Joy to the World wasn’t originally written as a Christmas carol. It had nothing to do with Christmas at all and it wasn’t even written as a song. The well-known carol wasn’t a song until 100 years after it was penned as a poem.
In the 1700s, an English minister named Isaac Watts wrote a poem based on Psalm 98.
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous songs and sing praises! Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!
Even though Joy to the World was originally a poem, Watts did write many hymns. One you might know is, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. Is is said that Watts always had a knack for rhyming. Once, when he was young, he was asked why he had his eyes open during prayers, to which he responded:
A little mouse for want of stairs ran up a rope to say its prayers.
He was punished for this, to which he cried:
O father, father, pity take And I will no more verses make.
While Watts is appreciated today, during his life he was considered by many to be a disturbance of the status quo. He grew up in a time when church music was only sung scripture. Watts found the practice monotonous. His dad challenged him that if he struggled with the songs they sang at church, he should do something about it. Watts took this advice to heart and spent his life writing poems and hymns that reminded Christians of the hope and joy we have in Jesus.
More than a century later, the second half of Watt’s poem was slightly adapted and set to music to give us what has become one of the most famous of all Christmas carols. The poem made song remind us of the joy that Jesus brought that very first Christmas.
Spend a few minutes listening to Joy to the World today. As you do, allow God to fill you with his joy this Christmas season.