When I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and mourned several days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,
Parallel Translations
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When I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and mourned several days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,
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And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
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And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Nehemiah 1:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Daniel 9:3 I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
- Psalms 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
- Ezra 10:1 Now while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before God’s house, there was gathered together to him out of Israel a very great assembly of men and women and children; for the people wept very bitterly.
- Nehemiah 2:4 Then the king said to me, “What is your request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.
- Psalms 69:9-10 For the zeal of your house consumes me. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. When I wept and I fasted, that was to my reproach.
- Psalms 102:13-14 You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for it is time to have pity on her. Yes, the set time has come. For your servants take pleasure in her stones, and have pity on her dust.
- Zephaniah 3:18 I will remove those who grieve about the appointed feasts from you. They are a burden and a reproach to you.
- Daniel 2:18 that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions would not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
- Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.
- Ezra 5:11-12 Thus they returned us answer, saying, “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are building the house that was built these many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. But after our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.
- Ezra 9:3 When I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled the hair out of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.
- Jonah 1:9 He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land.”
- 1 Samuel 4:17-22 He who brought the news answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and God’s ark has been captured.” When he made mention of God’s ark, Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. His daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near to giving birth. When she heard the news that God’s ark was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth; for her pains came on her. About the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she didn’t answer, neither did she regard it. She named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because God’s ark was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. She said, “The glory has departed from Israel; for God’s ark has been taken.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Neh 1:4 And it came to pass, when I…
Neh 1:4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned [certain] days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
Ver. 4. And it came to pass when I heard] It was not without a special providence that these good men thus met, and by mutual conference kindled one another; and that thereby God provided a remedy. Things fall not out by haphazard, but by God’s most wise dispose and appointment.
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That I sat down and wept] He was even pressed down with the greatness of his grief, whereto be gave vent by his eyes, Zep 3:17-18, Expletur lachrymis, egeriturque dolor (Ovid) He was filled with tears and grief was shown. God promises much mercy to such to whom the reproach of the solemn assemblies was a burden. Nehemiah cannot stand under it, but sits down and weeps.
And mourned certain days] viz. For three months’ time; for so long he was preparing himself to petition the king, Neh 1:1; Neh 2:1.
And fasted, and prayed] This was a sure course, and never miscarried, as hath been noted, Ezr 9:1-15.
Before the God of heaven] With face turned toward his holy temple, 1Ki 8:44; 1Ki 8:48, with heart lifted up to the highest heavens, those hills whence should come his help.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And it came to pass, when I heard these…
And it came to pass, when I heard these words,.... This sad and melancholy account of things:
that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; sat down upon the ground in dust and ashes, after the manner of mourners, and wept bitterly, and mourned in a most sorrowful manner, see Job 2:8,
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and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven; that made it, and dwells in it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The God of heaven - Who seeth in secret;…
The God of heaven - Who seeth in secret; secret; having no opportunity of doing it openly.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. And mourned certain days] From the month…
Verse 4. And mourned certain days] From the month Chisleu to the month Nisan; about four months from the time he received the above information, till the time that Artaxerxes noticed his grief, Ne 2:1. All this time he probably spent in supplication to God; waiting for a favourable opening in the Divine providence. Every good work is not to be undertaken hastily; prayer and watchfulness are necessary to its completion. Many good works have been ruined by making haste.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Neh 1:4. When I heard these words I sat…
Neh 1:4. When I heard these words I sat down — Probably upon the ground, as the manner was, in great sorrow, and perhaps in ashes; and wept and mourned certain days — Thus the desolations and distresses of the church of Christ ought to be the matter of our grief, how much soever we live at ease. And fasted and prayed — Not in public, which he had no opportunity of doing, but before the God of heaven — Who sees in secret, and will reward openly.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The God of heaven - This title of the…
The God of heaven - This title of the Almighty, which is Persian rather than Jewish (see 2Ch 36:23; Ezr 1:2 note; Ezr 6:10; Ezr 7:12, Ezr 7:21), is a favorite one with Nehemiah, who had been born and brought up in Persia.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Days; about four months, till Nisan. (Calmet)
Days; about four months, till Nisan. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain HIS PRAYER. (Neh 1:4-11)
HIS PRAYER. (Neh 1:4-11)
when I heard these words, that I sat down . . . and mourned . . . and fasted, and prayed--The recital deeply affected the patriotic feelings of this good man, and no comfort could he find but in earnest and protracted prayer, that God would favor the purpose, which he seems to have secretly formed, of asking the royal permission to go to Jerusalem.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain NEHEMIAH’S GRIEF AND PRAYER, Neh_1:4-11.
NEHEMIAH’S GRIEF AND PRAYER, Neh_1:4-11.
4. I sat down and wept — Perhaps now for the first time a deep, keen sense of his people’s woes came over his soul.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4-11) Nehemiah’s appeal to God. The prayer is a…
(4-11) Nehemiah’s appeal to God. The prayer is a perfect example of the private and individual devotion with which the later Hebrew Scriptures abound. It begins with formal and appropriate invocation (Neh_1:5-8), flows into earnest confession (Neh_1:6-7), pleads the covenant promises (Neh_1:8-10), and supplicates a present answer (Neh_1:11). The extant Scriptures, freely used, are the foundation of all.
(4) Fasted.—Like Daniel, Esther, and Ezra, Nehemiah fasted: fasting appears in later Judaism a prominent part of individual devotion, as it is in the New Testament.
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(6) Both I and my father’s house have sinned.—The supplication was for the nation; and in such cases of personal intercession the individual assumes the sin of all the past.
(8) The spirit of many threatenings and promises is summed up, as in the prayer of Nehemiah 9.
(11) This day . . . this man.—During his “certain days” of mourning Nehemiah had fixed upon his plan, suggested by his God. “This day” is “this occasion”: the appeal itself was deferred for some months. The king becomes “this man” in the presence of the “God of heaven.”
For I was the king’s cupbearer.—One of his cupbearers, therefore in high authority, having confidential access to him.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain When I heard these things, I sat down and…
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. The revelation of the actual condition of Jerusalem came upon Nehemiah with a shock. He had perhaps not thought much upon the subject before; he had had no means of exact information; he had supposed the city flourishing under the superintendence of Ezra, whose piety and patriotism were no doubt known to him. It was a bitter grief to him to find that his people were still "a reproach to their neighbours," laughed to scorn by those whose walls had never been destroyed, or who had been allowed to rebuild them. And he may have felt that his city, under the circumstances of the time, was in real danger. As Dean Stanley observes those days rather one may say m those countries of disorder, a city without locked gates and lofty walls was no city at all" ("Lectures on the Jewish Church," Third Series, p. 124). A few years previously Egypt had been in revolt; she might revolt again, and carry her arms into Syria. Arab tribes from the desert might extend their raids into Judaea, and be tempted by the known value of the temple treasures to swoop upon the unwalled town. Such thoughts occurring to an excitable Oriental, produced not grief and anxiety merely, but a flood of tears. (comp. Ezr_10:1) And fasted. Fasting had become a frequent practice among the Jews during the captivity. Solemn fasts had been introduced on the anniversaries of the taking of Jerusalem, the burning of the temple, and the murder of Gedaliah. (Zec_8:19) Fasting had also taken a prominent place in the devotions of individuals. Daniel fasted; (Dan_9:3 Dan_10:3) Esther fasted; (Est_4:16) Ezra fasted; (Ezr_10:6) and now Nehemiah fasted. On the grounds of natural piety out of which the practice arises, see the comment on Ezr_10:6. The God of heaven. See the comment on Ezr_1:2.
HOMILIES BY J.S. EXELL Vers. 4-11. Piety and prayer.
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I The SORROW of prayer (ver. 4). Prayer was designed to be a glad communion with God; but sin has embittered it. Now it is often suffused with tears; but it will soon rejoice in God. Hannah"s prayerful sorrow soon became her prophetic song. The sorrows of prayer are more joyous than the rejoicings of sin.
II The IMPORTUNITY of prayer (ver. 5). Nehemiah besought God to hear his prayer; his whole being was engaged in his devotion. Sorrow makes men earnest; things spiritual must be earnestly sought.
III The THEOLOGY Of prayer. True prayer has a right conception of the Divine character; it will see in God
1. The Divine.
2. The exalted.
3. The faithful.
4. The powerful.
All true prayer is based on a right conception of the Deity; the more we know of God, the more true and acceptable will our worship become.
