Nehemiah 8: The Joy Of The Lord Is Your Strength

How do you feel when confronted with conviction?

When the people hear the book of the law of God in Nehemiah 8, their first response is to weep and grieve.  Our reaction would probably be similar.  After all, when realizing the depth of our sin before the Lord, we would likely be cut to the heart like Peter's audience on Pentecost or David before the prophet Nathan.  Woe and misery is typically understood to go hand in hand with repentance.


But Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the scribe, and the Levites tell the Jews that they should rejoice rather than mourn.  They said, "'This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.' For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.  Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength'" (vs. 9 and 10).

Before Nehemiah and Ezra that day, the proper response of the congregation was not one of grief and sadness, but joy and gladness!  The nation had been through the punishment that their corporate sin had brought, and now the people were ready to renew their covenant with the Lord.  They were at a turning point, and as they pivoted back to the Lord, this was a cause for celebration.  Now was the time for the joy of the Lord to be their strength!

The message gets through.  Instead of mourning, the people rejoice.  "So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, 'Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.'  And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them" (vs. 11 and 12).