Return from Exile: Nehemiah 11 and 12 (5)

Pray Psalm 116.7-9
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
For You have delivered my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from falling.
I will walk before the LORD
In the land of the living.

Sing Psalm 116.7-9.
(Mit Freuden Zart: All Praise to God Who Reigns Above)
Full well the LORD has dealt with me; my soul from death He delivered.
My weeping eyes, my stumbling feet, He has redeemed forever.
Forever I before His face shall walk with those who know His grace,
and dwell with them forever.

Read Nehemiah 12.1-43; meditate on verses 27-43.

Preparation
1. What happens in these verses?

2. What was the effect of this?

Meditation
Nehemiah organized a great celebration to dedicate the wall of Jerusalem. Choirs, orchestras, public officials, and people from throughout the land joined together, having purified themselves (v. 30), to give thanks and praise to God (v. 31).

Two large groups of singers and musicians mounted the wall, one led by Ezra the scribe (v. 36) and the other led by Nehemiah (v. 38). The entire city was encircled with music and prayers of thanksgiving as all sang and prayed together with one voice. Joy was infectious as the people offered sacrifices along with singing and prayers (v. 43). All the focus was on the LORD and what He had done; and the LORD, Who inhabits the praises of His people (Ps. 22.), brought His joy among them (Ps. 16.11), so that their rejoicing was so great “that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off” (v. 43).

Here was as pure a moment of worship as these post-exilic people would ever know. Up on the walls, looking up to the heavens, sending up their music and songs and prayers, offering up their sacrifices—every mind and heart was directed upward to God, and God deigned to come among them with His joy.

This is why worship matters so much. God delights to bring us into His joy and to have His joy resound from us. Joy to the world, the LORD is come! When worship is all about God, and every heart strains heavenward to connect with Him, so that He comes down among us by His Word and Spirit, lifting us by faith into the throne room of His glory, then we will see Jesus, and joy overflowing will cause our worship to burst the confines of our sanctuaries and spill out into the neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces of our communities. Joy, infectious joy, is what God longs for us—and all the world— to know. And worship is the key.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“…for God had made them rejoice with great joy…” (Neh. 12.43).

We can imagine, in a group that large, some of the participants might have been ill, or sad, or troubled about many things. Such is life. And yet, through it all, God brought them great joy.

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your Presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me” (Ps. 139.7-10).

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written:
‘For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers,
nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8.35-39).

“Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble” (Ps. 119.165).
“In Your Presence is fullness of joy…” (Ps. 16.11).

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love,
just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you,
and that your joy may be full” (Jn. 15.9-11).

And that is how God makes us rejoice with great joy. Regardless.

For reflection
1. What is joy? Why is it so precious to believers?

2. What keeps us from knowing the joy of the Lord more truly and consistently?

3. Whom will you encourage today to know the joy of the Lord through praise and thanksgiving?

All our cities, all our houses, must have holiness to the Lord written upon them. The believer should undertake nothing which he does not dedicate to the Lord. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Nehemiah 12.27-43

Pray Psalm 116.10-19.
Praise the Lord for carrying you through trials and challenges, for His gift of salvation and eternal life, and for your daily calling to follow in His Kingdom and glory. Offer yourself and all your work to Him.

Sing Psalm 116.10-19.
(Mit Freuden Zart: All Praise to God Who Reigns Above)
Afflicted, I believe His Word, though lying men would undo me.
What shall I render to the LORD for all His blessings to me?
Salvation’s cup I lift above and call upon the God of love
and pay my vows most truly.

How sweet to Him when saints depart—make me, Your servant, Savior!
From sin You loosed my wand’ring heart; I praise Your Name forever!
On You I call, my vows to pay; here in Your Presence I would stay,
Your praise to offer ever.

T. M. and Susie Moore

Two books can help us understand our own captivity and lead us to seek revival and renewal in the Lord. The Church Captive asks us to consider the ways the Church today has become captive to the world. And Revived! can help us find the way to renewal. Learn more and order your free copies by clicking here and here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter, available free by clicking here.