Nehemiah 1:5-11

The people who pray, do so because of certain beliefs that they have about God.

One of the reasons Nehemiah is able to pray like he is able to pray is he has some really staunch beliefs about who God is.

Some of the things we see in this prayer is he believes God is a covenant-keeping God.

He believes God keeps his promises. That’s what he believes about God.

If you ask Nehemiah, “What do you believe about God?” he says, “I believe God keeps His promises.”

You also see in the prayer Nehemiah believes God actually hears his people.

Don’t blow past that, because if you believe God actually hears you, you actually pray.

Then he believes God is powerful. God’s hands aren’t tied, that he’s not praying in vain, that God is able to act.

Though God will at times say, “No,” he has never said, “I can’t.”

Then he believes God is merciful.

All those things are clearly seen in Nehemiah’s prayer. He believes these things about God.

Now, I’m going to throw this out here, everyone in this room is a theologian. Every one of you.

Theology is simply the study of God, and everyone in this room has a view of who God is and what God is like (right or wrong).

Where does Nehemiah get these beliefs about God? One of the things you see here is that Nehemiah in that long prayer we just read is literally just quoting Scripture.

In , verse 9, Moses writes, “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

That’s almost word for word what Nehemiah prayed. “You’re a covenant-keeping God.”

— And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments,

Now, here we have the bible supporting itself. Think about this:

It’s 40 different authors

over a period of several thousand years on

three different continents and

multiple different languages

all painting the same picture of God’s saving work among men.

It is not just convenient; it’s divine.

Deuteronomy now is being clung to by Nehemiah, and he’s saying, “You’re a covenant-keeping God, and I know it because your Word says you’re a covenant-keeping God.”

Then in (turn there with me), you get a real gritty text,

but one that actually helps Nehemiah in his present circumstance.

, starting in verse 25. It says this:

— 25 “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. [real uplifting and chipper text here] 28 And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.

This is not a text we would put on a tee shirt, and yet it’s bringing immense comfort to Nehemiah.

Nehemiah says, “You told us this would happen.”

Nehemiah’s confession in his prayer is,

“We have acted corruptly against your law.

You told us this would come if we turned our backs on you.

You are the one true God, and

we have chosen things that were not God to serve, and

in serving things that are not God as though they were God,

You did exactly what You said you were going to do.” (stay in Deut.)

So here is Nehemiah… we know that his duties as cupbearer would have to continue.

But Nehemiah’s duties as cupbearer would have to continue.

So this thought occurs to him after he had pondered and prayed for a while (approx. 3-5 months)?

So this thought occurs to him after he had pondered and prayed for a while (approx. 3-5 months)?

We are often impatient when it comes to prayer.

We think it essential for God to respond immediately, and we sometimes engage in all manner of complaints and accusations when He does not.

But God’s timetable is different from ours.

We live according to a schedule that we can see and perceive, often a faulty one, but

God sees things from the perspective of eternity:

“With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” ().

God’s timing is perfect. He is never early or late.

All things fall out according to the execution of

a perfect decree

from the mind of a loving God

who wants the very best for us and all His people.

Nehemiah had a well-respected job as cupbearer to the king at the Persian royal court.

So here’s Nehemiah, willing to give up his privileges in order to do the work of reconstruction because God had called him to the work (2:12).

Nehemiah’s attitude and action reminds us of Jesus Christ, who

saw our need for a Savior,

left the glory of heaven, and

met our deepest need

by dying on a Roman cross to give us forgiveness for sin and eternal life.

Nehemiah serves as a foreshadowing of Jesus, a finger pointing forward to Christ’s work of salvation on behalf of humankind.

And like Christ, Nehemiah (what I mentioned last week) is revealed in Scripture as a

Prayer in such instances becomes an excuse for action.

Nehemiah, what I mentioned last week, is revealed in Scripture as a

man of action:

vigorous,

gifted,

organizationally meticulous,

administratively efficient, and

a leader of men.

But for now at least, he prays.

That is the way we often think of prayer—as “all we can do”!

Prayer is the last resort, when things get so bad that there is nothing else we can do.

But that is not how Nehemiah thought of prayer.

It was not his last resort; it was his first.

Before Nehemiah did anything else, he spent months praying about it. Prayer is his action.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged: Take it to the Lord in prayer!

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

Nehemiah continued praying for several months, patiently waiting on God’s timing and God’s insight.

Initially, perhaps, the prayer would be one for guidance about what to do.

Then, at whatever point it became clear to him that he would ask for the king’s permission to go to Jerusalem,

the prayer would take on a greater urgency,

anticipating the circumstances in which he would speak to the king.

Then he goes on, and this is the bulk of Nehemiah’s prayer out of this Deuteronomy text. Verse 29 says:

But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice 31 (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.

