What do you think “the joy of the Lord” means? As in Nehemiah 8, “the joy of the Lord is your strength?” My grammar is rusty, but isn’t that “subjective or objective genitive?” Is it the joy the Lord himself has, or the joy we have in him or because of him? That sounds nitpicking but when you know how weak you are, and I do, then knowing where your strength is, now that’s important.

Remember the story. They are back from exile, back with the Lord in his country where they belong. The city wall is up again and they are a lot safer than they were. Now it’s time to go to the temple to hear again God’s law and when they do, they all cry, they sob. Now to me that feels right, we ignored all the Lord ever said to us and did for us, no wonder we had that hard exile, how dumb could we get, sob and sob away. That was when they got the word, stop that crying, this is a celebration, eat up! Since “the joy of the Lord, now that’s your strength!”

Does that mean, see how glad the Lord himself is to have you back, in his country in his house? Or is it, you yourself need to get more joy in your heart? Maybe both? For Jonathan Edwards that was a basic question: why are we always trying to get from God instead of giving to him, in praise and worship? I think in a similar way about the Reformation passion for “extraspective” faith, a trust in Jesus Christ that never looks back at your trust to see how deep or sincere it is.  That looking back at yourself can so easily make faith into just another work. 

That’s what Edwards’ followers did, leading them finally to Unitarianism, with its minimal interest in Jesus’ identity as God, eclipsed by our own morality. As we try to keep all that in mind, what after all do you think is that joy the Lord promises us? We know by now where a prosperity gospel goes, enough to make us leery of even a “spiritual prosperity.” O Lord, protect us, keep us from trying to use you just to get what we really want, without caring for you and your glory.

The Lord’s Prayer is the Lord’s own model for us, I’m so glad of that. Our Father who art in heaven—I call you by name, I know who you are, in heaven ruling the universe and our loving Father too. Hallowed be thy name—please see to it Lord that right now you get the honor you are so worthy of, from all those angels, from all those believers already with you, from believers all over the world, who look to Byzantium or Rome or Geneva, from all my needy friends and from me too.  Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven--O Lord, please work in our hearts so we honor you with our entire lives, not just in the way we talk about you.

Only after that do we move to daily bread and forgiveness. I hope this isn’t too mechanical but could we do some similar timing in our own prayers? How many minutes of hallowing, how many about bread? Could that show us where we are, takers or givers with our Lord? Jonathan, I know you’re so much further along--but it seems so much to me that as I seek to honor my Lord with my heart, he gives me so much joy—that the more I give him the more I enjoy him and that he is at my side. Isn’t the joy of the Lord both/and? Or BOTH/and?