I have been singing Joy to the World since I was a child. I never knew the history of the song or its author. Every Christmas, we would sing the song in church as a ‘Christmas Carol.’ Joy is the last word in the Advent series before the birth of Jesus. One of the lines in the carol came to my mind: “Joy to the world, the Lord has come, let earth receive her King.”

I thought, “Perfect! That’s how I will introduce the message on Joy.” Boy, was I surprised when I looked up the lyrics to the Carol. Isaac Watts did not write the song as a ‘Christmas Carol.’ And he didn’t write it about the first coming of Jesus at His birth. He wrote it about His second coming as King. It wasn’t about the newborn King; it was about the coming King!

Isaac Watts was a great hymn writer. Two of his hymns that we sing in the Baptist Church include, ‘Alas and Did My Savior Bleed’ and ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.’ He wrote many others. Joy to the World was written in 1719.

His hymns are also in some Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Methodist Hymnals. A lot of Watts’s lyrics were based upon the Psalms. ‘Joy to the World’ is based upon Psalm 98. It is printed below from the Baptist Hymnal 2008 page 189:

1 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.

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,

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

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,

Far as the curse is found,

Far as, far as the curse is found.

4 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.

Watts struggled with what he perceived as a lack of joy in Christian worship. He wrote ‘Joy to the World’ from Psalm 98. Verse four is a specific exhortation to encourage joy.

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

But a careful reading of Psalm 98 shows that Watts didn’t have Christmas in mind at all when he wrote the lyrics. He wasn’t thinking about the incarnation; he was thinking about the second coming.

Verse one sounds like Christmas. The word ‘room’ reminds us that there was no room in the inn for Jesus. We need to open our hearts to Him too. But remember at His first coming He was rejected and eventually crucified. Verse two says, ‘the Savior reigns.’ That obviously comes later when He comes to earth. He grew up in obscurity and was from Nazareth, a town of questionable reputation (John 1:46). He wasn’t received by His own people (John 1:11-12) or His home town (Luke 4:16-30) or His own family (John 7:5).

In verse three, there is a clear reference to the curse on this world being removed. That comes later (Revelation 22:3). Stanza four is a reference to Jesus as Ruler of the world. He will one day rule and reign.

So should we quit singing this carol? I don’t think so. As I’ve reflected on Advent, I’m reminded that without Christmas, we don’t have Easter. And without the cross, resurrection, and ascension, we don’t have a Second coming or a new heaven and new earth. Christmas is truly a time to look back at the cradle and the cross. It is also a time to look forward to Jesus’ coming again!

It is also a time for Joy. Originally Isaac Watts wrote this hymn to spur his generation of believers on to joy. You might be surprised if you sat on the stage or faced the congregation as worship starts. Some people never move a muscle or sing, some have questionable expressions as they sing, and some are checking their social media status. Oops, was that a little blunt? Maybe Isaac Watts’ hymn should remind us that we who know Jesus should be the most joyful people on the planet.

Christmas is a time for Joy! Let that be true of us wherever we gather to celebrate Christmas this year. As we worship this month and throughout the New Year, let’s ask God to produce His joy in and through us as we worship, and as we sing. As we walk by faith in the Spirit and filled with the Spirit, the Joy of Jesus becomes real.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22–23 (NKJV)

Gordon Small, Pastor