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Nehemiah a Man of Prayer
Nehemiah a Man of Prayer
One commentator remarked that there are 9 recorded prayers in Nehemiah. Not all of them are labeled as such, for example the short prayer in 4:4-5. (rather than give you a list which you will read and then forget, I will instead challenge you to reread the book and find them. Upon finding them, I would suggest putting a simple “P” in you margin.)
It will be noted that this is the immediate response of Nehemiah to almost every situation and challenge he faced. It is a remarkable resemblance to the life of Jesus in this respect, for Jesus likewise was given to prayer (I would suggest you read through Luke and label all the times that Jesus prayed – perhaps putting a ‘P’ in the margin again).
I am particularly impressed with the prayer of praise and confession in chapter 9 made by the Levites as the people were assembled. It begins with praise, but then gives a great summary of the Old Testament story.
It then recalls the very history of the people of Israel. Israel begins with Abraham and the Patriarchs. It speaks of the promises to God made to him, in particular, the promise of the LAND which God HAS FULFILLED (7-8). Note, the receiving was unconditional and they HAD received it, but the ‘keeping’ it and staying in it were conditioned upon covenant faithfulness which they had not done.
It recalls their slavery period of Egypt Bondage and God’s bringing them out of the Egyptian bondage with the great signs and wonders (10-12). God then made the covenant with them at Sinai through Moses, including making known unto them the Sabbath (vs. 14).
It recalls the Wilderness Wanderings and how God provided for them (15), but it also confesses that the people were arrogant, stubborn, rebellious, and forgetful of all of God’s good blessings (16-17). Then it recalls the great love, mercy, and longsuffering of God as He did not forsake them but rather forgave them (17-19). Such rebellion and forgiveness, stubbornness and guidance continued for forty years (20-21).
As God had promised the land to Abram, He gave them ‘kingdoms and peoples’ (22-25), allowing them to Conquer Canaan. He had promised to make Abraham’s seed as plenteous as the stars and had done so (23).
YET again, it confesses that they were disobedient and rebellious towards God. This speaks about the time of the Judges where they were oppressed time after time, many times (27-28). Again, instead of abandoning them to their judgment, God sent prophet after prophet (30) but they steadfastly refused to listen!
The prayer briefly mentions the period of the Kings, but quickly speaks of The Assyrian captivity and the Babylonian captivity are alluded to, but seen in light of God not utterly destroying them (31-32). They acknowledge that God was just in this punishment for THEY had acted wickedly (33-36).
Although acknowledging that they had returned from captivity and again taken up residence in the land, they were little more than slaves to the Persian empire (36-37). Such was yet again seen as the just punishment from God because even then they ‘did not serve God or turn from their evil deeds’ (35).
THEN, where we would expect a cry for help and a plea for deliverance, we see a simple statement: “So we are in great distress” (37). This causes them to make a covenant / agreement, put it in writing, and sign their names to it! What they basically promise is that they this time would be FAITHFUL to the covenant stipulations that had been given long ago by Moses (10:28-39).
What an impressive talk with God! Do we know the story of the Old Testament so that we could summarize it this way? Do we know the life of Jesus and the history of the church so that we could summarize it? Are we willing to openly confess our sins as they did?
Hugh DeLong
