The Joy of the Lord Gives Strength

Notice as we begin our worship by singing to God's praise, we're going to sing in Psalm 96

in the Scottish Psalter, Psalm 96. We'll sing from verse 1 to verse 6, the tune is Glasgow.

We'll sing a new song to the Lord, sing all the earth to God, to God sing, bless his name,

show still his saving health abroad. We'll sing from verse 1 to 6 to God's praise.

O sing a new song to the Lord, sing all the earth to God, to God sing, bless his name,

show still his saving health abroad.

Among the hidden nations, his glory to the fair.

And now to all the people show, his words that long the star.

For grace adored and greatly he is to be magnified.

He is to be magnified.

He is to be magnified.

Even though the universe caelessly on the grandes楽ies of his flag is black.

For the God of 모두 нес名 stayed below to the ground,

He is to be magnified.

O Son, with light and patience here.

Our Father, God is the Lord by whom the heavens created there.

Great honor is before His face and majesty divine.

Strength is within His holy place.

And there the beauty shine.

Amen.

Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer.

Let us pray.

Lord, our gracious God, we thank You for Your Word.

We thank You to be able to sing praise to You.

We thank You that the words that we have sung can resonate so much with our hearts.

We recognize, Lord, that You are worthy of all our praise.

For great is the Lord, and greatly He is to be magnified.

And we pray, Lord, that that is how we would see You this evening.

As the one who we want to lift up.

The one who we want to magnify and bless.

The one who we want to come and praise with all our hearts.

For we can acknowledge, even as the psalmist speaks of, that there are times when we have other idols that we worship.

There are other things in this life that are magnified before us so often.

Things that we look to and sometimes we find joy in and help in and strength in.

And yet ultimately are of no great value to us.

And certainly of no great eternal benefit to us.

And so we pray that we would be able to say with the psalmist,

But our God is the Lord by whom the heavens created were.

That that is a God we would come to know as a mighty God.

And also come to know, as even Jesus taught us to pray,

That we can come and say of this mighty God,

Our Father, who art in heaven.

And we pray, Lord, to know You in all of these ways.

For we see Your power around us in so many ways.

And yet we see Your care towards us too.

We see the consequences of sin.

And we are reminded of the judgment that that brings.

But we are reminded too of Your compassion and Your grace.

And we pray, Lord, that You would come in Your power.

That You would come into our midst here this evening by Your Spirit.

That You would help us to be still in Your presence.

And to know You as God.

And we thank You that we come in and through the name.

Above every name.

We come not in our own names.

We come not in our own status or our own weakness.

We come through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And we thank You that we can approach You through Him.

And that we are assured that whenever we come to Him,

He will never turn us away.

He will never tell us to go.

For indeed the gospel is a gospel that says,

Come, come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden,

and I will give You rest.

And we pray, Lord, that we will be able to come

and approach You in that manner this evening,

seeking to find rest with the Lord Jesus,

seeking to find rest for our souls.

We thank You, Lord, that we come in prayer to You,

knowing that every need that we have already known unto You,

that You delight to hear us sharing with You,

that You delight as Your children come to You in prayer.

For in prayer we acknowledge our dependence upon You,

for apart from You, without You, we can do nothing.

And so as we come, we thank You to be able to bring all our prayers to You

for the cause of Your kingdom near and far,

for our own individual needs and for the needs of others around us,

and for the growth of Your church, Lord, near and far.

And we thank You that we can come remembering who You are,

that You are the God who has done mighty works in the past,

the God who is doing even powerful works today,

and the God who will be the same into the future,

that You will be with Your people,

that You will watch over Your people,

that You will bring Your people to Yourself

on that great day appointed as the day of judgment.

And we thank You for Your constancy towards us,

that You are a God who never fails us,

a God whose steadfast love,

whose great love towards us is so faithful each day.

And we thank You that today, as a new day,

we can come to You.

And thank You for the blessings of this day.

