Christ in the Carols Series Episode 5

Hello, my walking friend! Today is the 5th episode in the Christ in the Carols series. In each podcast during this series we will listen to the lyrics of different Christmas carols and learn a little about the history of the song.

Today’s Christmas carol is Joy to the World and the Bible verse we will be meditating on is Luke 2:10:
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Let’s listen to the lyrics of Joy to the World:
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every 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 Savior 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.

The lyrics to this Christmas carol were written in 1719 by the prolific and well-known hymn writer, Isaac Watts. And, even though this became one of his most famous hymns, it was never intended to be a song, let alone a Christmas one! Instead, these verses were a poem included in a book of poems written by Watts. It wasn’t until Lowell Mason discovered the poem and set it to music that it became a song – and that was 100 years after it was originally written! Mason released the song at Christmastime and it quickly became associated with Christmas but the original inspiration for Isaac Watt’s poem wasn’t the birth of Jesus, but rather, Psalm 98. Listen to Psalm 98 and you will see how Watts would have been inspired to write Joy to the World.

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 his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
make music to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
let them sing before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.

The Lord has indeed worked salvation for us, through the birth and death of Jesus, our Savior. Jesus, who was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Joy to the world, the Lord, Immanuel, is with us. He is King over all – over all people, over all nations, over the earth. And yet he is up close and personal – our personal savior, walking with us. Joy to the world, joy to the earth, joy to us – our savior reigns!

Listen to Luke 2:10 again:
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Now take some time to let the words and meaning of this song, and the words of Luke 2:10 sink deep into your heart and soul.

You are now at the halfway point of your walk. If you need to be back in 10 minutes, this would be the time to turn around and head back.

The second half of our walk is an opportunity for reflection, meditation, and prayer. For many of us, myself included, this might feel challenging. But the spiritual rewards of developing this discipline are great and so is the power of the Holy Spirit to help us. So let’s start with some questions to guide you followed by a short interlude for reflection.

One of the verses says:
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,
How does it make you feel to know that one day Jesus will make this verse will be a reality?

In today’s verse, it says that the good news, which is the gospel, is for all the people. Yet we know that not all people accept Jesus’ birth, life, and death as good news. Take a little time now to pray for all the people who have not yet accepted the good news. Pray that their hearts and minds would be open to the gospel message.

Psalm 98 starts with:
Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things
Take some time to thank Jesus for all the marvelous things he has done for you.

Now let’s listen again to today’s verse one more time Luke 2:10:
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Is there anything else you would like to talk to Jesus about? Remember, he is right there with you, walking with you, and he is eager for you to share all that is on your heart and mind with him. Take some time to talk to and to thank Jesus now.

Now I am going to pray for us:

Dear Jesus,
Truly your birth meant joy to the world and joy to your image bearers. Thank you for the wonders of your love, a love for us that is so great that you would die to redeem us. That is a wonderous love! Jesus, we pray for those who have filled their hearts with the love of worldly things. Let them consider your love for them when they hear this Christmas carol. We pray that they would open a piece of their heart to let your peace enter. Jesus, please remind those of us who are walking with you, who have accepted you as their Lord and Savior, to sing for joy over the most amazing and costly gift we will ever receive – the gift of our salvation. Thank you, Jesus, and thank you for always walking with me. Amen.

Well, you did it! Another 10 minutes of walking and another opportunity to build the spiritual discipline of prayer and quiet time with the Lord. I’m grateful for you and I’m grateful you took the time to walk with me today. But more importantly, you walked with Jesus, the one who reigns over all.

For more Walk with Jesus resources, including the Walk with Jesus 21 day scripture, devotional, and guided prayer journal book for walkers, go to WalkwithJesusDevotional.com. You will find the URL for the show notes for this podcast in the episode description. The show notes will include a video of the carol, Joy to the World.

I hope we can walk together again tomorrow, friend. We will be learning about the carol, O Holy Night. Until then, God bless you as you walk with Jesus.