The hymn “Joyful, joyful, we adore thee,” #376, celebrates the manifestation of God’s love in his creation. This hymn has the power to drive away sin, sadness, and doubt.

            Joy is a major theme for God’s creation. Earth and heaven reflect the light with joy, and people are called to rejoice in God by all of God’s works.

            God is the wellspring of joy, the depth of rest. God is asked to teach people to love each other and to lift people to divine joy.

            All this rejoicing was conceived by Henry van Dyke, minister of Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, and professor of literature at Princeton. On a visit to Williams College in 1907, he presented the president with the text, saying, “Here is a hymn for you. Your mountains [the Berkshires] were my inspiration. It must be sung to the tune of Beethoven’s ‘Hymn to Joy.’ ”

            The Ode to Joy is, of course, from the finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Schilller’s text, used by Beethoven, had a heavier emphasis on joy than on God. Van Dyke’s text adapted its spirit to a Christian message.

            Making hymn tunes from great themes of master composers was a 19th century practice. In this case, Edward Hodges, organist of Trinity Church, Wall Street, adapted the theme as a hymn and published it in The Trinity Collection of Church Music in 1864.

            This hymn will be sung on September 14, so start warming up now! Get those pipes working again so the congregation can rejoice with all of God’s creation.