Nehemiah 8:10

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for [this] day [is] holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Ver. 10. Then he said unto them, Go your way] A friendly dismission. We must so reprove or admonish others, as that we ever preserve in them an opinion of our good will unto them; for this is that sugar that sweeteneth all such tartar pills.

Go your way, eat, &c.] One being asked whether a good man might not feed upon sweet and delicate meat; eat the fat, and drink the sweet, even the choicest wines and chiefest viands? answered, Yes; except God made bees only for fools. God freely permitteth to his best children the use of his best creatures, even to an honest affluence (on thanksgiving days), especially provided that they feed with fear, and keep within the bounds of sobriety.

And send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared] That is, to the poor, the fatherless, and the widows, Deuteronomy 16:14, who have not their set meals, nor certain dishes; but as hard fare for their holy day cheer, as Christ's disciples had once for their Sabbath day's dinner, Matthew 12:1 .

For this day is holy unto the Lord] A holy convocation, Leviticus 23:24, a day of blowing trumpets, a feast day: see Zechariah 8:19. See Trapp on " Zec 8:19 " A more liberal use of the creature dilateth and exhilarateth the heart, and so disposeth it to thankfulness, Jam 5:13 Psalms 92:2,3. Eat, that thy soul may bless me, Genesis 27:19. The idolatrous Israelites sat down to eat and drink, and then rose up to play. God's people should much more rejoice in the Lord, when refreshed by the creatures, speaking good of his name, and serving him with cheerfulness in the abundance of all things, Deuteronomy 28:47 .

Neither be ye sorry] No, not for your sins now, lest it prove a sinful sorrow, see Nehemiah 8:9 .

For the joy of the Lord is your strength] Or, your fortification and place of defence against sin, and all the ill fruits of it. Laeti igitur sitis, sed non securi: gaudeatis in Domino, sed caveatis a recidivo Let us be joyful, but not untroubled, let us rejoice in God, but let us beware of backsliding. (Bernard). "A merry heart," grounded upon a good conscience, "doeth good like a medicine," Proverbs 17:22. It is as marrow to the bones; as oil to the wheels; as a bait by the way to a generous horse; as a back of steel to a bended bow, &c. Surely, as true gold strengtheneth the heart (that alchemy-gold doth not), so doth spiritual joy much more; making a man insuperable under sufferings, and unsatisfiable in performance of duties. It is such a precious commodity, as that no good can match it, no evil too powerful for it. It beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things, as St Paul saith of charity, 1 Corinthians 13:7. And as a man that hath plenty of good blood and fresh spirits in his body, being well-lined within, as we say, can better endure heat and cold, &c., than another that hath not so; in like sort, he that hath his heart full of heaven, his conscience full of comfort, is in case to do and suffer much for and from God and men. The peace of his conscience will appear in his countenance, as Stephen's did; and as the martyrs in Severus the emperor's days, who, being released for a time, seemed to come, e myrotheca, non ergastulo, out of a perfumed palace, and not out of a stinking prison, looking more like angels of heaven than men on earth, as Eusebius relateth, Divinum nescio quid in vultibus ipsis praeferentes I do not know the god who wants to hide himself. (Euseb. lib. 5, cap. 12). The cross to such is anointed, as Bernard hath it; and by the joy of the Lord, that oil of gladness, it is made not only light, but sweet; not only tolerable, but desirable, and delectable.