IV The DURATION of prayer (ver. 6). Nehemiah prayed day and night. We must pray without ceasing. "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me". (Gen_32:26)
V The CONFESSIONS Of prayer (vers. 6, 7).
1. Personal.
2. Domestic.
3. National.
4. Unreserved.
VI The SUPPLICATION of prayer. Prayer generally has some specific request to urge.
1. The Divine promise (vers. 8, 9).
2. The Divine mercy.
3. The Divine aid in the past. E.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And it came to pass, when I heard these…
Neh_1:4-11
And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept.
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Sad tidings and fruitful grief
I. The occasion of His grief.
1. Not personal loss.
(1) Men grieve on account of personal loss--failure of business, scarcity of work, pecuniary loss involving personal privation, etc.
(2) Men grieve on account of spiritual failure. Neither of these explains the occasion of Nehemiahs grief.
2. But public calamity.
(1) He had inquired carefully into the state of Gods work. Every good man should thus interest himself in Gods work. Men shun this conscientious inquiry for various reasons.
(a) Some on account of the peace which ignorance brings.
(b) Some dread the painful discoveries which careful inquiry may reveal.
(c) Others the sacrifices which such discoveries may demand.
(2) He had received sorrowful tidings. To a good man tidings of the Churchs desolation are ever sad tidings.
(a) It betrays unfaithfulness. A holy and loyal Church cannot be a dishonoured one. The shorn strength, as with Samson, betrays unwatchfulness and worldliness.
(b) It furnishes occasion of reproach to the enemies of the Church.
II. The characteristics of His grief.
1. It was profound.
2. It was enduring.
3. It was self-denying. Real heart-pain is always ascetic in its bodily aspect. And fasted. Observe--
(1) Fasting is often associated with profound grief in Scripture (2Sa_1:12; 2Sa_12:16-21; Psa_35:13; Psa_69:10; Dan_6:8; Jon_3:5). It may be the natural attendant of such grief, or the outward symbol of its presence.
(2) Fasting is recognised and commended in Scripture as a religious exercise (1Sa_7:6; Jer_36:9; Mat_6:17; Act_10:30; 1Co_7:5).
III. The issue of His grief. And prayed before the God of heaven. Herein consists the difference between godly and selfish sorrow. The one invariably finds relief in prayer, the other ends in blank despair.
1. Grief is sanctified by prayer. It then becomes sacred, and softens the heart like showers on the thirsty soil. Rebellious grief is hardening in its effect.
2. Grief is relieved by prayer.
Lessons--
1. Profound grief on behalf of others is perfectly consistent with personal enjoyment of the Divine favour.
2. Godly grief usually precedes gracious visitations
3. Burdened hearts find best relief in prayer. (W. H. Booth.)
The Church and social
evils:--The accurate dates given in this book show that the period of Nehemiahs brooding sorrow lasted four months. The emotions excited in Nehemiah by his countrymens sorrows suggest some plain lessons for Christian people.
I. The duty of sympathetic contemplation of surrounding sorrows. The first condition of sympathy is knowledge; the second is attending to what we know. How demoralising is the thought that many people seem to entertain, that the universe, and hideous vices and sodden immorality, and utter heathenism which are found down among the foundations of every civic community are as indispensable to progress as the noise of the wheels of a train is to its advancement, or as the bilge-water in a wooden ship is to keep its seams tight. Every consideration of communion with and conformity to Jesus Christ, of loyalty to His words, of a true sense of brotherhood, and of lower things--such as sell-interest--demands that Christian people shall take to their hearts, in a fashion that Churches have never done yet, the condition of England question, and shall ask, Lord, what wouldst Thou have me to do?
II. Such a realisation of the dark facts is indispensable to all true work for alleviating them. There is no way of helping men, but by bearing what they bear. No man will ever lighten a sorrow of which he has not himself felt the pressure. The Cross of Christ is the pattern for our lives. The saviours of society have still in lower fashion to be crucified. No work of any real use will be done except by those whose hearts have bled with the feeling of the miseries which they set themselves to cure.
III. Such realisation of surrounding sorrows will drive to communion with God. All true service for the world must begin with close communion with God. The service of man is best done when it is the service of God. You will never get the army of workers that is needed to grapple with the facts of our present condition unless you touch the very deepest springs of conduct, and these axe to be found in communion with God. All other efforts at alleviate work by those who ignore Christian motive is but surface drainage. Get down to the love of God, and the love of men therefrom, and you have got an artesian well which will bubble up unfailingly. We hear a great deal about a social gospel. Let us remember that the gospel is social second and individual first. If you get the love of God and obedience to Jesus Christ into a mans heart it will be like putting gas into a balloon--it will go up and the man will get out of the slums fast enough; and he will not be a slave to the vices of the world much longer. It is the work of the Church to carry to the world the only thing that will make men deeply and abidingly happy, because it will make them good.
IV. Such sympathy should be the parent of a noble self-sacrificing life, Nehemiah, like Moses, chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God and to turn his back on the dazzlements of a court, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, while his brethren were suffering. The spirit of this example must still be observed. It is no part of my business to prescribe to you details of duty. It is my business to insist on the principles which must regulate these, and of these principles in application to Christian service there is none more stringent than I will not offer unto my God burnt offerings of that which doth cost me nothing. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Personal interest leading to importunate prayer
The story begins with an account of the condition of Jerusalem. At this time the city was in a bad plight--walls broken down, gateways burned with fire, streets deserted and grass grown. The heathen passed by in scornful derision and said, Is this the city which wag called beautiful, the joy of the whole earth? Only six months go by, and what a wonderful change! The walls are built and the gateways are secure. Instead of a few people with bent heads and sad hearts, there is a great army of workmen. What had happened? Had God sent some prophet into their midst like Elijah, stirring the hearts of the people? or some mother in Israel like Deborah of old? or another warrior like Gideon or David? Less than that, a great deal less than that, as we count things, but more than that, much more than that, as we ought to count things. One man had taken the sorrows of Jerusalem in upon his heart--that was all. One man had taken the sad state of things in upon his heart, and began to sorrow about it, and weep over it, and thought so much about it that it quite spoiled his appetite. He could not rest by day or night, and at last he had to take the burden right in before God and cast it upon Him. That was all. Ah, but that is all that is wanted! The worlds salvation rests not upon organisations, upon means, upon preachers, or upon arrangements, but upon deep personal interest--personal interest leading to importunate prayer, and importunate prayer leading to earnest effort. That is the only way in which the Church can ever be victorious, and can ever be saved. The saddest thing to-day is that men are Christians without being Christlike, that men do not take the sins and sorrows of the world in upon their hearts. Now what are the most of us doing?
1. Here is one who has heard these evil tidings of to-day, and of a thousand other ills that afflict and disgrace our land. It is sad, he says, very sad indeed; I do wish I could help you. But you see I can do so very little. I will double my subscription for a year; but of course I am not in a position to do anything more. You see I am not a prophet, or then I might go forth and preach to the people. I am not a priest, and must not take upon myself a task which belongs to others. I am not a warrior, and cannot head a host of soldiers, or no doubt I should fight. I dont see that I can do anything. And the man is going away quite satisfied that he at any rate has done his duty. This is the average Christian of the nineteenth century. Now there comes some simple man who lays his hand upon this mans shoulder, and says, There is one thing we can do; we can pray about it. Then there comes the amiable smile which we keep for weak, well-meaning people--Of course, my friend; of course. We all do that, you know. And the adversity continues as it always does when we pray without personal interest.
2. Then I think of another who has heard of the sad condition of things, and he says, Well, I really am very lorry, indeed; yes, quite distressed. You know, I think that there must be a great deal of mismanagement up in Jerusalem somewhere; Ezra cannot be looking after it as he ought to be; I feel he is wrong altogether; I think it is a disgrace to him. I wonder whether he thinks David would ever have allowed a condition of things like this to come about? Personal interest leading people to abuse the workers--that is not a very uncommon thing. It is dreadful, this condition of things in London. But do you think that ministers are doing their duty? It is so easy, is it not, when we are disappointed and sad, to fling stones at other people? It is such a relief to be able to find fault with somebody else. Then I think this simple man comes up and says, Do not you think we ought to pray for them? They have got hard work, and it is difficult to get at. Oh, pray! yes, of course; pray all day, of course. That is a horrible spirit, the spirit that prays as a matter of course, and finds fault with everybody else as a matter of course, too. If you cannot do good, do not go shooting arrows into the hearts of others. I marvel that the great God of heaven has such patience with those people who criticise every method, who find fault with everybodys failure, and who never in their lives lifted a finger to help souls to Christ--personal interest that can only find fault and blame other people, and that kneels down and prays as a matter of course, but neither has heart, nor earnestness, nor expectation in its prayer.
