Many of the old Christmas carols were written and sung over 200-plus years ago. According to online research, there seems to be a much older date for the carol, "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”. And when we hear the proper English words of this song, we imagine proper, Victorian-clad men and women in puffy sleeves, caroling in perfect harmony to unsuspecting villagers. Think: “Tiny Tim and Scrooge”.
However, this Christmas carol is the Gospel story taken from the second chapter of Luke with a final verse of prayer that I found to be similar to Zachariah’s prayer of praise found in Luke, chapter 1. The title and first line,” God rest ye (you) merry” means: “may God grant you peace and happiness", but mistakenly sung with a misplaced comma. Instead of the phrasing, “God Rest, You Merry Gentlemen”, it should read: “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”.