QT 14/01/2025 Tue. Nehemiah 12. Recovering Joy Is Possible. 找回喜乐是可能的。

QT 14/01/2025 Tue. Nehemiah 12. Recovering Joy Is Possible.
READ http://www.esvbible.org/neh12

Celebration and the joy of worship ceased during their exile in Babylon and Persia. Can these be recovered? Can we recover this same joy in the walk with God this year?

For recovering the joy of worship in celebration of the goodness of God, many exiles had to return to Jerusalem once again to rebuild the temple. Not only priests and levites have to take up their hereditary roles in the temple service (non-Levites were out of bound for these roles),

(1) You need those who were "in charge of the songs of thanksgiving" (12:8);

(2) You need to gather sufficient people "to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch by watch" (12:24);

(3) You need skilled artisans of "cymbals, harps, and lyres" (See 12:27–28) and "with trumpets" (12:35,41), "musical instruments of David the man of God" (12:36); and

(4) You need singers, groups of them (12:38, 40, 42).

Nehemiah 12:43–47 [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.

Service at the Temple
[44] On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. [45] And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon. [46] For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. [47] And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron. (ESV)

Recovering joy does not begin with us deciding that we want to be joyful today by our own will and mental exertion. Recovering joy is possible when God's people understand God and themselves more and more—who He is, and how blessed we are to be incorporated into His grand plan. As we begin to understand that, we begin to move.

For Nehemiah's contemporaries, moving to Jerusalem was more a sacrifice as it was not so populated and it was an inconvenient place to reside. For believers today, we don't claim the physical land God gave Abraham, but we act so that God's will can be done on earth as it is in heaven. For Nehemiah's contemporaries, their manner of worship might be different from us in the details, but worship we must as New Testament believers, as we have seen and received God's promises and look forward to more joy and celebration in the kingdom to come.

PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, help us regather mentally all your greatness and provisions that you have provided for us. Help us feel the privilege that we have before you. Give us a spirit to respond with joyfulness, with our minds, lips, and hearts of joy.

QT 14/01/2025 星期二. 尼希米 12. 找回喜乐是可能的。
http://m.bbintl.org/bible/ncv/neh/12

在巴比伦和波斯流亡期间，庆祝和敬拜的喜悦都已停止。这些还能恢复吗？今年，我们能否在与神同行的过程中恢复同样的喜乐？

为了重拾敬拜的喜乐，颂扬神的美德，许多流亡者不得不再次回到耶路撒冷重建圣殿。不仅祭司和利未人必须在圣殿的事奉中担任他们世袭的角色（非利未人不可能担任这些角色），他们还必须在圣殿的事奉中担任以下角色：

(1) 你需要那些 “负责颂赞的事 ”的人（12:8）；

(2）你需要召集足够的人，“照着神人大卫的命令，按着班次赞美称颂”（12：24）；

(3）你需要 “敲钹、弹琴鼓瑟”（见 12：27-28）和 “号筒”（12：35，41）的能工巧匠，“神人大卫的乐器”（12：36）；以及

(4）你们需要歌手，一群一群颂赞的人（12：38，40，42）。

《尼希米记》12:43-47 [43]  那一天，众人献上极大的祭祀，而且非常欢乐，因为　神使他们大大欢乐；连妇女和孩童也都欢乐；耶路撒冷欢乐的声音在老远的地方都可以听见。
44 那时，有一些人被委派管理存放举祭、初熟之物和十分之一供物的库房，把各城的田地，照着律法所规定归给祭司和利未人的部分收集到那里。犹大人为侍立供职的祭司和利未人欢乐。45 祭司和利未人谨守他们的　神所吩咐的，谨守洁净的礼；歌唱者和守门的也照着大卫和他的儿子所罗门的命令去行，46 因为远在大卫和亚萨的时代，已有诗班长，并且有赞美称颂　神的诗歌。47 在所罗巴伯和尼希米的日子，以色列众人把歌唱的和守门的每日应得的分供给他们；又把分别为圣的分给利未人；而利未人也把分别为圣的分给亚伦的子孙。

恢复喜乐并不始于我们决定今天要靠自己的意志和心力来获得喜乐。当神的子民越来越明白神和他们自己--祂是谁，以及我们是多么有福被纳入祂的宏伟计划时，恢复喜乐就成为可能。当我们开始明白这一点时，我们就会开始行动。

对于尼希米同时代的人来说，迁往耶路撒冷更像是一种牺牲，因为那里人口稀少，居住不便。对于今天的信徒来说，我们并不要求得到神赐给亚伯拉罕的土地，但我们的行动是为了让神的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上。对于尼希米同时代的人来说，他们敬拜的方式可能在细节上与我们不同，但作为新约信徒，我们必须敬拜，因为我们已经看到并领受了神的应许，期待着在即将到来的国度里有更多的喜乐和庆祝。

祷告：亲爱的天父，求你帮助我们重新聚拢在你的伟大和你为我们预备的一切上。帮助我们感受到我们在你面前的特权。赐给我们喜乐的灵，用我们喜乐的心思、嘴唇和心灵作出回应。