Nehemiah 2:9-20 handout

God’s Workmen...

“Then I arose in the night...”

What is it about God’s people at night? Look up the following verses and reflect on your practices at night?

Psalm 77:2,6

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Our enemy never sleeps day or night but continually goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour and if we didn’t have our vigilant Watchman, we should all be destroyed (Psalm 121:3-4).

— He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness...

Jesus is the supreme example of self-denying vigilance, He prayed the whole night before sending forth His disciples ().

Joshua marched all night to conquer the Amorites ().

Joshua marched all night to conquer the Amorites ().

Gideon arose in the night to pull down the altar of Baal ().

Gedeon arose in the night to pull down the altar of Baal ().

By going out and inspecting Jerusalem he sees that it lies in waste and its gates are burned by fire (2:17) and that the people have become a “reproach” meaning: disgrace.

Small works produce a common place zeal; but great causes or campaigns demand extraordinary grace.

So in seeing the ruins and the devastation we have two truths brought home to us:

1.) How faithful God is. He threatened that Jerusalem would become a heap (). If God is faithful to discipline, will He less faithful to restore us?

2.) How vile sin is. The desolation is a result of disobedience. The restoration is a sign of a return to obedience.

These thoughts are calculated to inflame our zeal and stimulate Christian effort, energy, resolve, and purpose.

Silently before the Lord, do you need to ask God to rekindle a passion for Him that will even blaze into the nights?

The Holy Spirit and heart....

— "... I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem...”

The Holy Spirit comes to dwell within believers, renewing them and directing their hearts towards a greater love for God.

God working His grace into Nehemiah’s heart led to wholehearted obedience! I’m not sure if you can see this or not, but God commands us to love Him with our whole heart () and we all sit here today in total need for Him to give us (to put it in our hearts) what He commands.

His action precedes ours:

Read ; ,

God says that He’s going to do heart surgery on His people that produces behavior that pleases Him!

Read . When you obey who do you thank? God or do you pat yourself on the back?

Leads to devotion...

Wholehearted commitment to God, to another person or to a task. God’s people are encouraged to show such commitment.

— And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.

Wholehearted commitment to God, to another person or to a task. God’s people are encouraged to show such commitment.

If “they” all didn’t set their hands to the work, it would not have been accomplished in the speedy fashion that it did.

Don’t we appreciate and love the Christian whose life so sweetly, harmoniously, and passionately displays sacred zeal and devotion?

And are we not troubled by the Christian whose life displays carelessness and indifference toward the things of God, who cares not whether he grows in grace or puts off sin, but is satisfied with a mediocre, half-baked discipleship?

Success...

— "...“The God of heaven Himself will prosper us...

What a thought: God prospering His people! Is this our desire as the body of Christ?

Look up and answer: Why did Joseph prosper?

Look up . What is the connection between being strong & courageous, faithful, meditating on God’s Word and us “prospering” and having “good success”? (HINT: Answer is at the end of v9)

As a gathered church, do you think we should pray more for God’s presence?

Does effect you

Look up . How does this verse apply to our Care Group?

Is there any application to our “Church Council” meetings? Do you think others would benefit and be blessed, the more active you are?

Joseph, Joshua and Nehemiah (1:11) all had deep reverence for God.

How does God respond to those who revere Him?

Psalm 25:14 NKJV

The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.

Psalm 25:14

Psalm 147:11