Let every heart prepare Him room

"Joy to the World" (Isaac Watts)

"Joy to the world, the Lord has 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 or 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, and wonders, of His love."

Dear Mrs. Kurtz
    As always, I really appreciate your posts and find them to be very thought-provoking. In the most recent post, you provided some questions which I'd like to give some thought and try to respond to them.

How far is the curse found? What examples could you add to my list?
     The curse is all around us. There is hurt and struggle that doesn't seem to go away. Like you referenced in Genesis 3:17, Adam's sin led to God cursing the ground, which is all-encompassing. Failure, heartbreak, pain, loss...all of it falls under this category.

How can my sin affect others; isn't it only mine?
     Um, I'm not certain on this. I guess if I sin it can become a bad example for other people? This is seen in Genesis when Eve sins and leads Adam to do so too. 
I think that there are a lot of other answers to this; do you want to give it some more thought? Consider other effects of their choice to sin; how did Adam and Eve affect their children, grandchildren, all of mankind? Here are some other passages to consider as well: Joshua 7, 2 Samuel 24, Nehemiah 9, Galatians 6,

Can't I undo the effects of my sins by making things right with the people I hurt?
     Sin can't be "undone" except through Jesus. Your reference to Romans 8:1-2 explains that perfectly. We are freed from death for our sins ONLY through Jesus. It's not something I can fix myself.
Sin can only be cleansed though the blood of Jesus, the most precious and costly sacrifice. Yet the effects, or consequences, of sin sometimes remain, even though the sin is paid for/forgiven. Is there any sure way to escape the consequences of my sin? 

Do I experience joy at Christmas? If I do, Who/what is the source of my joy?
     I do enjoy Christmas and seeing my family and friends. I find joy in quality time with my family especially since I don't get to see them often. I love doing crazy things and going on adventures with my cousin and making (more like eating) Christmas cookies, and having some of the best late night conversations.
How should our knowledge that a Savior has come into the world impact our Christmas? Do we experience joy because of God's great mercy and favor?

How should I respond? (this is a good time to take another look at the song: it calls us to respond in multiple ways)
     There are many parts of the song that call for a response. The first thing that came to mind was, "Let every heart prepare Him room". I can surrender to Him, making "room" for God in my heart, a place once filled with sin. I think this line is very important, but I am confused; I'd like to hear your thoughts on its meaning.
How can I prepare room for Him in my heart? What does this mean? A relationship with God is meant to be that: a relationship. To look at God impersonally, to look to Him for salvation outside of a relationship with Him, is to treat Him with disregard and contempt.

Here are a few passages to consider:

Genesis 4:6-7 "'Why are you so angry?' the Lord asked Cain. 'Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master'." (It's my contention that Cain's heart had only room for sin, not God. See what you think, but remember to read the entire chapter as context.)

Exodous 7:22 "...So Pharaoh's heart remained hard. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted." (The Exodus narrative extends over several pages; it's worth reading all of it to see the context, note particularly how people respond to God.)

Joshua 24:23 "'All right then,' Joshua said, 'destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel'." (the context here is Joshua 23 and 24)

1 Kings 11:2-3 "The LORD had clearly instructed the people of Israel, 'You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.' Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the LORD." (keep reading the chapter; see what happens)

2 Chronicles 16:9 "The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." (This comes in the middle of a difficult passage; read about Asa and whether or not his heart was prepared for the Lord.)

Psalm 36:1 "Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all." (Ouch! Remember to read the rest of the Psalm.)

Psalm 78: I can't quote a particular passage from this one; you'll just have to read it and discover the truths as a whole.

Isaiah 29:13 "And so the LORD says, 'These people say they are mine. They honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. And their worship of Me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote."

Isaiah 66:2 "...I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at My word."

Jeremiah 3:22 "'My wayward children,' says the LORD, 'come back to Me, and I will heal your wayward hearts" 

John 8:36-37 "So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill Me because there's no room in your hearts for My message."

Ephesians 3:14-19 "When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources, He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."

Ephesians 4:17-19 "With the Lord's authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against Him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity."

Hebrews 3:12-13 "Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still 'today,' so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God."

1 John 5:21 "Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts."


Dear friend,
     This post may be a bit upside-down: my greeting is at the end. Your responses and questions seemed more important, so they lead the way. I hope that these follow-up questions and passages help. There are a ton of passages we can consider for "let every heart prepare Him room," and though my list is long, it is incomplete (but it will get you started).

May you have time to dig, and joy in the discovery!

I leave you with a segment of another song with a similar phrase:

Heavenly Father, It is so easy to abandon You, and to harden our hearts. With the Scriptures in mind, we pray, there is room in my heart for Thee!