3. I see another type of character, the man who says, Well, really, it is very sad indeed. He is a man not given much to weeping; he has a tender heart; he is sharp, definite, exact, likes to have things down in black and white--your typical Englishman. Come here he says; now let us just have it down. You tell me that the walls have been broken down: how many yards of wall will you want? It is a very serious matter; we shall want so many loads of stone; and our gateways? yes, burned with fire; yes, and so many loads of timber. We are practical men. It is very sad. How many men have you got up there? You have got twenty men. We shall want a thousand men to build up that city. It cannot be done; it is no good, it cannot be done. Do not you know that man? It is personal interest stopping short of importunate prayer.
4. I think I see another, who has heard of the condition of the poor, and thinks this is a dreadful city, perhaps can think of nothing else; perhaps, like Nehemiah, he feels that relish for appetite is gone; his tears are falling, and he is haunted by the thought of the homeless and outcast ones and hungry little children--Nehemiah weeping and fasting. God loves hearts that fret because of the sins and sorrows around us. God set such store by men who sighed and cried because of the abominations that He sent an angel down from heaven to put a mark upon their foreheads. Do you know what the angel was doing? I think he was taking their measure for their crowns, it is a great thing in the midst of this London to keep alive a tender heart, and if Christ does not give a man a tender heart I question whether that man knows much about the Lord Jesus Christ. But look! fretting will not mend the evil. Earnest personal interest, passing into importunate prayer, will. Nehemiah got as far as fretting, and then he went to God. That is a grand saying of John Wesleys: I dare no more fret than I would curse or swear. It would make the fortune of life insurance offices if we could hit upon that happy receipt. He that only frets will do much, but he who cannot fret will not do anything. I think a Christian ought to be a man who frets--frets, mark you, until he gets to God, and gets hold of God sufficiently, and feels: Great Father in heaven, Thou canst remedy these ills, and Thou writ! (Mark Guy Pearse.)
God provides instruments for His work
When God has work to be done He provides suitable instruments and places them in favourable situations to promote His plans. Martin Luther, called to withstand the power of the Papacy, found the God-fearing Elector of Saxony ready to afford him the needed protection, and when the persecuted Waldenses cried for help, Oliver Cromwell so threatened the oppressor that deliverance was wrought. (W. P. Lockhart.)
Compassion as a motive power
Some men work because they are urged to it by others, some because it is the fashion with professors or with those among whom their lot is cast; but the true workers because, moved with compassion, they cannot help working. (W. P. Lockhart.)
And fasted.
Fasting
I. Occasions of fasting.
1. Afflictions of the Church (Nehemiah.)
2. National judgments (Joel).
3. Domestic bereavement (David).
4. Imminent danger (Esther).
5. Solemn ordinances (Paul and Barnabas set apart).
II. The design of fasting.
III. The duty of fasting.
1. Forms part of general principle of self-denial, essential to true discipleship (Luk_9:28).
2. Implied, and therefore enjoined, by words of Christ (Mat_17:21).
IV. The manner and degree of fasting.
1. Sometimes total abstinence from food for a time (Est_4:16).
2. More often abstinence from superfluous food (Dan_10:8).
V. The spirit in which to fast. (Homiletic Commentary.)
Nehemiahs prayer
I. To give no place to despair, however deep or prolonged our grief. No calamity can be so overwhelming as to block our way to the God before whom Abraham and Daniel, and every devout soul, has bowed in fervent petition for help in dire extremity. God does not forsake or forget the lowliest or weakest or most unworthy. The more we need God--for any reason, our misfortune or our fault--the more reason for our seeking Him, and, in some true sense, the more ready is He to be sought and found.
II. We should not overlook the severities of Gods character or dealings when approaching him with petitions. Modern ideas of Gods fatherhood tend much to put His sterner attributes out of sight. His unquestionable love seems to preclude severities of character or dealings. But our prophet could unite ideas of God as great and terrible, and also keeping covenant and mercy for them that love Him and observe His commandments. By true reasoning we should be wary of views of God which leave out His severity, for there is the side of His character which is the necessary counterpart of love for righteousness and obedience.
III. The importance of importunity. The prayer of our lesson had lasted for days, attended by fasting. Fasting prepares the way for clear thought and tender feeling. Nehemiah did not say, God fully understands the situation. I need only refer to it. With familiar urgency he pleads for the attentive ear and open eyes, that God may know his case and care for it. Similar travail of soul has been an element of prevailing prayer in all ages. Why it is necessary we do not fully know. It may be that importunity is the only safe mood to which answers to prayer can be wisely accorded. Without it the desired boon or the answer would not be appreciated.
IV. The fitness and duty of thorough confession.
V. Moses was an historic character, and our record of him is trustworthy. Nehemiah would not talk with God about a mythical person.
VI. No depth of fall or distance of wandering can invalidate Gods covenant mercies. Though cast out into the uttermost part of the heaven, their return would be certain if they would but return unto God and keep His commandments.
VII. Past mercies and mighty rescues are a logical basis of confidence, of faith, and boldness of petition. What is the probable logic of the appeal, Now these are Thy servants and Thy people, whom. Thou hast redeemed by. Thy great power, and by Thy strong hand? This, m part: God had made an investment of grace in these children of His adoption; from true economy He would not wish it wasted. Again, the love that sought them in the beginning proceeded from its own internal impulses; such love cannot be easily exhausted. Being a motive unto itself, that motive abides unchanging in character and sufficiency. Again, these subjects of His grace were more needy than ever; any help based upon that need could not be lacking on occasion. All this can be said of individual cases as truly as of Israel. The individual backslider has been redeemed by great power, and by a strong hand. The heavenly Father began the work with a full knowledge of the weakness of the material and the possibilities of failure. Let the tender conscience, the sensitive honour writhing in the memory of past mercies that have been abused, grow calm and hopeful in the assurance that redeeming grace does not depend upon dates or any conditions, but genuine brokenness of heart and absolute return to obedience.
VIII. We can go to God in prayer, with only a desire to fear Him.
IX. Prayer should be practical in its outlook. Communion with God may well have our time and attention for its reflex influence; for the nobler soul-life gained thereby; but Nehemiah counted prayer a practical reliance in achieving business results. He needed and coveted the kings help. His example, in this respect, may well be copied in all our undertakings. God is not an uninterested spectator of our toils or plans. We may come to Him for help where our own strength ceases. (S. L. B. Speare.)
Nehemiahs prayer
I. One quality which makes Nehemiahs prayer effectual was its importunity. Two considerations inspired this--
1. He was burdened with a single great desire. Our praying often lacks at this point. We ask amiss because we ask for nothing--in particular. It is the time for devotion, or the place; so we approach the mercy-seat, because we ought to, rather than because we have any pressing need--coming, sometimes, in so vague a way that it might not be easy afterwards to tell just what request had been presented. Nehemiahs prayer did not have such lack. He was in sore trouble.
2. Another element which gave importunity to his prayer was a conviction that this relief could come only from God. Give us help from trouble, for vain is the help of man. During the civil war a gentleman from New England, travelling in South America, noticed one day a Spaniard reading a paper, and asked him the news. The news is, replied the other, that your government is getting beaten. They have taken to praying, and when people have to call on God for help it shows, evidently, they are in a bad way. That is always the reason why men call on God, because they cannot help themselves. This was what made Nehemiah so much in earnest. Dr. Bushnell remarked once in the Hartford ministers meeting, Brethren, the thing which I have to struggle against most in my praying is a spirit of submission. I give up too easily. I want to learn how to plead more as Jacob did, with a determination not to let God go without the blessing. He qualified afterwards his words, explaining true submission, but pressed, in his strong way, the importance of persistency. So Nehemiah prayed, not once, but without ceasing. He wept and mourned, and fasted certain days, day and night.
II. A second quality that made Nehemiahs prayer effectual was its spirit of confession. He seems to have apprehended, very distinctly, the truth which the Bible urges in many ways, that men must come into right relations with God before they can ask any favour of Him.
1. It was particular. He specified some of the points of his guilt. We have dealt very corruptly against Thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which Thou commandest Thy servant Moses.