We can thank You for being able to gather round Your Word,

to be able to gather together,

to be able to share in this way.

And we thank You and bless You for these opportunities that we have.

And help us, Lord, not to take them for granted,

help us to be wise with our time,

and to use it to seek Your will for us.

And we do pray, Lord, for every individual and home represented here,

and all who tune in online as well.

We thank You for the means that we have to meet with one another

in so many different ways,

that we are not confined here,

but that Your Word goes out far and wide.

And remember us in all our homes and our families.

Remember us with all our different needs.

Remember their young people.

Lord, we thank You for them.

We thank You for each one who we see coming through these doors week by week,

both to church services and to explorers groups,

to the YF.

Even this evening, we pray Your blessing on those who will gather in the hall next door

as they gather for the YF there.

May Your blessing be with them.

Encourage them, Lord, and watch over them in their young years.

We thank You too for those who are involved in the trip to Scalladale this weekend.

We thank You for the blessings of that,

being gathered together in fellowship

and enjoying learning from Your Word

and building relationships there.

We thank You for their safety and for encouragement in their time.

We pray, Lord, Your blessing on all who are involved in arranging that

and in leading it over this weekend as well.

We thank You too, Lord, for the blessings of the wider church too.

We thank You for our own denomination

and for all the congregations up and down our land

who faithfully proclaim Your gospel week by week.

We thank You for encouraging news in different parts.

We hear so often of discouragement around us, Lord,

but we thank You for even the gathering in Portree yesterday

where the new church building was officially opened.

We thank You for the vision that You gave to the people there

to begin that work and to see it through.

And as they are encouraged now in its opening,

that they will be further encouraged in the years ahead

to see it used for Your glory

and for the goodness of the community there.

So we ask Your blessing on the minister there,

the Reverend Donny G. MacDonald.

We thank You that even though he has been through

a period of ill health himself,

that he is in better health now

and able to be involved in the ministry there once again

and continue to uphold him and to strengthen him

and all of the congregation there.

We pray that for ourselves as well as our congregation, Lord.

We look forward to a time of communion in these coming weeks

and we pray that it will be a time of encouragement to us

as we gather for word and sacrament.

And we pray for the Reverend Angus MacRae

and Reverend Carl MacDonald as they prepare to come to us.

May You use them, Lord, and encourage them

through the ministry of Your word to us.

We pray for those who may long to sit at Your table,

for those who would profess in their hearts

that they are saved by You,

that they would come to have the strength

to profess it publicly,

to be encouraged and to be an encouragement to others.

We pray, Lord, for Your help

and every preparation to be made in all our hearts

as we look to You and turn to You

for Your blessing over us in these things.

And we pray, too, for our own minister here,

Reverend James McKeever and his wife Donna.

As we heard this morning of an announcement

of his upcoming retirement, Lord,

we want to thank You for his ministry

and support to us as a people here

and to the church at large as well.

We pray, Lord, that You will continue to use him

in these remaining months here, Lord.

Use him and bless him mightily

as he continues to preach the word.

And we pray for prayers to be answered,

even offered up over these last number of years

and maybe even decades, Lord,

to see Your glory in this place,

to see Your Spirit working.

We pray for them as a couple, too,

remembering Donna,

thankful for her most recent surgery

and pray for her going forward as well,

that together they will know Your goodness

and mercy upon them.

So we ask all these things looking to You.

We ask all these things as undeserving

of the least of Your mercies,

but thankful for Your love

and Your steadfast love towards us.

Hear our prayers, Lord.

Watch over us.

Guide us in our worship and in our praise.

May we lift our hearts to You

with much thankfulness

as we have much reason to rejoice.

So go with us now

and pardon all us

and as we ask all these things

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

We're going to sing again to God's praise,

this time in Psalm 30,

in the Singed Psalms.

Find this on page 34 of the Psalm books.

Psalm 30.

We're going to sing from verse 1 down to verse 8.

O Lord, I will exalt Your name,

for You have rescued me.

