Joy to the World

Joy to the World, the Lord has come!

The lyrics to “Joy to the World” were written by Isaac Watts and the music was composed by Lowell Mason in 1839.  The words are based on Psalm 98 and the song is an expression of joy and celebration.  

Often sung in churches on Christmas Eve, it is a song of praise for the arrival of the Lord, Jesus Christ, who has come to save mankind from sin. This carol’s cheerful and upbeat melody makes it a favourite for carolers and is often sung at other holiday events as well. 

The lyrics echo the joy the Psalmist felt when he proclaimed “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth” or as the King James version says in Psalm 98 v 4, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth”. That’s what I tell my handbell ringers we are doing when we play bells for our church’s worship services.

The words of the carol are a celebration of the believers’ faith in the Lord and of their joy at His coming. The lyrics express the hope of mankind that the Lord will bring peace and joy to the world.  The song is also a prayer for all people to know the joy, peace and love that He brings to all people all over 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 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 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 wonder wonders of His love

As we neared the end of our rehearsal at St. Mike’s Health Centre we played two arrangements of Joy to the World.  The first one starts with the bells playing a descending scale.  We don’t dampen the bells as they are rung so the sound from each bell continues to ring.  This technique is called LV which means Let Vibrate.  

The second arrangement we kept the bells on the table and used mallets to strike each bell as we played the piece.  Playing the music this way is unique and we are able to play at a much faster tempo. It was great fun for both the ringers and the audience. 

Have a great day everyone.  May you spread joy to those in your world this Christmas season.

# living life abundantly  # published author  # travelling tuesdays