Read Nehemiah’s prayer found in Nehemiah 1:5-11. What are the different components of the prayer? Why does he include himself in the prayer as those who are guilty?

   1. God you are great and have mercy (Neh. 1:5).
      2. Hear me (Neh. 1:6).
         3. Confession of sins (Neh. 1:6-7).
            4. Remember your promises (Neh. 1:8-9).
         3. You have redeemed us (Neh. 1:10).
      2. Hear me (Neh. 1:11).
   1. God grant prosperity and mercy (Neh. 1:11).

Nehemiah’s Prayer

Nehemiah’s prayer is a beautiful composition recounting God’s greatness, their own sinfulness, and concluding with a cry for help. The prayer resembles the prayer of Daniel in Daniel 9, and it is possible that Nehemiah was familiar with that prayer. It is noteworthy that Nehemiah doesn’t begin with a cry for help, but rather first states the truth about who God is, Great and Awesome. He also points out that God keeps His covenant and has mercy on those who love Him, as if to remind God that He has always been faithful and cannot now be any other way.

The prayer is in a special structure (depicted above) that centers on verse 8, where Nehemiah articulates God’s promises. Nehemiah says: “Remember!” In other words: Remember, God, that you promised that you will scatter us when we are unfaithful but that you also promised to bring us back and restore everything. Since the first one has happened, now it is time to fulfill the other because we are returning to You. Nehemiah is not afraid to claim God’s promises and to remind God of them. Of course, it is not that God doesn’t know or remember His promises. Instead, God takes pleasure in our willingness to claim His promises. He wants us to believe in them and thus speak them out loud to Him. By verbalizing what God has promised us, we can be strengthened in our own resolve to trust in those promises, especially at times when everything seems hopeless.

Amen!(0)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/XZu4UD_0K90/

The book of Nehemiah opens somewhat in the same way the book of Daniel did (read Dan. 1:1-2), and that was with bad news. Yes, many had returned to their ancestral homeland, but things weren’t going too well for them there.

Read Nehemiah 1:1-4. Why was Nehemiah so distressed? What was his response to the bad news he received?

Nehemiah’s Survey

Some Jews taken captive years earlier were brought to Shushan, one of the four administrative centers of the Persian Empire, where Nehemiah served in the royal palace as a cupbearer. The term used for “Hanani one of my brothers” most likely refers to a blood brother, because there is a similar but more familial-sounding reference to Hanani in Nehemiah 7:2, although it could be a reference to just a fellow Israelite. The conversation with Hanani most likely happened between mid-November and mid-December of 445 B.C., some 13 years after Ezra’s return to Jerusalem. Hanani reports that the situation in Jerusalem is dire. The people have not been able to rebuild Jerusalem, and the enemy had destroyed the walls of the city, leaving it defenseless and desolate.

It bears mention that King Artaxerxes crushed the hope of the returnees by stopping the progress of the construction after the people beyond the river complained (Ezra 4). This allowed the enemies to destroy the walls of the city (Ezra 4:23). Nehemiah would have heard rumors of such disaster, but he didn’t have definite answers until this time.

Even though the temple was rebuilt, it wasn’t fully functioning because the people needed for the temple service were unable to live in Jerusalem. The situation saddened Nehemiah as the implications of the news penetrated his soul: the Jews had not glorified God even though they had returned for that purpose. Instead they had neglected the house of God and the Holy City, due to their fear of the enemy and oppression.

Thus, Nehemiah automatically turns to God. He doesn’t complain that the people of Judah lack faith or put them down as cowards, nor does he just accept the situation as the status quo. Nehemiah just gets down on His knees and starts praying and fasting.

Amen!(0)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/Ho4TmPXIFco/