Praising God in the City

Introduction: This Scripture provides a record of the celebration that Nehemiah organized to commemorate the completion of the city walls. Here we receive a good example of how to glorify God for His work among His people.

Singing for Joy (12:27-42)

The Purpose for Singing is Because of a Completed Work (12:27-29) - “27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sent for the Levites wherever they lived and brought them to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28 The singers gathered from the region around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites, 29 from Beth-gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for they had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem.”

Note 12:27: This is a response to God allowing them to complete the work, despite the obstacles, and opposition. There is something strange about a fan who will sit in the stands and never cheer for his/her winning team. Moreover, the dedication was appropriate because this was God’s holy city, in which he had chosen to make his name among his people. God’s name and His holy temple were stationed in this city, and it was appropriate to consecrate afresh as a reminder to God’s people that God was holy and had accomplished a marvelous work in and through them.

Psalm 30:1 (HCSB) - “1 I will exalt You, Lord, because You have lifted me up and have not allowed my enemies to triumph over me.”

2 Chronicles 29:30 (HCSB) - “30 Then King Hezekiah and the officials told the Levites to sing praise to the Lord in the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with rejoicing and bowed down and worshiped.”

1 Chronicles 13:8 (NIV) - “8 David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets.”

The Purification for Sining Because of Consecrated Work (12:30) - “30 After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.”

Note 12:30 - The purification process was important because they were serving a Holy God, who requires holiness.

The Participants and Places for Sining for a Celebrated Work (12:31-42) - “31 Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on top of the wall, and I appointed two large processions that gave thanks. One went to the right on the wall, toward the Dung Gate. 32 Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed: 33 Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah. 35 Some of the priests' sons had trumpets: Zechariah son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph, 36 and his relatives: Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David, the man of God. Ezra the scribe went in front of them. 37 At the Fountain Gate they climbed the steps of the city of David on the ascent of the wall [and went] above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east. 38 The second thanksgiving procession went to the left, and I followed it with half the people along the top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, 39 above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Old Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate. They stopped at the Gate of the Guard. 40 The two thanksgiving processions stood in the house of God. So [did] I and half of the officials accompanying me, as well as 41 the priests: Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; 42 and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. Then the singers sang, with Jezrahiah as the leader.”

2 Chronicles 8:14 (HCSB) - “14 According to the ordinances of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests over their service, of the Levites over their responsibilities to offer praise and to minister before the priests following the daily requirement, and of the gatekeepers by their divisions with respect to each gate, for this had been the command of David, the man of God.”

Serving with Joy (12:43-46)

The Prompts for Joy (12:43) - “43 On that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy. The women and children also celebrated, and Jerusalem's rejoicing was heard far away.”

Psalm 27:6 (KJV) - “And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.”

Psalm 95:1 (KJV) - “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.”

Psalm 107:22 (KJV) - “Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing.”

The Performance with Joy (12:44-46) - “44 On that same day men were placed in charge of the rooms [that housed] the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tenths. The legally required portions for the priests and Levites were gathered from the village fields, because Judah was grateful to the priests and Levites who were serving. 45 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had prescribed. 46 For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were leaders of the singers and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.”

Ezekiel 44:30 (HCSB) - “30 The best of all the firstfruits of every kind and contribution of every kind from all your gifts will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest so that a blessing may rest on your homes.”

Sharing with Joy (12:47)

The Persistent Sharing of Blessings (12:47a) - “47 So in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers.”

The Proportionate Sharing of Blessings with the Priests (12:47b) - “They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions for the descendants of Aaron.”

Galatians 6:6 (HCSB) - “The one who is taught the message must share all his good things with the teacher.”

1 Corinthians 9:14 (HCSB) - “14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.”