Nehemiah 9 pt. 2

Nehemiah’s primary task in Judah was to complete the walls of Jerusalem (2:5).

He had astonished his enemies, and his workforce, when he accomplished that goal in the short period of fifty-two days (6:15).

Now we may have expected the Judean governor to pack his bags and return to his comfortable job as the cupbearer of Artaxerxes.

But, just the opposite was true because Nehemiah was as concerned for the spiritual well-being of his fellow-Jews

as he was for their physical welfare.

Therefore, he stayed put in Jerusalem, fully involved in the renewal and reforms of which we read in the closing chapters of his book.

As we move into Nehemiah chapter 9 we remind ourselves that a recurrent theme running through Ezra and Nehemiah is that the holy God desires a holy people to serve him.

This is the reason why it was essential for the Jews in the past, and ourselves nowadays, to be ‘the people of a book’.

It is in that book, God’s Word, that we discover & determine what is pleasing the Lord.

We learn from that the study of the Bible should lead to confession of sin.

The consequence of confession of sin is a fresh awakening of God’s amazing grace.

In chapter 8 we saw the preaching of God’s Word and the right hearing of it.

Here, we need to study chapter 9 together as a church to study Scriptures profound impact upon the people of God.

Let’s pray together before we do.

Of Father God, our ever-faithful, never-failing Lord and Savior, today we come to you with all our burdens and sorrows and look to you to give us that rest and the peace that passes understanding that only you can give. Pleas instruct us by your Spirit the things concerning You and all of Your glory! Make much of Yourself this morning. We ask these things in Jesus name.

The title of this message is “One church under God.”

The first evidence of a true movement of the Holy Spirit is an awakened conscience,

leading to genuine sorrow for sin in God’s people.

Only after that does revival come.

A church that’s under God is a church that confesses their sin and repents of their sin.

1 "On the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting, wearing sackcloth, and had put dust on their heads. 2 "Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 "While they stood in their places, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day and spent another fourth of the day in confession and worship of the Lord their God. 4 "Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the raised platform built for the Levites and cried out loudly to the Lord their God.” ()

I also notice two important things about this movement of repentance.

First, the confession of the people was once again linked to a reading of God’s Law.

This had happened on the first day of the month (recorded in chap. 8).

It happened again here.

It was after the priests had been reading from the “Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day”

that the people spent the next quarter of the day (three hours) confessing their sin.

What I am pointing out is more than just an observation.

There is a necessary link between the two. Let me explain what I mean by “sin.”

You are sinning if your life lack anything that is in perfect conformity to the Law of God.

Or if you transgress (cross over) any part of the law of God in thoughts, words, and deeds.

See here in v1 that they were fasting. Let me show you what God is looking for. (Turn over to .

The requirement for repentance continues (it started in chapter 55).

Here in chapter 58 we discover a few things about repentance. Remember church, it’s the Lord who looks upon your heart this morning.

This chapter bears many marks of religion. But it’s not the marks that please God.

1. God’s not after formal religion.

Negatively stated in v2 about the appearance of religion:

2 "They seek me day after day and delight to know my ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not abandon the justice of their God. They ask me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.”” ()

They are going about the business of religion. They expect that God should reward them accordingly.

They manage to convince themselves but not God! They are even belligerent:

3 "“Why have we fasted, but you have not seen? We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!” ... ()

2. The essence of formal religion is doing whatever pleases you.

Their observation of fasting (v3) and the Sabbath (v13) was characterized by self-pleasing.

Let me break that down.

You can do all the letter of the law. You can fast and come to church all day long,

And those these guys kept the letter of the law they were unforgiving.

(second half of v3) ... “Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast, and oppress all your workers. 4 "You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today, hoping to make your voice heard on high. 5 "Will the fast I choose be like this: A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord?” ()

Let me show you how God wanted them to be when fasting, which is what you see in .

5 "Will the fast I choose be like this: A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord?” ()

Don’t leave Isaiah, but Nehemiah describes those folks repenting in the same way with the sackcloth and ashes.

This is a posture of mourning. These are expressions of sorrow and humiliation, that give glory to God.

They took shame to themselves and stirred up one another to repentance.

Previously restrained from weeping, but now God’s Word directs them to.

So it’s a day to deny ourselves. But it’s also a day to break the chains of wickedness.

6 "Isn’t this the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke?” ()

This is a picture of true religion. It’s actually a matter of the heart.

