Joy to the World

I recently heard a podcast on Christmas and the traditional songs we sing at church during this season. On the podcast, the author suggested we can often sing these songs without really digging deep into the words. Many of these songs were written by the great hymn writers of 200 years ago, or even much longer. The words are powerful, but I often sing them without really taking in the deep meaning. So, I decided to do that with one of my favorite songs of Christmas, “Joy to the World.”

In my research, I found that this hymn was written exactly 300 years ago (in 1719) by Issac Watts. I also discovered that Watts based most of the song on Psalm 98, especially verses 4-9:

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—shout for joy before the Lord, the King. Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; 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.

I am sure you know the song, or can look up all the lyrics. These lines were the ones that resonated with me as I read through them:

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;

And heaven and nature sing,

Repeat the sounding joy

The glories of His righteousness,

And wonders of His love

On the morning I was doing this research on this song, this is how the sunrise looked from our backyard. That beautiful sunrise seemed to proclaim, Joy to the world. It was as if Heaven and Nature were singing. It also seemed to proclaim, And wonders of His love. Seeing a sunrise like that has so much wonder to it. And it seems to bring Heaven and nature together.

I enjoyed the process of digging into one of the great hymns of Christmas. And in doing that, saw the beauty of God’s message of bringing Joy to the World in a picture-perfect sunrise. And then thought of these words from Psalm 30:5: Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. That is what I saw in this sunrise… Joy came in the morning.

I encourage you to look up the history behind one of your favorite hymns of the Christmas season. Dig into the deep meaning of each line. And do it in a place of beauty. It may just warm your heart and give you new insight into the song you have not seen before.


Amazed by His Love,

Terence