Nehemiah 8:9-10 And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said to all the people… I. THE JOY HERE SPOKEN OF IS SAID TO BE "OF THE LORD," AND IT IS SO IN A TWOFOLD SENSE. 1. God imparts it — it is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22; Romans 14:17). 2. God Himself shares in it (Isaiah 65:19; Jeremiah 13:11; Jeremiah 33:9; Zephaniah 3:17). II. THE JOY OF THE LORD IS TO BE A STRENGTH; AND IT IS SO. 1. Because it is of God. 2. Because, as such, it enables us to bear up against the ills and disappointments of life (Psalm 4:7). Witness what it did for David, Daniel, Paul, and Silas. 3. Because, when earthly joys fail, the "joy of the Lord" remains ("your joy no man taketh from you"); and on the very ruins of the former the latter ofttimes finds the soil most fitted to its growth. III. TO WHOM THE "JOY OF THE LORD" IS GIVEN. It is imparted to those only — 1. Who are in union and communion with Jesus Christ; this is its true source. 2. Who ask for it by earnest prayer. "Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24). 3. Who love God, and keep His commandments (Psalm 19:8). IV. FOR WHAT PURPOSE IT IS GIVEN. It is imparted — 1. To be as "oil to the wheels of our devotion." Joys are our wings, sorrows are our spurs. 2. To be an inward testimony to ourselves that we have the smile of God's approval coming down upon our efforts to do what is "pleasing and acceptable in His sight"; and — 3. To be an outward testimony that our religion is not the "joyless " service that the world judges it to be; but that all its crosses and calls for penitence and self-denial lead, even in this life, to an inward joy which is unspeakable and full of glory. (C. G. E. Appleyard, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, 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. |
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