Let every heart prepare Him room

Isaac Watt’s grand hymn: Joy to the world. The Lord is Come! is one of my favourite Christmas songs. In the opening verse of his song Watts makes a powerful call for all of us to prepare room in our hearts for the birth of Jesus.

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
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.”

As Advent begins, how will we make space for the Lord? 

What have you found helpful in your spiritual journey?

Living in Grace

D3LM3

O God, our help in ages past

The words of this beautiful song remind us of God's faithfulness in the past and his promise to help us in the future. Jesus is our hope for an uncertain tomorrow. I am convinced that Isaac Watts would have only penned these words if he had experienced this truth in his own life.

O God, our help in ages past,
  Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
  And our eternal home.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while life shall last,
And our eternal home.

May these words offer you hope and help today.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Joy to the World

Three hundred years old! That is how old the song Joy to the World is. That's incredible!

Written in 1719 by Isaac Watts, this beloved song/hymn still echoes through our churches, schools and carol services across the planet. What is even more interesting is that apparently Isaac Watts didn't even write the words as a song at all. He was busy working on a poetic reflection of the Psalms and was trying to create a modern paraphrase of each Psalm. These were compiled into a book called "The Psalms of David". 

When Isaac read Psalm 98 he was inspired to write the words we sing today (mostly) and when you look at the Psalm in the light of his song, we can see the deep connection. 

Joy to the world, the Lord is come;
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.

One of the other interesting facts about Isaac Watts' work on the Psalms was that he was trying to read each Psalm in the light of Jesus Christ - the promised Messiah. This is why I love his words even more! As many of you know that was the title of one of my books (Jesus in the Psalms) - I am convinced that the words of the Old Testament become so much more meaningful when read in the light of Christ.

The Challenge for us this Advent is to 'prepare room in our hearts for the coming of Christ.' 

We can only truly sing that 'The Lord is come', if we have made a decision to treat Jesus as our Lord.

Thoughts?

Living in Grace
D3LM3

O God, our help in ages past

"O God, our help in ages past, 
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home." - Isaac Watts

It is wonderfully reassuring to know that God has been with us from the dawn of time and God will continue to be there for his people.

Let us find our rest in home of God.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

At all times

"Trust in him AT ALL times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him, 
for God is our refuge." - Psalm 62:8

I know that we find this hard, but the Psalmist urges us to trust in God through/in every situation. It is easier to follow God when we can see clearly, but it is so hard to trust God when things are tough. "At All Times" means exactly that ....

AT
ALL
TIMES

Remember that God doesn't change his character depending on how he wakes up in the morning - We can pour our hearts out to him because he is Faithful and just.

Sir Isaac Watts wrote: "Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks."

I am not sure if this was before or after he wrote this hymn:

"Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
Under the shadow of Thy throne
Still may we dwell secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure."

May we trust in God's grace and favour AT ALL TIMES.

Living in Grace
D3LM3