First Things First
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First Things First
Nehemiah 9:1-38
Life is full of ups and downs, isn’t it? There are times when we are on top of the world and other times we’re completely bummed out.
In fact, in our spiritual lives, we often experience indescribable joy when we think about God’s amazing grace, and we also grieve and mourn over our own tendency to fall short time and time again.
As we learned last week, God’s people were told to stop mourning and start rejoicing. It’s now later in that same month, the shacks made of branches and twigs have been taken down. God’s Word is given central attention once again, but the mood has changed from one of joy into sorrow.
Nehemiah 8 focused on God’s Word as it was read, interpreted and applied; in chapter 9, the people respond in prayer with genuine sadness about their sins. Listening to God through His word and responding to Him in prayer should be part of every believer’s spiritual growth.
Here’s another way to compare the two chapters. In chapter 8, Ezra and Nehemiah comfort the afflicted. In chapter 9, the comfortable are afflicted. Joy and grief are two sides of the same coin. After a thrilling encounter with God, which causes them to break into celebration, the believers now come face to face with their own sin.
Nehemiah 9 records a long prayer; actually it’s the longest prayer in the Bible.
D.L. Moody once asked someone to pray during a church service. The man began his prayer and was still droning on after ten minutes had gone by. Finally, Mr. Moody stood up and said, “While our dear brother is finishing his prayer, let’s turn to number 342 and sing it together!”
This prayer in Nehemiah is not that long, but it’s a great model for us to study so that we can learn to put first things first.
So, let’s start by praying and then we’ll read and study this passage.
Pray!
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.
Let’s first look at:
The Greatness of God
The Greatness of God
The Israelites gathered together on the twenty-fourth day of the month. They were fasting, wearing sackcloth, and had put dust on their heads. These were common signs of mourning that were often done when Old Testament believers were in deep sadness because of a loss or when they were ready to repent and recommit their lives to God.
Verse 2 tells us that they had separated themselves from those who would have a bad influence on them. As they heard the Bible read, they no doubt came across:
You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
Israel’s history tells the tragic story of what happens when believers don’t make a break from the “world.” Some of us are too cozy with the things of the world as well. God wants us to live distinctive lives that draw people to the Savior – to live in the world but not like the world.
Then they stood up and confessed the sins and shortcomings of their fathers (because it’s always easier to confess someone else’s sins, right?).
But they didn’t stop there. They went on to confess their own sins as well.
In verse 3, we find that they spent three hours reading the Bible and then three hours in confession and worship. The order here is important.
When we read the Word we will see how far we come short.
Once we see our own sinfulness, we will begin to understand more about God’s greatness. As we do, we’ll break out into worship.
Verses 4 and 5 explain how they conducted this service. The Levites divided themselves into two groups. Some were standing on the stairs on one side of the assembly and the other group stood across from them.
The first group “cried with a loud voice.” The second group focused on God’s character. Cries of guilt are followed by shouts of praise for God’s greatness, goodness, and graciousness.
In verse 5, the people are invited to,
“Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting.”
Before they come to a time of necessary confession, they must first praise the one who alone can hear, pardon and change them. He never changes and will never go back on His word because He is eternal.
Their prayer continues in the last part of verse 5:
Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
In this chapter, the believers reflect on God’s nature and character as well as His mighty works in history. Adoration is really the heart of true prayer. If you’re struggling with your faith this morning, it may well be because your view of God is too small or too narrow. Or, it may be that your theology is fine, but you don’t think God has much to do with your life today.
David Wells, a theologian, refers to this view as the “weightlessness of God.” He writes that our sense of inadequacy or ineffectiveness can be traced to our limited understanding and experience of God: “God rests too inconsequentially upon the church. His truth is too distant, his grace too ordinary, his judgment too benign, his gospel too easy, and His Christ too common.”
Verse 6 starts off with a clear statement of God’s greatness that is grounded in the opening verses of Genesis:
“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.
There is no one like God. The evidence for His greatness is seen in His works of creation as
Psalm 19:1 clearly states:
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
It’s always best to begin with the greatness of God.
If we focus too much on what He gives or what we want Him to do, we may find our hearts becoming selfish. Sincere worship honors God in spite of circumstances or feelings or desires.
Do you see God as great this morning? Or, is your God too small?
We see the greatness of God and next:
The Goodness of God
The Goodness of God
The bulk of this chapter focuses on the goodness of God in verses 7-30. God is very clearly the focal point, as the word “you” is used over 50 times. In verses 7-15, He is the subject of every sentence and the word “give” is used in one form or another at least 16 different times.
This part of the prayer repeats the history of Israel, revealing God’s goodness to His people and their repeated failure to appreciate His gifts and obey His will. George Santayana, the Spanish philosopher has said, “He who forgets the past is condemned to repeat it.”
Romans 15:4 helps us see the value in studying the Old Testament:
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
God’s goodness is seen in at least four ways in Nehemiah 9.
Forming
Forming
In verses 7-18, the prayer begins with how God formed the nation of Israel. He chose Abram and brought him out of Ur and made a covenant with him. Then, when God’s people were suffering in Egypt, God made a name for Himself by dividing the sea and releasing His people from bondage.
In verse 13, they recall God’s goodness in the giving of the Law and in verses 14 and 15, they praise God for how the newly formed nation was given possession of the land that was promised to them.
