Again, this book starts off with Nehemiah hearing that things were not going well in Jerusalem and he responded by sitting down and weeping. Verse 4 says that "In fact, for days I mourned, fasted and prayed to the God of heaven." Just this is enough to bring conviction. Am I willing to mourn, fast and pray for others? God, help me to be a Nehemiah. Here was his prayer:
“O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! 7 We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.
8 “Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. 9 But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’
10 “The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. 11 O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.” In those days I was the king’s cup-bearer.
Nehemiah knew God was in control. When he approached the king, the king asked him what was troubling him. Nehemiah told him and then the king asked how he could help. I love what the Bible says next:
2:4 With a prayer to the God of heaven, 5 I replied,
Before he replied, I think he said to himself "God help me". If only I would remember to do the same.
Twice in chapter 2 Nehemiah tells of how the king granted his requests "because the gracious hand of God was on me." He knew that it was ultimately God, and not the king, that was blessing him. He was quick to give the glory to God.
As they were rebuilding the wall, there were some who came to mock the work they were doing. Here was Nehemiah's response:
4:4 Then I prayed, “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! 5 Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front ofthe builders.”
He didn't respond to them, he took his concerns to God.
8 They all made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion. 9 But we prayed to our God and guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.
But they didn't just pray, they also worked and guarded the city.
As the attacks continued and the people weakened, this is how Nehemiah encouraged them:
14 Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, “Don’t be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!”
There is a 'time to work' and a 'time to rest'. Nehemiah knew when it was 'time to work':
21 We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset. And half the men were always on guard. 22 I also told everyone living outside the walls to stay in Jerusalem. That way they and their servants could help with guard duty at night and work during the day. 23 During this time, none of us—not I, nor my relatives, nor my servants, nor the guards who were with me—ever took off our clothes. We carried our weapons with us at all times, even when we went for water.
As I read the following section, I thought of our 'leaders', and how few of them would be willing to act as Nehemiah does in the following section. But there is a key verse in there that tells us why he did what he did. Which I think shows us the reason today why we have the issues we do:
5:14 For the entire twelve years that I was governor of Judah—from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of the reign of King Artaxerxes —neither I nor my officials drew on our official food allowance. 15 The former governors, in contrast, had laid heavy burdens on the people, demanding a daily ration of food and wine, besides forty pieces of silver. Even their assistants took advantage of the people. But because I feared God, I did not act that way.
16 I also devoted myself to working on the wall and refused to acquire any land. And I required all my servants to spend time working on the wall. 17 I asked for nothing, even though I regularly fed 150 Jewish officials at my table, besides all the visitors from other lands! 18 The provisions I paid for each day included one ox, six choice sheep or goats, and a large number of poultry. And every ten days we needed a large supply of all kinds of wine. Yet I refused to claim the governor’s food allowance because the people already carried a heavy burden.
19 Remember, O my God, all that I have done for these people, and bless me for it.
And then, the culmination of the reconstruction was encapsulated with the following two verses:
6:15 So on October 2 the wall was finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun. 16 When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God.
God will help us if we pray. But we must still act and step out from our prayer closet and follow the leading of the spirit. God will take our actions taken in faith and make something good out of it.
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