God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

Our worship director, Stephanie Martin, recently shared an interesting fact about the Christmas carol, God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. Notice where the comma is in the song's title? It's after "Merry," not before. That means "Merry" isn't describing the gentlemen but rather goes with the words "God Rest Ye." In other words, the song isn't asking God to give rest to gentlemen who are merry. Rather, it's praying that God will rest the gentlemen in a state of merriness. Or, as Stephanie put it, that God would grant the song's listeners peace and joy in Christ.

My favorite rendition of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen is the Pentatonix version. Unfortunately, YouTube won't let me embed that version here. So, I've linked to another, more traditional, version below. I hope you enjoy it, and may God rest you merry, too!