Nehemiah's Prayer

Welcome

Good morning everyone and welcome. Last week we finished 1 Peter so today we are going to start the book of Nehemiah. After Nehemiah, we will return to finish the book of 2 Peter. But I wanted to take us through Nehemiah because the book revolves around a time of building for the people of Israel and because of this, I think it is pretty neat to go through this book while we are in the midst of building ourselves. (Pretty much every church ever has done this same thing) Now, with that being said, I want to make sure we understand that the book of Nehemiah was not written primarily for future churches who would take on building a new church building. Nehemiah, just like any other biblical book, was written in an ancient setting primarily for those original people. So for us to understand and apply the book to our own lives, we have to understand what it meant to the people who originally heard it and read it. Before we even read the first chapter then, we’ll talk about some of the background information that is good to know before reading it.

Prayer

Nehemiah Intro

As you turn to Nehemiah, you will go past the book of Ezra. In our modern bibles, these are separate books. However, this division happened long after it was actually written. Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book together. Ezra and Nehemiah both take place after the return of some of the Israelites from exile. So what had happened?

The people had become more and more unfaithful. They had started to follow some practices of other nations and were even defiling the temple. 2 Chronicles says that God sent word to them again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But the people did not listen. They mocked his messengers, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets. God then brought the king of the Babylonians, Nebuchadnezzar, up against them. Nebuchadnezzar burnt the temple down, broke down the walls of Jerusalem, killed a lot of the people, and those that survived he carried off into exile in Babylon.

The people served Nebuchadnezzar and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power. That is where 2 Chronicles ends and where Ezra picks up. Cyrus is now the king of Persia and he makes a proclamation that any of the Israelites can go back to Jerusalem. They can leave and go back home in order to rebuild the temple.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 also deals with prophecy about Israel's return to Jerusalem. It says,

Jeremiah 29:10–14 NIV

10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Ezra then picks up by telling us about the first two leaders who went back to rebuild and restore the community of Jerusalem. Zerubbabel first led a group back to rebuild the temple, about 60 years later Ezra arrives in Jerusalem to teach the Torah and to help rebuild the community, and soon after Nehemiah follows , and Nehemiah is mainly about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah then, picks up a few decades after the first group returned from exile. Some of the rebuilding work has begun, but Nehemiah is going to feel called to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls.

Nehemiah 1 NIV

1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” 4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said: “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. 8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’ 10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” I was cupbearer to the king.

News of Jerusalem

The first three verses introduce us to Nehemiah and gives us some details about him. Nehemiah is one of the Israelites who are living in exile, away from Israel. He has been raised outside of Israel and has never been there. The first verse tells us that he is located in the city of Susa and verse 11 tells us why. Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king. This means, that Nehemiah was in a very good position and had a very good life. Nehemiah probably didn’t want for anything material wise. Susa is in Persia, which is modern day Iran, and he is working for one of the biggest superpowers of the ancient world. Susa was also one of the cities that the king would live in. This was their winter residence and the palace that they lived in was pretty incredible. So this is Nehemiah’s current location. He has a good job of prominence within the nation, he has a comfortable life, things are really going rather good for him. This is different than many of the other biblical character that we read about. Most of the time we see God take someone from nothing and make them into something. But Nehemiah, at least in this worldly sense, has it made. Nehemiah’s family has done exactly what Jeremiah told the people to do, “Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. And take wives and give your sons and daughters in marriage. Seek the welfare of the city to which I have sent you to exile.”

I bring this up because for Nehemiah, Persia was his home. This is what he knew. Why on earth would Nehemiah ever want to leave this position and this nation when he had everything that he could ever need? Nehemiah would leave, because he was a part of God’s covenant people, Israel. And so even though Nehemiah didn’t grow up in Israel, he recognized that his true home, the place his people were from and would eventually return, is Israel.

So Nehemiah’s brother comes back from Jerusalem and tells Nehemiah the state of things. Jerusalem is still in shambles. The wall is still torn down and nothing has been done to rebuild it.

The closest example I have of what this feels like is how I feel about what used to be Meadows Nursing Home. If you have ever been there you know exactly what I’m talking about. Meadows employed almost every single member of my family at some point or another. My first job was working in the kitchen there and throughout college I went back and worked as residential maintenance. Mowing the yards of the duplexes, trimming bushes, things like that. Because of this family connection and the importance of that place then, it pains me when I drive by and see the building empty and decaying, just waiting to eventually be torn down.

Nehemiah feels something very similar, but to a much stronger degree. It pains him to hear that things are still in such bad shape. This news is so bad for Nehemiah that he begins to weep and for days after he fasts and spends time in prayer.