So Nehemiah’s confidence, even though he’s fearful in going into work and saying to King Artaxerxes,

“I want to go rebuild what you guys sacked and destroyed a couple hundred years ago,”

is that God said if His people would turn their faces back to Him and seek Him, He would grant them a restoration of Judah.

So Nehemiah wants to go back. Where’s this confidence coming from? The Word of God.

What we see Nehemiah doing in his prayer life is praying through chunks of Scripture and

letting the Word of God roll back up to God.

Not because God needs to be reminded of what he said, but rather

we need to be reminded of what he said.

The persistent prayers of the saints before God are not to remind God,

but rather to remind us of what God said.

So Nehemiah who is in Babylon and feeling powerless to help his fellow countrymen, is letting the word of God drive his prayers.

We are going to see four parts of prayer that God hears and answers. So all of God’s people need to understand this prayer. Let’s see these four parts together.

Doing a Great Work: Ezra and Nehemiah Simply Explained 1. He Addresses His Prayer to the Great and Gracious God (1:5–6)

1. He addresses his prayer to the great and gracious God (1:5–6)

Nehemiah prays to the Lord, the ‘God of heaven’, who is superior to the most powerful kings and to all the imagined gods of the nations. He is ‘great and awesome’ in his might, holiness and justice. ‘The greater God becomes to him, the smaller becomes his problem.’ The great God is also a gracious God who ‘keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands’. Our love and obedience do not merit his love, but are the evidence that we are indeed the objects of his grace. Nehemiah’s prayer is both earnest and persistent as he pleads ‘day and night’ for God’s ears to be attentive and his eyes open to him. When we pray it is reassuring to realize that

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous

and his ears are attentive to their cry;

… he delivers them from all their troubles

(Ps. 34:15, 17).

1. He addresses his prayer to the great and gracious God (1:5–6)

— 5 And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, 6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.

Nehemiah prays to the Lord, the ‘God of heaven’, who is superior to the most powerful kings and to all the imagined gods of the nations.

He is ‘great and awesome’ in his might, holiness and justice. The greater God becomes to him, the smaller becomes his problem.

The great God is also a gracious God who ‘keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands’.

Our love and obedience do not merit His love, but are the evidence that we are indeed the objects of His grace.

Nehemiah’s prayer is both earnest and persistent as he pleads ‘day and night’ for God’s ears to be attentive and his eyes open to him.

When we pray it is reassuring to realize (like the Psalmist) that

When we pray it is reassuring to realize (like the Psalmist) that

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; … he delivers them from all their troubles (, ).

and his ears are attentive to their cry;

These two verses are packed with information concerning the Person of God:

… he delivers them from all their troubles

his sovereignty,

(, ).

love,

faithfulness, and

his ability to see and hear all that is going on,

including Nehemiah’s prayer.

Nehemiah does not proceed to the other elements of his prayer until he has reminded himself

of the greatness and character of the God

to whom he is directing his prayer.

This is Nehemiah’s humble and reverent address to God, in which he prostrates himself before him, and gives to God the glory due unto his name, v. 5.

This teaches us to draw near to God,

1. With a holy awe of His majesty and glory, remembering that He

is the God of heaven,

infinitely above us, and

sovereign Lord over us, and

that he is the great and awesome God,

infinitely excelling all the principalities and powers

angels and kings; and he is a God to be worshipped with fear by all his people, and whose powerful wrath all his enemies have reason to be afraid of.

both of the upper and of the lower world, angels and kings; and

he is a God to be worshipped with fear by all His people, and

whose powerful wrath all His enemies have reason to be afraid of.

So we draw near to God with a holy awe of His majesty…also

2. With a holy confidence in His grace and truth, for He keeps covenant and mercy for those that love him, mercy is promised.

— please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night...

This prayer is an expression of a real need. When children want, they ask; when they feel deeply, they ask earnestly and persistently.

This is also an urgent need. When we suffer pain we cry out. A person who is starving to death (something we don’t know about) is always insistent and urgent.

The more needy the more earnest.

Sinners under conviction of sin, groan and wrestle in agonizing urgency until they find relief in Christ Jesus.

This is how Nehemiah prayed for months! Like a sailor on a sinking ship! Or miners trapped and facing the prospect of certain death!

They pray with a sincere urgency.

Brothers and sisters, this is how we ought to approach the throne of grace, for our need is the same, even though we do not feel it!

So our need is real, urgent, and finally hope-filled.

We could never persevere in prayer if our cause were hopeless.

Hope cheers us on out of despair!

Without hope, nothing difficult (like changing the worship times) could be undertaken.

Hope inspires us to pray!

Hope looks to the goal and anticipates the eventual and eternal success.

This hope has a true foundation, which is God’s promise to bless and fulfill His Word!

It’s the Word of God that becomes the only secure foundation on which we can build upon which is what he does in v8.

