Holiday songs and hymns bring joy to the world

CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

Come before Him with joyful songs.”

PSALM 100:1-2

There are many songs that I love to sing and hear throughout the

year, but at Christmas there are carols that I especially enjoy. I

like some more than others, and I can even tire of some of my

favorites after hearing them repeatedly in December. Besides all the

well-known Christmas carols, there are also wonderful hymns that I

love to sing throughout the year.

I read that in centuries past, singing hymns was an important way

to teach Christian truth to people who were mostly illiterate.

Hymn-singing was and is much more than a way to communicate

knowledge. It is a wonderful way to express our love and praise to

God, a deep way to worship our Heavenly Father.

One hymn I especially like is “Joy to the World!” Some carols seem

a bit slow and others have a range of keys that I can’t always reach,

but it seems that everyone perks up and participates joyfully in

singing that hymn.

I always thought that the song was a Christmas carol, but I read

that Isaac Watts based this famous song on the last half of Psalm 98,

which celebrates the coming of the Lord to judge the world in

righteousness. In that psalm, all creation is called to sing and

shout for joy at his coming. The hymn doesn’t specifically mention

Christ’s birth, but that doesn’t matter to me. It celebrates the

incredible involvement of God with his people, beginning at the

stable in Bethlehem.

God gave us an amazing gift then that is worth singing about and

celebrating throughout the year. I can’t even write about the hymn

without humming it. I am including the song, because the message is

powerful and the words are worth reading and rereading:

Joy to the world! The Lord is come;

Let earth receive her King;

Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room,

And heav’n and nature sing,

And heav’n and nature sing,

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.

Watts lived from 1674 to 1748. I imagine he would have been amazed

to know how much this hymn would be sung and loved.

Whether we sing this song at Christmas or other times during the

year, God has brought his joy to the world!

And you can quote me on that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks

frequently to parenting groups. She may be reached via e-mail at

[email protected] or through the mail at 537 Newport Center Drive,

Suite 505, Newport Beach, CA 92660.