ADVENT 2022: HEAV’N AND NATURE SING - Week 4 - Joy to the World!

Today we conclude our Advent series, Heav’n and Nature Sing, by looking at one of the most well-known of all Christmas songs - though, as you will see, though it definitely could fit in with the message of Christmas, it wasn’t actually written to be a Christmas song. The song is “Joy to the World.”

The author of the hymn was a pastor born in the late 17th century by the name of Isaac Watts. Watts was a brilliant child. He learned Latin at age four, Greek at nine, French at ten, and Hebrew at thirteen. In his early twenties, Watts became frustrated with the heartless church songs of his time. His father challenged him and said, "Well then, why don't you give us something better to sing?" Watts rose to the challenge by writing his first hymn. It was well received by the church he attended and over the next two years he wrote a new hymn for every Sunday service. These songs - the first of eventually 750 attributed to Watts - were put into a compilation, including a song we sing today: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. 

In 1719, Watts wrote Joy to the World. Like many of his other songs, Joy to the World was written as a paraphrase of scripture. This time from Psalm 98. He entitled it “The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom.”

Which brings up the point I made at the beginning. It wasn’t intended to focus on the first coming of Jesus, but the Second Coming, as Watts himself testified. 

So, today, as we break down the song to discover the amazing theology contained in this masterpiece, I think it would be best to also take a good look at Psalm 98.