2. He confesses his own sins and those of the nation (1:6–7)

… {there’s a prayer prayed day and night} for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.

{there’s a prayer prayed} for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.

Reflection on the character of God makes Nehemiah aware that the sorrow of the Jews is related to their sins: ‘I confess the sins we … have committed against you.’

Nehemiah. like Ezra before him (), identifies himself with the sins of his fellow Jews.

Our prayers for and help of others will be ineffective if we are like the proud, self-righteous Pharisee in the parable of Jesus.

The tax collector is a better model of how to approach the Almighty.

He ‘stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” ’ ().

3. He recalls the promises of God (1:8–9)

— 8 Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; 9 but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’

Nehemiah calls on God to ‘Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses.’

The word ‘remember’ refers to His intervention on behalf of His own.

Nehemiah’s reference to Moses alludes to portions of and

He sees God’s past dealings with His people as a mirror of His future plans.

The thrust of Nehemiah’s reasoning may be paraphrased in the following way:

If the curses were truly carried out, how much more will the promised blessings be fulfilled?

He who is faithful in disciplining His people, which is an unpleasant task, will surely be faithful

in the more delightful work,

of granting them favors when they obey Him.

Nothing is beyond God’s ability to bring relief to His people.

Nothing is beyond God’s ability to bring relief to His people.

4. He appeals to God, who has a unique relationship with His people (1:10–11)

Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” For I was the king’s cupbearer.

There is an emphasis in these verses on the word ‘your’: ‘… your servants and your people, whom you redeemed … be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants’.

Israel belonged to God because he ‘redeemed’ or rescued them from bondage in Egypt.

Most significantly in verse 10 he quotes the words in which Moses had pleaded for Israel on mount Sinai (),

that God would stand by His own (Your servants and Your people) and

by the work He had so strenuously begun.

At that point Israel had been threatened with extinction; now, it seems, Nehemiah sees the situation as hardly less perilous.

Like Moses, he must stand in the gap with his intercession.

The salvation of sinners depended on the survival of the Jewish race.

Our church need Christians like Moses and Nehemiah who will ‘stand in the gap’ and plead to God for His mercy.

— Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.

There is another link with an earlier period of Israel’s history at the beginning of verse eleven: ‘O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant’.

This is similar to the petition of Solomon at the opening of the temple ().

The prayers of both Ezra and Nehemiah reveal that their hearts were saturated with the Word of God.

When we pray we too can entreat God on the basis of

His choice of us back in eternity and

His purchase of us through the blood of Christ shed at Calvary.

God cannot ignore such a plea!

The word ‘servants’ (1:10, 11) implies renewed submission to God.

Redemption brings deliverance from sin but also demands obedience to Christ,

whose precious blood was the price of our freedom (; ).

The God of ‘great strength’ and a ‘mighty hand’ (1:10) heard the prayer of Nehemiah..

so that the walls of Jerusalem were restored in the remarkably short period of fifty-two days (6:15).

But this accomplishment was still in the future; for the present

Nehemiah was in urgent need of direction from God

to know what action to take on behalf of his brethren.

Whatever plan he formulated, he would have to speak first with King Artaxerxes.

Therefore the chapter ends with Nehemiah’s prayer to God for his blessing: ‘Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man’ (1:11).

Nehemiah prayed for his suffering kinsmen from Kislev (November–December) 446 until Nisan (March–April) 445,

a period of four months.

until the opportunity arose for him to approach the king (compare 1:1 with 2:1).

So Nehemiah recognizes that the king is the key to the plan he is already developing

and that God is the key to changing the king’s heart.

So in v11, Nehemiah pleads for mercy (by the way, that’s always optional from God).

Nehemiah isn’t sure how this is all going to unfold, but he just wants to play a part.

He would be expected to be in the kings presence every day but God is sovereign and his ways are intricate and marvelous,

but until things become clearer to Nehemiah, all he can do is wait …

wait in the spirit of the psalmist: I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. 2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.

I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. 2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.

Perhaps this is where we find ourselves—waiting on the Lord.

The question that faces us is whether we are waiting patiently.

Nehemiah waited for months praying to the Lord.

Nehemiah ever saw prayer as “all he could do”!

How do you get people to change their minds?

It was for him the first thing he desired to do.

Has the gospel shaped your praying this way?

Does the love of Jesus Christ for you lead you to plead in the way Nehemiah does?

— The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.

Persistence in prayer is

So here’s Nehemiah, willing to give up his privileges in order to do the work of reconstruction because God had called him to the work (2:12).

Nehemiah’s attitude and action reminds us of Jesus Christ, who

saw our need for a Savior,

left the glory of heaven, and

met our deepest need

by dying on a Roman cross to give us forgiveness for sin and eternal life.

Nehemiah serves as a foreshadowing of Jesus, a finger pointing forward to Christ’s work of salvation on behalf of humankind.