Christmas Playlist – Joy to the World

Last Sunday before Christmas and continue the series Christmas Playlist – looking at songs of Christmas and diving into their meaning. Sing songs with our minds and not just our hearts.

1 Corinthians 14:15 (NASB 2020) — 15 What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing with the mind also.

Christmas carols are one of the signs of the season. Another sign on the season are Christmas movies. An ongoing debate - Is Diehard a Christmas movie?

That debate made me think – what makes a hymn a Christmas carol? It would include Bethlehem, Mary, Joseph, Magi, Shepherds, the Star, manger, baby, Jesus. But the song I want to talk about today includes none of these yet is considered one of the most believed Christmas songs.

It’s Joy to the World. Look at the lyrics:

Verse 1

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.

Verse 2

Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns,

Let men their Songs employ,

While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains,

Repeat the sounding joy.

Verse 3

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.

Verse 4

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of his righteousness,

And wonders of his love.

This is no Christmas song! It has none of the classic elements of a carol. And it was not written as a Christmas song. The words come from the pen of Isaac Watts, author of over 600 hymns. It was actually inspired not by Matthew 2 or Luke 2 but by Psalm 98.

Psalm 98:1–9 (NIV) — 1 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. 2 The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. 3 He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 4 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; 5 make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, 6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— shout for joy before the LORD, the King. 7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. 8 Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; 9 let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

So why has this song become a Christmas classic? One word. The very first word. Joy. And that is part of the Christmas story. It’s what the angels announced to the shepherds:

Luke 2:10 (NIV) — 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”

The coming of Jesus is the source of our joy

Let’s watch this 4-minute video from the Bible Project that dives deeper into this word.

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/chara-joy/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAyJS7BhBiEiwAyS9uNalyqwm8arbvN5Ae6KmPM6EctCPMj0A2DzKqyTuxC0VsVwMBVhTuQRoCEmYQAvD_BwE

Here’s a helpful definition:

Biblical joy is more than a happy feeling. It's a lasting emotion that comes from the choice to trust that God will fulfill his promises.

Let’s look at some of the specifics from Psalm 98 that give us reason to put our trust in God.

God is an active God

He is not a delinquent god. He is not an absentee parent. We see God working throughout scripture – maybe not how we would expect or when we would expect – but we see him working. We can accuse God of not doing what we want him to do when we want him to do it, but we cannot accuse God of not working.

That’s the theme of the first 3 verses of Psalm 8:

Psalm 98:1–3 (NIV) — 1 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. 2 The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. 3 He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

God has delivered in the past. At this point in Biblical history God has done quite a bit for this nation. He has formed them as a nation, fulfilling the promise to Abraham. He has delivered them from Egypt. He has brought them to the promised land. God has done all these things.

I tend to trust people who have a good track record of doing things they said they would do. On the other hand, I am hesitant to trust people with whom I have no history with. Over and over again we see a God who is working.

And the greatest act of God was coming in the person of Jesus.

And that is how the song opens: Joy to the world; the Lord is come.

And we can find joy knowing that God is still working. He is still working in creation; He is working in your life.

This Psalm gives us more reasons we can find joy in trusting God

God is a Righteous King

Both in the Psalm and the song there are royal overtones:

Psalm 98:6 (NIV) — 6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— shout for joy before the LORD, the King.

Psalm 98:9 (NIV) — 9 let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judgethe earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

Joy to the world; the Lord is come;

Let Earth receive her King;

We want people in power who will use that power in a right way. And that’s one reason there is so much anxiety during election times – we want rulers who we can trust. No man or woman is going to live up to that but God does. And both Psalm 98 and this song remind us of this:

Psalm 98:2 (NIV) — 2 The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

Psalm 98:9b (NIV) — He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of his righteousness,

And wonders of his love.

He always makes the right decision even if we disagree. And this is one of the most valuable contributions of the book of Job. Job is placed in a situation where it looks like God is not making right decisions. But in spite of that we hear things like this out of Job’s mouth:

Job 1:20–21 (NIV) — 20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”

Job 13:15 (NIV) — 15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.

Job 19:25 (NIV) — 25 I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.

Somehow Job was still able to trust God in his pain and suffering.

There are some things we believe about God: He is all powerful. He is all wise. He is all loving. And everything he does by his infinite power is always the infinitely wise and infinitely loving action.

Not only is God working and making decisions, but he is also making fair and right decisions on our behalf. And even if they do not make sense to us now, we find joy in knowing that they will one day.

God has reversed the curse

Psalm 98:7–8 (NIV) — 7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. 8 Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;

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.

In Genesis 3 we see how when sin entered the world a curse was placed upon us and not but us but upon creation itself. Sin ahs made things not work like they should. Paul seems to be referring to this in Romans 8:

Romans 8:22–23 (NIV) — 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.

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.

Jesus is the curse breaker!

What we have ruined he will restore

What we have damaged he will repair

Where we have brought death and decay he has brought life and newness

Joy to the World the Lord is come!

Whatever else brings you joy this holiday season – the presents, the friends, the good food, holiday parties, music, movies, even if Diehard brings you joy – always remember the ultimate and true source of our joy is in our all-powerful, all-wise, all-loving righteous God who through Jesus has brought salvation to the world.