Nehemiah’s Response

Most of the rest of chapter 1 tells us what Nehemiah prayed. Nehemiah’s first response is prayer. He doesn’t rush into action, he doesn’t try to immediately fix the problem. He begins to address this problem first through prayer. This is a helpful reminder to us because it is not often the route that we take. How often, when faced with something challenging in life, something that is causing you grief, pain, or sorrow, do you try to fix it right away? What can I do? How can I fix this problem so I don’t feel this way? Nehemiah is a reminder that our first response should always be prayer. And it is in Nehemiah’s prayer, that he begins by talking about what he knows to be true about God. He knows that God is great and awesome, he knows that God keeps his covenants, and so this is who Nehemiah is praying to.

Likewise, it is good when we pray to remember who we are praying to. The same great and awesome God who remembers his covenants, who is faithful to his people, who has new mercies for us every morning, that Nehemiah is talking to, that is who we are talking to.

Nehemiah then talks about his own shortcomings. Nehemiah knows that he is not perfect and that he is part of the problem himself. He admits his own sin and even the sin of his family against God. We don’t know what sin Nehemiah is specifically talking about, but perhaps he is repenting of where he is at in life. Here he is, living a comfortable life in the palace of the king, while the remnant of people who stayed in Jerusalem and the people who had gone back already are dealing with setback after setback. Jerusalem is still in ruins, yet here is Nehemiah, living in a palace in a foreign nation. Part of Nehemiah’s sorrow might stem from the fact that he hasn’t done anything to help his people rebuild Jerusalem.

And yet, it is after this admission of sin for himself, his family, and the people of Israel in general, that Nehemiah brings up what God had told Moses in the past. If the people who have been living in exile remember God’s commands and obey them, God will bring his people back to his dwelling.

At the end of the prayer, we read this… “Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name.” There are two things I want us to see in how Nehemiah closes out his prayer that I think are great application points for us today.

Your Servant

First, our desire, our goal, should be to live as God’s servant. Everything I do in my life, in my day to day living, should come from this desire to serve God. Serving God does not just happen within the walls of a church. Serving God does not just happen by building a new sanctuary. Serving God happens when we love God and love people. Serving God happens when you love your spouse unconditionally. Serving God happens when you take care of the least of these in society. Those people that the world would rather ignore. Serving God looks like teaching your kids and grandkids about who God is, so that one day they to might profess faith in Jesus. Serving God happens when you take care of the widow and the orphan. Serving God happens when you worship him. Every aspect of our life can be done from this mindset of serving God. This should be a part of our identity if we believe in Jesus.

Who Delight in Revering Your Name

The second thing we can do, is delight in revering God’s name. How can we proclaim God’s name to people? How can we make known in our community that God is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love? How can we glorify God together as a church? There’s a lot of ways we can do that, but I think the two that are staring us right in the eyes at the moment are VBS and the building ministry. VBS is all about declaring the glory of God. The whole reason our church looks like this right now, is because we want kids to be excited to be here. We want kids to enter an atmosphere that shows and tells them about God’s goodness and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The reason behind VBS is to glorify God. In just two weeks we are going to have dozens of kids in this place learning about God. What an honor and privilege. If you are helping in any way, group leader, teacher, recreation, director, prayer partner, I hope that you see the importance of this work. The importance of delighting in making God’s gospel known. And then with the building ministry, what an opportunity we have to tell people about God during this process. Every time someone talks to us about it we have an opportunity to talk about God’s faithfulness. This building is not about having more space, it’s not about being more comfortable. It is about declaring the glory of God for generations after we are all dead in Christ. What an honor to be apart of this special way of delighting in God’s name.

Prayer

Communion

God will answer Nehemiah’s prayer for mercy before the king. We’ll see that next week in chapter 2 – the success and the mercy he has before the king. But what we need to understand is this. It’s that there is only so much that Nehemiah can do. And the success that Nehemiah will have, the results that he will find, will be limited and they will only last for a time. They will be short lived in many ways. And the reason why is because Nehemiah, he may be able to rebuild the walls and he may be able to resettle the city, but he can’t change the people’s hearts.

And the sin which caused the problem in the first place will continue to cause a problem for the people and in the place of Jerusalem. And he cannot bring about the promises of the new covenant that God had promised through the prophets. He can’t bring about the forgiveness of sins. He can’t give the gift of the Spirit to dwell within his people and he can’t bring about the glory of God which will dwell in the new heavens and the new earth in the new Jerusalem. Nehemiah can’t do that. Only Jesus can.

And so this is also a reminder for us, that thought we seek to be God’s servants who revere his name, we are not the ones who save people. Jesus saves by his life, death and resurrection. It is through Jesus’ perfect sacrifice on the cross that we are given forgiveness for our sins and redemption of our souls.