Every Christmas, one of the favorite songs every year is “Joy to the World, The Lord is Come!” We celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus—who came to save us from sin.
Our focal passage this morning, Psalm 98, says in verse one:
1 Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. (Psa 98:1 ESV)
We celebrate Jesus—for the marvelous things he has done. Do you celebrate Jesus throughout the year? Or do you leave it for Christmas time?
Think about the marvelous things that he has done in your life. The times that he has rescued you from a death that was a few feet away, but you somehow escaped. What about the returning home after being deployed and knowing the emotion that comes from reunion with your family? What about the fact that even this morning, you woke up to see the next day? We take these little things for granted all of the time—we accept them as simply lucky coincidences that your truck got blown up but you were spared. Or that it is easy for you to return home to a family that is still intact. Or the fact that after all that has happened to you, and the heath issues that you may have been through that you can still wake up and see the beautiful El Paso sunshine.
Even as stressful as we have it here, sometimes you can hear someone mutter: “At least we aren’t getting shot at.” Even that it is something to be joyful for.
Psalm 98:2-3 teaches us that we need to be joyful because of our salvation!
2 The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. (Psa 98:2-3 ESV)
We talk about this salvation many times. And we need to talk about salvation over and over again. Salvation is central to the message of Christianity. Everything starts and finishes with this good news that:
…God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8 ESV)
This is central to Christianity—without this good news nothing stands. Without good news…the is no Christmas, because otherwise there is no point. Without this good news, there is no joy!
There are over seven and a half people on our planet today. What makes this child different? As John the Baptist said:
… “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (Jhn 1:29 ESV)
His death, burial, and resurrection makes him different.
The fact that he died on a cross for your salvation makes him different.
This fact makes us have joy.
Psalm 98:4-6 says:
4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! 5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD! (Psa 98:4-6 ESV)
We should take this to heart we need to celebrate him through our songs and through our praises!
I have been recently studying more and more the hymns of the church—time and time again I am amazed at the beautiful poetry that was created through these songs. We need to get back to this level of reflection and praise in our songs.
The end of verse five says “Sing Praises to the Lord…with the lyre and the sound of melody!”
The Oxford dictionary defines melody as “a sequence of single notes that is musically satisfying.” There is something special about a symphony of praise, when a masterpiece is written with all of the notes pulling together to form a beautiful melody—that is praise! That is why King George II stood up during the hallelujah chorus—because he was so moved by the music.
Psalm 98:7 says:
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! 8 Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together 9 before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity. (Psa 98:7-9 ESV)
We praise the Lord! He alone judges with righteousness and equity.
This is a key message for us to remember. Do you want your salvation based on your deeds? God knows your deeds. God knows all about you—even those things that are hidden from everyone else. Do you want your salvation based on those deeds?
Or do you want your deeds based on the death of Christ, who substituted himself in your place.
He judges, yes. But, he judges on his own payment. That payment is available to you, if you will accept it as your own.
Listen very closely to the words written by Isaac Watts:
1 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!
Let men their songs employ,
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
repeat the sounding joy.
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.
Do you have that joy in your heart today? It begins with understanding what this good news is. It begins with asking why are we so joyful?
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Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash