December 9, 2005

Have faith in God –
Not Cain’s, but Abel’s way;
Have faith in God –
And with thy faith obey;
Have faith in God –
For every need today.
Have faith, dear friend, in God.

Joy to the World

Isaac Watts, 1674-1748

    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. Psalm 98:4-9.

    Joy to the World! is a paraphrase of the last part of Psalm 98.
    Of course, this psalm was written with thoughts of the joy the chosen people Israel would have when their Messiah came, sharing ultimately with the whole world the joy of salvation. Originally a song of rejoicing for Jehovah's protection of the Church and the anticipation of the time when He would be the God of the whole earth, this psalm was intended by Watts to be a New Testament expression of praise. It exalts the salvation that began when God became incarnate as the Babe of Bethlehem Who was destined to remove the curse of Adam's fall. The text was originally titled "The Messiah's Coming and Kingdom" when it first appeared in Watts' hymnal of 1719. The music for this popular carol is from some of the phrases used in parts of George Frederick Handel's beloved oratorio, The Messiah, first performed in 1742.

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 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.

Have Faith in God by H.M.S. Richards, Used by Permission