped nimbly to his feet and exited the tent. David stumbled out behind him. Fear gripped his throat, but it would have been scarier to stay behind. Racing outside into the blinding light, he smacked into the back of his father.

Mouth hanging open, eyes wide with amazement, Papa stared into the sky. Before David even had time to look up, the most powerful voice he’d ever heard boomed.

“Fear not!”

Blinking his eyes, David raised his hand as a shield. The sight froze him in place. 

“What is he?” the boy gasped.

“An angel of God…I think!”

David and his father, like the other shepherds, dropped to the ground.

“Fear not,” the angel said again. “For I bring you good news of great joy, that shall be for all people! Unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!”

The Christ? The promised Messiah his father always talked about?
The angel said something about the baby and a feeding trough, like ones they’d use to water their sheep. For the Christ? Strange, but…

Suddenly a host of angels filled the sky! Stretching from one horizon to the other, they hovered in all directions. Their garments glowed various colors: reds, yellows, greens, light blues… In their center rose the most glorious angel of them all, the angel of the Lord who’d just delivered the news. Arrayed in a brighter and cleaner white than David would ever be able to describe, his pure garments buzzed like a distant crackle of lightning.

Papa stumbled to his feet with the other shepherds. They circled slowly in place, gawking at angels in every direction.

The sheep heard the sound first. They had remained strangely calm with the appearance of the multitude, but now they started rustling about. David was next. Forever, he’d claim he noticed the sound before the others. It began as a slight hum from the most distant rows of angels. Soon, all the shepherds tilted their heads, yearning for more.

The distant hum developed into a harmony of beautiful sounds, unlike any instrument David had ever heard—like a soft trumpet, but more natural sounding, without breaks. It arrived in gentle waves of sound, with each wave merging perfectly on top of the previous wave. As one wave would float past, the next would arrive on its heels with slightly more volume and different combinations of pitches.

The smiles on the faces of the angels in the inner half of the multitude widened. It became apparent they were preparing to sing. They started softly and beautifully, but soon their voices grew into wonderful shouts and songs of praise for God, blending perfectly and indescribably with the waves of melodic music that the outer rows of angels continued to provide.

David recognized many verses as Psalms of King David. Even those he didn’t recognize contained praises for the one and only God, the creator of heaven and Earth. The most wonderful part of the show was the chorus, sung after each verse:

Glory to God in the Highest,
And on Earth, peace among men,
For those with whom he is well pleased!

Every time the angels sang these words, the entire host of angels joined in. The hills reverberated with the sounds. David found himself unashamedly joining in on the quickly-familiar chorus, his arms held high in praise to God. Other shepherds followed David’s lead.

Finally, the chorus was sung three times in succession, and the incredible concert came to an end. The shepherds watched in awe as the beaming angels began floating away, ultimately disappearing behind the brightly glowing glory of Jehovah.