The Joy of the Lord

                                                                                                                  

Aloha Dearest Family,

                In the past couple of weeks I’ve had the privilege of studying the topic of Joy in the Bible. Most people cannot define joy but they know when they have it, and they know when they don’t have it. Almost all of us have experienced joy at one time or another. Perhaps it was upon the birth of a child or when they got married. Joy can be defined as “a settled state of contentment, confidence and hope”. Joy is more than happiness because happiness depends upon what happens to you. It is based on your circumstances. But Joy is an internal bubbling up on the inside and is based upon something more permanent.  

                Jesus Christ wanted his followers to have joy. In John 15 he told his disciples, 

“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”  (John 15:11) 

      There are two points to learn from this scripture. First, Jesus always had joy. Because of the relationship he had developed with his heavenly Father, he walked in constant joy. One of his favorite times was when he spent time in prayer and fellowship with His Father. It didn’t matter the circumstance or situation he found himself in, he could always experience joy because he knew who he was and he knew that he was fulfilling God’s work. Secondly, he wanted us to have HIS Joy. And he wanted our joy to be full. So to live in continual joy should be normal for us. 

                We know that Jesus had joy and he wanted his followers to have joy, but what about God? What gives God joy? To find out, let us look at a verse from Nehemiah.

            “…the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10b) 

I have read this verse many times and frankly, I didn’t quite grasp the meaning. How could joy be strength? Maybe I wasn’t seeing the whole picture. To understand this section of scripture, we must first find the context of this verse. Why was it said and what were the circumstances surrounding it?

To give a brief overview, the children of Israel had just been held in captivity in Babylon for seventy years. Now they were finally able to go back to the land, rebuild the Temple of the Lord and rebuild the wall surrounding the city. After all this, God’s priest Ezra, and the Levites, read the entire law in the ears of all the people of Israel. Not only did they hear God’s words, but Ezra and the Levites gave the meaning of the words being spoken. This caused the people to weep for sorrow, because they saw how they had disobeyed God’s commands. But Ezra the priest encouraged the people.

“Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law. Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:9 and 10) 

The people were encouraged and told to stop weeping and grieving but rejoice because this day is a holy day to God, for the joy of the Lord would be their strength. But what does this mean? First, this joy is the Lord’s joy. Why would He have joy? Remember that Israel was finally able to return to the promised land, rebuild the temple and city walls and they were able to hear God’s Word again. And their response-they wept. Think of how joyful God must have been at this time. God loves to fellowship with His people. This is what gives Him Joy. 

But how can God’s joy be our strength? The Hebrew word for strength is also translated 1) a place or means of safety, 2) protection, 3) refuge, 4) stronghold, 5) a harbor or safe haven. What this verse is saying is that God would be their safe haven, their protection and their stronghold because He has joy in His people. How these words must have thrilled the hearts of the people. To let them know that He is no longer angry with them, but finds joy in them. A similar verse is found in Zephaniah. 

            “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17) God finds joy in His people.

                When the angels first declared the birth of God’s son, they said, “.. Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” (Luke 2:10) This announcement must have given great joy to the shepherds who found the babe in the manger. But think how God felt! After all this time, He was finally able to fulfill a promise He had made 4,000 years earlier. God would be able to enjoy sweet, intimate fellowship with His son each day and the time was drawing near to the time when mankind would be brought back together with Himself. This was the purpose of the ages. Even though He had to experience the death of His own son, God must have been bursting with pride at the resurrection. Now each of us can enjoy sweet fellowship with our heavenly Father. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice gave us a seat near God as well. When we spend time in God’s presence we too can experience fullness of joy, just like Jesus did.

                “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalm 16:11)  

                Likewise, our Father enjoys spending time with us and He loves for us to talk to Him. Sometimes we must unburden our hearts before Him and put our trust in Him. And sometimes we just want to say, “Thank you.” God loves being a Father to us.

                “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” (III John 4)

God has great joy because we choose to obey His Word. We do this because we love Him so.

                                         Love Always, Ray