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.
How many times have you sung “Joy to the World” at Christmas and thought how wonderfully it matched the feeling of the season of Christmas with the joy of the birth of Jesus? It is one of my favorites and one I could actually play back when I was all my little church had for a pianist. So that was a first song I’d pick in December and usually we would sing it again before Christmas. We sang it this morning, but we have a more accomplished pianist now who will be able to play any carol we might pick out to sing.
So, if you’re like me, you love the song. You love how it is one of the easier carols to sing. You love how you can belt it out and let the joy show in your voice. But did you know Isaac Watts, one of the greatest hymn writers ever, never intended “Joy to the World” to be a song and certainly not a Christmas song? In 1719, Watts published a book of poems in which each poem was based on a psalm. In his poems he wanted to show how the psalms related to how Jesus was revealed as the Savior of the world in the New Testament.
“Joy to the World” was one of those poems based on Psalm 98 as Watts interpreted this psalm to be a celebration of Jesus’s role as King of both his church and the whole world. He intended the words of his poem to show the return of Christ rather than His birth. Watts never knew that the poem he wrote became one of his most famous hymns when more than a century later a Boston music teacher named Lowell Mason discovered his poem and set it to music. Because it was released at Christmastime, it quickly became a holiday favorite and went on to become the most published Christmas carol in America.
Joy to the world! 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.
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!
Here are a few verses from Psalm 98. I like that line about the rivers clapping their hands. That matches the verse where all of nature rejoices in the coming of the Lord.
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. ~Psalm 98:4 (NKJ)
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it:
Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord.
For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And peoples with equity. ~Psalm 98:7-9 (NKJ)
So, are you singing “Joy to the World” in your head now or maybe right out loud to rejoice in the birth of Jesus? But now you can also consider the thoughts of Isaac Watts as he considered the joy of Christ’s return while writing his poem.
What is your favorite Christmas carol or song?
Comments 14
I love the song Mary’s Little Boy Child as sung by Harry Belafonte. When I lived in New York I wanted to sing it as my solo, but was turned down. I moved to Florida in 1974 and no problem!!
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Glad you were able to sing that favorite song eventually, Marjorie. I’m not familiar with that song or at least not the title. I might hear it and go, oh yeah, that song. I’ll have to check it out online and see.
How wonderful! Thank you for posting about this great Christmas Carol.
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Linda, glad you enjoyed reading about the origin of “Joy to the World.” I find the stories behind songs and how they wre written fascinating.
I’ve always liked Silent Night.
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I do too, Connie. Another hymn that I could actually play when I was our church’s only pianist. And a song of such beauty and peace that you can almost feel the silence of that night long ago after the Baby Jesus was born.
Hard to pick as I love Joy to the World but O Holy Night is my favorite.
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It is hard to pick a favorite, Lucy. “O Holy Night” is a special song. Last year, I wrote about its history if you remember. Some unique things about it too.
I, like you, find it hard to pick a favorite. Years ago at our small country church, it seems we usually sang Joy to the World with lots of gusto after the Christmas Play was presented. It was a real good feeling to end our Christmas service with that song. Now, I tend to lean toward Beautiful Star of Bethlehem right up there as a favorite. The Speers did a great job introducing it to me. Wilma
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“Beautiful Star of Bethlehem” is a great song, Wilma. When I start thinking about Christmas songs, I have a hard time picking a favorite. I love “The Little Drummer Boy” and “What Child Is This?” So many great ones. And you can sing “Joy to the World” with gusto, as you say.
I had no idea “Joy to the World” wasn’t meant to be a Christmas song. I’ve always loved it, but my favorite Christmas song is “Mary Did You Know.”
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That is one of my very favorite songs too, Laura. It has such beautiful words that speak to me. A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog about the story behind “Mary, Did You Know.” I always liked hearing Mark Lowry sing his song more than anyone else. Here’s the link if you’d like to read the blog about how he came up with the words for that song and how long it took before he had it set to music. A great song story. https://www.annhgabhart.com/2019/12/04/a-favorite-christmas-song-mary-did-you-know/
Thank you for this information. I never knew this.My favorite is ‘Little Town of Bethlehem’ although I like ‘ Joy to the World’ also.
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That’s a beautiful carol too, Lisa. I find it hard to pick a favorite because so many of the carol have such great words telling about Christmas. I really like Silent Night. I could play that one too, but the one I enjoyed playing most was “We Three Kings.” Now that we have a much more accomplished pianist I just stick to writing and rarely take time to practice. The dogs howl when I do. Well, Marley does anyway. Or maybe he’s singing along.