Joy to the World - Far as the Curse is Found

[Michael V. Frazier]

Recently, I noticed something very interesting while listening to a local religious radio station. With the unending Christmas carols, I heard four different renditions of Joy to the World, as performed by different artists, in the space of one hour alone. What was interesting is that none of the artists ever sung the third verse. They all played the first and fourth, and only one included the second verse, but every one of them skipped the third verse entirely.

For the sake of illustration, I'm including all the verses:

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.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, 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,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

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,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

I began to ask myself why they all would skip the third verse. Many people would probably say the verse was skipped in order to shorten the length of the song. But, if true, why sing the first verse several times in repetition? Others may say that the third verse seems a bit depressing, and the Christmas season should be joyful and festive. Aye, 'tis true! But why should we be festive?

The third verse is the primary point of the entire song. The reason we should have JOY is because of what Jesus sought to remove by coming: the Curse.

Genesis 3:14-19
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [shall be] to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.

Rom 8:18-22
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature [creation] waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature [creation] was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected [the same] in hope, Because the creature [creation] itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

All pain, suffering, disease, difficulties, and death in the world are a result of Sin. But thanks be to God Almighty that He sent His Son into the world to remove the Curse of sin. If you sing this carol this Christmas season, please be sure to sing the third verse!