You did not let my foes rejoice

and gloat triumphantly.

We'll sing from verse 1 to verse 8,

and the tune is Kilmarnock.

We sing to God's praise.

Amen.

O Lord, I will exalt Your name,

for You have rescued me.

Give in the day,

my foes rejoice

and no triumphantly.

Lord, I will exalt Your name,

I will exalt Your name,

and You have rescued me.

And You have rescued me.

And You have restored my health.

O Lord, You brought me from the grave,

and saved my soul from death.

You holy ones sing to the Lord,

sing and with joyful hearts.

When you read all His glory,

then please Him and rejoice.

His anger,

His anger,

but have obeyed us,

life on His chamber's cage.

Though tears play us

throughout the night,

joy comes with morning's lips.

I never shall be would I say,

in my prosperity.

You made my country,

you made my country firm and strong,

when you Lord favored me.

But when you hid your face on me,

my heart was terrified.

For you, O Lord, I call thou life.

For bless me, O Lord, I cry.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

We'll turn to read God's Word in the Old Testament,

in the book of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah chapter 8.

Nehemiah 8 · chapter mention

You'll find this around page 482,

depending what version of the Bible you have.

Nehemiah chapter 8.

Nehemiah 8 · chapter mention

We can read the whole of this chapter.

Nehemiah chapter 8.

Nehemiah 8 · chapter mention

And all the people gathered as one man

into the square before the water gate.

And they told Ezra the scribe

to bring the book of the law of Moses

that the Lord had commanded Israel.

So Ezra the priest brought the law

before the assembly,

both men and women,

and all who could understand what they heard

on the first day of the seventh month.

And he read from it,

facing the square before the water gate,

from early morning until midday,

in the presence of the men and the women

and those who could understand.

And the ears of all the people

were attentive to the book of the law.

And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform

that they had made for the purpose.

And beside him stood Mattathiah, Shema,

Ananiah, Uriah, Hilkiah,

and Messiah on the right hand.

And Padaiah, Mishel, Malchijah, Hashim,

Hashbadanah, Zachariah, and Meshulam

on the left hand.

And Ezra opened the book

in the sight of all the people,

for he was above all the people.

And as he opened it,

all the people stood.

And Ezra blessed the Lord,

the great God,

and all the people answered,

Amen, Amen.

lifting up their hands.

And they bowed their heads

and worshipped the Lord

with their faces to the ground.

Also Jeshua, Bani,

Sherebiah, Jamin,

Akub, Shabithiah,

Hodiah,

Messiah,

Kelita,

Asariah,

Josabat,

Hanan,

Peliah,

Nehemiah,

the Levites,

they helped the people

to understand the law,

while the people remained

in their places.

They read from the book

of the law of God

clearly,

and they gave the meaning

so that the people

understood the reading.

And Nehemiah,

who was the governor,

and Ezra the priest

and scribe,

and the Levites,

who taught the people,

said to all the people,

This day is holy

to the Lord your God.

Do not mourn or weep.

For all the people wept

as they heard

the words of the law.

Then he said to them,

Go on your way.

Eat the fat

and drink sweet wine

and send portions

to anyone who has nothing,

who has nothing ready.

For this day

is a holy day

to our Lord.

And do not be grieved,

for the joy of the Lord

is your strength.

So the Levites

calmed all the people,

saying,

Be quiet,

for this day is holy.

Do not be grieved.

And all the people

went on their way

to eat and drink

and to send portions

and to make great rejoicing,

because they had understood

the words

that were declared to them.

On the second day,

the heads of the fathers' houses

of all the people

with the priests

and the Levites

came together

to Ezra the scribe

in order to study

the words of the law.

And they found it written

in the law

that the Lord

had commanded by Moses

that the people of Israel

should dwell in booths

during the feast

of the seventh month,

and that they should

proclaim it

and publish it

in all their towns

and in Jerusalem.

