Common Good

Common Good

Back to The Incarnation and the Light for All Nations

Joy in the Manger

Christmas and EpiphanyThe Incarnation and the Light for All NationsWeek 5 · Day 3

Scripture References

Read First

Old Testament

Psalm 98:1-9

1 Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvellous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

2 The LORD has made known his salvation. He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations.

3 He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness towards the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Read 6 more verses

4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises!

5 Sing praises to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the voice of melody.

6 With trumpets and sound of the ram’s horn, make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.

7 Let the sea roar with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein.

8 Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together.

9 Let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

New Testament

Philippians 2:5-11

5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,

6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.

Read 4 more verses

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross.

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,

11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Thought for the Day

Psalm 98 calls the whole earth to sing a new song because the Lord has done marvellous things. Salvation is not kept private. It is made known; it is seen; it is celebrated. The rivers clap their hands. The hills sing together.

Paul, in Philippians, takes us to the deepest reason for such joy: Christ Jesus did not clutch at equality with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, humbling himself even to death. The manger is already pointing towards the cross: the same downward mercy.

Show 112 more words

So Christian joy is not mere seasonal brightness. It is the gladness of a King who comes low, and of a world that is being put right by humility. Joy and repentance belong together. We rejoice, and we learn to bend. We sing, and we learn to serve.

Pray today for those whose joy has thinned: the anxious, the grieving, the exhausted. Pray for leaders to serve without vanity, and for public life to be gentler because Christ has been gentle with us. Ask for the courage to bow the knee gladly. And let joy become obedience: not loud, but steady. A new song in the throat, and mercy in the hands.

Prayer Points

Respond
  • Lord, put a new song in your people, rooted in Christ’s humility rather than in mood.
  • Comfort those who are grieving or anxious; give joy that can survive darkness and delay.
  • Teach leaders in public life to serve without pride, mirroring Christ’s downward mercy.
Show 2 more prayer points
  • Turn the Church from performance to praise: honest worship, truthful witness, quiet generosity.
  • Teach me to carry joy as obedience, letting it shape my patience and my mercy.
Continue Reading Journey