Let All Creation Sing Series

Historically, we know that not everyone was joyful when Jesus was born. King Herod was anything but joyful when the magi from the east enquired about the birthplace of a new king. To Herod, Jesus was a threat. Herod was already so paranoid about someone trying to usurp his throne that he had three of his own sons assassinated. He was not about tolerate a rival king … even an infant king.

In a similar way, a lot of people today reject Jesus as king. To them, Jesus is a threat to their individual freedom … their passions … their greed … their pride. Think of how different Herod was from the wise men. While Herod saw Jesus as a threat, the wisemen saw Jesus as a gift and they came to worship Him. When the world rejects Jesus as its king it is, in fact, rejecting the very joy that the world is searching for, amen?

So, I mentioned the difference between happiness and joy. What does joy look like? Well … watch a small child unwrapping Christmas presents, amen? They just vibrate with excitement, don’t they? They just can’t contain themselves. They tear those gifts open. Their faces light up. They squeal … they laugh … they shout … they run around the room. They show everybody what they got and they begin playing with their gifts immediately. Is that how Christmas makes you feel? Not because of the gifts wrapped in brightly colored paper but the gift that is wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger? Not because of the presents under the tree but because of the gift that hung on a tree? Psalm 98 is just bursting with music and praise! Watts’ hymn, “Joy to the World” is just bursting with joy. “Make a joyful noise, all the earth; break forth in joyous song and sing praises” (Psalm 98:4). “Let all their songs employ … and heaven and nature sing” (stanzas 2,1).

Do you remember why Isaac Watts wrote hymns like “Joy to the Word”? “To see the dull indifference, the negligent and thoughtless air that sits upon the faces of a whole assembly while the psalm is upon their lips might even tempt a charitable observer to suspect the fervency of their inward religion” (The Golden Age of Hymns, Ibid.). Does his observation still apply to us today? When we sing and praise God together, do we see the dull indifference, the negligent and thoughtless air that sits upon the faces of our assembly while a song is upon our lips? Might the charitable observer suspect the fervency of our religion? If someone one were to take a look at our lives, could the charitable observer suspect the fervency of our love for Jesus? If we watched the way that you sang this morning, would there be a reason to suspect your love of Jesus? You don’t gotta jump out of your seat and go dancing down the aisle … but that would be great if you did. I’d love it. There are times when I want to bust into dance up here but I don’t because I don’t want to look like a spaz … which is a poor excuse for holding back my joy, amen?

We should be bursting with joy when we praise our Savior. As a Christian, you have more than enough reason to be filled with joy, amen? Pastor and author Timothy Keller has this wonderful advice to help us live in the joy that is found in the Bible. “Always live your daily life against the background music of joy” (Halloran, K. 100 0f the Best Timothy Keller Quotes. www.kevinhalloran.net; September 5, 2017). Isn’t that beautiful? “Always live your daily life against the background music of joy.” Even in the darkest times, joy can be the background music of our lives because of our salvation and we have salvation because of our Savior, Jesus Christ.