Go out to the hills

and bring branches

of olive,

wild olive,

myrtle,

palm,

and other leafy trees

to make booths

as it is written.

So the people went out

and brought them

and made booths

for themselves,

each on his roof

and in their courts

and in the courts

of the house of God

and in the square

at the water gate

and in the square

at the gate of Ephraim.

And all the assembly

of those who had returned

from the captivity

made booths

and lived in the booths.

For from the days

of Jeshua,

the son of Nun,

to that day,

the people of Israel

had not done so.

And there was

very great rejoicing.

And day by day,

from the first day

to the last day,

he read from the book

of the law of God

that kept the feast

seven days.

And on the eighth day,

there was a solemn assembly

according to the rule.

Amen.

And may God bless

that reading

from his word.

Before we turn back

to this passage,

we'll read again,

sing again,

in Psalm 47.

We'll sing Psalm's version,

page 62 of the psalm books.

Psalm 47,

we'll sing the whole

of this psalm,

the tune is Duke Street.

All nations,

clap your hands

and shout.

Let joyful cries

to God ring out.

How awesome

is the Lord Most High,

great King,

who rules the earth

throughout.

We'll sing the whole

of this psalm

to God's praise.

Amen.

Amen.

All nations,

clap your hands

and shout.

Play joyful cries

to God ring out.

How awesome is the Lord Most High,

great King,

who rules the earth

to rise.

He has subdued

believe the free,

the nations who have

in our foes.

In blessing,

Jacob,

whom he loved,

a heritage

for us,

he chose.

God has gone up

with shams of joy,

the Lord,

how it let

have a sound.

Sing,

grace,

sing,

pledge

to God

Most High,

God

to God

our King,

let grace

happen.

For God is King,

O Holy

Earth,

sing sounds of praise

to Him alone.

God rules the nations

from on high,

He sits upon

His holy throne.

Godifies it.

God bless

your crown

To Him

beyond

the shields

of earth

ängen

Exalted great, the extra Lord.

We'll turn back to our reading in Nehemiah chapter 8.

Nehemiah 8 · chapter mention

We can read again at verse 9 through to verse 12 there.

Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe,

and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people,

This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.

For all the people wept as they heard the words of the law.

Then he said to them, Go on your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine,

and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready.

For this day is holy to our Lord.

And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

So the Levites calmed all the people, saying,

Be quiet, for this day is holy. Do not be grieved.

And all the people went on their way to eat and drink,

and to send portions, and to make great rejoicing,

because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

Well, our study in Nehemiah comes to this point now,

where we find ourselves in chapter 8.

And if you think it's hard reading through the beginning of chapter 8 with all these names,

if you turn back to chapter 7, you'll see the reason why we jumped over it.

It's because there's a whole host of names there of people who returned from the exile.

Now, we're not just jumping over to ignore it.

We see its importance because it breaks down to us the number of people who were involved in this

and who returned to Jerusalem after the exile, after the walls had been restored.

And it's these people that we find who have gathered there, as we read in verse 1 of chapter 8,

all the people gathered as one man into the square before the water gate.

There's this whole host of people who have gathered.

And what is our vision?

That's the question that we often find arising as we study Nehemiah.

It's a question that keeps arising as you're going through this great book.

And the reason it keeps arising is because it's there before us all the time.

What is our vision?

It's there as the book starts because Nehemiah himself, we find, is given a reminder.

He's told what is happening back in Jerusalem.

And he's not happy with how things are in Jerusalem when he hears that the walls are broken down,

that the people are in great trouble.

He's concerned.

He's troubled.

He mourns over this.

But we find that God gives him this sense of vision to be a man who will come and begin the work of restoring Jerusalem.

Nehemiah is a visionary.

And through the vision that God has given to him, we see that he returns to Jerusalem.

He returns.

It's a great journey in itself just to return to Jerusalem.

It takes a while to get there.

And when he arrives, he finds the walls are just all broken down.

