140-111 Joy to the World
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Psalm 98
Psalm 98
Christmas seems to be one of the few occasions the world is talking about happiness. As believers, we don’t have much of a reach to lay hold of happiness—even when life’s circumstances are hard. But the world, we really don’t expect the world to grasp anything of what truly brings happiness—but the world tries…
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 2832 Where Is Happiness?
2832 Where Is Happiness?
Not in Unbelief—Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. He wrote: “I wish I had never been born.”
Not in Pleasure—Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. He wrote: “The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone.”
Not in Money—Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said: “I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.”
Not in Position and Fame—Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: “Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret.”
Not in Military Glory—Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent, because he said, “There are no more worlds to conquer.”
Where then is happiness found?—the answer is simple, in Christ alone.
—The Bible Friend
Joy is at the heart of Christmas—especially for Xns who understand the spiritual significance—God Himself coming to earth and providing the means whereby sinful man might live eternally. There is much joy! That joy is captured in what is arguably the most well know song of Christmas—Joy to the World (Sung nearly exclusively at Christmas but is not a hymn about Christmas). Written by Isaac Watts, it first appeared in his 1719 hymnal Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the NT. His intent was to write a collection of Psalms with a NT meaning and style. He did this and published it in 1719 which featured 138 psalms—all paraphrased in Christian verse.
Watts lived from 1674-1748 and was a nonconformist minister who lived in England most of his life (remained bachelor all his life…barely 5’ tall). As a boy he showed a literary genius and an aptitude for study. By age 5 he was learning Latin, and Greek at 9 years old, At 11—French and Hebrew at 13. His real love was theology and philosophy and wrote many volumes that would influence English thinking in 17th and 18th centuries.
He was a most unusual boy. At 7 he formed an acrostic of his name to explain Christian Doctrine:
I am a vile polluted lump of earth;
So I’ve continued ever since my birth;
Although Jehovah grace does daily give me,
As sure as this monster Satan will deceive me.
Come therefore, Lord, from Satan’s claws relieve me.
Wash me in thy blood, O Christ,
And grace divine impart;
Then search and try the corners of my heart,
That I in all things may be fit to do
Service to Thee, and sing thy praises too.
While he was in his teens, he became dissatisfied with the type of singing that was found in the churches of his time. One Sunday, he came home deeply concerned and very critical of the singing of his own church. His father (man who spent time in jail for being a nonconformist—challenging the Church of England) told him “well then, young man, why don’t you give us something better to sing?” Watts accepted his father’s challenge and would composed some 600 hymns for use in the church. We still sing some today: I Sing the Mighty Power of God, Jesus Shall Reign, When I survey the Wondrous Cross (The finest hymn in the English Language) and Joy to the World.
Joy to the World was a paraphrase from the last part of Ps 98. It was originally titled “The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom.” Now, the OT prophets could not see a clear distinction (if any at all) b/t the 1st and 2nd comings of Messiah. The 1st coming He would suffer and die, the 2nd He would rule and reign. Even His disciples could not see this until His resurrection.
Psalm 98; simply given the title “A Psalm.” We do not know who wrote it or the occasion for its writing. We do know that it is a call to all creation to worship the Lord—giving Him the highest praise. The Psalm has 3 parts to it:
I. Sing to the God Who Saves
I. Sing to the God Who Saves
vv 1-3
The opening call of Ps 98 is to sing with exuberance and with celebration to YHWH. Spurgeon comments:
We had a new song before (Ps. 96) because the Lord was coming, but now we have another new song because he has come, and seen and conquered. Jesus, our King, has lived a marvellous life, died a marvellous death, risen by a marvellous resurrection, and ascended marvellously into heaven.
It is this 1st coming of Messiah that has accomplished the great salvation which calls for a fresh praise from those who have encountered that rich salvation. The psalmist highlights the reasons why YHWH is to be praised: He has done wonderful things, gained victory (brought about salvation), revealed that salvation (in His holy Word), He remembered His love and retained His faithfulness (speaks to God’s commitment to save His chosen people).
II. Sing to the God Who Reigns
II. Sing to the God Who Reigns
vv 4-6
In this part, all creation is being called to break forth with shouts of praise. There can only be one true God and the fitting response of all the earth is to worship Him alone. This includes the need to forsake all other gods and idols because the Lord (YHWH) is the King over all creation.
Psalms 73–150 A. Call to Praise (98:4–9a)
kingship of the Lord “denotes the divine and absolute rule of Yahweh over the entire creation.”
III. Sing to the God Who Judges
III. Sing to the God Who Judges
vv 7-9
This final stanza again calls all creation (including inanimate creation) to make music for the purpose of praising God who is the just Judge (rivers clap their hands, mtns sing for joy). The reason—He is coming to judge the earth. From the viewpoint of the psalmist, he doesn’t know about 2 separate comings of Messiah. This is what brought confusion and greatly disturbed the disciples b/c they all believed Messiah was going to deal with every offense by decisively judging all wickedness and by rewarding all righteousness. But to hear the LJC:
22 And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.
Luke tells us:
45 But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.
The truth of the last part of Ps 98 is looking forward (not to the 1st coming but) to the future coming of God’s Son—the LJC. He is the One to whom all judgment has been committed (Jn 5:22; Act 17:31). And when He returns, He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity. He will rule as the absolute monarch over the earth according to His holy character.
Isaac Watts understood this very well and looked forward to the coming Lord who will rule the earth with truth and grace. While this hymn is sung nearly only during Christmas (advent) season, it truly looks ahead to the 2nd advent (coming) and by it, He will give the world the true joy for which it was created.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come, Let earth receive her king (the problem is that it didn’t at Christ’s 1st coming—Jn 1:11).
Joy to the earth the Savior reigns, let men their songs employ, while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains (summary of all creation in Ps 98)—repeat the sounding joy.
Isaiah speaks of the day when the Lord would come and…
1 The wilderness and the desert will be glad, And the Arabah will rejoice and blossom; Like the crocus 2 It will blossom profusely And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, The majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the Lord, The majesty of our God.
The 1st coming gained victory over sin, evil, unrighteousness—but these things will not be realized until His return. And then:
No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground, He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found (everywhere on earth)
Zech tells of the day when Messiah would stand on Mt Olives (not seeing a clear division b/t 1st & 2nd comings):
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.
11 People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.
He will then rule with truth and grace, and make the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and the wonders of His love.
Every moment the peoples on earth will encounter the truth and grace of LJC. They will see only righteousness reigning and then they will bow in worship of Jesus the Righteous One.
15 Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; For You will judge the peoples with uprightness And guide the nations on the earth. Selah.
We’ll segway into the congregational meeting by singing this hymn together. I hope that as we joyfully celebrate Christmas, that we also will joyfully anticipate the imminent return of LJC—b/c that is what we are saying when we sing this blessed hymn of His 2nd coming. May JC be praised!