"Glory to God in the Highest" - A Musical Devotional with Language Arts

This lesson can be used as a way to start your homeschool day or for Family Home Evening.

Begin by singing specific verses of several hymns/carols. Tell everyone that they are looking for what these verses all have in common.

"Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful," verse 2

"Angels We Have Heard on High," verse 2

"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," both verses

"While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks," verse 3

"Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains," verse 3

Hopefully everyone will clue into the recurring theme of "Glory to God in the Highest." (Be sure to explain that Gloria in excelsis Deo is Latin for "Glory to God in the Highest.")

What does that mean?

First, pull out your dictionaries and look up the word glory.

Definitions we found:

*praise given to someone who has accomplished something extraordinary

*great fame or honor

*something that brings fame or honor

*splendor or magnificence

Look in your Bible Dictionary for glory and you will find "Glory of the Lord." Read that definition and then discuss the difference between "Glory OF the Lord" and "Glory TO the Lord." Start by looking under "God, Glory of" in the Topical Guide and choosing some scriptures describing the glory of the Lord relating to its definition of "splendor or magnificence." (We focused on just a few:  Exodus 24:7, Moses 1:5, D&C 65:5, Joseph Smith History 1:17.) Next read Moses 1:39 and discuss how this scripture relates to the definition of "something that brings fame or honor." Talk about God's work and glory bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man--specifically HOW He does it and WHY he does it.  This should segue into His giving us the gift of His Son.

It was this living gift of love, the Savior of the world, His crucial role in the Plan of Salvation and thus the good news of the gospel that caused the multitude of angels to praise God, saying, "Glory to God in the highest..." (Luke 2:13-14).  Thus "Glory TO God" is referring to the definition of praise, and we also sing and praise and adore thousands of years later. Indeed, we give glory to God in the highest in our ever increasing gratitude for the Christ Child, the man He grew up to be, His atoning sacrifice, and the glorified, resurrected God He is.

Sing Hymn #67, "Glory to God on High".

To finish, everyone writes an acrostic poem about GLORY.

*Doctrine & Covenants 93:36 states, "The glory of God is intelligence."  Elder Bednar addressed this in an interview and you could include this in the above lesson. I didn't, but will bring it into a review of this lesson later.