Yesterday, I was driving around, running a million and one errands. I had Christmas music playing on Pandora, and heard several versions of Joy to the World throughout the day. There is always one phrase in that song that gets me, and I knew that’s what I wanted to write about this morning. However, when I sat down to write, I had the nagging suspicion that I’d already written about it. So I looked, and sure enough, I’d written about it exactly a year ago. Since it’s precisely what I wanted to say, I’m going to revisit this piece and hope that it will speak to your heart either for the first time, or all over again!
After quiet descended on my house yesterday, and I straightened up and put away baby equipment and toys, I collapsed into a chair next to the fire and did pretty much nothing. I watched some favorite movies with Maddie and Kevin, then grazed through leftovers and soaked in the calm.
One of the movies we watched was The Family Stone. A long-time favorite, it never gets old. However, this time, there was a scene between Sarah Jessica Parker and Luke Wilson that stood out to me. They are together, just being quiet, when she starts to hum Joy to the World. She broke into actual words on one of the verses, and when she was done, he was struck by the same thing I was. One phrase, which he said out loud to himself, in wonder.
Repeat the sounding joy
I kept repeating it to myself over and over, and woke up with it still tumbling around in my mind this morning. I decided to look it up in context…
Joy to the earth, 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, repeat, the sounding joy.
Are we employing our songs, singing out the joy in our souls to anyone who will listen, so that even the mountains repeat our sounding joy?
And more, are we repeating the sounding joy of others, when we hear it?
The Savior reigns, my friends. It’s cause for jubilant song and emphatic echos.
Joy to world, indeed.
“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:12 ESV
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:6 ESV