Notes of Noel - Joy to the World

 

Season of Advent - Joy Each week of the season of Advent which leads up to Christmas carries a deep meaning, the third one is joy. Joy is a strong emotion we celebrate at a birth, you only have to think of the number of birthday parties you've attended, all celebrating the joy of a person's birth. In the Bible it says that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and we should be living our lives with joyful hearts. No wonder one of the keywords of the advent season, the time of waiting for the appearance of Jesus is joy, there must have been so much of that around the stable some 2,000 years ago. Let's get to our song, it wasn't even written as a Christmas song, yet it's hailed as the most popular carol.  The third song in the Notes of Noel was originally a poem by Isaac Watts (When I Survey)  paraphrasing Psalm 98:4-9. Lowell Mason was a key church musician in America and he took some of the original words from a poem he found by Watts, pieced them together with music from Handel (The Messiah) and essentially created Joy to the World as we know it. It was released in 1848 during the Christmas season and quickly became known as a Christmas song even though it was written about the second coming or second advent of Jesus. This is why it doesn't describe the nativity, Mary, Joseph, angels, wise men or what we think of as Christmas imagery.  This version is by For King and Country who are both concerned about the music and the look of their videos, this one is beautiful and peaceful to watch, but before we listen and watch the song,  let's read the lyrics.  Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; let ev’ry heart prepare him room and heav’n and nature sing, and heav’n and nature sing, and heav’n, and heav’n and nature sing. Joy to the earth, the Saviour 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. 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. 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. Have a listen and watch Joy to the World Let's look at the lyrics:

As mentioned above this song is a collection of words taken from Psalm 98:4-9 and describe the amazing second coming of Jesus to the world he reigns over. It's obvious the big idea is singing joy because Jesus has has come, no wonder this song is so much fun to sing. Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; let ev’ry heart prepare him room and heav’n and nature sing, and heav’n and nature sing, and heav’n, and heav’n and nature sing. The song, just like the Bible passage reminds us that the whole of creation joins in the song of joy. All of heaven and nature sing. The Bible says that the stars, sun, moon, rocks, trees, mountains, waters,  and sky all praise the Lord, they all join in the song. This song reminds us that not only people of the earth but all of God's creation yearns to receive the king and prepare space for Him when He comes.  Joy to the earth, the Saviour 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. Verse two is essentially verse one with different words. Rather than world it's earth, instead of Lord it's Saviour. The men of the earth are to sing, not just the earth, but don't forget that the fields, floods, rocks, hills and plains will carry on singing. After they've sung, they'll repeat that again too.  Joy to the World really is about the world, and how the coming of Jesus will transform the world. There was joy in Bethlehem at the birth, there's joy every time that someone comes to Christ now and there will be unending joy when Christ reigns and rules forevermore in a perfected world.    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. The third verse is not always sung, and to be honest it doesn't work as Christmas lyrics either. When Jesus came thorns infested the ground, and they still do. Sorrows definitely still grow, we only need to look at the scars that we as humans and the earth carry, There is imperfection and trouble all around us. You only have to turn on the news (if you dare) to see that trouble is all around, and that imperfection is the order of the day. The curse that this stanza is referring is found in Genesis 3:16-18 where man and woman are cursed because of eating the forbidden fruit. Working the ground will be toil, child birth will be painful and thorns will infest the ground.  Jesus coming again will bring blessing, how far? As far as the above curse is found which is to all men, woman across the whole of the earth. The coming of Jesus will erase the curse and bring perfection to an imperfect world. It's not hard to see why we so triumphantly sing Joy to the World when we hear those familiar downward scaled notes.  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.  When Christ comes again he will rule with truth and grace, right now Christ rules with truth and grace. His truth and grace show the glory of his righteousness, these are massive theological ideas all packed into one verse of one song. Truth, grace, righteousness and love, words brimming with importance and meaning, all of which Jesus embodies. We don't need to wonder about his love for us, it's unconditional and unending. We can however wonder and let our minds wander about the expanse of his love for everyone, the grace he pours upon all people and of course we can only but wonder about how this can happen for all of eternity!  Maybe this Christmas you are struggling, and it's hard to find joy. I get that, as I pen these words finding joy seems like walking uphill in waist deep snow. It's hard, it's possible but it takes so much effort. Maybe you're dancing in the aisles this Christmas season as all has fallen into place, and finding joy is quite simple. Or maybe you're going about your everyday tasks like work, ferrying the kids to and fro, doing the shopping, laundry and cooking. It's just normal and finding joy comes in spurts throughout the regular day.  No matter who you are or how you find yourself may you be able to sing with full gusto 'Joy to the World' and may you find joy within your life because...

To enjoy the whole album, it's a wonderful journey both musically and cinematically simply click on this link and you'll find each song from A Drummer Boy Christmas.

For King and Country, Drummer Boy Christmas Album