"This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Nehemiah 8:9b-10.
This event takes place after Nehemiah goes back to Jerusalem from Babylon, where he had been taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar. After Nehemiah had rebuilt the wall, the people asked Ezra, the scribe, to read the Book of the Law which God given to Moses. After Ezra read all day to the people they began to cry and be sorrowful because they were able to understand the Word of God like never before. Ezra encourages them not to be sad, but to rejoice and celebrate because they were now back in Jerusalem and could go to their own cities to live. He told them that, "The joy of the LORD is their strength."
This is true when we hear the Word of God and understand what God is saying. It activates the joy of the Lord within us and we gain more strength for the journey. Nehemiah's enemies tried to intimidate him by lying on him and trying to make him afraid while he was rebuilding the wall. Whenever change and progress are underway, there is always going to be competition arising to challenge the leader. And the leader has the option to chose whether to turn and run or stand up to the challenge. Nehemiah chose to stand up to the adversary by calling on God and asking for His help. Nehemiah then turned his enemies over to God and asked God to deal with them. (We can choose our battle, to fight or not to fight.) So, he went on to complete the task that the Lord gave him to do. Completing that wall gave notice to all adversaries that the Israelites were back; and the wall was completed in fifty-two days, in spite of opposition, and the adversaries had to acknowledge that only God could have done this. ("This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." Psalm 118:23.) The joy of the LORD was Nehemiah's strength; the joy of knowing that God was for him and who could be against him: the joy of knowing that his mission was accomplished, the wall was rebuilt and the enemy could no longer come in and ravage the city of Jerusalem.
Sometimes, we as Christians, are knocked down and saddened by our adversities of this life, but Jesus encourages us to, "Be of good cheer (rejoice and be glad; be filled with My joy) because I have overcome the world." John 16:33. When the disciples were saddened because Jesus told them that He was going away, He said to them that when He came back their joy was going to be as a mother who had been in pain before childbirth, and when the child is born the mother is filled with joy and forgets all about the pain. (John 16:20-22.) In this life we experience all kinds of pain and sorrow: in our homes, with our family, on the job, in our communities, and even in our churches. But when we call on Jesus, and by faith stand on His Word, and watch Him come and move in every situation, His joy floods our soul; we forget about the pain and suffering, and we come back with more strength than we had before. Fortified! Watch out, devil!!! "May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13.
