Unwrapping Joy
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Did you know that at least a few songs, or hymns, that are considered to be Christmas songs, really not particularly Christmas songs? I want to mention two of them this morning. One is the song we sang first this morning. “Joy to the World” was not written as a Christmas Song. It was written by Isaac Watts as part of a collection of hymns from the Psalms. Joy to the World is a song written with Psalm 98 in mind, which we will be going through together shortly.
Another song that many of us would readily associate with Christmas is “The Hallelujah Chorus”, which is from Handel’s masterpiece, the Messiah. The Messiah is one of the most amazing pieces of music ever composed in modern times, in my opinion. Not only is it beautiful in its orchestration, the entire composition is the story of Jesus, beginning with Isaiah, “comfort my people”, and covering his whole life and what is still yet to come. There is one Christmas song in the Messiah, but it isn’t that hallelujah chorus, it is “For Unto us a Child is Born”. This of course, fits perfectly with our concentration on this season on the birth of Christ, but the Hallelujah Chorus, like Joy to the World, are not about the birth of Christ.
However, they still are quite fitting for Christmas time, and the entire year, just as the virgin birth of Christ is also fitting to think about and reflect on throughout the year. And that is because of what we call this season often, which is Advent Season. We lit the candle of joy earlier, and we have spoken of how these candles are for preparation. Not preparation for Jesus to be born, since He has already done this. Not to prepare us for his death on the cross. He has already done that. Not to prepare us for the resurrection. He has accomplished that to. All of those things Christ did to save sinners.
Advent, which means arrival, is to prepare our hearts for the arrival of Christ, not a baby, but a returning King. And since this is Advent season, and we are preparing for a coming King, Jesus, these two songs are perfect in this season because both of them celebrate the Return of Jesus. So this morning we are going to look not to these hymns, but to the scriptures that inspired them. Joy to the World is inspired by Psalm 98 and The Hallelujah Chorus is from Revelation 19.
Let us take a look first at Psalm 98
A Psalm.
Oh 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.
The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!
With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it!
Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together
before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
Charles Spurgeon, in his great commentary on the Psalms, had so many great quotes about this passage I was tempted to just read to you straight from the commentary. However, I won’t do that now, but I will give you some pearls from Spurgeon about this passage. Spurgeon called this passage a royal Psalm. Some of you live in Royal Palm Beach, this is a royal psalm, a coronatiojn hymn. Said Spurgeon: “proclaiming the conquering Messiah as Monarch over the nations, with blast of trumpets, clapping of hands, and celebration of triumphs.
This Psalm is just 9 verses, set in 3 stanzas. The first, in 1-3 the subject of praise is announced, in verses 4-6 the manner of that praise is prescribed, and in 7-9 the universal extent of it is proclaimed.
And who is the subject of the praise? Well, since David is most likely the author of this Psalm, we can say that David identifies the LORD in the first line as the one worthy of a new song, and in verse two again he says the LORD has made known his salvation. Quoting Spurgeon again, “Jesus our King, has lived a marvelous life, died a marvelous death, risen by a marvelous resurrection, and ascended marvelously into heaven. By his divine power he has set forth the Holy Spirit doing marvels, and by that same sacred energy his disciples have also wrought marvelous things and astounded all the earth”
Oh 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.
The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. He has worked salvation. And he has made this known. He made it known through the prophets, and now in Jesus and through His apostles. Heb1.1-4
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Quoting Spurgeon again, “This word “Righteous” is the favorite word of the apostle to the Gentiles (That’s Paul); he loves to dwell on the Lords method of making men righteous, and vindicating divine justice by the atoning blood, what songs ought we to render who belong to a once heathen race, for that blessed gospel which is the power of God unto salvation, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. This is no close secret; it is clearly tuaght in Scripture, and has been plainly preached among the nations. What was hidden in the types is “openly shown” in the gospel.”
So, according to the Psalmist, He has also remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel, and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
By the way, this Psalm does tie into the Christmas story in another way. You see, in her doxology of praise and wonder before God, Mary, in what some call the Magnificat, is believed to have been quoting from this very Psalm. Mary recognized that prophecy was being fulfilled in her life, and through her!