2. Then his confession was individual. He began with an acknowledgment in behalf of the children of Israel; but it occurred to him to bring that nearer home, so he added, Both I and my fathers house have sinned. He was conscious of his own shortcomings. With all his zeal, his loyalty so constant and so brave, he saw that at many points he had failed, and for these shortcomings he asked forgiveness. When David has made his confession that is so particular, Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight; and so individual, I acknowledge my transgression; Have mercy upon me, O God.
III. A third quality that made Nehemiahs prayer effectual was its faith. Trusting God first in his own behalf for pardon, guidance, strength, he could trust Him in behalf of the nation. He prayed, Remember, I beseech Thee, the word that Thou commandest. He seemed to know the Divine will by some clear intimation. That appears, at first, to diminish the worth of his example. We say, Yes, certainly; no wonder he had faith; any one could ask for wonderful blessing if the Lord told him to. But how did God put that purpose into the heart of Nehemiah? by a vision, a voice, some supernatural revelation? There is no intimation of either. It may have been simply by the influence of the Holy Spirit, as we all are moved, through conscience, enlightened by the Word of God.
IV. A fourth quality in Nehemiahs prayer which made it effectual was its spirit of good works. When he sat down to pray he did not mean to stay in that attitude. He had in his mind a plan to secure permission to go and build the wall. (Monday Club Sermons.)
And prayed before the God of heaven.--
Nehemiahs prayer
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his trouble! But if this be true of sorrow on ones own account, how much more surely will God hear the petitioner who pleads for others. For selfish ness in prayer is no more comely than anywhere else. This man was a layman. He might easily have shifted the responsibility for the present condition of things upon the priests and Levites, on whom God had particularly devolved the religious interests of Jewry. But laymen then were no more absolved from such responsibility than laymen are in these days. Indeed, some of the affairs of Zion belong distinctively to them. Never yet was Zion safely left to her priests alone. There is always something for Nehemiah to do. The prayer of Nehemiah in this instance is given doubtless for our guidance. It is a model of supplication in many ways. Observe--
I. Its reverent spirit. It begins with adoration: O Jehovah, God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love Him! In our eagerness to present our requests at the throne of the heavenly grace there is always danger of precipitation. It must not be forgotten that we are approaching the Infinite. Therefore a reverent humility becomes us.
II. Nehemiah makes confession of his sins: We have sinned against Thee; both I and my fathers house have sinned. This cup-bearer knew that sin lay at the bottom of all Israels troubles. Both I and my fathers house have sinned. Spurgeon says, He spelled we with an I in it. His own transgressions and shortcomings loomed up before him.
III. His confidence in the divine word. This was the prayer of faith. He caste himself upon the promises of God, which are evermore Yea and Amen. He ventures to particularise: he puts God in remembrance of a certain covenant which He had been pleased to make long before with Moses His servant in behalf of His people. The terms of this covenant are gathered from various passages of ancient Scripture (Lev_36:27-45; Deu_28:45; Deu_28:67; Deu_30:1; Deu_30:10). A glorious word of promise that for a nation of stiff-necked exiles! And the fact that on the part of the people themselves this covenant had been broken does not prevent Nehemiah from putting God in remembrance of it; for he knows that God is of long suffering and tender mercy. Faith at the mercy-seat conquers all.
IV. The prayer of Nehemiah was specific. It is the part of wisdom to enter upon all enterprises with prayer. A Roman general would not march to battle until he had first offered a sacrifice. A right apprehension of this principle would keep us always in the spirit of prayer, because no man can estimate the importance of any act. The least thing we do may have momentous and eternal issues.
V. His prayer was followed by the use of appropriate means. (D. J. Burrell, D. D.)
Nehemiahs prayer
Nehemiah was evidently a man of high integrity, as appears from the situation which he held, that of the kings cup-bearer. Only a person who was thoroughly trustworthy would be permitted to occupy such a position, inasmuch as the lives of eastern monarchs were in constant danger from the aspiring courtiers; and as one of the most common methods of causing death, in ancient times, was by mixing some poisonous ingredient with the wine that was drunk, it is quite obvious that no one would be intrusted with the above circe in the kings household who was likely to be influenced by the bribes of the kings enemies, But, in addition to his strict integrity, he was a man of sincere and fervent piety. Very frequently did he give himself unto prayer, and it is thus we find him engaged in the present chapter.
I. The occasion of this prayer. It is stated in the first three verses. The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass, etc. It is said of the Redeemer--In all their affliction He was afflicted; and HIs people are like-minded with Him in this respect. They feel for others.
II. The being to whom his prayer is addressed. Those among whom he dwelt were accustomed in their distress to invoke the aid of their heathen deities; but, knowing full well how vain it was to seek relief from such lying vanities, he called upon the God of heaven. In applying to Him he felt assured that he was not praying to a god that could not save. There were two aspects of His glorious character in which he more especially regarded Him.
1. As great and terrible.
2. As faithful and gracious.
III. The penitential spirit which it breathes.
IV. The powerful plea which is employed. Remember, I beseech Thee, the word that Thou commandeer Thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations; but if ye return unto Me, etc. Remember, says the Psalmist, Thy word unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast caused me to hope. And this was the argument of Nehemiah; he pleads that God would accomplish what He had formerly declared (Deu_4:25-29; Deu_30:1-6.)
V. The earnest importunity with which it is presented. O Lord, I beseech Thee, let now Thine ear be attentive, etc. (The Author of The Footsteps of Jesus.)
Religiousness of spirit
A large part of the greatness of this man lies in the intense religiousness of his spirit. It is this which constitutes his history so very valuable a study to Christian people. There is no reason beyond this why I should select Nehemiah as a subject for the study of this Church, and not Pericles, or Julius Caesar, or Charlemagne, or Cavour, or any other great statesman or hero who has raised the position of his country to a front rank amongst the nations of the earth. But this advantage does lie in the careful examination of the lives of the great heroes of the Bible and of the Church. Through their history we obtain an insight, not only into the greatness of the human soul, its capacity for conceiving great plans, its energy and resources in carrying them out to a successful and glorious completion, but also into the measure in which the human soul can depend upon Divine help, into the worth of communion with God as a solace in anguish, and as s stimulus to enterprise, and further into the certainty with which God responds to such communion, and administers fortitude, patience, self-control, and other virtues which make the soul of man strong, brave, and triumphant over obstacles. (A. J. Griffiths.)
Intelligent faith in prayer
Nehemiahs prayer reveals the great thoughts of which God was the subject, and by which he nourished his courage and determination in preparing himself for his great task. For we must ever remember that the result of our praying--the comfort, or support, or stimulus we receive from the act of prayer--depend not only upon the fact that we do pray, but also and especially upon the clearness and vividness of our conceptions of God. We must be sure that we are not praying to ourselves, or into the air, but into the ear of a God who will hear us, and whom we can move by our entreaty. Intelligent faith--not faith without intelligence, mere blind, superstitious faith--nor intelligence without faith, a hard, dead knowledge--but both together, intelligence and faith, constitute the very soul and life of true prayer. (A. J. Griffiths.)
Prayer and quiet waiting
Some when they have prayed think that they must at once begin to act, and if doors are not open, force them open for themselves. Running before they are sent, such persons usually find that failure ensues. Nehemiah, on the contrary, stayed where he was, pursuing his ordinary course in life, and still waiting on the Lord. (W. P. Lockhart.)
Constancy in prayer
A woman who resided on the seashore in the Isle of Wight thought that she heard, during a terrible storm, a cry for help. She listened and the cry was repeated. She could not be mistaken; between the pauses of the storm there it was, the piercing cry of endangered mariners. She dressed hastily, she roused up the beachmen; the lifeboat was launched, and with the blessing of God the storm-beaten crew were rescued. Again and again must we plead in Christs name, at the mercy-seat, if we would come off more than conquerors. One brief cry is not sufficient. (J. M. Randall.)
Patience required in waiting upon God
An eminent minister of Christ was laid aside from his work by severe and prolonged sickness. Sometimes he was almost ready to repine and to faint under his chastisement. One morning after unusual suffering he fell into a sweet sleep, and as he slept, he thought he saw a luminous pillar of graceful proportions rise before him. It was so beautiful that it attracted his eye and fixed his attention. Then he thought he saw letters of gold coming out upon the pillar; at first they were very indistinct, and not a little study was required to decipher them. At last the letters shone out in perfect form and order, and he read Patience inscribed upon the column. The effort at attention and the joy of discovery awoke him, and he said, Patience; yes, Lord, I will be patient, and through grace I will yield myself to Thy disposal. God sometimes exercises the faith of His people by long delay, but patient waiting will be rewarded. (J. M. Randall.)
