Joy to the World
Isaac Watts · 1719 · tune ANTIOCH
Key of D · public domain
Words
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
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.
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders of His love.
The story
Almost everybody sings this in December and almost nobody notices that there is no stable in it, no shepherds, no star and no baby. Watts published it in 1719 in his book of psalm paraphrases, under Psalm 98, and the psalm is about the Lord coming to judge the earth while the floods clap their hands and the hills are joyful together. That is where the fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains come from. The coming Watts had in mind was the second one, not the first. The third verse gives the hymn away: no more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. Thorns in the ground is Genesis 3, the curse laid on the earth, and the line that follows says how far the remedy reaches. Far as the curse is found.
Chords in D
In the app you can move this to any key and it works out the capo for you.
Common questions
Who wrote Joy to the World? Isaac Watts wrote the words in 1719.
What tune is it sung to? ANTIOCH, set here in the key of D.
What scripture is it built on? Psalm 98.
Is Joy to the World free to use in church? Yes. The words are public domain, which means any church may sing them, print them in a bulletin, put them on a screen or record them, without asking permission and without paying anyone.
The psalm it came from
Joy to the World is Psalm 98 set to a tune. The psalm itself is here in full — King James, Berean Standard and Reina-Valera side by side, with a note on what it is doing and where it sits in the book.
Themes
Psalms · Praise · Christ the King