We’ll enthusiastically worship through giving today as the orchestra plays “Joy to the World!” If you think the arrangement and presentation seems a bit “updated,” you should consider the songwriter’s original intent.

When Isaac Watts introduced his song, “Joy to the World” to the Church of Scotland in 1719, Thomas Bradbury was highly critical. He called Watts’ songs “whims” instead of “hymns” and accused Watts of thinking he was King David. At least he acknowledged the fact that Watts had based “Joy to the World” on this Scripture:

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises!
(Psalm 98:4)

Until Watts came along, most of the singing in British churches was limited to the Psalms of David, translated into poems that rhymed and set to rhythms for singing. Robert J. Morgan writes,

As a young man in Southampton, Isaac had become dissatisfied with the quality of singing and he keenly felt the limitations of being able only to sing the Psalms. So he ‘invented’ the English hymns.

He did not, however, neglect the Psalms. In 1719 he published a unique hymnal—one in which he had translated, interpreted, and paraphrased the Old Testament Psalms through the eyes of New Testament faith. Taking various Psalms, he studied them from the perspective of Jesus and the New Testament, and then formed them into verses for singing.

As he read Psalm 98, Watts pondered the real reason for shouting forth joyfully to the Lord—the Messiah has come to redeem us. The result, despite the now-forgotten criticisms of men like Bradbury, has been a timeless carol that has brightened our Christmases for nearly three hundred years.

As we worship together today, we are guided by the Holy Spirit to interpret the words of Scripture through the perspective of Jesus. Will our obedience to Him be mere “whim” or will our faithfulness make a difference for centuries yet to come?

Let’s take joy to the world . . . together!