Nehemiah 8:10, New Living Translation

“And Nehemiah continued, ‘Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!’”

Often times we hear the scripture reference “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” What is the joy of the Lord? How do we find this joy? There have been times when I was going through something difficult and thought, “Where is this joy of the Lord?!” It is important to look at the context of the scripture as you are reading and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you. 

“And Nehemiah continued, ‘Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!’” (Nehemiah 8:10, NLT)

Why was Nehemiah instructing the people to celebrate? This is inclusive to the joy of the Lord. The wall of Jerusalem and its gates had been destroyed. Nehemiah, having the favor of the Lord and the king in which he was cup bearer to, was able to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. He saw that the Israelites had once again sinned against God. After the wall was rebuilt, Ezra, the priest, was instructed to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses and read it to the people who had understanding. In verse 3 it says, “All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law.” The people responded by rising to their feet in awe and reverence to God and His word, chanted “Amen”, lifted their hands and bowed with their faces to the ground to worship the Lord. The people began to weep due to conviction of their sins against God by hearing the word of God. It was then that Nehemiah instructed them to celebrate, because the joy of the Lord was their strength.

What can we gain from this? Conviction is a form of correction. Remember last week we discovered the difference between punishment and correction. Punishment is seeking restitution for what was done wrong in the past. Christ, our Savior, took our punishment for us, becoming the perfect sacrifice for our sins so that we could be restored to right relationship with our Father. Correction is to change the future behavior… this is where the old us passes away and a new us is born, hence being born again. The people were convicted of their sins and wept. They understood that their actions were wrong. In gaining this understanding, they were learning who God was to them. They were allowing God to make the inward change necessary to be children of God. Hebrews 12:10-11 (NLT) says this, “...But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening–it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”

Where does this joy come from? It comes from knowing Christ. How can we know Christ but by reading, studying, and meditating on His word. John 1:1 (NLT) says, “In the beginning, the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word in this scripture is Christ. When we know Christ, we have joy. We can remain steadfast in our faith, even in the hard moments, because we know the hope we have in Christ and the steadfast love He has for those who love Him; we know His heart. If you are not spending time in God’s word to know Christ, it is going to be harder to stand against the storm when it comes.

Jesus gave us sound biblical truth in Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT), “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” We cannot go wrong if we are establishing ourselves on the foundation of Jesus Christ. “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18, NLT)

I pray that we would be intentional in knowing God our Father, Jesus Christ our Savior, and Holy Spirit, our friend that sticks closer than a brother. Through our intentionality, we would experience genuine love and be able to give genuine love, and to always keep our hearts soft before our Lord, allowing Him to make the changes necessary within us to be who He created us to be. I pray that we would truly know the Lord, and the joy of the Lord would be our strength. Amen.