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Sermon
of 02-01-03
"Nehemiah Was Called to Repair - Not Despair"
by Dr. D.A. Farmer, pastor
Scripture Nehemiah 1:1-3; "The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire."
This morning we begin series that I have been wanted to give for quite some time. It comes from the book of Nehemiah. At this point it is good for you to understand that there are three Old Testament books, which belong together. Why? Because they cover the same period of time right after Israel returned to Jerusalem after being in Babylonian captivity. These three books are: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.
These books described when the Children of Israel returned to Jerusalem to begin restoring the temple and worship God again. In the Hebrew Bible you will find that Ezra and Nehemiah are one book. Nehemiah is the story of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, which took place in the fifth century before Christ. It is part of the long history of that troubled city which today is still in trouble, as you well know.
This ancient city is still surrounded by thick walls, but they are not the same walls that Nehemiah built. As we go through this entire series, chapter by chapter, you will see that Nehemiah did more than just rebuild a wall. You see this book also examines the story of the restoring of a people from ruin and despair to a new walk with God.
Jerusalem is the city that was selected by King David as the place where God wanted him to build the temple. This is the place where God would dwell with His people. You might remember that it is in the New Jerusalem where God will again dwell with His people when sin is destroyed once and for all.
As we go through this series I hope you find that the book of Nehemiah will help illustrate the way to our recovery from pain and hurt today. It will show us how to come to peace, security, order, and happiness in our own personal life. As we look at the walls of Jerusalem and how they where restored, we will also examine the walls and gates of our lives and try to rebuild them too.
With that in mind, lets now turn to Nehemiah's diary, the memoirs of a man who was used of God to lead a whole city to recovery:
Please listen again to our scripture Nehemiah 1:1-3; "The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire."
Did you notice the description of Jerusalem in those verses? The people were in trouble. They were feeling a great sense of disgrace and reproach. The walls of the city were broken down. The gates had been burned with fire and were no longer usable. And the steps that Nehemiah took were very specific steps, very orderly and very effective!
The meaning of the name Nehemiah is "Yahweh has comforted." Nehemiah occupied a high position of influence and honor. He was one of the Hebrew exiles. He was a cupbearer to the king. He freely was admitted to roam the palace.
It wasn't long until he became one of the king's most trusted friend and counselor. {See PK 628} But Nehemiah has a deep sense of personal concern for his country. He has heard that the temple and portions of the city had been rebuilt. He had heard of the work of restoration which been hindered. Many of the people had been kept in constant alarm by the fact that the walls of the city were still largely in ruins. So Nehemiah prays for Jerusalem. Listen to his prayer in verses 4-11;
"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, 5
And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: 6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned. 7
We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. 8
Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 9
But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. 11
O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer."
From what we can see, the arrival of Hanani and other Jews must have been the first contact Nehemiah had made with the exiles from Judah. Verse 4 says that Nehemiah could neither eat nor drink. No he "wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted." I would like to suggest that we too follow Nehemiah's pattern of prayer. I will show you why in a minute.
This morning, I would like to point out the four specific things Nehemiah did in this marvelous prayer recorded here. First, he recognized the character of God. We see that in verse 5 and the first part of verse 6. You see as Nehemiah prayed, his faith and courage grew strong. His mouth was filled with holy arguments. Have you ever noticed that the opening of Nehemiah's prayer is very close to Daniel's prayer. Listen to Daniel 9:4; "And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments."
Some Bible Scholars believe that Nehemiah may have had Daniels prayer in front of him when he penned his prayer (see SDA Comm. V3 page 393).
The second thing we find Nehemiah doing was; he repented of all personal and corporate sins. We see that in the last part of verse 6 and 7.
Did you notice the absence of self-righteousness in those two verses? He doesn't say, "Lord, I am thinking of those terrible sinners back there in Jerusalem. Be gracious to them because they have fallen into wrong actions." No, he puts himself into this picture, saying, "I have contributed to this problem. There are things that I did or did not do that have made this ruin possible. I confess before you, Lord, the sins of myself and my father's house."
Friends, the lesson to learn here is that if you try to excuse yourself for what is wrong in your life, you'll block your own recovery. We must never attempt to excuse or to blame others for things we did wrong. Just admit you did wrong! Declare it to God. Confess and repent. Turn from your wrong ways. Now, chances are this is exactly the opposite of the way you might feel. But this is God's way and it is the first step in the process of making wrong right with God, your family and yourselves.
The third thing Nehemiah reminded God of His gracious promises. Look at verses 8-10.
Nehemiah urges in verse 8 for the Lord to keep His promise He gave to Moses found in Deuteronomy 4:29-31 and Deuteronomy 30:2-5. Listen to Deuteronomy 4:29-31;
"But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. V:30
When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto His voice;
V:31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which He sware unto them."
Have you ever prayed for some one you love very much? Have you ever reminded God of His promises and request that He keep them? This is what we find Nehemiah doing in his prayer. Nehemiah reminds himself that God is a God of forgiveness, a God of restoration, and a God of great power.
When the heart is made right, God can change all the external circumstances of a situation. He can make it entirely different. And He will do so. His promise is His will! God can take any Chief Sinner Saul, like you and me, and turn them into a Born Again Paul.
Nehemiah reminds God of His wonderfully gracious promises and He gives us permission to do the same.
Remember Jesus' prodigal son story found in Luke 15? Here we find a young man in a far country and eating pig's food. He soon says to himself that should
"arise and go back to his
father" Luke 15:18a KJV. When he does so, to his great surprise, he finds his father with open arms ready to receive him. And friends, the God we serve today will do the same for us.
The fourth thing Nehemiah did was he requested specific help from God to begin this process. Look at verses 10 and 11 again. He had a place to start. And he knew it was not going to be easy, but he knew what he had to do. It was going to take the authority from the top power in the whole empire, in fact in the whole world of that day. This was not going to be easy to arrange. But he believes that God will help him.
The lesson for us to learn here is that no matter what is happening in our life, there is always a place to start looking for help. And there is only one place where you must begin. And that is at the feet of Jesus.
When Nehemiah closed his prayer, he entreated the Lord to grant him favor in the sight of the king that his cherished plan might be carried out.
This is where we will pick up the story next Sabbath. Please read the next chapter before next week - so you will have a better idea of what is happening.
To end this morning I would like to tell you a true story about Fanny Crosby. Ever heard of her? Sure you have. She wrote many of the hymns we sing today.
The story says that Fanny never attempted to write a hymn without kneeling in prayer first. If this is true, Fanny Crosby spent a considerable time on her knees. She wrote no less than 8,000 songs. Often she would be under pressure to meet deadlines.
One time in 1869 she tried to write words to a tune Composer W. H. Doane sent her. But nothing would come to mind. Nothing worked. Then she remembered she had not kneeled in prayer. After rising from her knees she dictated her assistant the words to a famous hymn we sing today to, "Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross." It will be our closing song.
Friends, what I see in this book is that Nehemiah was a man of prayer too. He trusted and followed the Lord's leading. And I hope and pray you too will become a man or woman of prayer before we are through with this series.
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