Page 27 - 2018 AdventDevo-Flip book

Friday, December 14
Joy to the World!
“
Sing a new song to the LORD,
for he has done wonderful deeds….
He has remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel.
The ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.”

Scripture: Psalm 98: 1-3

This Advent season, the Liberty Christmas Choir will be singing an ar-
rangement of the most published Christmas song of all time, “Joy to The
World!” I decided to research the origin of the text and music for this
classic and was reminded of its interesting history.

Of more than 750 hymns that Isaac Watts wrote, “Joy to the World” is
the one that he is best known for.

Joy to the world! The Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing

What is interesting about this song is the fact that Isaac Watts wrote these
words in 1719 as he was inspired by the scriptures found in the Old Tes-
tament from Psalm 98, rather than the story of Christ’s birth in the book
of Luke. The reason this is so fascinating is that the song was not written
to be a Christmas carol at all but rather about Christ’s Second Coming.
The words, “The Lord is come” speak about future events and the
words, “He rules the world with truth and grace” speak about the glori-
ous days to come when His righteousness and love will rule the earth!

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

Although Isaac Watts might have never envisioned these words to be
used as a Christmas carol, the result is the celebration of Christ’s birth
and the reminder of the return of Jesus which is good news of great joy!
In a world where there is much unrest and brokenness, I hold on to the