Nehemiah 8.10 Nehemiah
said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who
have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy
of the Lord is your strength.”
In Psalm 29.11 David says: The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with
peace. Again, while meditating and singing, David said: Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so
disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my
Savior and my God. (Psalm 42.5) David seemed to understand two things: he
got troubled, and he trusted in God. The issued wasn’t that
he was troubled, the issue was what he did
with his troubles. David went to God to find strength in his troubles.
In Nehemiah 8, Ezra the Priest (the same Ezra as in the
Book of Ezra) read from the Law of Moses, and as he did, the people wept. Nehemiah,
the governor said the above: for the joy
of the Lord is your strength. David said the Lord gives strength to His
people; and Nehemiah said, the joy of the Lord is your strength. I see a common thread.
Is the joy of the Lord His strength, given to us? Or is
the joy of the Lord our strength in knowing Him and that He is ours and we are
His? As my friend Jim Stephens would say: Yes! It’s not either/or, but both/and.
The strength David sang of is the knowledge of God and
the presence of God in my life. The joy of the Lord providing strength to me in
my difficult days, or in times of sorrow and repentance is: God is pleased with me. God is joyful
over His people and that is our strength – if God be for us, who can be against
us? That’s a good question!
The people in Nehemiah were sorrowful when confronted
with the truth, comparing it to their conduct. That ought to happen – we ought
to be sorrowful when the truth reveals our rebellion. But, we ought also to be
glad that there is a remedy, and reconciliation, for us with God when we
confront our behavior and joyfully repent. There is an out for the repentant.
With God, there is one thing I think we struggle with: we can’t seem to understand how much He
loves us and how much He cares about our everyday lives: the good, the bad, and
the ugly. When we become aware of our sins and transgressions, we fully anticipate
God to club us for our actions. Has He ever?
When in your life has God ever beat you bloody over your poor choices? When in
your life have you?
You see, that’s the difference between God and us. God forgives,
rebuilds, restores; we on the other hand only expect the worst of consequences
and call it pay-back, or karma. God does love the sinner and desires he leave
his sin, finding joy and strength to overcome it in the joyful strength that
God loves him. The JOY of the Lord, is our strength. Our joy is built upon His
joy, and joyfully we accept His ways knowing He is always thinking of us first…
Father, today I
accept Your joy over me. Today, I find joy knowing You love me, care for me,
and have sent Your Son to die for me. As I go through my bouts of downcast
today, may I find strength in the knowledge of Your joy over me. Together we’ll
get through this…Amen.
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