Hillsong Worship - Angels We Have Heard On High - Gloria Lyrics

“Angels We Have Heard on High / Gloria” retells the announcement of Christ’s birth through the familiar movement from angelic song to human response. The opening pictures the angels’ praise spreading across the plains and returning from the mountains as an echo. Its Latin refrain, “Gloria in excelsis Deo,” keeps the focus on glory given to God, while the added line praises the King of heaven.

The invitation to Bethlehem then turns proclamation into worship. Christ is identified as the newborn King, and the call to kneel before him presents adoration as the fitting answer to the news. This sequence closely reflects Luke’s account of the angels glorifying God and the shepherds going to Bethlehem to see the child. Repeated cries of “Gloria” extend that response beyond the narrated scene, allowing the carol to dwell on the joy, majesty, and worship surrounding the birth of Christ.