Why did Nehemiah say, "The joy of the Lord is your strength?" (Nehemiah 8:10)?

In Nehemiah 8 two things come out — a deepening love for, and intelligence in, the Word of God. "The Levites caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading." … And all the people wept when they heard the words of the law (Neh. 8:7-9). Ah! the word had great power that day on the hearts and consciences of the people. And what followed this real heart-searching? Blessing, of course. "Nehemiah and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said, Mourn not, nor weep, neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength." And at verse 12 we read of great mirth, "because they had understood the words that were declared to them." They wept, for they knew how weak they were; but joy filled their hearts because God was their strength. It is well to feel our weakness, and to acknowledge it; but what cause for joy when we learn the strength of the Lord is ours! The joy of the Lord must be that which sustains us. Then we have strength outside, and in spite, of all circumstances. Individually we ought to be so happy and so sure of our position that we have a portion to give to others. Streams of blessing should flow from us; we should be a refreshment to every one who crosses our path.

The word of God was "quick and powerful" in the hearts of the people, it was sharper than any two-edged sword, and pierced even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and discerned the thoughts and intents of their hearts; for they "wept when they heard the words of the law." But "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." (v. 9.) The feast of trumpets was indeed to be "a holy convocation;" and because of its typical significance, sorrow was unsuited to its character. Hence we read, "Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob." (Psalm 81:1-4.) They were therefore to be joyful on this day in communion with the mind of their God; but joy cannot be contained; it of necessity overflows, and hence they were to communicate it to others. "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." (v. 10.) This order is instructive — communion with the heart of God, and then communion with their brethren. The first thing was to have their own hearts filled with the joy of the Lord, then for that joy to well out in blessing to the poor and needy, and thus they would find that the joy of the Lord was their strength.

"So the Levites," we are told, "stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved." The time would soon come for the expression of their sorrow (Neh. 9); but now they were to rejoice according to the thoughts of the heart of God for their future blessing. Truly they had need of self-judgment and contrition; but the point is, that this holy day was not suited for these things, and the Lord would have them rise above their own state and condition, and for the moment find their joy in His joy, and in His joy would be their strength. There are many saints who will understand this: when gathered, for example, around the Lord at His table to commemorate His death, there might be many things calling for sorrow and humiliation as to our condition; but it would be losing sight altogether of the mind of the Lord to confess our sins at such a season. It is the Lord's death we there remember and announce, not ourselves or our failures; and it is only as we have His objects before our souls in our being gathered that we enter into and have communion with His own heart. So was it on this first day of the seventh month; and this will explain the action of Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites in restraining the expression of the people's grief.

The people responded to the exhortations of their leaders, and "went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them" (v. 12); and in this way they celebrated the feast according to the mind of God, if without the trumpets. They were not in a right condition for testimony; and thus the first thing was to get themselves right by the application of the Word.

At the end of verse 9 we are told that "all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law." Why so? No doubt because the law exposed the failure of the people. Yet Nehemiah and Ezra and the Levites told the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep." Why not weep on account of their failure? Because the Word of God has a higher object than to expose sin: it declares His grace to sinners.

Rather than weeping, the people were told to "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength" (v. 10). This is not mere natural joy, but the joy of the Lord, which is strength for doing good, such as providing for others who do not have the same advantages as we.

The Word of God having been given to them, with the faithful advice of their leaders, the people responded with great joy, feasting and sending portions to the poor, "because they understood the words that were declared to them" (v. 12). When God is given His place, the result will always be great joy and blessing.

When the people heard the words of the Law they wept. They were conscience stricken on account of their individual and national sins; they judged themselves. The Word had been believed; their godly sorrow had been expressed by tears, and so they were ready for the words of comfort and cheer the Lord gave through Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites. "This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not nor weep... go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to 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." And this was done. They were the Lord's people, separated unto Himself, and as they remembered all His goodness, they rejoiced in Him. Refreshed themselves, they were to remember those "for whom nothing was prepared."

In the first place the book was read distinctly. What was written in the one precious book was clearly to reach the ears of the people, for they had no copies of it in their hands, which would enable them to check any mumbled or indistinct utterance. Secondly, they gave the sense, for during a thousand years the language may have altered somewhat, and many may have spoken the Aramaic and been unlearned in the ancient Hebrew. Thirdly, they made certain that the hearers really did understand the reading. How remarkably this verse anticipates the instructions given in 1 Corinthians 14, in regard to what is uttered in the Christian assembly. He who gives thanks, or prays, or ministers the word, is to make sure, not only that he himself really knows what he is saying, but that also he says it in such a way that it is understood, and therefore can be assimilated, and endorsed by the saying of 'Amen', by those who hear him. The speaker may say, 'I understood quite well what I wanted to convey.' We however, have to reply, 'Yes, but did you speak with sufficient distinctness and simplicity, that your hearers got the sense and with clear understanding grasped your message?' A reference to our understanding occurs eight times in 1 Corinthians 14:9-20.

