(Neh 9:1-5) A God Worth Studying, A God Worth Praising!

And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing.

Nehemiah 9:1 ESV

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.

Why should the Word demand that kind of response?

-----------------------------------------

Nehemiah chapter 9 in 10 are going to address the reason why the word demands our attention.

And,

If you are a Christian who takes seriously the Word of God,

then it is also going to teach us what we should learn from a study of the Old Testament.

Have you considered,

what should you learn after having read the law?

Kind of responses should you have after reading the law?

ILLUSTRATION:

In recent years it has become popular to summarize the Bible.

- So you have things like the one minute apologist,

- Or Andy Naselli defining the entire story the Bible in one sentence.

- Or A really good extensive history of the Bible is the Kingdom of Priests by Eugene Merrill.

But in essence, he's asking the same thing.

I think it is important for us to have a history of humanity based on Scripture.

I think we should be able to concisely explain the workings of God in humanity.

And I think that we do need to bridge that Old Testament New Testament gap as we do that with good histories and summaries of the Bible.

But,

I would also articulate that there are many Old Testament prayers that communicate a summary of what we should understand from Scripture.

I would also articulate that there are many Old Testament prayers communicate a summary of what we should understand from Scripture.

but they operate as a great summary of human history and what Scripture demands.

In particular, some of the prayers of the Old Testament teach us what we should learn from a study of Old Testament Scripture.

And this national prayer and covenant is going to do that for us.

Nehemiah 9:1–6 ESV

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God. On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

Neh 9:16

BACKGROUND:

Now there is a few background details we need to understand as we jump into this text.

This section is going to go from Nehemiah chapter 9 verse one all the way to the end of chapter 10.

>>>>>Whose contents describes

- the history of God’s work and their failures,

- a confession of their sins,

- and a national agreement to reinstitute the law. (Make it their constitution)

Deuteronomy is also often referred to as the second giving of the Law,

but this text could be considered a third giving of the Law.

The history here recounts their failures as a nation,

but also the recommitment to the covenant that God promised in Exodus and Deuteronomy.

This section begins another long practice of reading, confessing, and worshiping.

Further,

This section begins another long practice of reading, confessing, and worshiping.

But with the added covenant to the Law at the end of the prayer in .

It’s interesting that in ,

They take time to have a great feast of Joy!

The Celebrate the goodness of God in the -

Feast of Tabernacles

- Feast of Tabernacles

Feast of InGatherings

- Feast of InGatherings

But now,

They need to deal with their failures to keep the Law.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They need to deal with their failures to keep the Law.

And

They need to recommit to the covenant of God.

And so they go from rejoicing and feasting for 7 days in the feast of Tabernacle,

to gathering to confess their sins and covenant with their God.

Neh 9:1

Nehemiah 9:1–4 ESV

Let’s briefly introduce ourselves with the

1) An Overview of their Conduct - Faithful Reading and Applying the Word ()

Like on the first day of the month,

(a) A Voluntary Assembly was Nationally Attended - The Day After the Feasts.

So on the 8th day,

Now, according to the Law did not have to be there,

but it seems that most of the nation joined them to rebind themselves into the Covenant with God.

They according to the Law did not have to be there, but it seems that most of the nation did.

>>> a day in which they are not required to be in Jerusalem, and yet most of Israel comes anyway.

It records that -

(b) They Came Mourning Over Their Sin.

- fasting (as opposed to feasting) to humble themselves. ()

Ezra explains to us that the purpose of fasting in this kind of situation was to humble themselves before God.

Ezra 8:21 ESV

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.

Further,

- Sackcloth was a recognized form of distress and mourning. ()

Jonah 3:8 ESV

but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.

- Dust on their head was a sign of humble state in the midst of distress and mourning. (, )

It was a very common practice when faced with extreme distress.

Job 2:12 ESV

And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven.

1 Samuel 14:22 ESV

Likewise, when all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they too followed hard after them in the battle.

Daniel 9:3 ESV

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Additionally,

(c) They Came Ready to Obey: They Separated from the foreigners of the Land. ()

Leviticus 20:26 ESV

You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

Nehemiah 6:17 ESV

Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.

Ezra 6:21 ESV

It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by every one who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.

Which came at a high price.

The Gentile rulers were worth socially and economically conspiring with.

This is why Sanballat, Tobiah, and Gershem were so influential during the building of the wall.

But in obedience to the Law - they separated from foreigners.

Now passages like this sometimes get miss used as examples of racism.

But understand this was not a racist act.

