Pray the word with David Platt is a resource from radical. net.

Nehemiah chapter 12 verse 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 well did you hear the theme of that verse? It's one of my favorite

pictures in the book of Nehemiah after they have rebuilt these walls around

Jerusalem and as you read through the book there were times when their enemies were

saying once they build these walls a cat couldn't even walk on them without them

falling down and so in Nehemiah chapter 12,

they climb up on the walls, and the people march around the walls,

and they sing with loud voices, and all kinds of loud instruments.

In verse 43, did you hear it,

says they offered great sacrifices that day

and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy.

So that's three times joys mentioned. Then the women and children also rejoice, that's

the fourth, and the joy of Jerusalem number five was heard far away five different times.

There's an emphasis in this one verse on how the people's joy was expressed in this moment of worship and exalted not just in Jerusalem and on

those walls but far away from Jerusalem among the enemies who had said not even a cat could walk on these walls.

And as I read that, I just want to encourage all of us today who are in Jesus, no matter what we're

walking through, we have a reason to rejoice. No matter what challenges we are facing,

we have reason to sing with great joy.

I was reminded of this.

Sing to a sermon recently from

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