Nehemiah 1:5-11

The rebuilding of Jerusalem started with prayer and ended with restoration. When we invite God into our life it may not be instantaneous or without obstacles BUT it does end in success. When we are honest with ourselves and with Him about our failures and sins He is merciful to step in and help us straighten out the mess we have made, changing the very things meant to destroy us into something that will benefit His kingdom on earth. We are in the beginning, planning stages, of a new Christian led neighborhood program in our city based on the command of Jesus to “love your neighbor”.  May it start with our prayers and end in His glory!

Times of trial require godly leadership. This book is principally the story of such gifted leadership in the person of Nehemiah. Facing criticism and opposition, Nehemiah resolutely led the small Israelite community as they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem for its physical protection. But he also did not hesitate to guide the Israelites spiritually. By demanding that the Israelites obey God’s law, Nehemiah pursued their spiritual as well as their physical welfare.

Like Jesus, Nehemiah gives up a high position in order to identify with the plight of his people. Like Jesus, he comes with a specific mission and accomplishes it. And like Jesus, Nehemiah’s life is punctuated by his prayerful dependence on God. His purpose is not just to get the Jews back to Jerusalem; his ultimate goal is restoration! By using this ancient name for the Jewish people, Nehemiah indicated the continuity of the Jewish people of his day with the Israelites of the past: Nehemiah then confessed the sins of his father’s house as well as his own. His confession was national, communal, and personal. His own sin was part of the whole. Nehemiah was suggesting to the Lord that the time was right, the people were right, and the task was right to restore Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 1:5-11

⁵ And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, ⁶ please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned. ⁷ We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. ⁸ Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; ⁹ but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’ ¹⁰ Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”