Nehemiah or the characteristics of prayer
Nehemiahs spirit of prayer particularly appears--
I. In his sympathy and grief for his country.
II. Is his desire to promote his countrys good.
III. In carrying out his object though beset with great difficulties.
IV. In reviewing his works. (John Patteson, M. A.)
A model prayer
For matter, this prayer is replete with instruction. Let us observe--
I. How nehemiah addresses himself to God. He calls upon Jehovah, the God of heaven, infinite, supreme, and everlasting. Great in power and dominion, and terrible in justice and holiness. And withal as a God who keepeth covenant and mercy. As Bishop Reynolds remarks, God in creation is God around us; God in providence is God above us; God in the law is God against us; but God in Christ is God for us, God with us, God in us, our all-sufficient portion for ever.
II. How humbly Nehemiah confesses his own sins and the sins of his country.
III. How he pleads with God, what weighty arguments he employs! He lays hold upon Gods word. This is a firm rock in a troubled sea (Deu_30:1-5). Let us come to God with a promise, and reverently remind Him of His own engagement: Lord, do as Thou hast said; remember the word unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast caused me to hope. We shall then realise the consolation, happily expressed by a pious negro who said, when he was asked concerning the abiding peace which he enjoyed, Massa, me fall flat upon the promise, and me pray straight up.
IV. Observe the particular request which he makes. Prosper, I pray Thee, Thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Its matter is very full: its manner very suggestive.
1. How reverent was Nehemiah before God! How just were his views of the Divine majesty! Shall angels thus humbly prostrate themselves before God? Oh, with what reverence and godly fear should sinners come to His footstool
2. How earnest was his prayer: I beseech Thee, hear the prayer of Thy servant which I pray before Thee. Many say their prayers, but do they pray in prayer? Prayer is the expression of want: it is not eloquence, but earnestness; not fine words, but deep feeling. To be effectual it must be fervent. Prayer is incense: but if the fragrance is to ascend before the mercy-seat, it must be kindled by holy fire from the altar. Prayer is an arrow, but if it is to travel far and pierce deep, the bow must be bent, and the string must be tense, else our prayer shall fall at our feet. I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me.
3. How constant too was Nehemiah! Day and night did he plead. We ought always to pray, and not to faint.
4. How believing was his supplication! Faith is an important element in prayer; it honours God, it pleads the Saviours merits, it rests upon the sure promise. Faith laughs at impossibilities, and says it shall be done.
5. How fervent was the charity which dictated this prayer! Nehemiah was a patriot in the best sense of the word. He earnestly desired the welfare of Jerusalem. There was not a particle of selfishness in his prayer. May we not learn to be charitable and large-hearted in our prayers--to intercede for others, our country, and the Church of God, and in this respect to copy the example of Nehemiah? (J. M. Randall.)
The great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love Him.--
The majesty and mercy of God
From this sublime invocation we gather--
I. That there is perfect harmony in the attributes of the Divine nature.
II. That the Divine attributes are equally enlisted in the work of human salvation.
III. That the harmony of the Divine nature is the only true basis of moral goodness.
1. The contemplation of Divine compassion alone tends to antinomianism.
2. The contemplation of the Divine holiness alone tends to legalism. Hence spring meritorious works, penances, and self-inflicted flagellations and other useless tortures.
IV. That the harmony of the divine nature furnishes the only true ideal of moral goodness.
V. That notwithstanding the harmony of the Divine nature, men come into contact with different aspects of that nature according to their moral condition. (Homiletic Commentary.)
False views of sin and prevailing immorality
It is to be feared that in our day sin is often made light of, and false views of sin lie at the root of much of the evil that we see around us, both in the Church and in the world. Such views are largely caused by an imperfect apprehension of the righteousness of God, and this in its turn usually proceeds from a refusal to bow to the authority of His Word. Thus truths about His judgments are set aside, statements concerning His wrath are explained away, and His mercy is magnified at the expense of His justice. (W. P. Lockhart.)
And confess the sins of the children of Israel.--
Sins of a community confessed
Confession of sin is essential to success in prayer. If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me. Nehemiah feels that God has reason to be displeased with His people. They have been guilty of sins of omission (have not kept) and of commission (transgression). Their privileges have aggravated their guilt: they have sinned against light; the commandments, statutes, and judgments given by Moses bear witness against them. And Nehemiah is conscious that he shares their guilt. He has sinned himself; and he has sinned in their sins. For all of us have a part in the sins of the community. Our influence helps to mould and shape its life. It is a principle in Chinese law to hold the relatives of a criminal in some degree responsible for his crime, so that the whole family is concerned in the conduct of its individual members. That principle is founded on a true conception which applies in both directions. The community has a responsibility for its members, each of whom shares a like responsibility for the life of the community itself. So we need to say our trespasses, our debts, in our daily prayer. (S. S. Times.)
Forgotten sins remembered
I. We are all chargeable with faults.
II. We are liable to forget our faults. Through--
1. Ignorance of the true nature of sin.
2. Self-love.
3. Hurry of business.
4. Elevation in worldly circumstances.
III. Various circumstances are adapted to remind us of our faults.
IV. When we are reminded of our faults we should be ready to confess them.
V. Confession of faults should always be attended with real amendment. (J. Kidd.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain NEHEMIAH records the twofold effect of the melancholy news…
NEHEMIAHS PRAYER
Neh_1:4-11
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NEHEMIAH records the twofold effect of the melancholy news which his brother and the other travellers from Jerusalem brought him. Its first consequence was grief; its second prayer. The grief was expressed in the dramatic style of the Oriental by weeping, lamentations, fasting, and other significant acts and attitudes which the patriot kept up for some days. Demonstrative as all this appears to us. it was calm and restrained in comparison with Ezras frantic outburst. Still it was the sign and fruit of heart felt distress, for Nehemiah was really and deeply moved. Had the incident ended here, we should have seen a picture of patriotic sentiment, such as might be looked for in any loyal Jew, although the position of Nehemiah at court would have proved him loyal under exceptional circumstances. But the prayer which is the outcome of the soul-stirring thoughts and feelings of devout patriotism lifts the scene into a much higher interest. This prayer is singularly penetrating, revealing a keen insight into the secret of the calamities of Israel, and an exact perception of the relation of God to those calamities. It shows a knowledge of what we may call the theology of history, of the Divine laws and principles which are above and behind the laws and principles indicated by the expression "the philosophy of history." In form it is a combination of three elements, - the language of devotion cultivated by Persian sages, expressions culled from the venerated Hebrew law-book, Deuteronomy, and new phrases called out by the new needs of the immediate occasion. Nehemiah shows how natural it is for a person to fall into an accepted dialect of worship, even in an original prayer the end of which is novel and special.
He opens his prayer with an expression that seems to be more Persian than Jewish. He does not make his appeal to Jehovah as the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," hut after the sacred name he adds the descriptive title "God of heaven." This is quite a favourite phrase of Nehemiahs. Thus in describing his interview with Artaxerxes he says, "So I prayed to the God of heaven" {Neh_2:4} and at Jerusalem he answers the mockery of his opponents by exclaiming, "The God of heaven, He will prosper us." {Neh_2:20} Now the same expression is found repeatedly in the chroniclers version of royal edicts-in the edict of Cyrus, {Ezr_1:2} in the edict of Darius, {Ezr_6:10} in the edict of Artaxerxes. {Ezr_7:12; Ezr_7:21; Ezr_7:23} If it is indeed of Persian origin, the use of it by Nehemiah is most significant. In this case, while it indicates the speakers unconscious adoption of the language of his neighbours and shows him to be a Jew of Oriental culture, it also illustrates a far-reaching process of Providence. Here is an exalted name for God, the origin of which is apparently Gentile, accepted and used by a devout Jew, and through his employment of it passing over into the Scriptures, so that the religion of Israel is enriched by a phrase from abroad. It would be but a poor championship of the truth of the Hebrew revelation that would lead us to close our eyes to whatever of good is to be found outside its borders. Certainly we honour God by gladly perceiving that He has not left Himself entirely without witness in the dim-lit temple of Pagan thought. It is a ground for rejoicing that, while the science of Comparative Religion has not touched the unique preeminence of the Hebrew and Christian Faith, that science has been able to recover scattered pearls of truth that lay strewn over the waste of the worlds wide thinking. If in a few rare cases some such gems had been found earlier and even set in the crown of Israel, we can only be thankful that the One Spirit who is the source of all revelation has thus evinced the breadth of His activity. Nor should it disturb our faith if it could be proved that more important elements of our religion did not originate among the Jews, but came from Babylonian, Persian, or Greek sources, for why should not God speak through a Gentile if He chooses so to do? This is not a point of dogma. It is simply a question of fact to be determined by historical inquiry.