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
When Mary said he has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, that is clearly a reference to Psalm 98.3 And not only did Mary refer to this Psalm, it seems Zechariah did as well in his song of praise at the birth of his son, John the Baptist. Luk1.72
to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
This is very important for us to understand. That both Mary and Zechariah, inspired by the Holy Spirit to pour out this praise, and who had both received direct revelation from God through the Angel Gabriel, both referred to God keeping his promise, remembering his mercy, towards his people Israel. And because of this, and through Israel, he would provide salvation to all the ends of the earth, even beyond the people of Israel, to which this gentile says “Praise the LORD!”
So then, because of this, we are commanded by God’s Word to make a joyful noise! Psalm 98.4-7
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!
With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
Make a joyful noise! This does not mean we should not try to make that noise sound good, by the way. But let it be known that if you have not been gifted with the ability to sing in tune, sing anyway! And here we see the songs should be joyous and praises shall be sung! Pity the one who never learns to open their mouth to praise God! What they are missing cannot be described. Studies have shown that singing can do the health a world of good, and so much more for the one who sings with gusto their praises to God!
It is impossible for us to get too excited, to use instruments, whether trumpet of horn. And not only is all of our power required to make this praise, even so the created world itself must join in, so that the sea, the rivers, all the world, must become part of this glorifying praise to our God!
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it!
Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together
before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
Note the last verse, don’t miss it. He comes to judge the earth. Here you can gaze at the world around you and be at peace, even if the world isn’t. You can see injustice and know that ultimately, every sin will be accounted for in the books of heaven, and the unrepentant will be judged. Those who do not cast their sins upon Christ, will bear those sins, and for all eternity they will suffer the mighty wrath of God Almighty! And it will be a terrible thing, unbearable!
He comes to judge the earth, and He will judge with righteousness. That means his judgments will be right, they will be perfect. Not one sin will slide. Not one blasphemy, not one act of adultery, not one who bears false witness, not one instance of stealing or dishonoring parents will be ignored by this perfect judge! The books will be opened, and all of our sins will be set before us to be judged by God. This should greatly concern you if you do not know if your sins are atoned for, or covered by the blood of Jesus.
There is only one way to come out of the Day of the Lord without suffer the consequences of your sin. Jesus died on the cross and suffered the wrath of God on our behalf. To have this death be the atonement for your sins, you must flee to Christ, you must be terrified of the judgement of God without an advocate who will stand in your defense. Jesus is the only way, the only advocate, the only sacrifice. He can be your substitute. You and I broke God’s law, and we deserve eternal punishment. But Jesus died to turn the wrath of God away from those who put faith in him and took it upon himself.
And he is coming again. So this Psalm is not about the birth of Jesus, nor is the song Joy to the World; rather, it is about the Jesus who reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So from now on, when you sing that great song, Joy to the World, remember what its meaning is. Yes, there was joy in the announcement of the angels who came to the shepherds, but this song, Joy to the World, is about the true and final joy for the one rescued by God from sin.
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 heaven, and nature sing.
Joy (Peace) to the world! the Savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
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, far as, the curse is found.
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, wonders, of His love.
Let us consider that other song for a moment. Handel’s Messiah, the Hallelujah chorus. Legend has it that when a certain king was present at a performance of Handel’s Messiah, he was so moved by the time the Hallelujah Chorus played, he stood, and so it has become traditional for people to stand when they hear this. It is quite appropriate for a mere earthly king to show reverence to the Messiah. Here are the words from the Hallelujah Chorus:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The kingdom of this world Is become the kingdom of our Lord, And of His Christ, and of His Christ; And He shall reign for ever and ever, And He shall reign for ever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! And He shall reign for ever and ever. King of kings! and Lord of lords! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! King of kings! and Lord of lords! And He shall reign for ever and ever, And He shall reign for ever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Handel was a true believer who wanted to honor Christ with his music, and nothing honors Christ more than declaring the words of scripture, and sincerely affirming the Deity of Christ, the Majesty, and Handel, in my opinion, did this wonderfully, and I recommend if you ever have the time, to listen to the whole thing. If I remember right, it is about 2 hours. Listen with the script nearby. The entire thing is scripture.
In this portion, he is quoting from Rev19.6
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
and Rev19.11-16
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.
He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Our theme today is unwrapping joy. For the one who knows Christ as Savior and Lord, our joy should be ever present. It should never be wrapped up. That is because for the one in Christ, our joy is not only in being saved from our sins, but we have joy in our living in expectation of the final, completed work of Christ, when we come to that judgment day, and all our sins are bared before God, our awful, disgusting sins. Those sins that break our relationship with God and show our unfaithfulness. And for those in Christ, no matter how severe those sins are, Jesus himself will stand as our advocate. The judge himself has already paid the fine and cost that we deserve.
