'Then he said to them, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone hwho has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."'
~ Neh 8:10
A lovely verse, innit? Many a time, I hear people quote it, attempt to encourage another with it, verbally claim it. We even placed it in a song and sing it during church services.
But what exactly does that mean? And in particular, or perhaps especially so, what does Nehemiah mean, what is he referring to, what is he talking about when he said "for the joy of the LORD is your strength"?
What is "joy"?
Or an even better question: what is the "joy of the LORD"?
Not too long ago, God opened my eyes that I was given the priviledge to see, to glimpse, to have a taste of what it meant to draw strength from the "joy of the LORD", what exactly was the "joy" that was His, that was to be ours. I was but just emerging from a lengthy period of darkness, of walking through the valley of shadows, of wandering in the desert. I was hungry and thirsty, drawn out and tired. But in that state of lethargy, I closed my eyes, and on bended knee and arms raised to the heavens, with a mind and heart and soul heavy laden with priceless history, I praised my Father who there resided. I sang to Him and spoke with Him.
And I felt His joy.
This joy was interesting. It was an everlasting and deep-seated happiness, but it was rooted in pain and suffering, hurt and longing. It was an emotion, an attitude, a fuel that arose out of time. And it was the God's. Strange that such an ironic relationship between words seemingly opposite can be formed. Even stranger, how it actually makes sense.
There can be no doubt that God loves us. He simply does. There is no questioning that sentiment. That direction of feeling, that intensity, cannot be retracted nor renounced, nor can it be bought and sold. From before we were created according to His Will, we were conceived in His mind and we were loved. Before we even grew understanding in our mental faculties, before we even learnt "love", we were loved. Our Lord was present long before creation was born. And so was that passion He harbours for us.
When he created us, beginning with the first Adam and the second Eve, that love was realised in material form. And it was good. All was beautiful and satisfying and happy. But then came the Fall of man. And since then, the struggle was on, the match had begun. Israel, he who wrestled with God, came to pass. But the bridge was sealed off: unholy man was cut off from the holy One, a severed tie He ached and urgently and excitedly contemplated its uniting.
His beloved Jesus Christ was sent to die. His body the bricks and His blood the motar that filled the ugly gap on the bridge to Life.
Even still, the essence of Israel, of the wrestler, methinks is very much alive in every one of us today. Often, we voluntarily or allow ourselves to be tempted and teased away from God's side. He is like our customer, albeit a very persevering one, one who keeps returning, or perhaps even never left, and we the whore. After all He had done and will still do, after reading and hearing and knowing all this, we still choose to leave His pastures.
Imagine His hurt and sadness, the emptiness of a desire and a longing not fulfilled, a pining love not returned. Being forced instead to stand by and watch as His beloved succumbs to crude carnal natures, pawning herself to the temporal and the ugly unrighteous.
But also, imagine His happiness, an uncontainable and overflowing happiness, elation, joy when just one lost sheep is found, when just one lost coin is located, when just one prodigal returns home!
This joy can never die, it is ageless, undying and unceasing for it is the joy of the "LORD". Between the two "Lord"s mentioned in Neh 8:10, the former is the Hebrew אדן אדון, comparable to God's titles that begin with "Adoni-", meaning sovereign, master, owner, controller. The second, used in direct relation to this joy, is יהוה. And this refers to a self-existent or eternal entity, Jehovah.
That was the joy I witnessed when He revealed a part of His heart to me.
And it was a joy I understand because it is personal, it is ours, it is mine. Me and God, we go way back, maybe not as far as some others, but we sure have been through quite a bit together. Ups and downs, elation and depression, we shared it all. And this relationship, this marriage culminated in a bubbling and exciting, a passionate and insatiable, a quiet and heavily pregnant with meaning, a mature and solemn sentiment of joy.
It is His joy that is catching and infectious and empowering! A joy that I share because of the relationship that binds us together.
That is the "joy of the LORD".
Tired and heavily burdened, sad and dejected, dry and burnt out, come and sit in His presence, recline at His table and let Him wash your feet.
Come be filled and be replenished, come experience and know, come be strengthened by His miasmic and eternal joy that sustains.
It is the lifeforce: the helium that keeps the balloon bobbing in flight,
the power: the steam that drives the massive turbines,
and the hope: the gas that keeps the car going.
Keep your eyes on the LORD, know who you are in Him, attain His eternal perspective and the joy of the LORD will reign supreme and surely strengthen you.
Let the joy of the LORD be your strength -
May His peace fill your heart day and night;
As you walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
You will find that He'll lead you aright.
