Nehemiah 8:9-12 (ESV)

And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as 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 to anyone who 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.” So the Levites calmed 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.

Sad to Happy

In this set of verses from Nehemiah, God’s people go from being incredibly sad to extremely happy. What happened? As they heard God’s Word being read and explained, they were sad because they realized they weren’t following God the way He expected them to follow Him. But Nehemiah encouraged God’s people by saying, “the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Verse 12 then explains the people became extremely happy, because they had understood the words of God that had been explained to them.

The same Word that brought incredible sadness was the same Word that brought extreme happiness. What was the difference? The difference was obedience. The people were sad when they realized their disobedience, and they were happy when they realized obeying God led to extreme joy.

It Only Makes Sense

It only makes sense that obeying God’s Word would lead to extreme joy. After all, we’ve already seen in earlier posts that God is extremely happy. In His Word, He is really showing us the way to be happy. The way for us to be happy is to have our lives centered on Him.

Also, think about this truth. Since true happiness can only be found in God, and since our sin has separated us from God, and since we can’t be right with God without Jesus, the reality is that Jesus is our only source of true happiness. Also, it is Jesus who enables our obedience.

Robbed of Joy

Every Friday morning I meet with a friend. One of the reasons we meet is to hold each other accountable, so we ask each other questions. One of the questions we ask is, “have you allowed any person of circumstance to rob you of your joy?”  When I was first given this list of accountability questions in 1996, I thought that question was strange. But as I thought through things, I realized that a lot of times I would let a person, or a thing, or a situation take away my happiness.  It really shouldn’t be that way, because as a follower of Jesus, He is the source of my happiness.

As I think through the idea of a person or circumstance taking away my happiness, two thoughts come to my mind. First, when I let a person take my happiness away from me it is probably because I feel like I’ve been done wrong in some way. If that’s the case, I need to forgive because Jesus has forgiven me. (It doesn’t mean I excuse the behavior and let someone walk over me, but I can’t get bitter.)

Second, when I let a situation take my happiness away from me it is probably because of the unknown. I don’t know what’s going to happen or why it happened, and that can lead to fear. When that’s the case, it is good for me to remember that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, unchanging, and loving. My life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Therefore, I don’t need to fear, so I shouldn’t let the situation take away my joy. Once again, Jesus is the foundation and source of my joy.

Basically, it is good for us to understand that we can always have joy, because of Jesus. He is the source of true happiness.

Think Harder

• Read Psalm 119:165. Do you think joy is closely connected to peace? If so, why?
• The more we love and know God’s Word, the happier we will be. What things can you do to know and love God’s Word more?