There's hardly anything left of it.

And it would be easy to be discouraged.

It would be easy for him to lose heart and think this task is impossible.

But he knows that God has given him a vision.

And when we've looked through this book of Nehemiah, I've quoted this maybe once or twice before as we've gone through.

It's a quote from George Barna.

I think it's helpful to always have this quote before us as well because it helps us remind ourselves that we need to be a people of vision as well.

George Barna once said,

Vision is the ability to understand the history, the present condition, and the potential of the church,

and to conceive a plan for action that will maximize the ministry potential.

It goes on a little bit after that as well.

And what we've seen is the vision that Nehemiah was one that had history behind it,

the history of Jerusalem as a great city.

It had the present condition involved in it as well,

that Jerusalem was a city that's walled.

The walls were broken down.

The gates were burned.

It was a place in trouble.

But as George Barna says,

It's the potential of the church as well.

And to conceive a plan for action that will maximize the ministry potential.

And really that's the stage we're at now.

We've seen the history.

We've seen the condition it was in.

But now we're seeing the great potential that there is in Jerusalem.

And we ask ourselves too, for our own context here today,

what is our vision?

Has going through Nehemiah stirred up our vision for the church here,

in terms of its history,

in terms of its present condition,

and in terms too of its potential.

To see what God has done,

to see where we are today.

It's not where we would want to be,

to see the troubles that are around us,

but not to fall short there and think,

well, what can we do now?

To be like Nehemiah coming back

and not seeing a place in disarray and disillusionment

and thinking, what is possible here?

There's nothing.

It's just a place of ruin.

But to have a vision

and to see a God-given vision

and a God-given potential

for where we are at today.

When we think of our own vision in a physical sense,

there are a number of things that can hinder

our vision physically.

There's blindness.

Caused by maybe a number of different things.

We can be a people who are blind.

Our vision can also be hampered by darkness.

If there's darkness all around us,

our vision is hampered

because we cannot see where we're going.

But there's a third one as well

that hampers our vision.

And that is sleeping.

When we're sleeping,

we're not seeing.

We're not aware.

We're not aware of what is happening around us.

And when you think of these three things

in a spiritual sense,

you could say the same applies.

There are three things that can hinder

our vision spiritually.

There is darkness.

There is blindness.

These two are often maybe the ones

that we look at most often.

Blindness, the Bible speaks of so often.

We don't see God.

We are blind.

We're dead, as it were,

in our trespasses and sins,

as the Bible says.

We don't see our need of God.

And yet what we read in the Bible is

that God can save us.

God can restore our sight.

We're surrounded by darkness as well.

The Bible again reminds us of that so often.

There's darkness all around us in this world.

But it says to us, too,

as you read through,

that Christ has come

to be the light of the world,

that there is a cure

for both of these.

But what about when it comes

to sleeping?

As a church,

as a people,

if we're spiritually sleeping,

it's not that we're dead,

but we're not alive either.

We're not living for God.

We're just in this slumber.

We're not aware

of what's going on around us.

We're ignorant to it.

It can lead to discouragement.

It can lead to dismay for us.

And what's the cure for that?

Well, again,

it's about Christ

and having a vision of him

and of what he can do for us.

We heard this morning

how the psalmist was saying to God,

are you asleep?

Will you not awaken

and come and help us?

Well, God sometimes says

to his people as well,

it's time for you to wake up.

We're reminded this morning,

God does not sleep,

but we sometimes do.

Ephesians chapter 5, verse 14.

Ephesians 5:14

There the context is talking

about darkness and light

and which one we're walking in.

And it says in verse 14,

awake, O sleeper,

and arise from the dead,

and Christ will shine in you.

A wake-up call.

And that is what Nehemiah came

to his people with.

It was a wake-up call for them,

calling the people to awake and arise

and to get on with the work

of restoration of Jerusalem.

And this evening,

we come to the point

in the book where we almost see

this vision that Nehemiah had

for his people

and for Jerusalem fulfilled.