When we put faith in Christ, this is a done deal. It will happen. If we have sincerely repented, that is, turned from our wicked ways and gone to Christ for forgiveness and mercy, and have declared him to be Lord and Savior, the work on the cross has already finished the job. Yet we struggle still in the battle of sin, we struggle still in coping with a world that is out of control. We see death and destruction and blasphemy, and yet, we can have joy!
In fact, it is our duty to have joy! John Piper wrote a great book, “The Dangerous Duty of Delight”, and in it he makes the case from scripture that we are obligated to have joy, to have proper emotions. A Christian, no matter what is going on in their own life or in the world, ought to have joy, and that joy is rooted in the promises of God.
If you are in Christ, then part of that hope is in Revelation 19, where we just read about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, where the saints of God will be gathered for one of the greatest celebrations ever! And if you, like me, are moved when you hear Handel’s Messiah, how much more will you be moved to be part of the chorus that Revelation 19 speaks of?
That will be the most amazing time of praise! As we gather together, seeing our salvation truly, knowing God without any hinderance of the sinful flesh. Joining together in the chorus of praise and worship. What Joy!
And if you, my friend, are not a believer, and wondering if you can join into that joy, yes, you can! But what does it take for you to know this? It’s very simple. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. You see, it isn’t just saying I hope it’s true, and I hate the idea of hell, so I will hedge my bets and say a prayer to Jesus. No, the Bible teaches that only true faith, faith that really believes, is saving faith. Lots of people over the decades have said a prayer with a friend, or repeated the prayer a preacher told them to repeat, and they are no more saved than Judas.
I realize this may offend, but it is true. I see no sinners prayer in the Bible. Nowhere are evangelists told to have someone repeat a prayer. There is no magic in a prayer. No prayer has the power to save. It is faith alone in Christ alone. It is realizing that without Christ, you are utterly lost for all eternity. So no prayer I could have you repeat will have any effect whatsoever on your salvation. But you say to me, “I don’t have the faith you are talking about! I would like to, but I do not yet believe, and yet I am concerned about my eternal state!”
The good news for you is this: You cannot produce the faith in and of yourself. Eph2.8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
The faith is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. You say you do not have the faith? Ask for it, ask for God to give you this faith! If there is any appropriate sinners prayer, it is this: “God, please give me the faith to believe!” That is because, my friends, that scripture teaches us that no one comes to God except through Christ, and faith in Him. And no one comes to faith in Christ unless they are given the gift of faith. It is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
You have heard many boasters in the church if you have been there long. They seem to think that because they have faith, they have accomplished something that the unbeliever has not. Anyone who thinks that needs to repent now. That is because anyone who is saved was saved by grace alone. Faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone. And this is not to bring glory to one’s self. No, the glory goes to God, Soli Deo Gloria, for the glory of God alone. God is glorified when the sinner repents, he is glorified when saving faith has its effect. To the glory of God alone.
So salvation comes from faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone, and it is for the glory of God alone. And how do we learn where our faith must lie? In Scripture alone. Scripture is the only source we can trust completely for salvation. The Christ we must believe in is the Christ of the Bible, not the Jesus the of the Mormons, or the Jehovah’s Witness, or the Seventh Day adventists, or any other Jesus. Even the muslims believe in Jesus, but they do not believe in Him as God.
Beware of many false teachings and false teachers who would tell you to trust them, so that you rely not on your own study of scripture. Why do I repeat the mantra again and again, to read your Bible for yourself, do not take my word for it, see to it that you study the Bible to learn what is true? And yet, many have said we don’t really need so much Bible, or as the false teacher Andy Stanley said, we can unhitch the Old Testament from the New. Why do these false teachers tell people they do not need the whole Bible? Could it be they are self-serving and care little for the eternal state of the people they preach to?
If you are a believer, keep studying scripture so that you can learn God’s plan and learn to live as He would have you live, so that you may also become one who can teach others. It should be the goal of every believer to become a teacher of God’s Word to someone. Either someone in your own family, or whoever.
And if you are without faith, then read the Bible, listen to preaching, and plead with God to give you that faith!
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
The only way to come to Christ is to hear from God’s Word. Scripture alone. And God’s Holy Spirit speaks through that Word. Hearing from scripture alone, for the one being drawn by God to himself, leads to faith alone in Christ alone. And this is by grace alone, and for the glory of God alone. Won’t you put your faith in Jesus today?