One of the greatest Christmas carols involves the contributions of three men, with the first two working independently of each other. The first was the great 17th-century British hymn writer Isaac Watts. The second was the great 18th-century German-British composer, George Frideric Handel. The third was an American musician who later married a poem by Watts with music by Handel and gave us one of our most beloved Christmas Carols, “Joy to the World.”

Many years ago, I went to England to videotape some things for Christian television. In London, because of the town’s history, they have blue circles (about a foot in diameter) in front of various buildings to commemorate famous residents.

Well, there were two buildings in one neighborhood, side by side, and they had two separate blue circle plaques. One of them said that composer George Frideric Handel lived here from 17-such-and-such to 17-so-and-so. And I became very excited. “Wow. This is so great.”

My camera crew then said, “Look! In this building, guitarist Jimi Hendrix lived from 19-such-and-such to 19-so-and-so.” And I was like, “Who cares? We’re talking about Handel here.” And they said something to the effect, “Who cares? We’re talking about Jimi Hendrix here.”

Well, different strokes for different folks. Tastes differ. But we all know I was right. (Smile.) Handel not only wrote the music for “Messiah”and other great classic works, but long after his death, one of his pieces of music was used for the great Christmas carol “Joy to the World.”

Years ago, I had a good Sunday school teacher, Dr. Greg Forster. He earned his Ph.D. at Yale. His doctoral thesis was on John Locke, a political writer who was very influential to the Founding Fathers, such as Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. Greg became a Christian while doing his Yale thesis on Locke’s book “The Reasonableness of Christianity” because of Locke’s pro-faith arguments.

Long after Forster left South Florida, he wrote an article called “Joy FOR the World: Five Lessons about this famous Christmas Carol, Joy TO the World.”

Dr. Forster writes: “Did you know that ‘Joy to the World’ was not written as a Christmas carol? In its original form, it had nothing to do with Christmas. It wasn’t even written to be a song.”

The psalm that became the basis for “Joy to the World” is Psalm 98, which contains nine verses – focusing on praising God, including praise due Him from nature itself. The Psalm in the King James commands: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. … With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.”

Charles Spurgeon, the great 19th-century preacher from England, said this is a coronation psalm and applies to Christ the King.

Spurgeon added that we see here, “Nature at worship. The congregation is vast – sea, earth, rivers, hills.” We have “the song of the sea, and the hallelujah of the hills.” (“And heaven and nature sing …”)

Prior to Isaac Watts, the Protestant churches usually just sang the words from the Psalms. Watts used the psalms as springboards for further praise to God.

In his book “O Come, Let Us Adore Him,” author Robert Morgan says that Isaac Watts virtually “invented” the English hymns. “He did not neglect the Psalms. In 1719, he published a unique hymnal – one in which he had translated, interpreted, and paraphrased the Old Testament Psalms through the eyes of New Testament faith. He called it simply ‘The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament.'”

Isaac Watts’ poem in this book, based on Psalm 98, provided the words for “Joy to the World.” Morgan adds, “Watts interpreted this psalm as a celebration of Jesus’ role as King of both his church and the whole world. More than a century later, the second half of this poem was slightly adapted and set to music to give us what has become one of the most famous of all Christmas carols, ‘Joy to the World.'”

In the early 1800s, a Boston musician named Lowell Mason adapted the tune “Antioch” by Handel to the words, again, of the second part of Watts’ poem based on Psalm 98. And thus, the beloved Christmas carol, “Joy to the World” was born.

One writer noted, “The lyrics, focusing on Christ’s reign and salvation, became popular at Christmas, though they speak more of His Second Coming than His Nativity.”

Giving thanks to God helps lead to joy – despite the circumstances. G.K. Chesterton once observed: “When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?”

Christmas is a time of joy – and this beloved hymn captures that joy well. Merry Christmas!