Almost,

but not fully.

And what we find here is

that the fulfillment

is found

in the Lord.

And these verses

that we read

in verse 9 to 12

in particular,

here we see a culmination

of all this work

where he says,

do not mourn or weep.

For all the people wept

as they heard

the word of the Lord.

Then he said to them,

go on your way,

eat and drink sweet wine

and send portions

to anyone

who has nothing.

Ready for this day

is holy

to our Lord.

And do not be grieved

for the joy of the Lord

is your strength.

For the joy of the Lord

is your strength.

This was a momentous moment

for the people

as they returned

to Jerusalem.

And we're going to see that.

We're going to see

the potential

that Nehemiah

is beginning to see fulfilled

in this place.

Potential that is found

even in the midst

of difficulty,

in the midst of weeping,

in the midst of grief.

We find that the Lord

is speaking.

The joy of the Lord

is your strength.

We were reminded

this morning too

of how it's often

in trials

that we see

and need the Lord

more and more.

William Cowper,

God moves in mysterious ways.

We heard how he wrote that

in difficult personal circumstances

himself.

Well, another one

who wrote

in very difficult

personal circumstances

was Horatio Spafford.

He wrote that

wonderful hymn,

It is well

with my soul.

He said,

When peace like a river

attendeth my way,

when sorrows

like sea billows roll,

whatever my Lord

there has taught me

to say,

it is well,

it is well

with my soul.

I think,

well,

he must have been

in a wonderful place

in his life

to write these words,

to say it is well

with my soul.

Well,

it wasn't

a wonderful time

in his life.

He had lost

a son

aged four,

not long before this.

He wrote these words.

He had lost

financially.

His business

was ruined

through a great fire

in Chicago.

He had lost

four daughters

who he had sent

with his wife

over to England

by boat

and the boat

was tragically sunk.

It was a time

of great dismay

and sorrow

in his life.

And it was as he was

sailing to England

himself

and as he was

passing the spot

where his daughters

had drowned

that he went back

to his cabin

and wrote

these words

where he could find

that even in the midst

of that he could say

it is well,

it is well

with my soul.

The joy

of the Lord

was a strength

to him.

Do you have

that strength

from

that joy

of the Lord?

There's three

things I want

us to see

from these

verses before us

this evening.

When we think

of these words,

the joy

of the Lord

is our strength.

And the first

thing we want

to see is

how these

words

humble us.

Then we see

how these

words

lift us up.

And then

thirdly,

we'll see

how these

words

they keep

us

going.

And the first

thing we see

here is

these words

humble us.

What did

Nehemiah want

as he came

to Jerusalem?

What was his

great desire?

What was his

great vision?

And when

would his

vision be

fulfilled?

At what

point

was it

the work

done?

You might

have said

in chapter

6

verse 15

there you

could see

well that's

it.

The work

is done.

His vision

is complete.

What does

it say?

So the

wall was

finished

on the

25th day

of the

month of

Elul

in the

52

days.

You might

think there.

That's the

point where

his vision

was complete.

The walls

are finished.

But that's

not it.

That's not

the fulfillment

of his

vision.

You might

then say

well it

must be

chapter 7

then.

When you

read through

chapter 7

and you

see all

these great

numbers

returning

to Jerusalem

was this

the point

where he

could say

my work

is done?

My vision

is fulfilled?

No

it wasn't.

It's what

we find

in chapter

8.

And what

we find

in chapter

8 is a

reminder

to us

that the

great

burden

that

Nehemiah

had

was not

just for

the walls

of Jerusalem.

It was

not just

for a

material

outlook on

Jerusalem.

His great

burden

was for

the people.

It was

the people

who were

in trouble.

And this

is where we

begin to

see his

vision

fulfilled.

as the

people

hear in

the beginning

of verse

8,

they

command

the

hearing

of the

word.

Ezra

brings

the book

before them.

The book

of the

law

of Moses

it says

in verse

1.

