1. What order should we choose? Our lesson does not recommend an order of elements to include in our work of confessing and repenting before God, but what order do you prefer in your prayers to God for these items:  1) praise 2) repentance 3) celebration 4) confession 5) other..
2. Fasting and worship. Instead of a joyful celebration to start the proceedings, what did Nehemiah initiate as the first assignment for the people of God at this time of rejoicing? (Notice the spelling: “feasting” or “fasting”) For “a fourth of a day” the Israelites read from the “book of the law.” Do you think that was for six hours (1/4 of 24) or three hours (1/8 of the 24). What do you think would be the result of setting up prayer and worship time with these dimensions? Why? 
3. The beginning of the prayer. What is the significance of each of the following dimensions of the opening expressions in this prayer: God as 1. Creator; 2. Preserver; 3. Promise Keeper. How is the concept of God our Creator the same as or different from the concept of the importance of the Sabbath day? Which concept do you and I need to focus on more?
4. Lessons from the past. Does it ever occur to you to marvel at the many times the Children of Israel had to re-study and re-learn and then to follow the lessons of God’s leading in their past? Regarding our sins…which is more important: to confess our sins, to repent of our sins, or to forsake our sins? Right now, in your personal walk with the Lord, are you able to devote enough time to obtain victory in each of these areas of Christianity? If not, what can you do?’
5. The law and the prophets. Do you find in Nehemiah 9 a story of the blessings and problems of God’s people through the years of their wandering in the wilderness? Aren’t you glad you belong to a church that never wanders? never faces problems? always obeys God? What? Your church does have problems, many of them like those faced by the Israelites? What can you and I do about them?
6. Praise and Petition. At the close of the “prayer of confession,” what petition do God’s people raise to Him? Would you describe the condition of God’s people at this time to be one of trouble and tribulation? Why must they suffer? Aren’t you glad that God’s people today have no trials, no overwhelming temptations, no cause for suffering? That’s not how it is? Is God ready to respond to all of our needs? How can we be sure? Or can we? 

Amen!(0)

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This week we ask 
“Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive”, Hymn 299 and 
“Hymn 412, “Cover With His Life” as we have a forgiving God. We are so thankful that 
“He Hideth My Soul”, Hymn 520. Finally in Nehemiah 9:3, the people worshipped the Lord: 
Hymn 6, “O Worship the Lord”, and 
Hymn 83, “O Worship the King”.

In Monday’s study, prayer is the focus: 
Hymn 478, “Sweet Hour of Prayer”, Hymn 501,
“Tis the Blessed Hour of Prayer” and 
Hymn 658, “Heavenly Father, Hear Our Prayer”.

The confession of our sins (Tuesday), shows that
 “Jesus Saves”, Hymn 340.

The confessions of the people on Wednesday show that Israel had forsaken God’s law and His prophets: 
Hymn 413, “God Has Spoken by His Prophets”.

In the closing part of the prayer, the people turned to praising God: 
Hymn 1, “Praise to the Lord”, Hymn 4,
“Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven”, Hymn 14,
“Let Us Praise the Name of the Lord”, Hymn 20,
“O Praise Ye the Lord”, Hymn 25,
“Praise the Lord His Glories Show” to name just a few of the many hymns that sing praises to our God.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Amen!(4)

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Read Nehemiah 9:9-22. How does this part of the prayer differ from the first part?

The prayer transitions from praising God for His faithfulness to recounting the contrasting unfaithfulness of the Israelites in their Egypt and wilderness experiences. It outlines all the different things God gave the Israelites; but unfortunately, the response of the “fathers” to those gifts was pride, stubbornness, and disregard of God’s gracious acts among them.

The acknowledgement of human failure and lack of true devotion to God is an important step in confession and repentance. And even though these texts are talking about people long removed from us, no one can deny that every single one of us has a problem with those same issues.

