3. It was well that the Jews should look into the awful teachings of the past, and under the clear, stern condemnation of the eternal words give way to the rush of sorrow. But it was not well that they should sorrow long. They had work to do, de- manding the strength of joy. The scattered tribes were to be gathered into a nation — the ancient order was to be restored. They were not to mourn over the " irrevocable past," but, learning its lessons, to begin a nobler national life as the people of God. And therefore Nehemiah and the Levites turned the people's
NEHEMIAH viii. lo 509
thoughts from the saddening years that were gone, to the heavenly mercy that was shining iu the present. " Go your way, . , . this day is holy unto our Lord . . . neither be ye grieved . . . for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
^ The good counsel of Nehemiah was reinforced by a song from one of their poets or psalmists. It is the brightest and merriest in the Psalter, a true Christian psalm.
0 be joyful in Jehovah, all ye lands
Serve the Lord with gladness, And come before His presence witli a song !
Be ye sure that Jehovah He is God ; It is He that made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. O go your way into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise Be ye thankful unto Him and speak good of His name;
For the Lord is gracious ; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endureth from generation to generation.
God's Joy in Us.
1. Is it fanciful to see in the text first of all a challenge to human love and loyalty — a trumpet-call to live a strong, bright, conquering life because of what that life may mean to God ? May we read into the words not only a revelation of the secret of human strength, but also of the source of Divine gladness ? In the work of God the Almighty Creator, we hear those words, dear to us from our cliildhood, which tell us how at the close of the six great seons which formed the successive stages in the stately evolution of the world as a fit habitation for man, "God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Again, we listen to that wonderful creation poem in the Book of Job, which tells us how at the first begiiming of all things, " the morning stars sang out together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Surely with such words before us we can realize in some small degree what the "joy of the Lord" — the gladness of the Almighty — must have been when He contemplated the beauty of His perfect handiwork.
5IO THE STRENGTH OF JOY
^ Just as a clever craftsman knows the subtle joy of facing and conquering a difficult task, and rejoices over the finished work that owes its being to the cunning of his brain and of his hands — so may we not think of God the Creator as feeling joy over the perfection of His handiwork ? And where can that be more fully revealed than in the strength of a strong man or woman, strong in physical energy and endurance, strong in mental equipment, strong in will-power and moral force, inspired by lofty ideals of brotherhood and social service, strong above all in spiritual vision of the unseen but tremendous reality of the higher life of the human soul ? " An honest man," we are told, " is the noblest work of God," and when He sees men and women steadfast and immovable — strong and true in their life of self-conquest and self- sacrifice — " standing four-square to every wind that blows " — then I am sure that He rejoices, and that the knowledge brings Him happiness.^
2. We are not to suppose for one moment that the infinite wonders of the eternal Godhead raise Him above the sense of joy. We know that there are times of special joy in heaven, and we have no reason to believe that special joy is not shared by God Himself. On the contrary, we know that our Saviour Himself rejoiced when the Seventy returned, and brought Him the glad tidings of their successful ministry; so we are taught of God Himself that the time is coming when He will rejoice over Jerusalem as a bridegroom rejoiceth over a bride (Isa. Ixii. 5).
3. Christ is the Christian revelation ; the Son and manifestation of God; "the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of his person " ; and in Christ we see emphatically that notwithstanding all the misery and shame and conflict of this life — a misery and shame and conflict felt keenly by Him whose very nature is sympathy and whose name is Father — there is in God a deep, abiding, essential joyousness.
4. There cannot be a doubt, therefore, that even in the mind of God there are seasons of peculiar joy; and so, when we are re- joicing in that which rejoices Him, we may be truly said to share the joy of the Lord. When the seducer rejoices in the success of his temptation, his joy is the joy of the devil. When the believer rejoices in the salvation of souls, and the ingathering of God's