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The Joy of Worship

The Joy of Worship
January 28, 2018

Scripture: Nehemiah 12:27-47

Nehemiah 12:43: “And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.”

I. You rejoice in worship by being God-centered.

A. The joy of the people of Jerusalem is seen in vs. 27: “at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness.” The walls were to be dedicated with gladness. And if you’re going to be glad, what better way to show your gladness than with music? So at the end of vs. 27 we read that the people worshiped God with singing, with cymbals, harps and lyres. And in vs. 35 and vs. 41 we read that trumpets were added to this worship service.

B. The choirs and musicians of Jerusalem were split up into two groups. The two groups went up on top of the city walls. One group (vs. 31) marched in a southerly direction on top of the walls and worshiped with song. The other group (vs. 38) marched in a northerly direction. The whole city then was surrounded by the people’s praise of God. God was the people’s focus in their worship, and God’s house the temple was the destination for their worship (vs. 40).

II. You rejoice in worship by remembering God’s faithfulness.

A. On top of the walls of the city, the people remembered what those walls were like a few months ago. They were broken down. But now those walls had been built by their very own hands because of God’s faithfulness to them. The people then were looking at and remembering evidence of God’s faithfulness. Not long ago Sanballat and Tobiah, the enemies of the Jews, said that their wall was so flimsy that it wouldn’t even be able to hold up a fox (Neh. 4:2-3). Wrong!

B. They also remembered God’s faithfulness as they thought about David. In vs. 36 we read about the musical instruments that David the man of God had directed the people to use in worship. Then in vs. 37 we are reminded that Jerusalem was called the city of David. And in vs. 46 we read about how in the days of David there were directors of the singers in worship. The people were remembering the faithfulness of God. God had made promises to His anointed King David, and they believed God would keep His promises. God would keep His promise to send a descendant of King David, a Messiah, to Jerusalem one day to rule over His people.

III. You rejoice in worship by offering thanksgiving.

A. Notice all the references to thanksgiving. In vs. 27 we see that the people celebrated the dedication with thanksgiving. The choir who went to the north on the city’s walls is described in vs. 38 as a choir of those who gave thanks. And in vs. 31 and vs. 40 we read that both choirs were appointed to give thanks. Later, when the choirs arrived in the temple Nehemiah describes the worship in vs. 46 as similar to that which had been offered in the days of King David: there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. The people worshiped with thanksgiving for what God had done for them. Because of their thanksgiving they were joyful.

Application:
Seek your joy in the same way that the worshipers in Jerusalem found joy.

Sources:
The book of Nehemiah
Commentaries on Nehemiah by Derek Thomas, James Hamilton Jr, and Kathleen Nielson