The Joy of the Lord Is My Strength

As I was walking through the hospital yesterday, the phrase—“The joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10)—just kept ringing in my spirit. And then all of a sudden, it was like the Holy Spirit stopped me in my tracks and showed me the face of Jesus. Whoa. So. Joyful.

I’ve been praying for God to show me His face, and in that moment He did—I saw pure joy and delight—over me! I as if I sensed this deep knowing of what He felt when He saw my heart meditating on His Word.

“You have captured my heart, my treasure, my bride. You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes, with a single jewel of your necklace. Your love delights me, my treasure, my bride. Your love is better than wine, your perfume more fragrant than spices!”

Song of Songs 4:9–10 (NLT)

“I am my lover’s, and he has passion and desire for me.”

Song of Songs 7:10 (TPT)

If this statement is true—that the joy of the Lord is my strength—then my view of God must be that He is indeed joyful. Do you see Him that way? Our view of His nature determines what attributes of Him we actually get to walk in. You’ll strive and struggle to find joy if you believe the God you’re begging to give it to you doesn’t already possess it. He doesn’t just have joy, He IS joy. He is radiant with joy—so I can be radiant with joy.

The Delight of God

When I live from the truth that I am created by God, loved by God, and delighted in by God—because I am what He pleased to create—it compels me to give it all back in surrender. And that fills me with joy complete. This is why we cast our crowns before Him. Because He is worthy and He created what He pleased:

“You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”

Revelation 4:11 (NLT)

“For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT)

“Never again will you be called ‘The Forsaken City’ or ‘The Desolate Land.’ Your new name will be ‘The City of God’s Delight’ and ‘The Bride of God,’ for the LORD delights in you and will claim you as his bride. … Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.”

Isaiah 62:4–5 (NLT)

“For the LORD delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.”

Psalm 149:4 (NLT)

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. … I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”

John 15:9, 11 (NLT)

Thank you Jesus, that You delight in me!

How You View Him Shapes How You Live

To walk in our calling and avoid burnout, we need our view of God—and how we believe He views us—to be aligned with Scripture. He has kind eyes toward you. You are His joy and His delight.

I think about the parable of the servants in Matthew 25. It really all comes down to how you view the nature of God. Some saw Him as harsh, strict, ruthless. Out of fear, one buried what was given. But the others knew Him differently. They saw Him as One who delighted in their stewardship. And they multiplied what was entrusted.

“His master said to him, ‘You will experience the delight of your master, who will say to you,

‘Enter into the joy of your Lord’”

Matthew 25:21 (TPT)

They were living out of identity. When we live in the truth that God delights in us, we are free to steward our gifts joyfully instead of striving as fearful slaves. They knew who they were—multipliers. And all of us carry that on our lives. Go forth and multiply. Because it’s not on you to produce multiplication—it’s on Him. You just give back what you’ve been given. Five loaves and two fish. He’s the Giver of every good thing. He is the Lord of the Harvest. Your destiny and its timing are in God’s hands. Our reward is Him. He is our inheritance.

“LORD, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine.

The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance!”

Psalm 16:5–6 (NLT)

This truth allows us to live in joy. It’s the easy yoke. The light burden. The childlike faith that trusts in His kindness and faithfulness to finish the work He started.

God’s View of You

• God delights in you — Zephaniah 3:17; Psalm 149:4; Isaiah 62:4

• God has tender love toward you — Psalm 17:8; Psalm 36:7; Hosea 11:4

• God calls you His child — 2 Corinthians 6:18; Romans 8:15–16; 1 John 3:1

• God’s eyes are toward you — Psalm 34:5; Numbers 6:25

Our weak love actually captivates Him. One look and He is melted by your affection. The more we look at Him the more we become like him.

Beholding, Not Striving

When we are born again, we are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). That means the old sin nature died, and the nature of Christ is being formed in us.

I love an analogy I heard recently: Think of a child learning to walk. When they stumble, they don’t say, “I guess I can’t walk.” No—they look at their parent and say, “They walk, so I must be able to walk too.” And they try again.

Jesus delights in our pursuit of His nature, because that’s the very image we were created in. By His grace, we become like Him—not in striving, but by beholding.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

We don’t have to earn this. We just believe it: we look like our Father. He walks in joy and delight, so I can walk in joy and delight. We’ve received the Spirit of adoption, and He calls us sons and daughters.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus,

so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,

in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

Romans 8:29 (ESV)

Radiant With Joy

We were made by Him and for Him, to bring Him glory. When we see Him rightly—as joyful, delighted, kind, radiant—then His nature flows through us. We don’t strive to earn joy. We simply receive it and reflect it.

And when we live from that truth, we truly walk in the joy of the Lord as our strength. Just keep looking at Him—He is so proud of you.