A Songwriters Study of the Hymn: Joy To The World! by John Bennett

Joy To The World! originally title The Messiah's Coming and Kingdom was written by Isaac Watts in 1719. His words were inspired by Psalm 98 in the Bible and is actually a song collaboration of over 100 years. The music was adapted by Lowell Mason an American church musician who used musical phrases from Handel's The Messiah within the song. ( I've heard of modern day songwriters lifting parts of other classical songs like in Dan Folgelburg's "Same Old Lang Syne" Listen to the first verse and compare the music to the 1812 Overture.) The overall theme of Joy To The World is all about the first and second triumphant coming to the Earth of Jesus Christ, God personally revealing Himself to the World! Let's take a look at the lyrics:

Joy To The World! originally title The Messiah's Coming and Kingdom was written by Isaac Watts in 1719. His words were inspired by Psalm 98 in the Bible and is actually a song collaboration of over 100 years. The music was adapted by Lowell Mason an American church musician who used musical phrases from Handel's The Messiah within the song. ( I've heard of modern day songwriters lifting parts of other classical songs like in Dan Folgelburg's "Same Old Lang Syne" Listen to the first verse and compare the music to the 1812 Overture.) The overall theme of Joy To The World is all about the first and second triumphant coming to the Earth of Jesus Christ, God personally revealing Himself to the World! Let's take a look at the lyrics:

Joy to the world, the Lord is come 

There was great joy at Jesus' first coming but at His second  coming not everyone will be joyful.  Only those who have accepted His offer of eternal life by His grace.  

Let earth receive her King 

He was declared King of the Jews by Pontious Pilate and given a crown of thorns. On His second coming He  will be declared the KING OF KINGS

Let every heart prepare Him room 

This is asking; Have you received Jesus into your heart? Have you made preparations of where you'll spend eternity?

The next 3 lines repeat to drive home that all of nature and Worship Jesus:

And Heaven and nature sing 
And Heaven and nature sing 
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

Angels in heaven worship the Lord Jesus. The Bible tells us that this worship has lasted from the beginning and will through all of eternity.

 

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns! 

The Bible tells us that when Jesus returns after the Tribulation  He will rule over all the nations of the whole World

Let men their songs employ 

I like this line. Our purpose as Christian songwriters is the mission to put our songs to work for the Kingdom of God! 

While fields and floods, 

Again we see that all of nature Worships God. The Bible 

rocks, hills and plains 

tells us that if we didn't worship Him that the rocks will.

Repeat the sounding joy 
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy

Even all of nature is joyful and will repeat joy for eternity.

 

No more let sins and sorrows grow, 

As Christians we are to grow spiritually and not carnally 

Nor thorns infest the ground; 

Jesus' parable of the sower of seeds Matthew 13:3-8 The seeds represent God's Word the thorns choke it out.

He comes to make His blessings flow 

As God's Word grows so do the blessings you receive.

Far as the curse is found, 
Far as the curse is found,

Far as, far as, the curse is found.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed  our sins from us. (when we receive Christ)

 

He rules the world with truth and grace, 

On His second coming He will rule over all the Earth. His judgment will be righteous and true. His grace will  forgive the sins of all those who accepted Him into their hearts.

And makes the nations prove 

We will prove our acceptance of Jesus by what's in our Hearts. We will bow down and worship who He is.

The glories of His righteousness, 

In Heaven and on Earth Jesus is Gloriously worshipped and is Worthy to receive all the Honor due to Him.

And wonders of His love, ​​​​​​​
And wonders of His love, 
​​​​​​​And wonders, wonders, of His love.

We cannot fathom the depths of His love for us. God  so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (to suffer death on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins) so that none would perish but have everlasting LIFE!  HALLELUJAH!

A SONGWRITERS STUDY OF "OH LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM"

A SONGWRITERS STUDY OF "OH LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM"

I was so inspired by Phillips Brooks' song OH LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM written in 1868, I wanted to do an evaluation of the song.   After Brooks visited the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, he wanted to write a song for the children's Christmas program at his church. He  was so moved my his experience in Bethlehem that he completed the lyrics in one evening. Then he asked his organist Lewis R. Redner to compose a melody that the children could sing.  On the evening before the program Redner woke up suddenly from a dream with the melody in his head and he quickly wrote it down.  A Hebrew word study of the meaning of the name of Bethlehem is a combination of two Hebrew words. Beth means the House and the Hebrew word Lehem means of Bread. The “House of Bread” [footnote 1]  Jesus is the one who said “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."