We cannot say for certain, however, that Nehemiahs phrase was coined in a Persian mint. Its novelty, its absence from earlier Hebrew literature, and its repeated appearance in the edicts of Persian kings favour the notion. But we know that before reaching us these edicts have been more or less translated into Hebrew forms of thought, so that the phrase may possibly be Jewish, after all. Still, even in that ease it seems clear that it must have been first used in the East and under the Persian rule. The widening of his horizon and the elevation of his idea of Providence which resulted from the experience of the exile helped to enlarge and exalt the Jews whole conception of God. Jehovah could no longer be thought of as a tribal divinity. The greater prophets had escaped from any such primitive notion much earlier, but not the bulk of the nation. Now the exiles saw that the domain of their God could not be limited to. the hills and valleys of Palestine. They perceived how His arm reached from the river to the ends of the earth, how His might was everywhere supreme, directing the history of empires, overthrowing great monarchies, establishing new world-powers.
A more subtle movement of thought has been detected in the appearance of this suggestive phrase, "God of heaven." The idea of the transcendence of God is seen to be growing in the mind of the Jew. God appears to be receding into remote celestial regions-His greatness including distance. As yet this is only vaguely felt, but here we have the beginning of a characteristic of Judaism which becomes more and more marked in course of time, until it seems as though God were cut off from all direct connection with men on earth, and only administering the world through a whole army of intermediaries, the angels.
After this phrase with the Persian flavour, Nehemiah adds expressions borrowed from the Hebrew Book of Deuteronomy, a book with ideas and words from which his prayer is saturated throughout. God is described on the one hand as "great and terrible," and on the other hand as keeping covenant and mercy for them that love Him and observe His commandments. {Neh_1:5; See Deu_7:9} The Deuteronomist adds "to a thousand generations"-a clause not needed by Nehemiah, who is now only concerned with one special occasion. The first part of the description is in harmony with the new and exalted title of God, and therefore it fits in well here. It is also suitable for the circumstances of the prayer, because in times of calamity we are impressed with the power and terror of Providence. There is another side to these attributes, however. The mention of them suggests that the sufferers have not fallen into the hand of man. Hanani and his fellow-Jews made no allusion to a Divine action; they could not see beyond the jealousy of neighbouring people in the whole course of events. But Nehemiah at once recognised Gods hand. This perception would calm him as he watched the solemn movement of the drama carried up into heavenly regions. Then, aided by the cheering thought which came to him from the book of Divine revelation on which his prayer was moulded, Nehemiah turns to the covenant-keeping mercy of God. The covenant which he appeals to here must be that of the Book of Deuteronomy; his subsequent reference to the contents of that book make this quite clear.
It is important to see that Nehemiah recognises the relation of Gods mercy to His covenant. He perceives that the two go together, that the covenant does not dispense with the need of mercy any more than it forecloses the action of mercy. When the covenant people fall into sin, they cannot claim forgiveness as a right, nor can they ever demand deliverance from trouble on the ground of their pact with God. God does not, bargain with His children. A Divine covenant is not a business arrangement, the terms of. which can be interpreted like those of a deed of partnership, and put into force by the determinate will of either party. The covenant is, from the first, a gracious Divine promise and dispensation, conditioned by certain requirements to be observed on mans side. Its very existence is a fruit of Gods mercy, not an outcome of mans haggling, and its operation is just through the continuance of that mercy. It is true a promise, a sort of pledge, goes with the covenant, but that is a promise of mercy, a pledge of grace. It does not dispense with the mercy of God by converting what would otherwise be an act of pure grace on his part into a right which we possess and act upon of our own sole will. What it does is to afford a channel for the mercy of God, and to assure us of His mercy, which, however, remains mercy throughout.
From another point of view the covenant and the mercy go together. The mercy follows the covenant. The expression "the unconvenanted mercies of God" has been used in bitter irony, as though any hope that depended on such mercies was poor indeed, a bare refuge of despair. But so to treat the unknown goodness of God is to discredit that "ceaseless, unexhausted love" which has given us the latest and highest and best name of God. We do not know how far the vast ocean of the lovingkindness of God extends. On the other hand, certain definite assurances of mercy are given along the lines of a covenant. Therefore it is clearly wise and right for people who possess the covenant to follow those lines. Other people who are outside the covenant may meet with wonderful surprises in the infinite Fatherhood of God; but those of His children who are in the home must expect to be treated according to the established order of the house. No doubt they too will have their grand surprises of Divine grace, for God does not tie Himself to forms and rules at home while He exercises liberty abroad. To do so would be to make the home a prison. But still His revelation of methods of grace is a clear indication that it is our duty to observe those methods, and that we have no ground of complaint if we do not receive the grace we seek when we wilfully neglect them. Here then we see the necessity of studying the revelation of the will and mind of God. That prayer has most ground of hope in it which keeps nearest to the thought and spirit of Scripture.
The terms of the covenant quoted by Nehemiah require obedience on the part of those who would receive mercy under it, and this obedience is needed in those who are seeking restoration and forgiveness as well as in those who have not fallen from the covenant throughout. The reference to "mercy" makes that clear. The penitent submits, and in the surrender of his will he is made the recipient of the Divine mercy. But behind the obedience is the spirit of love that prompts it. The mercy is for them that love God and observe His commandments. Love is the fulfilling of the law from the first. It is expected in the Old Testament as well as in the New; it is prescribed by the Deuteronomist as decidedly as by St. John, for it is the only ground of real obedience. The slavish terror of the lash which squeezes out a reluctant utterance of submission will not open the door for the mercy of God. The divine covenant secures mercy only for those who return to their allegiance in a spirit of love.
Having thus set forth the grounds of his prayer in his address to God and his plea of the covenant, Nehemiah proceeds to invoke the Divine attention to his petition. There is an echo of the courtier, perhaps, in his request that Gods ear should be attentive and His eyes open: {Neh_1:6} but his whole conduct forbids the idea of servile obsequiousness. His prayer, he here says, is offered "day and night," so his report of it may be regarded as a sort of final summing up of a long, persevering succession of prayers. The unwearying persistence of the man reveals two favourable features in his character-his earnestness of purpose and his unflagging faith. Our Lord denounces "vain repetitions" {Mat_6:7} -i, e., repetitions the very value of which is thought to reside in their number, as though prayer could be estimated arithmetically. But the prayer that is repeated simply because the worshipper is too persistent to be satisfied till it is answered does not come into the category of "vain repetitions": it is anything but empty.
Immediately after his invocation of Gods gracious attention Nehemiah plunges into a confession of sin. Ezras great prayer was wholly occupied with confession, {Ezr_9:6-15} and this mournful exercise takes a large place in Nehemiahs prayer. But the younger man has one special ground of confession. The startling news of the ruinous condition of the recently restored city of Jerusalem rouses a sort of national conscience in his breast. He knows that the captivity was brought about as a chastisement for the sins of the Jews. That great lesson-so recklessly ignored when it was insisted on by Jeremiah-had been burnt into the deepest convictions of the exiles. Therefore Nehemiah makes no complaint of the cruel behaviour of the enemies of Israel. He does not whine about the pitiable plight of the Jews. Their real enemies were their sins, and the explanation of their present distress was to be found in their own bad conduct. Thus Nehemiah goes to the root of the matter, and that without a moments hesitation.