You see this in the previous chapter 57:15

15 "For the High and Exalted One, who lives forever, whose name is holy, says this: “I live in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the oppressed.” ()

That verse really amplifies Isaiah’s discussion on the purpose of fasting.

6 "Isn’t this the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke? 7 "Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood? 8 "Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard. 9 "At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer; when you cry out, he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,” ()

The fast which God’ has chosen’ (58:6), is to be a powerful aid to righteous living.

There is no point in fasting, and expecting to win God’s favor by doing so,

if at the same time we are guilty of

injustice,

oppression,

greed and

insensitivity to the needs of others,

as well as the

absence of love,

finger-pointing (accusation) and

malicious talk (58:7–9)

This issue was still a matter of concern in Jesus’ day.

Boastful Pharisees visibly paraded their fast days,

disfiguring their faces ().

Hand-in-hand with fasting, Jesus insisted, must go

humility,

confession of sin and meekness, as well as mercy (). ‘Blessed are the pure in heart …’

confession of sin and

meekness, as well as

mercy ().

‘Blessed are the pure in heart …’

This is a real fasting, this is real true religion we are seeing in .

This is what a church looks like that’s under God.

It’s a repenting and confessing people.

After this solemn confession and repentance of sin was made, a prayer is offered which takes up the rest of the chapter.

Which we’re going to break into seven distinct sections:

(1) Praise to God as Creator (),

perhaps reflecting the fact that in recent weeks the people have been listening to

the reading of the first five books of the Old Testament, beginning with the story of creation in .

(2) A record of God’s power and grace right up to that day (the twenty-fourth day of the month of Tishri, 444 b.c.)

against a backdrop of the Israelites’ repeated failure during their forty-year period of wandering in the wilderness ().

They recall especially that, despite the provision of food and water and protection, they refused to listen to God and tried to return to Egypt (v. 16).

(3) A testimony to God’s forgiveness, graciousness and compassion in memorable words: 17 "They refused to listen and did not remember your wonders you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, and you did not abandon them.” () Throughout this period they “lacked nothing” (v. 21); God met their every need.

(4) An open confession of sin (). The prayer records the period of the judges and the monarchy with

characteristic summaries of sin on their part and grace on God’s part: “They were disobedient.… You are a gracious and merciful God” (vv. 26, 31).

(5) A resting in God’s covenant faithfulness: 32 "So now, our God—the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant— do not view lightly all the hardships that have afflicted us, our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the Assyrian kings until today.” ()

(6) A complaint that the people are in distress; they are “slaves” or “servants” () under Persian rule—

(7) A solemn, climactic oath and re-commitment by way of covenant reaffirmation: 38 "In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement in writing on a sealed document containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.” ()

This is what the prayers look like of a church that’s under God.

If we took those 7 observations of that prayer and implemented them into our prayer life, it would have an

immediate,

reforming effect

on the content of our prayers.

First, a praying church that’s under God, we see the need for authenticity.

describes experiential religion (in which)

the collective hearts of the people are engaged in an outpouring of confession and supplication to God.

The prayer is earnest and forthright.

Everything about it suggests sincerity and urgency.

They knew themselves to be sinners and knew that God had every right to be angry with them.

This was not a time for excuses.

They wanted to have real dealings with God and not simply the trappings of religion.

This is no mere repetition of a ritual; what they did and said showed that a an ancient boundary had been crossed.

It was a time for commitment and promise in the face of the covenant mercies of God.

Let me just bring this home to your hearts. It’s as though these types of commitment comes by a wide variety of crises of some kind.

Do not cast those moments off! These are moments of immense importance.

These are God’s providential moments whereby he speaks to the very vitals of our sincerity as believers.

Do we believe or do we not?

Are our hearts engaged or are they not?

Here’s Israel, they are in a moment of crises! They are essentially crying out to God:

“I want this marriage to work, and the fault has been all mine!

Please forgive me!

You have every right to throw me out and have nothing to do with me ever again, but I want us to start anew.

Whatever I have done, I do love you.”

Such pleas are believable only if there are corresponding actions, of course—

actions that will be seen in subsequent chapters of Nehemiah.

But it starts here—with a broken heart!

Have you ever come before God with a broken heart because of something that you have done to him?

You can be assured that He will receive you with the same grace as is evidenced in this chapter.

