Nehemiah 8:10 - The joy of the LORD

jaybird0827 · #1 (**permalink**) 01-21-2008, 12:32 PM

Quote:

The joy of the Lord is your strength, i.e. rejoicing in God in the manner prescribed in his word, or serving him with cheeerfulness and thankfulness, which is your duty always, but now especially, will give you that strength both of mind and body which you greatly need, both to perform all the duties required of you, and to endure and oppose all the crafty counsels and malicious designs of your enemies against you; whereas this dejection of mind, and excessive grief, if you indulge it, will both offend God, and dampen your spirits, and weaken your very bodies, and make you unfit for God's service, or for your own necessary occasions, and so an easy prey to your enemies.

-- Matthew Poole, A Commentary on the Whole Bible

This is a text that we hear oft-quoted. I thought it a helpful meditation and a hedge against aptness to misinterpret or misapply the text.

VirginiaHuguenot · #2 (**permalink**) 01-21-2008, 12:39 PM

Thanks for this good word, Jay!

KMK · #3 (**permalink**) 01-21-2008, 12:56 PM

It is always good to hear Poole!

What are some of the ways this verse is misrepresented? Can you provide some examples?

jaybird0827 · #4 (**permalink**) 01-21-2008, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KMK

It is always good to hear Poole!

What are some of the ways this verse is misrepresented? Can you provide some examples?

I've heard it degenerated into a slogan. Pep-talk Christianity.

One example that really stands out in my mind is this ditty that we used to hear in congregations we attended in the past. "The joy of the LORD is my strength." gets 4 repetitions, followed by other unrelated stanzas consisting of 4 repetitions of a phrase from Scripture. Regarding the concluding stanza - not going there!