And it

was a

book

that was

to be

opened up

and to

be heard

by them.

The people

had had

much

to be

distressed

about.

They

had been

in exile.

They were

returning

from this

period of

exile.

They were

returning

to a

place

that had

been a

shambles,

that had

been broken

down,

their homes

ruined,

the city

ruined.

And they

had returned

hearing and

knowing that

it was

because they

hadn't

listened

to God,

that they

had rejected

God.

And this

is brought

home to

them as

they hear

Ezra

read the

word of

God to

them.

And what

did this

word do?

Well,

as they

hear the

word read,

it humbled

them.

And when

you look

at this,

you find

that they

were here

together on

the first

day of

the seventh

month.

They were

hearing the

word read,

it says in

verse 3,

from early

morning until

midday.

Around

five or

six hours

they were

gathered

together

hearing the

word of

God.

And you

notice three

things that

this was

doing for

them, that

was happening

in their

midst here.

First of

all, they

listened.

And you

see that

in verse

three.

They were

there before

God, they

were hearing

this word.

And at the

end of verse

three it

says,

all the

ears of

the people

were attentive

to the

book of

the law.

They were

listening to

every word

that was

being spoken.

They were

beginning to

understand

every word

that was

being spoken

as well,

because that's

the second

thing we

see here.

They were

helped to

understand.

In verse

seven and

eight you

have the

list of

all these

people.

And it

says there,

they helped

the people

to understand

the law.

So there's

these two

things going

on as a

reminder to

us of what

we are about,

isn't it?

That we are

a people who

are to be

under the

word, but

that we are

also to be

helped to

understand the

word.

If we have

questions we

should ask,

we should be

gathered around

God's word in

this way to

help one

another to

understand.

Yes, to

listen to

the word

preached, but

then to

encourage and

to help one

another to

understand what

the word

means.

And the

third thing

you see

here is that

as these

things were

going on,

they were

convicted by

the word.

In verse

six, we

see that

Ezra blessed

the Lord,

the great

God, and

all the

people answered,

Amen,

Amen,

lifting up

their hands

to God.

And so

there was

this response

to the

word, they

were convicted

by it,

initially with

a sense of

Amen to

the word of

God.

But then you

see later

on, as you

read down

into verse

nine onwards

there, the

end of verse

nine, it

says, for

all the

people wept

as they

heard the

words of

the law.

the people

wept as

they heard

the words

of the

law.

They were

convicted

by it, they

needed this

word.

We need

this word

ourselves

too, because

it is this

word that

helps us to

see how

far from

God we

have fallen

away, but

it helps us

to come

back to

him as

well.

It is the

word of

God that

brings

healing.

And that

is what

we need.

Every one

of us, that's

what our

people all

around us

need, that's

what our

nations need,

the word

of God to

convict, to

remind us

who God

is.

And we

can say

Amen to

so many

things, but

that to

remind us

who we

are, and

to bring us

to that

point of

mourning and

weeping.

yesterday in

Port 3, it

was a day of

vision being

realized there

with the

official opening

of the

church.

A great

day for

them and

for all

concerned.

But is

that it?

Is the

work done?

Of course

not.

The vision

is ongoing

because the

vision is to

make Jesus

known through

the preaching

of the word

in that

place.

It won't

be, come

and see

this new

building.

Come and

see how

warm this

space is.

Come and

see the

technology we

have.

That's not

what it

will be

about.

It's

about

something

else,

something

greater.

Come

see a

man who

knows

everything

about you.

Could

this be

the

Christ?

It's

about the

preaching

of the

word.

The

city of

Glasgow

motto as

it was

originally

had that

at its

very

core.

Let

Lord,

let

Glasgow

flourish

through

the

preaching

of the

word

and

the

praising

of

thy

name.

Now

they've

shortened

it to

let

Glasgow

flourish.

But

there's

no thought

of what

is going

to make

it

flourish.