So, in reviewing the song I find such a glorious Christmas message beautifully phrased set within a perfect melody.  Here are my thoughts about the song:

1. O little town of Bethlehem          Talking to the town?  How interesting sets up next line
How still we see thee lie                  The set up is present day, the last note is not resolved
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep    Time passing peacefully with inner rhymes
The silent stars go by                         This last note resolves here before a melodic change
Yet in thy dark streets shineth                 A minor note here brings about sense of conflict
The everlasting Light                              This is line gives us a counter point to the darkness
The hopes and fears of all the years        Inner rhymes adding more conflict
Are met in thee tonight                            This resolution is an answer to the conflict

2. For Christ is born of Mary         2nd verse adds more to the plot that's set up by verse 1
And gathered all above                            Not clear but explained in next line
While mortals sleep, the angels keep       Humanity was not aware of God's plan
Their watch of wondering love                God becoming man was even amazing to Angels
O morning stars together                          Interesting line that the stars worship Him                            
Proclaim the holy birth                            Did the stars announce His Birth?
And praises sing to God the King           proclaiming the Holiness and future reign of Jesus
And Peace to men on earth                     This peace will come about in His future Kingdom

3. O holy Child of Bethlehem                Verse 3 addresses Jesus in the present day  

Descend to us, we pray                         Our only future hope that Jesus come again 

Cast out our sin and enter in                 This is the salvation prayer to be born again
Be born to us today                               The time is now to accept Christ as your savior
We hear the Christmas angels              We can still hear this message every year
The great glad tidings tell                      We also call tell others about Jesus
O come to us, abide with us                 Asking the Holy Spirit in is what it's all about
Our Lord Emmanuel                              His name is God with us 

                                                              Verse 3 is the culmination of the whole song

This is a fascinating further study on the name of Bethlehem
1.  Hebrew Word Study website

Prolific Songwriters

These songwriters have been very busy and prolific in using their creative gifts. I need to buckle down.

HYMN WRITERS
Isaac Watts 600 hymns 
Fanny Crosby over 2500 hymns
Charles Wesley 6,500 hymns 
Horatius Bonar wrote over 600 hymns 
William Howard Doane 2000 melodies for hymns
Daniel Brink Towner over 2000 hymns melodies

SECULAR WRITERS
Dolly Parton, who has written 3,546 songs (and counting)
Irving Berlin more than 1,500 songs, 20 Broadway shows.
Woodie Guthrie 25,000 songs [not a typing error]
Paul McCartney over 500 songs and cowrites
Rodgers and Hammerstein 900 songs and 43 musicals
Bernie Taupin well over 600 songs
Bob Dylan well over 500 songs

101 reasons why we write Christian songs.

A while back I posted on Facebook to give reasons why we write Christian Songs, hoping to inspire people to write more songs and attend songwriting workshops.  Here is a list on what people posted:

