JOY TO THE WORLD

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and glory are in His sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering and come into His courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for He comes, He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Psalm 96

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

This last weekend, I had the privilege to participate in my church’s Christmas Dinner Theater presentation. The choir did an amazing job and as I sat there between times when I was telling the play’s story I truly enjoyed revisiting songs that are so special to this time of the year, this time when we celebrate God’s greatest gift to mankind in Jesus Christ.

One of the hymns sang at the program was a classic, “Joy To The World” and the words of this song reflect the praising spirit of the psalmist who penned the 96th Psalm:

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.

Let every heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature sing.

Imagine how our world would change if we would just commit to these simple actions. Think about it. We truly would have joy come to our world, a world that today is full of so much danger and unrest and fighting. We would live in a place where everyone could embrace the sense of worship unto God detailed by this Word of God from the Psalms. Look one more time at this passage and see how it marries up with the rest of the Christmas hymn:

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.

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.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and glory are in His sanctuary.

No more let sin 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.

Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering and come into His courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.

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

Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for He comes, He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.

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.

O sing, all heaven and nature. Rejoice and be glad. Ascribe greatness to the Lord Most High. Proclaim and declare His glory, majesty, and splendor to all nations.

For great is the Lord and worthy of all of our praise. Through Him and only through Him can we truly find and experience joy in our world now and forever more.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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