Second, the church that’s under God, prayer begins by focusing on God.

He is “the Lord their God” (),

who revealed Himself to them in covenant (v. 32).

Our culture seems to be persuaded of the weightlessness of God,

Well, Ezra and his companions are overwhelmed by God’s greatness.

This is precisely what Jesus exemplifies in His response to the disciples’ request for help in prayer.

He gives them the model of the Lord’s Prayer, in which the first half extols the Father’s glory and greatness.

He was urging them to focus on God.

Are you having difficulty in prayer?

Do you long to deepen the language of your prayer?

Do you long to deepen the language of your prayer?

Then learn from the value of spending more time on God and less on self.

Learn to start with God before addressing your own needs.

That lesson alone can revolutionize your praying. Learn the language of adoration.

Third, the church that’s under God…there’s an intensity of the people’s failure

Which seemed now, to intensify the urgency and conviction of their prayer.

Coming into contact with God and his Word had also increased in them an awareness of their own failures.

God’s holiness exposed their sinfulness and rebellion.

They manifested their sorrow in customary fashion, wearing sackcloth and placing dust on their heads.

Their confession was both sincere and specific.

There was no attempt to lessen the crime:

they had been presumptuous and stiff-necked,

refusing to obey, and—

perhaps most difficult of all to admit—they had been

just like the Egyptians,

their former enemies,

who had kept them in slavery ()!

God is righteous, and they had acted wickedly (v. 33).

To be compared to their worst enemy must have been difficult to accept.

So is the admission today that we are no better than worms (; )!

It is grace—wonderful and astonishing grace—that restores us

into fellowship with God,

assuring us that He loves us despite our folly.

Those who know the extent of grace pray with greater conviction and earnestness.

They pray from their experience and not simply by repetition.

There is nothing mechanical about this prayer.

It comes from the heart and goes to the heart of God.

The Israelites discovered their best things about God when life was hard and difficult.

Once prosperity came, they were in danger of forgetting God, and

imagined they could rely on their own

slender and inadequate resources.

But trouble drove them to God, and it will do the same for us.

Here’s how one Puritan wrote about it. Him speaking of grace growing best during winter.

“If one might say so, an unbroken winter in the soul, a continual inward winter, is needed to keep up a steady, deep and fruitful growth in grace.… Once let a poor wretch awake to the unbroken winter of his own sinfulness, a sinfulness that is with him when he lies down and when he rises up, when he is abroad among men and when he is at home with himself alone: an incessant, increasing, agonizing, overwhelming sense of sin,—and how the most miserable men will grow in grace, and how he will drink in all the means of grace!”

Beloved church do you know anything of this?

Perhaps that is why some of you make so little out of prayer.

Or perhaps you value very little of God’s grace.

Those who are almost devoid of any sense of their own sinfulness is don’t pray a lot and don’t really appreciate grace.

Maybe your prayer as you read Scripture or before you come to the Lord’s house should be,

“Lord please grant to me a sense of my own sin, that I might have a greater sense of Your grace and beauty.”

This chapter ends with a description of a covenant renewal ceremony on the part of the people of God.

First, the Israelites are sensing a new beginning. They have been worshiping collectively in some kind of formal way for almost a month.

Bible study, prayer, and exposition have led to this climactic event in which they make solemn promises before God.

38 "In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement in writing on a sealed document containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.” ()

There are certain specifics in their oath that we will examine in our next study.

We note here that they made a solemn promise to live wholeheartedly for God whatever the cost.

It is an act of collective consecration.

The essence of this moment is captured in

29 "join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the law of God given through God’s servant Moses and to obey carefully all the commands, ordinances, and statutes of the Lord our Lord.” ()

This is a spirit that we should all long for.

Do you not long for such a spirit as this?

Are you not tired of living with one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God?

Are you not tired of living with one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God? Does your heart not long to break free from unproductive days of spiritual lethargy to experience a time of nearness to God? And do you not long for this not only for yourself, but also for the entire church? Oh, that God’s Spirit would come down and take hold of us in similar fashion!

Does your heart not long to break free from unproductive days of spiritual lethargy to experience a time of nearness to God?

And do you not long for this not only for yourself, but also for the entire church?

Oh, that God’s Spirit would come down and take hold of us in similar fashion!

From the pools of grace received comes the echo of a willing heart.

May you respond this morning accordingly...