1.  For the Glory of God
2.  For private or personal worship
3.  To reach others through identifying with their situation
4.  To make a living to fund a ministry
5.  As an extension of our creative spirit
6.  As a legacy transfer to children and grandchildren in order to win them for Christ
7.  Something I needed to learn or hear that would benefit me. 
8.  For healing in times of need.
9.  To help memorize scripture for myself and my children and beyond
10. Write to process pain
11. To help strengthen our realization of core values and eternal truths 
12. To explore revelation and words given by God
13. For healing of marriages
14. To bring love to others
15. To help with romance
16. A private song for my ears only
17. To bring peace
18. To offer an alternative for what the world brings
19. Music therapy for the aged and afflicted
20. As a hedge against evil
21. As a prayer
22. As an art form
23. To deepen my relationship with God. Maybe others too.
24. The enjoyment of creativity.
25. Being able to thank God for the talent to do so.
26. To help lead others into worship
27. To help others be open to hearing the gospel message
28. To help change a life
29. To help stop a suicide [true story!]
30. Researching the song subject helps me to study the Bible
31. The excitement of coming up with a new idea or song title
32. Being able to look deeper into myself and life
33. The enjoyment of communicating connecting with others
34. Showing others who Jesus is
35. To serve as a ministry
36. Enjoying the beauty of Christian music and melody
37. Being able to enjoy the beauty of language and poetry
38. Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
39. Psalms 98:1 - (A Psalm.) O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
40. Ephesians 5:19 - Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
41. Psalms 40:3 - And he hath put a new song in my mouth, [even] praise unto our God: many shall see [it], and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
42. To be able to use my gift
43. To encourage people in going through hardships
44. To help people turn from sin
45. To assist people in recovery
46. To comfort those injured and with illnesses
47. To help with reconciliation
48. Out of loving obedience to His calling for us
49. In order to better realize the hearts of the songwriters of the Bible - to understand and see them as real people like us - Moses - David - Mary - Elizabeth.... heart-sisters, heart-brothers
50. Songs to tell stories , people in the bible or our heros
51. songs to express ourselves and our journeys. 
52. Testimonies to what GOD has done and is doing in our lives , other's lives and our families. 
53. Holy Spirit inspiration and being used as a vessel also is totally awesome!! grateful to be used I am 
54. To share with others what GOD has given to me. 
55. There is such joy and release in putting words, experiences, and emotions into an original song.
56. RESPONDING to His Love and Goodness.
57. Fullfilling your purpose in Him.
58. Because this is what we will be doing for eternity in our Heavenly Kingdom. [When we've been there ten thousand years. Bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's praise. Than when we've first begun.]
59. To reclaim music that was stolen by Satan. See Christian blues. Blues came out of Spirituals and R&B came out of Gospel.
60. To sing about the attributes of God.
61. As a question for God.
62. How my life was changed by God.
63. Attributes of living a Godly life.
64. Because singing a new song is what we shall do for eternity. What else can be better once we are in His presence?
65. That’s what I was born to do.
66. Because you love God
67. To declare Jesus Worthy
68.  As a witnessing tool.
69. To encourage discipleship
70. To direct people's attention toward God
71. To be inhabited by the Holy Spirit
72. To bring a fresh perspective to the listener.
73. To not put God in a box
74. To sing something completely new and different
75. To follow the commandment to love God.
76. To feed people on the Word of God
77. To declare God's greatness
78. As a way express our brokenness
79. To show a path towards healing
80. As a tool to change lives.
81. To reawaken the Church towards revival
82. For making melody in your heart to the Lord.
83. To express God's truth.
84. To help shape a wayward culture
85. To focus on a men's ministry
86. To focus on a women's ministry
87. To focus on a kid's ministry in Sunday school
88. To focus on a teen's ministry
89. To focus on a marriage ministry
90. To focus on Biblical prophecy
91. To focus on a particular Bible story
92. To focus on a Bible character or hero.
93. To promote Christian values
94. To bring someone peace and comfort
95. To help someone through grief
96. To bring joy to the downhearted
97. As a cry to God
98. To fuel a passion for God
99. To cause more love for God.
100. To write a three minute effective sermon
101. Practicing for when we finally go home to glory or are raptured. 

102. So we can glorify God along with the Angels of heaven in praise to God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
103. For help in Bible study
104.The pastor wants a song for in a coming sermon message
105. For help in evangelizing others
106.To write about a verse in the Bible
107. To study a sermon you've heard
108. As an Invitational song to bring people to the Lord
109. Inspired by a sermon or Bible verse
110. When you were suddenly moved by the Holy Spirit
111. When a song pops into your mind
112. To reflect God's greatness his love and holiness
113. Because you felt an impulse to write
114. Writing from a belief in God's promises
115. Because God revealed new wisdom and inspiration
116. Because something born in your soul compels you
117. Because I'm in emotional feeling or struggle
118. A problem that became God's opportunity to work for the good
119. Green on the Christmas story in the Bible message
120. Out of a cry to the Lord
121. Out of a poem you wrote
122. Out of trials
123. When you hear a still small voice whispering to your heart
124. Because a Co writer inspires us
125. When your mind becomes flooded with new songs
126. When you heard a statement in conversation when an idea drops out at you
127. When all seems lost and only Jesus can offer hope
128. To write a sermon within a song
129. To write a song as if we will sing it in heaven for eternityprovide a biblical      answer in time of need to someone who needs encouragement
130. to give a new insight in a refreshing way
131. to provide a vehicle for our fresh outpouring from God
132. to help revive A lukewarm church
to encourage evangelism
133. To help bring a rich harvest of souls

Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.