Joy in Fear

5 min read

27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. 28 The musicians also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem—from the villages of the Netophathites, 29 from Beth Gilgal, and from the area of Geba and Azmaveth, for the musicians had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem.
— Nehemiah 12:27-29

The Edict of Cyrus that allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem was issued in 539 BC. According to Wikipedia, Darius I (Nehemiah 12:22) reigned from 522-486 BC. After him came Xerxes I (the husband of Esther—Esther 1:1) and then his son, Artaxerxes I, (Nehemiah 2:1). Scholars believe that the wall was completed on October 2, 445 BC (Nehemiah 6:15) during the reign of Artaxerxes I. Some of the dates don’t quite add up, but I am inclined to believe the naming of specific dates in the biblical record, as in Nehemiah 6:15.

Who knows when the dedication of the wall actually happened, but given the constant threats from outside during the construction, it’s probably safe to assumed that the dedication happened after the wall was completed rather than when the work began.

What an incredible and momentous occasion, though. After the return of the Jewish exiles began in 539 BC, the rebuilding of the temple was completed on September 21, 520 BC (Ezra 6:15) during the reign of Darius I, and then now, the wall of Jerusalem was finally finished. And once again, we the importance of the Levites in leading the people of God in praising God.

Seeing the hand of God in fulfilling His promises for His people inspires the fear of God and with it joy. The fear of the LORD is not so much a negative emotion as it is a sense of absolute certainty in the faithfulness of God and the awe that such faith evokes.

The fear of the LORD can evoke a negative emotion when we find ourselves in opposition to God’s sovereign will. But the fear of the LORD will evoke exuberant joy when we find ourselves caught in the wave of God’s sovereign faithfulness, mercy, and grace.

Sometimes, we cannot really see the hand of God fulfilling His promises until we look back to the history of our lives. When we realize that our history is HIS story, again, we experience that sense of awe.

The more we practice recognizing the hand of God in our history (which parallels the hand of the God in biblical history), the more we begin to recognize the hand of God in our lives today. And the more we recognize the hand of God in our lives each and every day, the more we are inclined to fear the LORD and praise His name.

Father, Your ways are higher than our ways, Your thoughts than our thoughts. Yet You have revealed Your faithfulness to us in Your word. We have experienced Your faithfulness in our lives. Teach us to fear Your name so that our heart will rejoice in You each and every day. In Jesus’s name. Amen.