Christmas Day: Joy to the World

So I got this idea that for the twelve days of Christmas I would try and discipline myself to write a post each day. So for this first post on Christmas Day I thought I would talk about the hymn "Joy to the World."

There are some hymns that have to be sung every Christmas and Issac Watts' hymn "Joy to the World" is one of them.

An interesting story that I have heard about Issac Watts is that as a teenager he complained to his father about the songs that were sung in church. It was common at this time for English protestants to sing only the psalms in worship. The young Watts felt that the type of music being used and the over all tone of the service led to a dull and sterile experience. He father challenged him to write his own hymns if he didn't like the ones they had. The eventual result of this challenge is that Issac Watts has been given the title "Father of English hymnody." He would eventually write well over 500 hymns.

Some of the other hymns that he wrote and that we still sing today include "O God Our Help in Ages Past," "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," Come Ye that Love the Lord," and one of my all time favorites "Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed!"

Now not everyone liked the hymns he wrote. According to one source, there were those who cried out that his hymns were "too worldly" for the church. Some of his critics complained that the church was substituting scripture for the fanciful whims of Issac Watts. This led to some congregations splitting and pastors being fired. So I guess the worship wars over traditional and contemporary music are at least 250 years old by now!

"Joy to the World" appeared in 1719 work "The Psalms of David, Imitated." Watts used Psalm 98 as his inspirtation. You can diffently see were the Psalm and the hymn focus on the joy that the Lord brings through deliverance and salvation.

"Joy to the World"

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 nature sing,

And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the world! 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.