The Joy of the Lord
Nehemiah 8:9-10
9 Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
NASU
The Joy of the Lord
(Neh. 8:9-12)
Intro:
A. It’s been a while since we were able to sing together. So I want you to you to do me a favor, act like a kid for a just a moment. Indulge me. You can do this, I promise. You know the song, but you have to do the part where you ask a question. Are you ready?
B. I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart? WHERE? Did you say it? It’s not difficult, you don’t have to worry about singing in tune, it’s one word. WHERE. Let’s try it one more time. I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart? WHERE?
C. Hopefully you have a smirk on your face if not a smile. The point of singing that song is to teach a lesson. That is that joy deep within, down in your heart, is here to stay for a reason. That reason is not because you are happy (even though I hope you are). It’s not because you can go to more stores than you were able to last week, or any other reason. Instead, it’s because you are filled with joy that comes from the Lord. That joy is the relationship that exists between you and God.
C. Jesus claimed the words of Isaiah when he began his ministry. After his baptism by John, Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, went to his hometown of Nazareth. He was given the scroll of Isaiah to read from in the synagogue, and there Jesus read (Luke 4:18-19). He rolls up the scroll and with all the eyes of the people fixed on Jesus says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Jesus came to set us free from the bondage of sin and the separation it left between God and us. Jesus came so that we would have joy down in our hearts.
D. Listen to Paul in Rom. 5:1-2. What Paul speaks of is what it means to have liberty after being captive, to have sight after being blind, and to have freedom after being oppressed.
I. Spiritual Renewal
A. There were three groups that returned from Babylon after the 70 years of punishment were over. The first was led by Zerubbabel about 537-536 BC. Eighty years past when Ezra led another group back around 457 BC. They brought back things for the Temple, but only a small amount of spiritual renewal took place. About 12 years after Ezra, a man named Nehemiah returned with letters from the King to help him rebuild the walls and with the combination of him and Ezra a much greater spiritual renewal took place in Jerusalem and Judea.
B. So here we are, about 160 year since Judah was taken into exile by Babylon, since the Temple was destroyed and its worship articles taken by Nebuchadnezzar, and since the religious zeal of the Jews was filled with joy. With that backdrop I want you to picture what happens.
C. Neh. 8 begins by telling us that all the people, men and women, all who could understand (that probably included children who were old enough to understand what Ezra was reading), came together and wanted to hear the voice of God expressed in scripture. They wanted to be the people they should have been in the days of the kings, but failed to be. Listen to Neh. 8:5-6.
D. I want you to connect with their emotions. They had not been to worship in a long time and worship held a deep emotional connection for them. They stood for reading and bowed in worship. They were overcome. Listen to vs 8. The Levites did some of what we would call “small group classes” right then with the people. This brings us to what was our reading today.
E. READ verse 9. The people were mourning and weeping as they once again became convicted by the reading of the Law of God. They were at the time of what we call “The feast of booth/tabernacles” and it was a time of celebration surrounding the harvest. Because of that Ezra and Nehemiah tell the people (READ vs 10). I love what took place, keep reading with me (READ vs 11-12). Worship drew them to God, and God drew them joy.
II. The Joy of the Lord
A. As Christians we have the joy that comes from knowing what God has done for you. Earlier, we reflected upon the peace between us and God because of Jesus.
B. The song is “I once was lost in sin, but Jesus took me in,” not “I once was lost in sin, and here I go again.” When I put on Jesus, when received from Jesus the grace that covers me, that removes sin from me, I find joy in my salvation. When God used an earthquake to break the chains of Paul and Silas in a dungeon prison in Philippi, the jailer wanted what Paul and Silas sang and prayed about. His question was simply, “What must I do to be saved?” When they spoke to him the word of the Lord, he has his household believed and were baptized. Then the Bible says these words, “and he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.” (Acts 16:34).
C. The wording used in Neh. 8:9 is that joy of the Lord is my strength. Some older translations say “is my refuge.” One aspect of the fruit that the Holy Spirit wants to produce in you is joy. God’s joy is seen in his love for you and me. The Hebrew writer would say concerning Jesus, “for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross.” The joy of the Lord is when you repent of your sin and walk in the light.
D. The parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin end by telling us about the joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. Yes, the joy of the Lord is my strength.
Conclusion:
A. When Nehemiah came to Jerusalem it was a place with broken walls and broken people. When Ezra read the word of God and the Levites explained it we hear these words (Neh. 8:17).
B. Let this be a day of celebration. Let today be a day when you share the good that God has given you with someone else. Enjoy the joy of the Lord and let it be what sustains and strengthens you.
Because of Jesus,
Jeffrey Dillinger, minister