Foreigners could join Israel, but they had to go through the covenant process.

Instead, this is an act to as a nation to fully be separated to God, for the purpose of pointing the nations to the one true God - Yawheh.

Further,

(d) They came ready to confess their sins and their fathers sins.

This is primarily a time of national confession where the nation of Israel asks God for forgiveness.

Now we don’t typically as NT Christians confess the sins of our fathers,

because we don’t have a constitution like the Covenant of the Old Testament.

No is God working through a particular nation.

Instead, we pray as churches and individuals, not as nations and individuals.

But we can understand by principle - they are confessing as a people for their sins.

And they came to continue to faithfully study the law.

(e) They Conducted Their Worship by: Reading and confessing the Law; then Worshiping Yahweh.

Nehemiah 9:3 ESV

And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.

Neh 9:3

The confessing here describes both -

the confession of belief

and the confession of their sins.

Therefore,

Nehemiah gives us a broad overview of their worship meeting in v. 1-4.

And there is much to commend about their continued pattern of faithfully reading and applying the law.

Sometimes,

what discourages me the most is that the more we study the Word,

often the less we rejoice and mourn over the Word.

ILLUSTRATION:

To often,

I have heard people speak about how much more joy they had when they first heard about the Gospel.

what discourages me the most is that the more we study the Word,

And, I get that the first and fresh reading of the Gospel is exciting.

But should learning more about God’s Word cause us to respond with less mourning and joy?

I would like to think that if we are rightly applying the Word of God,

The more we learn, the more we will rejoice and mourn over the Word.

often the less we rejoice and mourn over the Word.

May there continued study and response to the Word - challenge our own study of the Word.

ILLUSTRATION:

To often, I have heard people speak about how much more joy they had when they first heard about the Gospel.

And, I get that the first and fresh reading of the Gospel is exciting.

But should learning more about God’s Word cause us to respond with less mourning and joy?

I would like to think that if we are rightly applying the Word of God,

The more we learn, the more we will rejoice and mourn over the Word.

((((((But that is not the focus I want us to look at today. )))))

introduces a long and extended prayer.

[[[[One that is too rich and to long too consider in one sermon. ]]]]

So we are going to look at the first verse of this prayer. (v. 5)

And I want us to consider as we read this national prayer how it answers these two questions -

and how answers these two questions -

Why should the Word demand my attention?

And

What should we learn from a study of the Old Testament?

Nehemiah 9:5 ESV

Nehemiah 9:5–6 ESV

Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

Neh 9:56

Why should the Word demand my attention?

And

What should we learn from a study of the Old Testament?

First,

A reading of the Old Testament should teach us that -

(2) Yahweh is worthy of our Praise. (/, , )

Probably, the most reoccurring theme of the Bible is that God is worthy of our praise.

Genesis 1:1 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Revelation 22:13 ESV

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Revelation 21:13 ESV

on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.

Scripture from cover to cover speaks of praise and Glory to God.

Scripture by example and command call us to praise his name.

Exodus 15:1 ESV

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

Exo

1 Chronicles 29:10 ESV

Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.

1 Ch 29:1013

1 ch 10:10

Psalm 68:4 ESV

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord; exult before him!

The Old Testament tells us over and over again that we should praise God.

Why should we read the word diligently?

What should we learn from the Old Testament?

>>>>>That God is worthy of praise.

Now this point is really demonstrated throughout this prayer.

And so I will leave much of this point left undone.

What about God makes him worthy of Praise is repeated throughout this prayer and so I challenge you to hold on too your hats until next week.

But May I say, after learning and studying the Old Testament we should be ready and excited about praising God.

- As parents and grandparents, one of the most important truths we point our children to is that God is worthy of praise.

- As mature Christian believers, we should be both practicing and modeling a joyful praise for God.

(After-all, the cross certainly points us to the worthiness of God to be praised)

- In our public gathering as a church - we should be praising God.

(You want to impact visitors, especially unbelievers, in our church services. Then, praise God with your heart, soul, and mind every time we gather here.)

- In our quite moments - when we are all alone we ought to be praising God.

(Praise should be apart of our devotions)

How is your praise today?

I know what you confess this morning.

I know what you sung this morning.

In many cases, I know what you witness because I have heard your testimonies.

But I am asking you - does your words match your heart?

Praise is not simply what you say,

but how you say it and what you meant by it.

Consider the NT passages on praise and the heart that goes with it.

