The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength!

The Joy of the Lord is your strength!

Nehemiah records a most remarkable event in the life of Israel. The Jews had been in captivity in foreign lands due to their refusal to follow the Lord and instead chase after idols and live contrary to God’s character and design. Their lands had been taken from them, their temple destroyed and the holy city Jerusalem laid in rubble.

Ezra (a priest) and Nehemiah (a leader among the Jews) had returned to Jerusalem to oversee the rebuilding of the temple and the walls of Jerusalem. In Nehemiah chapter 8, the temple had been rebuilt and the people had just completed reconstructing the walls of the city under duress from enemies who constantly harassed them.

On completion of the walls, the people knew this was a historic and deeply significant event. So men, women and children gathered together in a large courtyard and asked Ezra to read from the Book of the Law of Moses in their hearing. Ezra read from early morning until midday. All the leaders of the people were present as well and the Levites helped explain to the people what Ezra was reading.

As Ezra unfolded God’s Word to them, the people worshiped God and began to weep and grieve over what they heard. The Book of the Law reminded them that their forefathers had heard the same words and had even witnessed the mighty acts of God. Yet they had disobeyed God and had suffered destruction, death and exile for their sin. The present reconstruction of the wall stood as a solemn reminder of the horrible sins and rebellion their forefathers had committed against God and the judgment they had received. It’s no wonder the people wept and mourned!

However, Ezra, Nehemiah and the Levites all encouraged the people not to weep and mourn, but to rejoice and celebrate God. Not only had God performed a great work among them in helping them rebuild the temple and city walls, but as Ezra read from the Law the people were also reminded of God’s great love, faithfulness and provision. They would have heard about how patient, loving and kind the Lord had been to their forefathers in the desert. They were reminded again of God’s grace and mercy in calling them his own people who had formerly not been a people. They were reminded of God’s faithfulness and power to provide and protect them. The Lord had manifested his presence among them through the pillar of fire and cloud and by his awesome works. (See Deuteronomy chapters 1-11.)

Consequently, Nehemiah encourages the people not to weep and mourn, but to celebrate what God had done and was now doing in and through them. Then Nehemiah declared, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) I believe the people’s grief sprang not only from remembering the evil their ancestors had done, but it reminded them of their own frailty and propensity to wander from God and rebel against him. And in response to their grief Nehemiah encourages them to find their strength in enjoying or celebrating in the Lord!

Enjoying the Lord—finding our joy in him—offers the only valid motivation for holy living and latches onto the only adequate power for life transformation—the Lord himself. The people took Nehemiah’s counsel to heart and celebrated the Lord. In their obedience they experienced great joy (Nehemiah 8:17) and their preoccupation and delight in the Lord led them to press into God even more and to confess their sins and to worship him fervently (Nehemiah 9).

By enjoying and delighting in the Lord the people rediscovered and proclaimed, “You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.” (Nehemiah 9:17) By seeking their joy in God as opposed to other sources, they turned their hearts completely back to him, recommitting themselves to follow and obey him (Nehemiah 10).

How about you? Is the joy of the Lord your strength?

©2010 Rob Fischer