After this praise time where the focus is on God for His goodness, the words of guilt come out in:
“But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments.
And in verse 17, God’s response:
They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.
They are guilty, but God is good…all the time!
Leading
Leading
After forming the nation, God was committed to lead His people on a daily basis even when they disobeyed Him. We see that in verse 19:
you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go.
Verse 20 says that God gave His Spirit to the people to provide for their spiritual requirements and food and water to meet their physical needs. Verse 21 tells us that for forty years, as the children of Israel wandered in the desert, their feet did not swell and their clothes did not wear out.
Providing
Providing
God’s goodness is seen through His forming of the nation and by how he led them on a daily basis. He also provided them with everything they needed. He helped them defeat their enemies and gave them kingdoms and nations. He multiplied their numbers by blessing them with children.
Verse 25 is a good summary of how God showed His goodness by providing for their needs:
And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness.
Did you catch that?
God gave them much more than they deserved. The land was fertile. Their houses were already furnished. The water was already running and the fruit was just waiting to be picked. They had everything they needed. They “delighted” in God’s great goodness, which literally means that they “luxuriated” or “enjoy the good life” in God’s provision.
In a similar way, God has given us everything we need as well.
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
That leads to a question. Are you “luxuriating” in God’s goodness today? Or, are you taking Him for granted? Are you focused more on what you don’t have than what you do?
Correcting
Correcting
After praising God for His wonderful provision, they hang their heads as they remembered how their forefathers acted in the Book of Judges:
“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.
This is called defiance. They knew what God wanted because He had made it very clear. Even though every one of their needs had been met, God’s people exhibited a rebellious spirit and tried to eliminate both the message and the messengers. Instead of praising God for his goodness, they blasphemed Him.
John Steinbeck wrote, “If you want to destroy a nation, give it too much—make it greedy, miserable and sick.”
It’s possible for us as individuals, a country and as a church to become far too proud of what we have and lose sight of the goodness of God.
As a result, God corrected them by handing them over to their enemies.
Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies.
But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies.
Aren’t you glad that God hears us and delivers us many times?
And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey.
Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
God corrected them by sending their enemies to rule over them. God used successive world powers to both punish and correct them.
But all of this was done because He is a good God. He demonstrates that fact clearly through His forming of the nation, by leading them, by providing for them, and even by correcting them.
Some of us mistakenly thank God for His goodness only when things go the way we want them to go. The real challenge and test of our discipleship, is to thank Him for His goodness even when we experience pain and loss.
God is great and He is good. There’s one more part of His character that is demonstrated in this chapter. He is gracious.
We have seen the greatness and the goodness of God, next we see:
The Grace of God
The Grace of God
We see this in:
Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
God does not treat His people as they deserve and that’s a good thing for us! Because He is a God of grace, He is good to His people even when they are not good to Him. In His mercy, God didn’t give them what they deserved; and in His grace, He gave them what they didn’t deserve.
Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.
The prayer finishes out the chapter by singing sharing the wrong things the people had done, and how they are slaves to others because of their sins.
Did you notice the change in pronouns here?
Instead of focusing on “their” sins, the people now say, “we did wrong.” Until we can personally own our specific sins, we will miss out on experiencing the grace of God.
Verse 37 ends with, “we are in great distress.” The people recognize that generation after generation; the same sin problems seem to come back. Some of you here this morning are brave enough to admit that you are in great distress. You have your own history of good intentions that fell apart. You’ve seen the cycle of sin in your life where you mess up, and then repent and confess, and then walk with God and then sin and repent and confess all over again. And God delivers you time and again.
God doesn’t just offer help from heaven. He offers help from the inside to those of you who are born again. It is possible to change. God himself invests in us in ways that we discover over a lifetime. We don’t have to stay in the sin cycle any longer. Jesus has joined us in the process, and that’s the indescribably good news. We have a permanent Companion.
Instead of sinning and confessing and sinning and confessing over and over again, when we’re struggling, failing, being tempted in the midst of the battle, let’s draw near to him.
God isn’t sitting back waiting for us to fail. There is grace, mercy, companionship and strength through Jesus - not just when we’re up; but when we’re down as well. So let’s draw near to Him.
This entire chapter speaks of grace. God demonstrates His greatness and His goodness and what do the people do? They turn from Him. They run from His word. They persist in doing things their own way. In short, they keep on sinning. At any point, God could have said, “That’s it. You’ve messed up too much. You’re on your own.”
While He did send some correction into their lives, He never stopped loving them. When they sinned, God exhibited His grace.
Or as Romans 5:20 puts it:
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
No matter what you’ve done or who’ve you become, it doesn’t matter. Jesus wants you to come home. In verse 38, it says that the people made a “firm covenant,” a “binding agreement” and put it into writing.
That means it was personal. It was practical. And it was public.
· Personal
What do you need to do this morning? First of all, do you personally see God as great, as good, and as gracious? If not, determine to never doubt them again. Personalize your faith by making it real.
· Practical
Based on who He is, what is the Holy Spirit encouraging you to do right now? What practical step does He want you to take?
· Public
How can you make your decision public? You could call a friend and tell them. If you’re a believer and have never been baptized, you could take that step. Or, you could step out of your pew during our closing song and come forward.
