Lift Up Your Heads Ye Mighty Gates
My university had an old section in its library – the original library, made of stone, with a high ceiling supported by pillars, and wooden shelves filled with yellowing, musty-smelling books that threatened to fall apart when opened. I used to go there in my undergraduate days – not to study for exams or write essays, but to think. There was a solemnity and a peace to be found within those walls; a stillness and a reverence for the things of the past.
It’s a feeling that ensues from “Lift Up Your Heads Ye Mighty Gates” as well. Based on the 1642 hymn written in German by Georg Weissel and translated by Catherine Winkworth, simple mono-instrumental music combines with choral singing in the first verse, followed by an a capella second verse. No doubt, this song reminds some readers of the traditional church services they might have attended on Christmas Eve during childhood. I didn’t attend such services as a child. For me, the song feels like sitting in the old library at university when I was fresh out of high school. It’s what I imagine it would be like to sit in a historic cathedral in Europe, alone at night, contemplating my existence and life in general, and the mysteries of how the world came to be. I am sure it is night when the song plays. There’s a stillness and a peace that only comes at night when the hustle and bustle of the day has passed; the kind of stillness and peace one finds in a library or an old church.
There’s a joy to be found in this song as well, hidden not in the sombre music, but the uplifting and awe-filled lyrics. The strong city gates – inanimate objects – are commanded to join in the joy as the saviour Christ triumphantly enters. The land and the city are blessed; hearts and homes are happy. Christ the King is here, and he brings peace and respite from the pain and suffering of this world. He is triumphant because he has defeated death by his resurrection. He is king even of the inanimate objects in the world; hence even they can respond to him by lifting their metaphorical heads. This poetic line, which forms the title of the song, is borrowed from Psalm 24 - a psalm that proclaims that the Lord God is king over all of his creation, and it belongs to him.
“Lift Up Your Heads Ye Mighty Gates” is a song for the still nights, for the times when one contemplates life and its meaning and wonders whether joy will prevail over the hardships and mundaneness of life. It’s a song reminiscent of old libraries and historic church buildings, with their stone walls and old books whispering secrets from the past, speaking from a time when people lived without the constant pinging of smartphones. It’s also a song for the times when you find yourself confronted with the majesty and beauty of the natural world, and you are left wondering at the power of a creator who could have made all of it, and to contemplate yet again whether the Christian message might hold some truth for you.
Michelle Codrington is a secondary school teacher turned full-time mother who made the decision to explore the claims of the Christian faith while in the old library at her university during her undergraduate degree.