Title: The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength
Scripture: Nehemiah 8:10
The people had gathered in the square before the Water Gate. For hours they stood listening as Ezra read God's law and the Levites explained it. What they heard broke them. They wept openly as they realized how far they had fallen short of God's commands. Their tears weren't performative. They were the genuine response of people seeing their sin clearly for the first time in years.
But Nehemiah stops them cold. "This day is holy to the Lord your God," he says. "Do not mourn or weep." Think about that. They've just had the most profound spiritual awakening of their lives. They're experiencing real conviction, real brokenness over sin. And Nehemiah tells them to stop crying. Why? Because conviction has a purpose, and that purpose isn't to leave us wallowing in guilt.
Nehemiah gives them three commands: Go, eat, and celebrate. Go home. Eat rich food. Drink sweet drinks. Share with those who have nothing. This isn't emotional manipulation. It's theological truth. The day is holy not because of their emotional state, but because of what God has done. Their repentance is complete. Their sins are forgiven. Now they need to live like it.
Here's what this means for us. We can get stuck in our guilt. We think that if we feel bad enough about our sin, somehow that makes us more spiritual. But godly sorrow produces repentance, and repentance leads to joy. Not happiness. Joy. The deep confidence that our sins are forgiven, our God is faithful, and our future is secure. When we wallow in guilt after we've repented, we're saying that our sin is bigger than God's grace.
The joy of the Lord is your strength. Not your joy in the Lord. His joy in you. His delight in forgiving you. His pleasure in adopting you. His satisfaction in the work of Christ on your behalf. When you bank on that joy, you find strength to face tomorrow. Strength to obey. Strength to serve. Strength to get up when you fall again. The Christian life isn't sustained by our emotional highs. It's sustained by God's unshakeable joy in his redeemed people.
This week, when you mess up, repent quickly and thoroughly. Then believe the gospel. Eat your meals with gratitude. Share what you have with others. Celebrate God's goodness. Your standing before God doesn't depend on how badly you feel about your sin. It depends on how perfectly Christ obeyed in your place. That's joy. That's strength.
Prayer: Father, forgive us when we think our guilt somehow honors you. Help us to repent completely and then to rejoice confidently in your forgiving grace. Make us people whose lives are marked by the joy of knowing we are loved and accepted in Christ. Amen.
