SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 19 OF 22: JOY TO THE WORLD (ADVENT OF, YOU GUESSED IT, JOY)

At Arlington Avenue Baptist Church, Indianapolis, IN

Joy to the world! The Lord has come!

Let earth receive her King!

Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,

And heaven and nature sing!

Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns!

Let men their songs employ!

Let field and flood, rock hill and plain

Repeat the sounding joy!

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.

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The wonders of His righteousness 

And wonders of His love.

NOTES ON THE HYMN

• I know. I didn't do the repetitions of the last line of each verse. Sorry.
• One of the best known songs of the Christmas season, but this actually is an advent hymn. In fact, it's based on Psalm 98 and is focused on the 2nd Advent (Christ's return) rather the 1st Advent (Christ's birth). 
  
• The third week of Advent is the Advent of Joy. So I spent a lot of time trying to decide which song would be most appropriate. A who tenth of a second. 
• I started this series with a Watts song. Time for another one. The only other author I had repeated was Charles Wesley. 
• By the way, did you know the music was written by George Frederick Handel? (I just saw a picture of him; to me, he looks like he'd fit in a hard rock band.) The music was adapted from the Messiah.
• The meter is the common meter (8,6,8,6). By the way, the other Watts song in my series - "Am I a Soldier of the Cross?" - is also common meter. So 
  

BEING READY

 

One theme that was prominent in the '70's and early '80's in Christian music was the soon return of Christ. One case in point is looking at four albums that came out probably in an 18 month window: "Get Ready" by the Darrell Mansfield Band, "Are You Ready?" by David Meece (pictured above), "Get Yourself Ready" by Nancy Grandquist, and "Make Me Ready" by Farrell & Farrell.

 

All four of these have a title track; Mansfield and the Farrells start off with it, Meece's is the first song on the 2nd side, and Nancy's is the next to last song. (Yes, this is in the day of LPs and Cassettes, when CD's only existed at banks.)

Forty years after listening to these albums I used to have (we got rid of our record player and records before vinyl came back in style), something hit me about these four title tracks - they each have a different emphasis.

 

Mansfield's song issues a wake up call; the rocking lead guitar on the intro helps establish the fact. The singer points out that we need to be aware of the times we live in and ... Ooo-ooo-ooo, GET READY!

Meece takes a different approach with his pop song. While Mansfield's tune has the gentleness of a hell-fire and brimstone street preacher, Meece sounds more like a friend, taking you aside and asking you, "ARE YOU READY?"

But how does one get ready? Or how do you know how you'd answer the question "Are you ready?" This is where the 1981 pair of songs focus.

Nancy Grandquist has been one of my favorite singers since I discovered her "Somebody Special" project in '79. It was years later that I learned she's Apostolic. There are several distinctives in that group, but one that is relevant: they hold that you can lose your salvation. Thus, they'll state as a Christian you need to endure, be vigilant, be sure your heart's right, and GET YOURSELF READY.

 

My memory could be wrong, but I remember Bob Farrell stating he was Baptist; maybe on their live album "Let The Whole World Know?" Or perhaps an interview I heard on the radio? In any event, Farrell & Farrell don't focus as much on our responsibility in our Christian life as on God's working in our life and transforming us. Or to put it in different words, it is Christ dwelling in me and conforming me to His image Who will keep me steady and MAKE ME READY.

As I mentioned, those albums came out two score years ago. Is it my imagination, or is there less focus on the imminent return of Jesus Christ for His church in Christian teaching in general and in Christian music in particular? 

Sunday, October 9th, Dr. Jeremy Couture at Northside Baptist Church preached on Daniel 5 (Belshazzar's feast, the writing on the wall), and warned against the sin of presumption. We presume that when things take a downward turn, there will be a future upward correction. Politically, when the bad guys gain power, we look forward to the next election to set things right. But are we guaranteed smooth sailing? Is there a point of no return? Will there be a point where the doors protecting the American Church from persecution will collapse?

ARE YOU READY? If not, I suggest you GET READY! GET YOURSELF READY by repenting of sins (including passivity, presumption, and laziness), and seek God's help to MAKE YOU READY.

NOTE: I originally had the photos arranged in a nice 2x2 square on the top, but the pictures disappeared. So I reposted them, but couldn't get them back into the cube. Oh well.