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Ephesians 4:18–20 ESV

They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—

Ephesians 5:18–20 ESV

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Eph 5:1920

Ephesians 5:19–20 ESV

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

You understand both of these text point us to

a marvel of God,

a proclamation of God,

a thankfulness of God.

They demand emotion and passion - about the greatness of God.

Not mere confession in private and public worship,

but heart that is passionate - about the greatness of God.

In fact,

this text doesn’t just say that God is to be praised.

>>>> It tells us what kind of praise we should have.

It tells us what kind of praise we should have.

It says - “Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting.

a) How long should we praise God? Forever and ever.

Forever and ever.

EXHORTATION:

In case you think that is boring,

In case you think you are done praising God,

Or your past praise is good enough -

Or you ever will be done praising God -

Or your past praise is good enough -

Are text says we should do this forever and ever.

God’s greatness is so great - he deserves unceasing prayer.

ILLUSTRATION:

In some ways- that idea is beyond our imagination.

Try explaining the beauty of the stars at

10,000, 11,000 feet and days journey away from any road

like you see at night in the Snowy Range.

If you have never, you just can’t imagine it.

A being that is so great that they deserve unceasing prayer is unimaginable.

But Yahweh is that kind of being

- and the more we can imagine that; there more we understand why God is worthy of praise.

And we are going to talk more about why he deserves praise in the coming verses.

But I love the way Peter put it in -

“that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”

God deserves unceasing praise.

Not only should our praise be forever,

But -

b) What kind of Praise should we have? Our praise should be of the highest reverence.

Our praise should be of deep reverence.

“Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.”

To put it this way -

You should not be able to praise anything more than you can praise God.

Not your brilliance.

Not your faithfulness

Not your righteousness.

Not your wife.

Not your children.

Not your finances.

Not your life experiences.

Not your children.

Not your country.

Not your faithfulness

Not your righteousness.

When you praise God

- it ought to be saying he is the greatest being in all of creation.

- That none can compare to him.

That none can compare to him.

And to truly say that - you have to say that with passion.

Try saying that without passion, and you miss the point.

This isn’t a quite prayer in the wilderness,

but a boast as lowd as you can get it.

Oh, most definitely,

God is worthy of our praise.

CONCLUSION:

So back to our two questions -

Why should we read the word diligently?

And thus he deserv

Because God is worthy of our praise.

What should we learn from the Old Testament?

That God is worthy of our praise.

But secondly,

We should learn from the Old Testament that

2) Yahweh is the Creator ()

Nehemiah 9:6 ESV

“You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

a) Yahweh is the One True God.

This is a marvel in the Old Testament.

In the midst of paganism - the Old Testament declares there is but one God.

John Piper once said this regarding the importance of seeing the Greatness of God -

In fact, every nation would worship more than one God.

“You are the Lord, you alone.

Nehemiah 9:6 ESV

This is a repeat of theme in the Law -

Fro example - declares -

Deuteronomy 6:4 ESV

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

I don’t want to spend a long time on this,

but may I point us to the confession of the Jew

b) We belong to God.

You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them;

Genesis 1:1 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Deuteronomy 10:14 ESV

Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.

c) We exist because God sustains us.

and you preserve all of them;

CONCLUSION:

John Piper -

If you don’t see the greatness of God then all the things that money can buy become very exciting. If you can’t see the sun you will be impressed with a street light. If you’ve never felt thunder and lightning you’ll be impressed with fireworks. And if you turn your back on the greatness and majesty of God you’ll fall in love with a world of shadows and short-lived pleasures.

Read more: https://www.christianquotes.info/top-quotes/16-awe-inspiring-quotes-about-gods-majesty/#ixzz5ZbFiAPLx

We must know and recognize the Greatness of God,

and when you see the majesty of God.

- Then you will realize why God deserves the highest, unceasing prayer.

- Then you will realize why his Word is worthy of studying.

One of the truths we must know and do from the Old Testament is realize that God is worthy of praise.

So do praise God with your heart as he deserves?

Do you praise God in public by what you say and do?

Do you praise God when no one is looking?

Are you most concerned with teaching the next generation that God is worthy of praise?

Or you satisfied with a passive praise -

divulge of passion

meaningless in your everyday life

focused on the things of this world

and training the next generation to look moral on the outside- rather than to truly praise God with our hearts.

You see - the Old Testament pattern of praising God is a truth that should effect every part of my life.

How we live,

how we do our devotions,

how we gather as a church,

how we train our children and grand children.

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

My we praise God with our heart, soul, and mind.

And in everything we do.

Related Media

Related Sermons