Joy to the World?

There is a beloved Christmas song that actually isn’t a Christmas song. Any idea which one it is?

Let me help you:

Joy to the world, the Lord is come Let Earth receive her King Let every heart prepare Him room And Heaven and nature sing And Heaven and nature sing And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns Let all their songs employ While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy Repeat the sounding joy Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy

He rules the world with truth and grace And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness And wonders of His love And wonders of His love And wonders, wonders, of His love

Did you notice all the things that is missing from our typical Christmas songs? No mention of a baby, a birth, a manger, shepherds, angels, Mary, Joseph…none of that.

That is because this was written by Isaac Watts as a reflection on Psalm 98

Psalm 98 ESV

A Psalm. Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord! Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

This is a psalm likely written by returning exiles. Meaning the Jewish people who had been booted from their land for some 70 years.

It’s a people needing rescue. A people longing for the Lord to reign…He is the Lord over all…He is the King of kings. And this psalm is longing for the day when he rules the world.

Do you find yourself there as well this evening? Wondering how you’re going to pay for all those Christmas gifts…or lonely…hurting…reflecting on difficult family gatherings…just wishing there was peace.

We’ve made this one a Christmas song because we know that the One the Psalmist was longing for has come in the person of Christ.

And there are some connections like “prepare him room” and I think we’re thinking that’s a dig on the innkeeper…make room in your heart for Jesus unlike that silly innkeeper.

But that’s not a point that Watts was making. And some might also believe that the lyrics in this song has some connection to Luke 1:13-17

Luke 1:13–17 ESV

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

This very well may have been on Watts’ mind. He was in a church that would sing exclusively from the psalms—and so Watts was trying to find a way to show how all of these pointed to Jesus.

And Psalm 98 certainly does.

But here is why I share this today. “Joy to the World” are we experiencing all that this song is calling for?

He rules the world....

Is this what his rule looks like?

Are we seeing truth and grace reign?

Well, yes and no. We see seeds. We saw when Jesus walked the earth little windows into heaven. But Psalm 98 and that hymn by Watts isn’t looking to the first coming as much as it is looking to the second coming.

And so that’s really what we do in this Advent season. It’s not only about the fact that Christ was born…it’s also a longing for the return of Christ.

But what we’re doing as we celebrate the birth of Christ is we are reflecting on how God is faithful to all of His promises. The Savior has come. There is a reason for joy—for great joy.

And we also use that to remind ourselves that this God who is faithful to His promise will also be faithful to His promise to return and to finally and fully set all things right.

All of the greatest problems in the world have been solved through Christ.