Of course, here is where the gospel comes in for us as well as for them. Confession of our sins does not save us; only Christ’s sacrifice in our behalf does. Confession, along with repentance, is central to our own acknowledgement that we must be justified by Christ alone. “When through repentance and faith we accept Christ as our Saviour, the Lord pardons our sins, and remits the penalty prescribed for the transgression of the law. The sinner then stands before God as a just person; he is taken into favor with Heaven, and through the Spirit has fellowship with the Father and the Son” – Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 3, p. 191.

At the same time, because His goodness causes us to confess our sins and repent of them, we must be determined by God’s power to forsake them as well.

The bottom line is that Israel had been stubborn, and God had been loving. Looking back at what God did for the Israelite nation reminded the people that because God had done so much for them in the past, He would continue to take care of them at the present moment and in the future. That was why it was so important for the people always to remember how God had acted in their history. When they forgot, that was when they got into trouble.

Amen!(0)

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The response of the people to the Bible reading was a long prayer that recounted the goodness of God in contrast to the history of the Israel’s faithlessness. One can observe that the reply is more like a sermon than a prayer, because almost every verse has a parallel somewhere in the Bible.

Read Nehemiah 9:4-8. What are the main topics the prayer focused on in these beginning verses, and why?

Nehemiah’s Prayer

In the first part of the prayer, the people bless God, and specifically His name. In the Hebrew culture, a name was not just what people called someone, but it gave a person his/her identity. Thus, the praise of God’s name is significant because it demonstrates to the world that this is a name worthy of praise and honor. This is the name of the Creator of the Universe. The prayer begins with worship to God as the Creator and as the One who “preserves” everything (Neh. 9:6 see also Col. 1:16-17). The word “preserves” comes from a Hebrew verb that means to “keep alive”.

The One who created everything is the One who chose Abraham, a human being, who was not in any way special other than that “his heart” was “faithful”. Abraham may seem to have lacked faith on many occasions, but when asked to give up his son, he didn’t falter (see Genesis 22:1-24). He learned to be faithful — not overnight, but over his long walk with God. In Hebrew thinking, the “heart” refers to the mind. In other words, Abraham developed faithfulness in thought and action and was acknowledged for it by God.

The first few phrases of the prayer focus on God as 1. Creator, 2. Preserver, and 3. Promise Keeper. The people first remind themselves of who God is: He is the faithful One who has created us, preserves us, and always keeps His promises to us. Having that in mind helps us to keep our own lives in perspective and to learn to trust Him even in the most difficult of situations, when it might seem that He is distant from us and unconcerned with our challenges.

Amen!(3)

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Read Nehemiah 9:1-3. Why were the people separating themselves from all foreigners?

Although Nehemiah was eager to make sure that the people associated this time with joy, he now led the assembly to fasting. They humbled themselves before God and threw dust on their heads, while wearing sackcloth.

Worship

Because the foreigners didn’t have a share in the corporate sin of the people of Israel, the Israelites separated themselves from them, as the Hebrews knew that it was their sins that needed to be forgiven. They acknowledged the sins of their nation, which had led them into exile.

Their corporate prayers and confession demonstrated a deep understanding of the nature of sin. The Israelites could have been angry that their predecessors messed up and led their whole nation into exile. Or they could have spent time complaining about the choices of their leaders and the lack of godliness displayed by the previous generations, which had led them to where they were right now — just a small group of returnees. However, instead of harboring hatred and grievances, they turned to God in humility and confession.

Nehemiah 9:3 reports that the people read from the Book of the Law for a fourth of the day, and for another fourth they confessed sin and worshiped God. This is the third reading of the Torah. Reading the Torah is central to confession, which must be based on the truth, which comes from God. Through our reading of the Bible, God draws near to us, and the Holy Spirit can speak to us and teach us. The truth of His Word molds our thinking and understanding, encourages and lifts us up. The Israelites also sorrowed and wept, because spending time in God’s holy presence makes us aware of His beauty and goodness while impressing upon us how amazing it is that the Creator of the universe chooses to be with us, even despite our unworthiness. Thus, we realize that without God in our lives, we are no different from any of our spiritual ancestors in the faith. Only with God working in us can we be who we should be.

Amen!(0)

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