We

have to

get back

to that

Lord,

let

Glasgow,

let

everywhere

flourish

through

the

preaching

of

thy

word

and

the

praising

of

thy

name.

Being

humbled

under

the

word

of

God.

That

is

where

we

start.

Peter

says in

1 Peter

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5,

humble

yourselves

therefore under

the mighty

hand of

God,

so that at

the proper

time he

may exalt

you,

casting

all your

anxieties

on him

because he

cares

for you.

So Nehemiah's

vision begins

here being

fulfilled with

being humbled

under the

word of

God.

They wept

and mourned

under it,

but it

doesn't stay

there.

And that's

important for

us as we

move on

because the

joy of the

Lord lifts

us up.

And that is

what we all

want to know

as well.

The joy of

the Lord,

the strength

that it

gives,

it lifts

us up.

God

doesn't

want to

leave

his people

in a

pit of

despair.

Yes,

he wants

us to

be humbled,

but only

so that

he can

lift us

up.

And

Nehemiah

and Ezra

here,

we see

the vision

too,

is not

just to

bring a

people

under

the

word,

to

despair

in

their

sin,

but that

they

would

come

and

rejoice

in

the

Lord.

The

joy of

the

Lord

is

your

strength.

Nehemiah

is not

just a

man

to

talk,

he's

a man

of

action.

He

returned

to

Jerusalem

to

spur

people

on

in

the

work.

And

now

he

shows

them

the

fulfillment

of

his

work

is

to

come

under

the

word

to

know

the

joy

of

the

Lord

as

their

strength.

The

source

of

every

help

and need

that

they

have

can

be

fulfilled

in

the

Lord.

There's

always

a time

for

reflection

and a

time

for

mourning

as we

mourn

over

sin.

It's

always

a part

of

our

life

to

repent

of

our

sins.

But

we

should

never

constantly

remain

in

that

frame

where

we're

despondent

under

sin

because

that

paralyzes.

There

is no

joy

in

that.

There

is no

strength

from the

Lord

in

that

because

the

Lord

wants

to

lift

us

up

above

that

and

use

us

for

his

glory.

And

that

is

what

is

happening

in

Jerusalem

here.

So

from

Jerusalem

and as

you

go

forward

in

the

Old

Testament

into

the

New

Testament

this

would

be

a

place

that

the

vision

is

continuing

to

be

fulfilled.

That

the

word

of

God

would

be

proclaimed.

That

the

people

would

be

under

it.

That

they

to

forgive.

This

joy

is to

be

infectious.

This

joy

is to

be at

the

heart

of

what

they

are

doing.

There

are

two

characters

in

Winnie

the

Pooh.

I

don't

know

if

any

of

you

watched

or

read

Winnie

the

Pooh

but

there's

two

characters

that

maybe

often

stand

out

as

complete

opposites.

You

have

on

one

hand

Tigger

and

on

the

other

hand

you

have

Eeyore.

And

they

are

just

complete

opposites.

Tigger

is

ever

the

optimist.

He

always

has

a

vision

of

doing

and

doing

excitement

and

keeping

going

in

different

things

with

a

sense

of

anticipation.

Eeyore

on the

other

hand

is

a

pessimist.

The

one

who's

often

glum.

The

one

who's

often

got

a

negative

outlook.

When

our

children

were

young

we

had

a

wee

toy

Tigger

and

it

was

operated

by

batteries

and

sprung

tail

as you

know

Tigger

has

so if

you

switched

it on

the

Tigger

would

start

bouncing

around

and

making

a

noise

and

the

children

would

see

this

and

sitting

they

weren't

quite

walking

but

they

were

sitting

up

and

they

would

start

bouncing

trying

to

copy

Tigger

because

it

was

infectious

it

had

this

impact

on

them

where

they

were

seeing

this

and

excited

about

it

and

trying

to

copy

it

now

God

doesn't

expect

us

all

to

be

bouncy

Tiggers

but

neither