When God is silent, we are tempted to think He is absent or still.  The people associated with the first Christmas likely felt this way because God had been silent for some time! From the end of the Old Testament to the opening chapters of the New Testament were 400 years of Silent Nights leaving the Jewish people to wonder if God had abandoned them. When Silent Night was interrupted by Joy to the World, it was a critical reminder that even when God seems silent, He is always present and active.