By Jeff Cranston

Christmas carols are a big part of most people’s Christmas celebrations. We sing these beloved songs in our churches; we play them in our homes; we listen to them as we drive around; and we hear them in the stores as we shop.

There are so many great Christmas carols, but “Joy to the World,” written by Isaac Watts in 1719, is perhaps one of the most well-known carols that we sing today. The interesting thing about the song is that the only stanza related to Christmas and the birth of Jesus is the first stanza that announces “the Lord is come.” There’s never any mention of  Mary and Joseph, the angels, the shepherds, the manger, or the wise men. Yet, it really captures the essence of Christmas, which is joy.

What is ironic is that Watts never meant for his hymn to be a Christmas song. The hymn is really an Old Testament psalm mixed with New Testament language, which probably describes Christ’s second coming better than His first. Still, the note of joy and the images of the Lord coming and every heart preparing Him room all combined to make this one of the best-loved Christmas carols of all time. So let’s take a look at Psalm 98, from which Isaac Watts found the wonderful truths to write “Joy to the World.”

In our expressions of joy, we should rejoice in God as Savior of His people.
The psalm begins by saying: “O sing to the LORD a new song” (Psalm 98:1a). God is always doing a new thing in the lives of His people, and so He is always deserving of new songs of praise. Ironically, “Joy to the World” was one of those new songs when Isaac Watts first wrote it based on this psalm. When you put your faith in Christ, you become a new creation, and you too then sing a new song.

Then the psalmist writes: “For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him” (Psalm 98 1b). Victories, for the fledgling nation of Israel, never came about by their own strength, but they understood it was God and His power who delivered them. In the same way, God worked our salvation for us through Christ on the cross, and we find victory.

Read Psalm 98:2-3. God’s purpose in saving His people is always that all the nations might come to know that He is God. The entire Bible, and indeed all of human history, is a record of how God is glorified in all the earth through the salvation of His people. The keywords in this passage of Psalm 98 are lovingkindness and faithfulness—God’s covenant love and faithfulness to His people Israel in the Old Testament and to His people in the church in the New Testament.

In our expressions of joy, we should rejoice in God as King over all the earth.

Psalm 98:4-6 tells us to rejoice in God as King over all the earth. The first stanza of “Joy to the World” is based on these verses from the 98th Psalm. In the song, the whole world is encouraged to rejoice that Christ has come and to receive him as their King.

Joy to the world! The Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing.

The theme of verses 4-6 is clear. God is King over all the earth, and so all the earth should shout for joy to Him. We are not only to shout for joy, but we are to “burst into jubilant song with music.” We should be so filled with joy in God as our King that we can no longer contain it. This is not a forced joy, but rather a joy that is so full that it forces its way out of us. 

In our expressions of joy, we should rejoice in God as judge over all the nations. 

 Joy to the world! The Savior reigns.
Let men their songs employ.
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.

 This stanza of “Joy to the World” corresponds to Psalm 98:7-8, where all creation is asked to join in the song—the fields, floods, rocks, hills and plains. Let the sea roar and resound and everything in it; let the world roar and resound and all who live in it. The rivers clap their hands­— think of the mighty waves of a rushing river crashing into each other like the clapping of hands. The mountains sing together for joy. And why does all creation sing together for joy? Because the Lord is coming as Judge over all the nations. He will judge all evil in the world, and He will make all things right.

Watts writes in the second stanza of “Joy to the World”:

 No more let sin and sorrow grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground.
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God put a curse on all creation. In Genesis 3, God told Adam: “Cursed is the ground because of you … it will produce thorns and thistles … by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:17-19, NIV).

But—now that Christ has come—the curse is reversed! And when Christ returns a second time, the curse will be eliminated. There will be no more thorns infesting the ground, no more sin, sorrow, sickness, mourning, crying or pain. We read in the book of Romans that “…the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay” (Romans 8:21, NLT).

When the Lord comes as Judge, He restores all things. The world ahead is a world that works—a world void of evil and all the oppression and destruction it brings. Wrongs are made right. The righteous are lifted up. Creation itself is freed from the ravaging effects of sin. When this happens, all of creation is then completely released and is to sing God’s praises. The oceans clap their hands, and the hills sing. Judgment is terrible news to evil and those who cling to it. It is wonderful news—pure joy—for those who embrace God.

The psalm ends by saying: He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity. (Psalm 98: 9b, NASB)

When the Lord comes to judge, He will judge in absolute fairness. He is all-knowing, so He knows all the particulars of every situation. He is all-just, so He will always make the right decisions. He is all-powerful, so He is able to execute the proper judgments against sin. He is all-loving, so He has provided a way of escape for His people who have put their trust in Him. And so…

Let the sea and its fish give a round of applause,
With everything living on earth joining in.

Let ocean breakers call out, “Encore!”
And mountains harmonize the finale—

A tribute to God when he comes,
When he comes to set the earth right.

He’ll straighten out the whole world,
He’ll put the world right, and everyone in it.

— Psalm 98:7-9, The Message

It’s all well and good to dissect Psalm 98, to talk about joy, to speak of what we ought to do, how we ought to respond to God’s providential care and involvement in our world, even to rejoice this year in the coming of Jesus Christ. But if joy is not a relevant and integral ingredient of your life and mine, what is really the point? What things are stealing your joy? Social media and the fear of missing out? The weariness of this year? Many things can steal our joy, but let’s incorporate this principle: Stop looking at the things that steal your joy and start looking at the One who secures your joy.

Joy to the world! Why? Because God sent Jesus into the world to be our Savior.
Joy to the world! Why? Because Jesus is a good and righteous King over all the earth.
Joy to the world! Why? Because Jesus is returning as Judge over all the nations. He will make all things right.

Joy to the world! The Lord has come! Let us receive our King! 

Jeff Cranston is the lead pastor of LowCountry Community Church in Bluffton, South Carolina.

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