Lowell Mason satte musik til teksten i 1839. Masons musik bygger på en melodi, som tidligere blev tilskrevet Händel, da flere takter ligner musikken i Händels oratoriumMessias (forspillet til Comfort Ye samt indledningen til korsatserne Lift up your heads og Glory to God), men Händel er dog ikke ophavsmand til "Joy to the World".[2]
^The Psalms of David, imitated in the language of the New-Testament [Elektronisk resurs], and applied to the Christian state and worship. Together with Hymns, and spiritual songs, in three books. I. Collected from the Scriptures. II. Composed on Divine subjects. III. Prepared for the Lord's Supper. With indexes and tables complete. By Isaac Watts, D.D. [Six lines of Scripture texts] (engelsk). Printed at Northampton [Mass.]: by William Butler. 1799.
^FAQs Did Handel compose Christmas carols? (Webside ikke længere tilgængelig) Citat: "Joy to the World was not composed by Handel. The tune first appeared in the early 1830's in English tune-books. William Holford revised the tune and published it (which he called Comfort) in the mid-1830's and attributed it to Handel because of the tunes' resemblance to the opening phrases of the choruses Lift Up Your Heads and Glory to God from Messiah. The American composer Lowell Mason (1792-1872) in 1839 retained the attribution to Handel, changed the tune-name to Antioch, and united it with Isaac Watt's hymn [i.e., text] for the first time. Thus, Joy to the World was born."