The Music of Christmas

Psalm 98

¹ Sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him.
² The Lord has made his salvation known
    and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
³ He has remembered his love
    and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
    the salvation of our God.

⁴ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
    burst into jubilant song with music;
⁵ make music to the Lord with the harp,
    with the harp and the sound of singing,
⁶ with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
    shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

⁷ Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,
    let the mountains sing together for joy;
⁹ let them sing before the Lord,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples with equity.

Throughout the month of December, we will be looking at the music of the Christmas season. The above Psalm served as the basis for the familiar, "Joy to the World."  While that will be the first of the Christmas songs we look at this month, the discussion for its meaning, motivation and application will come in tomorrow's blog. 

Every 2-3 days between now and Christmas we will be recognizing a different Christmas carol.  My studies have brought me to appreciate many of the older and long forgotten songs, and we will look at a few of those along the way;  some are dating back to the 1400's.   We will also see the music of the Christmas season through the lives of people who lived in places where  the celebration of Christmas was outlawed. And we will examine many of the Scriptures which are the motivation for the music writers. 

Plan on joining us often in December as we study and pray together during this special season, and learn how to better relate the Christmas story to others.   God bless. 

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