Joy to the World! / David Jeremiah

 

Joy to the World! Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. Psalm 98:4 Merry Christmas! Today is a day of joy, a time to sing “Joy to the World,” a carol we’ve been singing for more than three hundred years. The most widely published Christmas hymn in North America, “Joy to the World” flowed from the pen of Isaac Watts, a British pastor who grew up in a Christian family in England. He felt called to vocational ministry, but as a Dissenter—a non-Anglican—it was difficult. At twenty, he finished college and returned home, waiting two years for the next step while attending Above Bar Baptist Church. The church sang only metrical psalms, which were often hard to sing, so Watts started writing hymns, and the church began singing them. Thus, he became the “Father of English Hymnody.” When Watts began pastoring in London, he wanted to take the Psalms of David and paraphrase them into hymns tinged with New Testament reality, and in 1719, he published Psalms of David: Imitated in the Language of the New Testament. “Joy to the World” is Watt’s rendition of Psalm 98: “Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises .... For He is coming to judge the earth” (verses 4, 9).

Recommended Reading: Psalm 98

This passage emphasizes Christ’s reign, when our Lord will subdue nations, judge the earth, and reveal His righteousness in the sight of humanity. But the opening, “Joy to the world, the Lord has come,” sounded so Christmas-like, it became a carol. American composer Lowell Mason wrote the music, opening with the first four notes of “Lift Up Your Heads” from Handel’s Messiah, who gets a composer credit. Think on the words, “Let every heart prepare Him room.” That first Christmas, many people made room for Jesus. Mary made room to physically carry the Savior. Joseph made room in his heart and lifestyle to care for the newborn. The Magi made room in their schedules to travel to Bethlehem. Make sure you are making room for Jesus Christ; that He’s the dominant focus of your thoughts and primary force in your life. As a family, make time this Christmas Day to spend time together listening to Christmas music, reading God’s Word, and contemplating the incredible joy of the Incarnation—God’s entry into humanity. Joy to the world! Joy to the world! the Lord has come; Let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room, And heav’n and nature sing, And heav’n and nature sing, And heav’n, and heav’n and nature sing.