Listen

"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

Joy to the world the Saviour reigns

Let men their songs employ

While fields and floods

Rocks hills and plains

Repeat the sounding joy

Repeat the sounding joy

We will sing joy

We will sing joy

We will sing joy

Joy to the world

He rules the world with truth and grace

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness

And wonders of His love

And wonders of His love"

One snowy morning I sat down in the corner of my comfortable couch to spend time with the Lord. The Christmas tree was on, a soft, white blanket laid over my lap and music played quietly in the background. I looked out the window to see every snowflake taking the spotlight in the air. They were separately significant, extremely beautiful and gloriously captivating. I opened my journal and began to write:

 “You know every snowflake, every life on this Earth, every moment in time and every thought in our minds. NOTHING is hidden from you; nothing is unknown to you. There is great beauty in your sovereignty. You hold it all in your hands.” 

Truly I was overwhelmed by the majesty of that simple moment in my living room. Little did I know, my prayer was accomplishing what the Lord said to do in the Psalm I planned to read that morning: 

“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth… Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.” 
Psalm 34:1, 3

The word “magnify” drew in my sight like a light I desperately needed in the darkness. As I often do, I looked up the word in the dictionary and applied it to the context. To “magnify” God means to make him greater in esteem and respect, to increase his significance. (Read that again.) I knew right away that God doesn’t need us to do this, but he wants to, and he does. Jesus said in Luke 19:40, “I tell you, if they (we) keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” It wasn’t stones crying out that morning, but intricate, white, radiant snowflakes. Think about it: “simple” condensation from the sky that God himself made, led me to worship and adore the Lord of the universe, and love him even more than I did moments before.

Immediately, as if it were the next song filling my apartment, a lyric came to my heart in a way I’ve never thought about it before, 

“Let Heaven AND nature sing.”

This lyric, of course, is from the famous carol “Joy to the World”, written by a man named Isaac Watts. He wrote it along with other pieces to be placed in a book of poems. His goal was to illuminate the truth of Psalm 98, that Jesus is King over the whole world.

“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! ...make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!” 
Psalm 98:4-6

As I sat in awe of this lyric, I noticed that the study notes in my Bible referenced Luke 1:46-47. Someone else had a song to sing: Mary, the mother of Jesus. She sang,
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
Luke 1:46-47

“Magnifies”. How beautiful it was to see that word again.

Leading up the days of her son, her God, her Savior’s, birth Mary magnified God. She didn’t keep quiet. She joined in with a new song for Heaven and Earth to sing. As should we. Right where we are. Even in the comfort of our own living room.

Let us recognize the joy of this world is that Jesus has come.
Let us receive our King.
Let us prepare him room.
Let Heaven and nature sing.