Strengthened By the Joy of the Lord

If you are a regular Bible reader, your list of favorite verses continues to grow. I had a preacher-friend who, when asked the identity of his favorite verse, had a standard reply: "Whichever one I am preaching on this Sunday." One of my favorite verses provides the foundation for what I am writing about in this posting. It is the last sentence of Nehemiah 8:10: "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." What you are about to read would make a lot more sense if you opened your Bible and read the entire eighth chapter of Nehemiah.

The setting for this event is at the Watergate. Nehemiah proves that a great deal can be accomplished in a short period of time - in this case a little over two months. When he arrived in Jerusalem, he found a city and its people in great trouble and disgrace (this is, the absence of grace) and the wall and gates of Jerusalem in ruins.

Fifty-five days later, the walls were rebuilt and the gates were in place. Nehemiah had brought an amazing security renewal, political renewal and social renewal in the span of two months. But one major - and the most important - area that needed renewal and revival was still in critical condition.

Disgrace and the accompanying joylessness had the people in the doldrums. Nehemiah, being an astute follower of the Lord, knew that reforms without a solid spiritual underpinning would be very short lived. So plans were made for a very unique spiritual gathering. In fact, try this today and see how few attend.

A high wooden platform was constructed and the notice went out to the people, calling them to be in attendance by sunup (approximately 6 AM) on the first day of the next month. For six hours - until noon - Ezra, Nehemiah and the Levites read and explained the Word of God to the people. They made the Word of God clear be giving the meaning so that the people could understand its contents.

Up until that event, the Bible had been neglected, God had been put on the shelf and spiritual matters received only scant attention. This is a certain recipe for disgrace, joylessness and living in ruins.

At Watergate, the Spirit quickened the hearts of the people be initiating the response of repentance. Repentance is realizing that we are going our way (which is opposite of God's way), crying our to God for forgiveness and then making a U-turn by taking the beginning steps of active obedience. This first day ended with the Levites encouraging the people by saying, "This day is sacred to the Lord. Do not grieve, for he joy of the Lord is your strength."

On day two - the second day of the month - there was another gathering much like the day before. No music, no congregational dinner. Simply meeting to give careful attention to God's Word. They discovered that for generations they had been neglecting a festival commanded by Moses. We know it as the Feast of Booths. Immediately, the people went into action and obediently did exactly what they had just heard from God's Word. The episode ends with this telling postscript: And their joy was very great.

From centuries of disgrace and joylessness to very great joy in less than a week.

It really is very simple. However, for one very important reason, we have made the search for joy very difficult. No we have made it impossible. We are reaching for something that does not exist: The emotion of joy.

Joy is not an emotion. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. The main nourishment that we need for this fruit to grow and develop in our lives is the Bible. Read it, study it and put it into practice and joy will be yours. And along with joy, the Lord provides a hefty dose of spiritual strength that each of us weaklings desperately need.