Further, it is interesting to see how he identifies himself with his people in this confession. Living far from the seat of the evil, himself a God-fearing, upright man, he might have been tempted to treat the citizens of Jerusalem as Jobs comforters treated the patriarch of Uz, and denounce their sins from the secure heights of his own virtue. In declining to assume this pharisaic attitude, Nehemiah shows that he is not thinking of recent specific sins committed by the returned exiles. The whole history of Israels apostasy is before him; he feels that the later as truly as the earlier calamities flow from this one deep, foul fountain of iniquity. Thus he can join himself with his fathers and the whole nation in the utterance of confession. This is different from the confession of Ezra, who was thinking of one definite sin which he did not share, but which he confessed in a priestly sympathy. Nehemiah is less concerned with formal legal precepts. He is more profoundly moved by the wide and deep course of his peoples sin generally. Still it is a mark of self-knowledge and true humility, as well as of patriotism, that he honestly associates himself with his fellow-countrymen. He perceives that particular sins, such as those found in the recent misconduct of the Jews, are but symptoms of the underlying sinful character, and that while circumstances may save the individual from the temptation to exhibit every one of these symptoms, they are accidental, and they cannot be set to his credit. The common sin is in him still, therefore he may well join himself to the penitents, even though he has not participated in all their evil deeds. The solidarity of the race is, unhappily, never more apparent than in its sin. This sin is especially the "one touch of" fallen "nature" that "makes the whole world kin." It was to a trait of frailty that Shakespeare was alluding when he coined his famous phrase, as the context proves. The trail of the serpent is over every human life, and in this ugly mark we have a terrible sign of human brotherhood. Of all the elements of "Common Prayer," confession can be most perfectly shared by every member of a congregation, if only all the worshippers are in earnest and know their own hearts.
Nehemiah does not enter much into detail with this confession. It is sweeping and widely comprehensive. Two points, however, may be noticed. First, he refers to the Godward aspect of sin, its personal character as an offence against God. Thus he says. "We have dealt very corruptly against Thee." {Neh_1:7} So the prodigal first confesses that he has sinned "against heaven." {Luk_15:18} Secondly, he makes mention more than once of the commandments of Moses. The name of Moses is often appealed to with reverence in the history of this period of Ezra and Nehemiah. Evidently the minds of men reverted to the great founder of the nation at the time of national penitence and restoration. Under these circumstances no new edition of The Law could have been adopted unless it was believed to have embodied the substance of the older teaching.
After his confession Nehemiah goes on to appeal to the Divine promises of restoration made to the penitent in the great national covenant. He sums them up in a definite sentence, not quoting any one utterance of Deuteronomy, but gathering together the various promises of mercy and dovetailing almost the very language of them together, so as to present us with the total result. These promises recognise the possibility of transgression and the consequent scattering of the people so often insisted on by the prophets and especially by Jeremiah. They then go on to offer restoration on condition of repentance and a return to obedient allegiance. It is to be observed that this is all laid down on national lines. The nation sins; the nation suffers; the nation is restored to its old home. This is very much a characteristic of Judaism, and it gives a breadth to the operation of great religious principles which would otherwise be unattainable when almost all regard for a future life is left out of account. Christianity dwells more on individualism, but it obtains space at once by bringing the future life into prominence. In the Old Testament the future of the nation takes much the same place as that occupied by the future of the individual in the New Testament.
In reviewing the history of Gods way with Israel Nehemiah lays his finger on the great fact of redemption. The Jews are the "people whom God had redeemed by His great power and His strong hand." {Neh_1:11} Universal usage compels us to fix upon the exodus under Moses, and not Zerubbabels pilgrimage, as the event to which Nehemiah here alludes. That event, which was the birth of the nation, always comes out in Hebrew literature as the supreme act of Divine grace. In some respects its position in the religion of Israel may be likened to that of the cross of Christ in Christianity. In both cases Gods great work of redeeming His children is the supreme proof of His mercy and the grand source of assurance in praying to Him for new help. On the ground of the great redemption Nehemiah advances to the special petition with which his prayer closes. This is most definite. It is on behalf of his own need; it is for immediate help-"this day"; it is for one particular need-in his proposed approach to Artaxerxes to plead the cause of his people. Here then is an instance of the most special prayer. It is "to the point," and for more pressing present requirements. We cannot but be struck with the reality of such a prayer. Having reached this definite petition Nehemiah closes abruptly.
When we glance back over the prayer as a whole, we are struck with its order and progress. As in our Lords model prayer, the first part is absorbed with thoughts of God; it is after uplifting his thoughts to heaven that the worshipper comes down to human need. Then a large place is given to sin. This comes first in the consideration of man after the worshipper has turned his eyes from the contemplation of God and felt the contrast of darkness after light. Lastly, the human subjects of the prayer begin in the wider circle of the whole nation; only at the very last, in little more than a sentence, Nehemiah brings forward his own personal petition. Thus the prayer gradually narrows down from the Divine to the human, and from the national to the individual, as it narrows it becomes more definite, till it ends in a single point, but this point is driven home by the weight and force of all that precedes.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain
Nehemiah
A REFORMER’S SCHOOLING
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THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL EVILS
Neh 1:4.
Ninety years had passed since the returning exiles had arrived at Jerusalem. They had encountered many difficulties which had marred their progress and cooled their enthusiasm. The Temple, indeed, was rebuilt, but Jerusalem lay in ruins, and its walls remained as they had been left, by Nebuchadnezzar’s siege, some century and a half before. A little party of pious pilgrims had gone from Persia to the city, and had come back to Shushan with a sad story of weakness and despondency, affliction and hostility. One of the travellers had a brother, a youth named Nehemiah, who was a cup-bearer in the court of the Persian king. Living in a palace, and surrounded with luxury, his heart was with his brethren; and the ruins of Jerusalem were dearer to him than the pomp of Shushan.
My text tells how the young cupbearer was affected by the tidings, and how he wept and prayed before God. The accurate dates given in this book show that this period of brooding contemplation of the miseries of his brethren lasted for four months. Then he took a great resolution, flung up brilliant prospects, identified himself with the afflicted colony, and asked for leave to go and share, and, if it might be, to redress, the sorrows which had made so deep a dint upon his heart.
Now, I think that this vivid description, drawn by himself, of the emotions excited in Nehemiah by his countrymen’s sorrows, which influenced his whole future, contains some very plain lessons for Christian people, the observance of which is every day becoming more imperative by reason of the drift of public opinion, and the new prominence which is being given to so-called ‘social questions.’ I wish to gather up one or two of these lessons for you now.
I. First, then, note the plain Christian duty of sympathetic contemplation of surrounding sorrows. Nehemiah might have made a great many very good excuses for treating lightly the tidings that his brother had brought him. He might have said: ‘Jerusalem is a long way off. I have my own work to do; it is no part of my business to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. I am the King’s cupbearer. They went with their eyes open, and experience has shown that the people who knew when they were well off, and stayed where they were, were a great deal wiser.’ These were not his excuses. He let the tidings fill his heart, and burn there.
Now, the first condition of sympathy is knowledge; and the second is attending to what we do know. Nehemiah had probably known, in a kind of vague way, for many a day how things were going in Palestine. Communications between it and Persia were not so difficult but that there would come plenty of Government despatches; and a man at headquarters who had the ear of the monarch, was not likely to be ignorant of what was going on in that part of his dominions. But there is all the difference between hearing vague general reports, and sitting and hearing your own brother tell you what he had seen with his own eyes. So the impression which had existed before was all inoperative until it was kindled by attention to the facts which all the time had been, in some degree, known.
Now, how many of us are there that know-and don’t know-what is going on round about us in the slums and back courts of this city? How many of us are there who are habitually ignorant of what we actually know, because we never, as we say, ‘give heed’ to it. ‘I did not think of that,’ is a very poor excuse about matters concerning which there is knowledge, whether there is thought or not. And so I want to press upon all you Christian people the plain duty of knowing what you do know, and of giving an ample place in your thoughts to the stark staring facts around us.
