Dec 25 - Psalm 98:4-9

 

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King:

Let ev’ry 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.

Isaac Watts

 

“Joy to the World” is a rather unlikely Christmas carol. It’s really not about the (first) coming of Jesus as a babe in a manger; it’s more about Christ’s second coming.

 

The words sing of the world’s joy, celebrating the Lord’s presence, but before we turn to the lyrics, let’s focus on the melody. The music that you and I associate with this carol is (kind of) from George Frederic Handel’s most famous work, The Messiah. Handel was composing in the 1700s, and in the 1800s, an influential Boston musician, Lowell Mason, published his own arrangement of some of Handel’s music. One of the Handel/Mason tunes – Antioch – became what we know as the music for Joy to the World.   

 

The music to this hymn is obviously beautiful and triumphant, but it’s the words that really sing God’s praise. In fact, they are a paraphrase of Psalm 98 – especially verses 4-9. Isaac Watts, a prolific 18^th century poet and clergyman, entitled these verses from Psalm, “The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom.” Here a few phrases …

 

⁴ Make a joyful noise unto

the Lord, all the earth;

break out in praise and sing for joy!

⁶ Make a joyful symphony

before the Lord, the King! …

⁷ Let the earth and all living things …

shout his praise! …
⁸  Let the hills sing out their songs of joy
⁹ before the Lord, for he

is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,

and the nations with fairness.

 

Now, here’s the question: Is “joy” your natural expression when you contemplate “the Lord[‘s] coming to judge”?! How many in our world might be inclined to tremble in fear? Or hide? Or want to curse?

 

But joy should be our emotion! The King is coming to reverse the curse – a poignant word in verse 2 of the hymn and chapter 3 in Genesis. We live in a messy world, but we looking forward to Christ’s coming again to set all things right and make all things new. In our Lord’s eternal kingdom, there will be no more mourning or crying or pain, and death will be no more.

 

We can sing a second coming hymn at Christmas because the nativity has a similar joy! The Lord is come, indeed. He is eternally present – living and forgiving.

 

Today, Christmas, I pray that you sing with joy, gathering with whatever configuration of friends or family or dogs or caregivers or angels (who are always nearby).

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who spells “joy”

… Jesus. Others. You.

 

Discussion:

 

1.    What have been your most joyful traditions of Christmas?

2.    What is even more joyous about Christmas – as in, in what ways does Christ coming bring hope, peace, and joy to a broken world?