(Clair Hess)
~ Neh 8:10
A lovely verse, innit? Many a time, I hear people quote it, attempt to encourage another with it, verbally claim it. We even placed it in a song and sing it during church services.
But what exactly does that mean? And in particular, or perhaps especially so, what does Nehemiah mean, what is he referring to, what is he talking about when he said "for the joy of the LORD is your strength"?
What is "joy"?
Or an even better question: what is the "joy of the LORD"?
Not too long ago, God opened my eyes that I was given the priviledge to see, to glimpse, to have a taste of what it meant to draw strength from the "joy of the LORD", what exactly was the "joy" that was His, that was to be ours. I was but just emerging from a lengthy period of darkness, of walking through the valley of shadows, of wandering in the desert. I was hungry and thirsty, drawn out and tired. But in that state of lethargy, I closed my eyes, and on bended knee and arms raised to the heavens, with a mind and heart and soul heavy laden with priceless history, I praised my Father who there resided. I sang to Him and spoke with Him.
And I felt His joy.
This joy was interesting. It was an everlasting and deep-seated happiness, but it was rooted in pain and suffering, hurt and longing. It was an emotion, an attitude, a fuel that arose out of time. And it was the God's. Strange that such an ironic relationship between words seemingly opposite can be formed. Even stranger, how it actually makes sense.
There can be no doubt that God loves us. He simply does. There is no questioning that sentiment. That direction of feeling, that intensity, cannot be retracted nor renounced, nor can it be bought and sold. From before we were created according to His Will, we were conceived in His mind and we were loved. Before we even grew understanding in our mental faculties, before we even learnt "love", we were loved. Our Lord was present long before creation was born. And so was that passion He harbours for us.
When he created us, beginning with the first Adam and the second Eve, that love was realised in material form. And it was good. All was beautiful and satisfying and happy. But then came the Fall of man. And since then, the struggle was on, the match had begun. Israel, he who wrestled with God, came to pass. But the bridge was sealed off: unholy man was cut off from the holy One, a severed tie He ached and urgently and excitedly contemplated its uniting.
His beloved Jesus Christ was sent to die. His body the bricks and His blood the motar that filled the ugly gap on the bridge to Life.
Even still, the essence of Israel, of the wrestler, methinks is very much alive in every one of us today. Often, we voluntarily or allow ourselves to be tempted and teased away from God's side. He is like our customer, albeit a very persevering one, one who keeps returning, or perhaps even never left, and we the whore. After all He had done and will still do, after reading and hearing and knowing all this, we still choose to leave His pastures.
Imagine His hurt and sadness, the emptiness of a desire and a longing not fulfilled, a pining love not returned. Being forced instead to stand by and watch as His beloved succumbs to crude carnal natures, pawning herself to the temporal and the ugly unrighteous.
But also, imagine His happiness, an uncontainable and overflowing happiness, elation, joy when just one lost sheep is found, when just one lost coin is located, when just one prodigal returns home!
This joy can never die, it is ageless, undying and unceasing for it is the joy of the "LORD". Between the two "Lord"s mentioned in Neh 8:10, the former is the Hebrew אדן אדון, comparable to God's titles that begin with "Adoni-", meaning sovereign, master, owner, controller. The second, used in direct relation to this joy, is יהוה. And this refers to a self-existent or eternal entity, Jehovah.
That was the joy I witnessed when He revealed a part of His heart to me.
And it was a joy I understand because it is personal, it is ours, it is mine. Me and God, we go way back, maybe not as far as some others, but we sure have been through quite a bit together. Ups and downs, elation and depression, we shared it all. And this relationship, this marriage culminated in a bubbling and exciting, a passionate and insatiable, a quiet and heavily pregnant with meaning, a mature and solemn sentiment of joy.
It is His joy that is catching and infectious and empowering! A joy that I share because of the relationship that binds us together.
That is the "joy of the LORD".
Tired and heavily burdened, sad and dejected, dry and burnt out, come and sit in His presence, recline at His table and let Him wash your feet.
Come be filled and be replenished, come experience and know, come be strengthened by His miasmic and eternal joy that sustains.
It is the lifeforce: the helium that keeps the balloon bobbing in flight,
the power: the steam that drives the massive turbines,
and the hope: the gas that keeps the car going.
Keep your eyes on the LORD, know who you are in Him, attain His eternal perspective and the joy of the LORD will reign supreme and surely strengthen you.
Let the joy of the LORD be your strength -
May His peace fill your heart day and night;
As you walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
You will find that He'll lead you aright.
(Clair Hess)
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