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Joy to the World.
That was originally written by Isaac Watts in the early 1700s. It wasn’t originally written as a Christmas song.
Watts wrote this in his Psalms of David book of poems. He took these psalms and gave them a Christ-centered focus.
In his day, Watts was branded a bit of a heretic. Most congregations only sang psalms. But Watts believed there was a certain lack of emotion within the congregations. And so he began writing hymns…spiritual songs which pointed to Jesus. In other words he believed the day required a new song.
It was this movement which gave rise to hymns. Now this particular hymn—Joy to the World—was an adaptation of Psalm 98. And it was not originally set to the music we know today.
That didn’t happen until the 1830s and it eventually made it into the rotation of Christmas songs. But again—the original inspiration wasn’t the Christmas story but Psalm 98.
See if you can hear “Joy to the World” in this Psalm.
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.
Even though this isn’t technically a Christmas song—and it’s more pointing to the second coming—you really can’t have a second coming until you have a first coming. So, it’s entirely fitting.
But it’s fitting in a way like a deposit or a down-payment is fitting. They are tokens that more is to come later.
Psalm 98 is a simple psalm. It’s about the Lord being sovereign and in control—and Him showing His sovereignty through His victory over darkness—through His redemptive work.
Imagine yourself in the position of the kid getting bullied at school. Or in the position of one who is seeking justice but the whole system seems stacked against you. It isn’t fair. You’re just the little guy…you’re David standing against Goliath.
It’s the day of battle. The bully has picked a fight. And rather than being the one defeated…this time you are the victor. That is the picture behind this psalm. When God gives victory to broken down, oppressed, and hurting people.
But it’s not just about you. It’s about God’s story. His work of overturning darkness.
That’s the story of the Bible.
And it has us as both the bully and the one being bullied. We’ve made shipwreck of things.
God made you for rest, rule, relationship. To have a purpose, a place, and a people. All those longings you have—longings to make a difference, for your life to matter, that thing that cries out there has to be more than this…your longing for home, for rest, for planting roots, for settling, for having peace…that’s God-imprinted. The desire you have for relationship. To be known, to know another, to love and be loved. God put those there.
That was the original intention…but we blew it. We tried getting those things on our own…we rebelled against God’s goodness. And it flipped everything upside down.
Sad story throughout Genesis…but Abraham…through you all nations will be blessed.
But this continual cycle of getting it…almost getting it…getting into the promised land…but then blowing it time and time again. The end of the Old Testament has the people just returning from exile. Time to rebuild...
And this is likely the backdrop to Psalm 98. This is why they are singing a new song.
You can see how this moves...
I sing a new song…I see redemption in my life. I’m changed…I’m praising God...
Make a joyful noise all the earth…b/c they’ve seen the redemption. And so it spreads.
And then it spreads to all creation…even inanimate objects like the sea and the rivers…they clap for joy because of God’s redemption…of what He is doing.
But it wasn’t through the exilic community that redemption would be found. They tried rebuilding and what do they rebuild....it’s what we see in the New Testament of the religious leaders.
It’s yuck. Rather than giving freedom and liberty and help and healing and blessing…rather than turning the curse over, they are digging into it more. They are still oppressed by Rome and the people are even oppressed by their religious leaders.
War, oppression, battling, pain all around them. They were still hoping to see the promises of Isaiah 9 fulfilled.
But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
That was their longing…but I think they missed something. The way in which it would come about:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
This is the same promise resting over Psalm 98. That a deliverer would come and restore all things.
We believe that Deliverer has come and that it is Jesus. Born of a virgin. And we believe that He has redeemed us…and will redeem us.
And so Joy to the World is both about His first coming…but it’s pointing to the second coming. We live in the already and not yet.
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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.
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That is what Jesus is doing now. He’s already done it and He is still doing it.
That’s why we celebrate Christmas. Because the incarnation means we have a new song. The incarnation does mean joy to the world…but it’s also pointing to a day when that joy will be eternal, settled, fixed, no more sorrow…no more pain.
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Are you in Christ? Which side of this equation are you on?
God’s great purpose for the world is to root out all sin and unbelief and replace it with passionate worshippers from every tribe, tongue, and nation.