The first effect upon the people of this reading is revealed in verse 9 – the people were moved to tears; and well they might be, for no one can face the demands of God's holy law without a sense of condemnation entering the conscience. Both Nehemiah and Ezra however stilled the people and bade them rejoice, for in the book there were of course the promises of God, showing mercy and predicting the Messiah, and further the Feast of Tabernacles was at hand, which was intended to be a season of happiness. They were entitled, of course, to rejoice in all that God had wrought on their behalf in spite of all the efforts of their adversaries. But we have wondered whether this switching of the emotions of the people from conviction and sorrow to eating and drinking and making 'great mirth', because they had understood, was really of God. Conviction of conscience is not easily reached, and consequently repentance is shallow all too often, though it is true of course that 'the joy of the Lord' imparts strength. There is however a great difference between that joy and making great mirth as one eats and drinks. The day will declare whether this successful direction of the leaders was really of God or not.

By means of Ezra and Nehemiah, the law resumes its authority, and that at the people's own request, for God had prepared their hearts. Accordingly, God had gathered them together on the first day of the seventh month. It was really the trumpet of God, although the people were unconscious of it, that gathered them to this new moon, which shone again in grace, whatever might be the clouds that veiled its feeble light. The people's hearts were touched by the testimony of the law, and they wept. But Nehemiah and Ezra bade them rejoice, for the day was holy. Doubtless these men of God were right. Since God was restoring His people, it became them to rejoice and give thanks.

This distinguished day, the first day of the seventh month, demanded, according to the ordinance touching it, a holy convocation and a blowing of trumpets — for it was the symbol, as I have said, of a time of revival after a long season of death and barrenness (see Lev. 23:23-25). This ordinance was observed here in Nehemiah 8. There was a convocation of the people. But there was something additional. The Book of the Law was read in the audience of the people, and explained to them. And at this the people wept — properly so, for this is the business of the application of the law to a sinner, to convict him, and make him cry out, "O wretched man that I am!" But their teachers, on this occasion, at once restrain their tears, because that day was "holy to the Lord." It was a time of joy, such as the blowing of trumpets, and the new moon then beginning again to walk in the light of the sun, would signify. The people were, therefore, told to let the joy of the Lord be their strength, to be merry themselves and to send portions to others.

The Levites, who were no longer responsible to carry the sacred vessels (1 Chr. 23:26), fill the functions of servants of the Word by causing the people to understand the law, and we see with what care they do this (v. 8). They read distinctly; this is not without importance. How many times do we not see the Lord's laborers read the Word with a low voice or too quickly, or nonchalantly: and then hasten to speak from themselves, as though it were not more important to hear the word of God than their own word. Here, on the contrary, in the first place it is a matter of bringing the people into direct relation with the law, then of giving its meaning, and lastly of causing the people to understand it (v. 8). Here the Levites play the role of school teachers, and this is all the more striking because children take part in this instruction, a feature which should never be forgotten. A good teacher does not rest until all his students have understood what he wants to explain to them.

The day when Ezra made this gesture and the consequence which followed from it, may rightly be called, as someone has said, "the day of the open Bible". The Bible addressed both the conscience and the heart of the people, and it is touching to see the result. All the people are afflicted and weep when they hear the words of the law, but Ezra tells them: "this day is holy to Jehovah your God: mourn not nor weep!" And again: "Be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength" (vv. 9, 10).

May we never forget this wonderful expression! Humiliation, however precious and necessary it may be, does not give us strength. When we must face difficulties, we find this strength by occupying ourselves with the Lord, revealed in His Word. This meditation is a source of unspeakable joy for our souls, and the joy of the Lord is our strength. Wasn't this what the apostle, although afflicted and besieged with troubles, recommended to the Philippians, as the fruit of his own experience? "Rejoice in [the] Lord always!" (Phil. 4:4).

In the remaining portion of the chapter we see the immediate effect of the authority of the word being established over the people. As ever it reaches the conscience and stirs the heart. But conscience work comes first, "All the people wept, when they heard the words of the law" (9). As they listen to the word conscience tells them how far they have departed from its precepts. But if the word exposes the failure of man, it also reveals the faithfulness of the Lord. So that if they rightly weep because of their own failure, they are also encouraged to rejoice in the Lord, for they are told, "the joy of the Lord is your strength" (10-12).

Again, we observe that the Rabbinism, which put a slur on women and children, till the Lord revindicated their place in spiritual things, did not yet prevail. For Ezra read in the law "in the presence of the men and the women, and of those that could understand" (who might be quite young in years). As Ezra read on a raised platform, supported by elders on either hand, the people stood up at the opened book, and Ezra blessed Jehovah, and they with uplifted hands answered Amen, Amen, bowing in worship to the ground. It was a beautiful and affecting sight. And there was earnest service of priests and Levites to expound all that was heard, and "cause the people to understand the law." It was no vain superstitious ceremony; but "they read in the law of God distinctly out of the book, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading."

But there was more, reserved for a somewhat higher intimation. "And Nehemiah, that 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 to Jehovah your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law" (ver. 9). It was no wonder, for God's word never spares evil; and they justly felt their sins. But we ought as His people to feel His grace to His own. There many fail, as the sons of Israel till they learnt better that day. "There is a time to mourn, and a time to dance," which was suited to that season. "And he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy to our Lord; and be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength. And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be still, for the day is holy; neither he ye grieved. And all the people went their way to eat and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them" (vers. 10-12).