This Christmas hymn, penned by the British abolitionist newspaper editor James Montgomery, bids its hearers to come worship Christ. First it calls for the angels to proclaim Christ to the world, then it bids the shepherds of the Christmas story, then the wise men, and finally "we saints before the altar bending" in the present day. The hymn declares that God was with us on earth through Christ and that he "in his Temple shall appear" at the last day. Let us, too, respond to the call to "come and worship."
Angels from the realms of glory
Wing your flight o'er all the earth
Ye who sang creation's story
Now proclaim Messiah's birth
Come and worship, come and worship
Worship Christ the newborn King
Shepherds in the fields abiding
Watching o'er your flocks by night
God with us is now residing
Yonder shines the infant light
Come and worship, come and worship
Worship Christ the newborn King
Sages leave your contemplations
Brighter visions beam afar
Seek the great Desire of Nations
Ye have seen his natal star
Come and worship, come and worship
Worship Christ the newborn King
Saints before the altar bending
Watching long in hope and fear
Suddenly the Lord descending
In his Temple shall appear
Come and worship, come and worship
Worship Christ the newborn King
(from the Praise & Worship Study Bible)