*Expository commentary on the book of Nehemiah .*13
*Just for your thoughts* .
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*Expository commentary on the book of Nehemiah .*
Lesson 13
Meditation Passage: Nehemiah 8:10
After the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt in 52 days, Nehemiah organized a Bible conference. He invited Ezra to deliver the message. It is believed that Ezra brought the five books of Moses and taught with a focus on the book of Deuteronomy.
As he expounded the Word of God, the Jewish people wept. It was then that Nehemiah spoke these words:
"Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
— Nehemiah 8:10
This verse emphasizes two things.
When we read the Word of God, it should produce in us genuine repentance and genuine joy.
The reason Nehemiah told the people not to weep was this:
Once you have surrendered to repentance upon hearing God's Word, there is no longer any need to weep. Once sins are forgiven, there is no need to mourn over them any further.
A child of God whose sins have been washed away — whose sins have been forgiven — ought to rejoice in the Lord. There is no need for him to weep. The Word of God gives him the assurance that his sins are forgiven. The joy that faith — rooted in Scripture — produces is incomparable to anything else.
Joy that does not arise from faith is merely an expression of emotion. It will fade quickly. But the joy that faith — grounded in the Word — produces is lasting. That joyஞ brings a person the deepest happiness.
Joy is absolutely essential for the believer. A believer without joy will come to see doing God's will as a form of punishment. But for a true believer, doing God's will is itself the greatest joy.
God will not simply replace our sorrow with happiness. Even in the midst of suffering, we are called to walk in joy.
True joy comes only when a person genuinely understands the Word of God. Blessed is the one who understands the Word and walks13 accordingly.
In the Christian life, the wheel of obedience must be oiled with joy. Without it, we endஞ up presenting a joyless Christianity to the world.
Therefore, through the Scriptures — and through the light they give — let us learn to walk in joy before the Lord.