Why! loads of people at present seem to think that the miseries, and hideous vices, and sodden immorality, and utter heathenism, which are found down amongst the foundations of every civic community are as indispensable to progress as the noise of the wheels of a train is to its advancement, or as the bilge-water in a wooden ship is to keep its seams tight. So we prate about ‘civilisation,’ which means turning men into cities. If agglomerating people into these great communities, which makes so awful a feature of modern life, be necessarily attended by such abominations as we live amongst and never think about, then, better that there had never been civilisation in such a sense at all. Every consideration of communion with and conformity to Jesus Christ, of loyalty to His words, of a true sense of brotherhood and of lower things-such as self-interest-every consideration demands that Christian people shall take to their hearts, in a fashion that the churches have never done yet, ‘the condition of England question,’ and shall ask, ‘Lord! what wouldst Thou have me to do?’ I do not care to enter upon controversy raised by recent utterances, the motive of which may be worthy of admiration, though the expression cannot be acquitted of the charge of exaggeration, to the effect that the Christian churches as a whole have been careless of the condition of the people. It is not true in its absolute sense. I suppose that, taking the country over, the majority of the members of, at all events the Nonconformist churches and congregations, are in receipt of weekly wages or belong to the upper ranks of the working-classes, and that the lever which has lifted them to these upper ranks has been God’s Gospel. I suppose it will be admitted that the past indifference with which we are charged belonged to the whole community, and that the new sense of responsibility which has marked, and blessedly marked, recent years, is largely owing to political and other causes which have lately come into operation. I suppose it will not be denied that, to a very large extent, any efforts which have been made in the past for the social, intellectual, and moral, and religious elevation of the people have had their impulse, and to a large extent their support, both pecuniary and active, from Christian churches and individuals. All that is perfectly true and, I believe, undeniable. But it is also true that there remains an enormous, shameful, dead mass of inertness in our churches, and that, unless we can break up that, the omens are bad, bad for society, worse for the church. If cholera is raging in the slums, the suburbs will not escape. If the hovels are infected, the mansions will have to pay their tribute to the disease. If we do not recognise the brotherhood of the suffering and the sinful, in any other fashion-’Then,’ as a great teacher told us a generation ago now, and nobody paid any attention to him, ‘then they will begin and show you that they are your brethren by killing some of you.’ And so self-preservation conjoins with loftier motives to make this sympathetic observation of the surrounding sorrows the plainest of Christian duties.
II. Secondly, such a realisation of the dark facts is indispensable to all true work for alleviating them.
There is no way of helping men out by bearing what they bear. No man will ever lighten a sorrow of which he has not himself felt the pressure. Jesus Christ’s Cross, to which we are ever appealing as the ground of our redemption and the anchor of our hope, is these, thank God! But it is more than these. It is the pattern for our lives, and it lays down, with stringent accuracy and completeness, the enduring conditions of helping the sinful and the sorrowful. The ‘saviours of society’ have still, in lower fashion, to be crucified. Jesus Christ would never have been ‘the Lamb of God that bore away the sins of the world’ unless He Himself had ‘taken our infirmities and borne our sicknesses.’ No work of any real use will be done except by those whose hearts have bled with the feeling of the miseries which they set themselves to cure.
Oh! we all want a far fuller realisation of that sympathetic spirit of the pitying Christ, if we are ever to be of any use in the world, or to help the miseries of any of our brethren. Such a sorrowful and participating contemplation of men’s sorrows springing from men’s sins will give tenderness to our words, will give patience, will soften our whole bearing. Help that is flung to people, as you might fling a bone to a dog, hurts those whom it tries to help, and patronising help is help that does little good, and lecturing help does little more. You must take blind beggars by the hand if you are going to make them see; and you must not be afraid to lay your white, clean fingers upon the feculent masses of corruption in the leper’s glistening whiteness if you are going to make him whole. Go down in order to lift, and remember that without sympathy there is no sufficient help, and without communion with Christ there is no sufficient sympathy.
III. Thirdly, such realisation of surrounding sorrows should drive to communion with God.
Nehemiah wept and mourned, and that was well. But between his weeping and mourning and his practical work there had to be still another link of connection. ‘He wept and mourned,’ and because he was sad he turned to God, ‘and I fasted and prayed certain days.’ There he got at once comfort for his sorrows, his sympathies, and deepening of his sympathies, and thence he drew inspiration that made him a hero and a martyr. So all true service for the world must begin with close communion with God.
There was a book published several years since which made a great noise in its little day, and called itself The Service of Man, which service it proposed to substitute for the effete conception of worship as the service of God. The service of man is, then, best done when it is the service of God. I suppose nowadays it is ‘old-fashioned’ and ‘narrow,’ which is the sin of sins at present, but I for my part have very little faith in the persistence and wide operation of any philanthropic motives except the highest-namely, compassion caught from Jesus Christ. I do not believe that you will get men, year in and year out, to devote themselves in any considerable numbers to the service of man unless you appeal to this highest of motives. You may enlist a little corps-and God forbid that I should deny such a plain fact-of selecter spirits to do purely secular alleviative work, with an entire ignoring of Christian motives, but you will never get the army of workers that is needed to grapple with the facts of our present condition, unless you touch the very deepest springs of conduct, and these are to be found in communion with God. All the rest is surface drainage. Get down to the love of God, and the love of men therefrom, and you have got an Artesian well which will bubble up unfailingly.
And I have not much faith in remedies which ignore religion, and are brought, without communion with God, as sufficient for the disease. I do not want to say one word that might seem to depreciate what are good and valid and noble efforts in their several spheres. There is no need for antagonism-rather, Christian men are bound by every consideration to help to the utmost of their power, even in the incomplete attempts that are made to grapple with social problems. There is room enough for us all. But sure I am that until grapes and waterbeds cure smallpox, and a spoonful of cold water puts out Vesuvius, you will not cure the evils of the body politic by any lesser means than the application of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We hear a great deal to-day about a ‘social gospel,’ and I am glad of the conception, and of the favour which it receives. Only let us remember that the Gospel is social second, and individual first. And that if you get the love of God and obedience to Jesus Christ into a man’s heart it will be like putting gas into a balloon, it will go up, and the man will get out of the slums fast enough; and he will not be a slave to the vices of the world much longer, and you will have done more for him and for the wide circle that he may influence than by any other means. I do not want to depreciate any helpers, but I say it is the work of the Christian church to carry to the world the only thing that will make men deeply and abidingly happy, because it will make them good.
IV. And so, lastly, such sympathy should be the parent of a noble, self-sacrificing life.
Look at the man in our text. He had the ball at his feet. He had the entree of a court, and the ear of a king. Brilliant prospects were opening before him, but his brethren’s sufferings drew him, and with a noble resolution of self-sacrifice, he shut himself out from the former and went into the wilderness. He is one of the Scripture characters that never have had due honour-a hero, a saint, a martyr, a reformer. He did, though in a smaller sphere, the very same thing that the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews magnified with his splendid eloquence, in reference to the great Lawgiver, ‘And chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God,’ and to turn his back upon the dazzlements of a court, than to ‘enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season,’ whilst his brethren were suffering.
Now, dear friends! the letter of the example may be put aside; the spirit of it must be observed. If Christians are to do the work that they can do, and that Christ has put them into this world that they may do, there must be self-sacrifice with it. There is no shirking that obligation, and there is no discharging our duty without it. You and I, in our several ways, are as much under the sway of that absolute law, that ‘if a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it brings forth fruit,’ as ever was Jesus Christ or His Apostles. I have nothing to say about the manner of the sacrifice. It is no part of my business to prescribe to you details of duty. It is my business to insist on the principles which must regulate these, and of these principles in application to Christian service there is none more stringent than-’I will not offer unto my God burnt-offering of that which doth cost me nothing.’
I am sure that, under God, the great remedy for social evils lies mainly here, that the bulk of professing Christians shall recognise and discharge their responsibilities. It is not ministers, city missionaries, Bible-women, or any other paid people that can do the work. It is by Christian men and by Christian women, and, if I might use a very vulgar distinction which has a meaning in the present connection, very specially by Christian ladies, taking their part in the work amongst the degraded and the outcasts, that our sorest difficulties and problems will be solved. If a church does not face these, well, all I can say is, its light will go out; and the sooner the better. ‘If thou forbear to deliver them that are appointed to death, and say, Behold! I knew it not, shall not He that weigheth the hearts consider it, and shall He not render to every man according to his work?’ And, on the other hand, there are no blessings more rich, select, sweet, and abiding, than are to be found in sharing the sorrow of the Man of Sorrows, and carrying the message of His pity and His redemption to an outcast world. ‘If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, the Lord shall satisfy thy soul; and thou shalt be as a watered garden, and as a spring of water whose waters fail not.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Then I said
Then I said
Nehemiah tells what he prayed. AT: "Then I said to Yahweh" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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Yahweh
This is the name of God that he revealed to his people in the Old Testament. See the translationWord page about Yahweh concerning how to translate this.
who love him and keep his commandments
Since Nehemiah is speaking to Yahweh, the pronouns "him" and "his" can be translated as "you" and "your." AT: "who love you and keep your commandments" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
translationWords
word
fast
pray
God
heaven
Yahweh
awe
covenant
love
command
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:4 Nehemiah fervently mourned, fasted, and prayed for about…
1:4 Nehemiah fervently mourned, fasted, and prayed for about four months (cp. 1:1; 2:1), deeply concerned for Jerusalem.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.