Joy to the World, the Lord is Come has a specific meaning

Joy to the World, the Lord has come

Each year during the holiday season, a popular Christmas carol is Joy to the World. English Minister Isaac Watts penned the song in 1719. The Christian hymn is usually sung to an 1848 arrangement by American composer Lowell Mason.

Watts often wrote poems based on Old Testament scripture and connected them to Jesus Christ. This particular poem was set to music, but the lyrics are at times misquoted.

Perhaps you may have been singing: Joy to the World, the Lord has Come (past tense). Isa:ac Watts actually wrote: Joy to the World, the Lord is Come, Let earth receive her King.

Watts wrote the song to celebrate the second coming of Jesus Christ, which is why he wrote "is come" meaning He is coming again. Still, some interpret the lyrics as being an old English way of saying Christ has come.

Others say that at Christmas, the song can refer to both the fact that Jesus was born and that He will return. There are churches that sing Joy to the World on the first Sunday in the New Year to reflect that they are anticipating Christ's second coming.

How Great Our Joy to the people

Most people remain true to the original composition, although some sing it faster and more joyously than others. Phillips, Craig, and Dean tweaked the song with their recording of How Great Our Joy.

Mariah Carey did a rendition where she added the 1970 hit pop song Joy to the World by Three Dog Night. She changed the line "Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea to Joy to the people everywhere you see."

The lyrics are intentional

The tune of Joy to the World is attributed to George Frideric Handel, who is widely known for Handel's Messiah with the Hallelujah chorus. The lyrics are an interpretation of Bible scriptures Psalm 98:4 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord and Genesis chapter 3, which outlines the fall of mankind.

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.

2. Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns;

Our mortal songs employ,

While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains,

Repeat the sounding joy.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come

The first two stanzas certainly could be interpreted as about the birth of Christ, but the third and fourth offer a specific message.

3. 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.

4. He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of his righteousness,

And wonders of his love.

Christ was born more than 2000 years ago, but sin, sorrow, the curse, and thorns continue. Also, He is not ruling the present world, so these lines reference His second coming.

The third stanza speaks of sin, sorrow, thorns, and the curse, which are all present today. The fourth is the future tense when Christ is ruling the world.

Although Isaac Watts did not intend for Joy to the World to be a Christmas song, it has become one of the hymns, sung the most in churches, at pageants, and in holiday films and television programs.

Joy to the World warms the hearts of those who reflect on the virgin birth, on that Holy night. It also reinforces the faith of Christ followers, anticipating His second coming. This "Christmas hymn" can be sung on any Sunday in church and eery day of the year