'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.”

Nehemiah 8:6-12

6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. 9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. 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.” 11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.” 12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

Today’s title is “The Joy of The Lord is Your Strength”

The gospel of the Lord changes people. It changes how we think and how we live. It also changes how we feel. So how do we feel when we receive the gospel of the Lord? It is not easy to simplify how we feel because feelings are essentially very subjective. Different people feel differently. But I believe there is still something in common. It seems to me that people’s feelings get generally deeper and more sensitive when we genuinely accept the word of God. We feel far greater regrets for our own sins. We also feel much deeper gratitude for God’s grace and love. We feel greater compassion for other people. We feel deeper and profound joy at the presence of the Lord. This is one aspect of the transformations that we go through as we take God’s truth into our hearts. Today’s passage shows the heated emotional response of the Israelites who rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem to the word of God proclaimed by Ezra. See the graphic descriptions of how they responded to the word of God. “Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen Amen” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” Just picture the crowd all lifting their hands and shouting Amen Amen. then bowing down and worshipping the Lord with their faces to the ground. At the same time, they were also all weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. They were all grieving for the sins of their own and their forefathers. These were all natural and voluntary outbursts of people’s feelings as they listened to the word of God. But the worship leaders such as Nehemiah and Levites told them not to grieve so much. 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.” There is nothing wrong in mourning and grieving about our own sins when the word of God is preached. But when there are much greater reasons to celebrate with joy and gratitude, we better hold mourning and grieving. I believe this principle also applies to the overall life of believers. We should repent and mourn for our own sins. But God doesn’t want us to stay in mourning forever. Rather He wants us to celebrate His love and grace that saved us from sin. He wants us to live more joyfully, thankfully, and prayerfully than sorrowfully. How much joy and strength are you receiving daily from the word of God? As Nehemiah said, the joy of the Lord is your strength. Are you strong in the Lord?