Nehemiah 1:1-11: A Burden and a Prayer

Nehemiah 1:1-11: A Burden and a Prayer

This morning, we’re going to begin a new series of sermons going through the book of Nehemiah. So feel free to turn to chapter 1 of Nehemiah. If you’re using one of the Story Bibles we provide, it’s on page 320. Now before we dive into the text, let me explain what was going on when this book was written. In the Old Testament, Israel was God’s chosen nation. He had rescued them out of Egypt and led them into a wonderful land to call their home. And before he allowed them to enter this land, he gave them some very specific instructions about how to live. And he told them that if they kept these instructions, he’d continue blessing them. But if they disobeyed the instructions, he would punish them. So, guess what they did? They disobeyed the instructions pretty badly. For hundreds and hundreds of years, they rebelled against God almost continually. So, God punished them. He caused pagan armies to fight against their capital city of Jerusalem and eventually burn it to the ground and then send almost everyone into exile. That happened in 586 B. C. Now, fast forward about 140 years to 445 B. C. Nehemiah is a Jew living in a pagan land. His family had been exiled there back in the day. And here’s what he writes, beginning in verse 1. Nehemiah 1:1-11:

1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” 4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king. 

I remember a couple of years ago when there were a lot of stories in the news about ISIS and the way ISIS was gaining territory and executing people and doing some pretty inhumane things to certain individuals. And out of all those stories, I think the ones that bothered me the most were those of ISIS executing Christians. They didn’t execute Christians because the Christians were fighting against them but simply because they were Christians. That’s why the ISIS fighters executed them. And when I saw story after story of ISIS doing all of these things, I found it very disturbing and wished there was something I could do to help. And I did try to help through my prayers.

And as we think about our main text in Nehemiah, that’s very similar to the concern Nehemiah felt as well. When he heard about the pitiful condition of Jerusalem and how bad things were over there, he felt a tremendous burden. And this burden led him to pray. So if you’re looking for a main idea this morning, that’s it. Nehemiah’s burden led him to pray. So number one, we’ll look at Nehemiah’s burden. Then number two, we’ll look at Nehemiah’s prayer.

Nehemiah’s Burden

So first, Nehemiah’s burden. Look again at verses 1-4: 1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” 4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 

So when Nehemiah hears this report, he’s heartbroken. He’s simply devastated. Because Jerusalem was very dear to Nehemiah. Even though the Jews had been in exile for about 140 years at this point and Nehemiah had never lived in Jerusalem himself, he still viewed Jerusalem as his homeland. I imagine that from an early age, his parents had told him countless stories about Jerusalem and had made him long for it the way they did. Not only that, but Nehemiah understood from reading the Scriptures that God had uniquely chosen Jerusalem to be his special city and had commanded his temple to be built there and had wonderful plans for Jerusalem in the future. So when Nehemiah hears this devastating news about Jerusalem, he grieves. And I believe that as he grieves, he’s not just grieving because of his personal fondness for the city but, even more, because he’s deeply concerned for the glory of God. After all, as Nehemiah undoubtedly knows, that’s what God himself is concerned about. 

You see, God had brought Israel out of Egypt and established them in the Promised Land in order to display his glory. That’s the reason he set Israel up as a nation and allowed them to enjoy such success for so many years. He wanted his glory to be put on the display through the Israelites. In Isaiah 43:7, he describes the Israelites as those “whom I created for my glory.” Then, moving forward a few chapters to Isaiah 48:11, God explains his desire to purify Israel and then says why he has that desire: “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” And finally, listen to this passage from Ezekiel. Ezekiel 36:16-20. After God describes how he judged the Israelites for their rebellion by allowing other nations to defeat them and force them into exile, here’s what God says about his people: 20 But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ 21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. 22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 

So what was the main problem with Israel being in exile? It was simply this: God’s name was being profaned. You see, the Bible has a profoundly God-centered way of looking at things. His glory is paramount. It’s the supreme purpose for which everything exists. And if we’re honest, our modern society is so human-centered and humanistic that passages like this one from Ezekiel are kind of like a foreign language to us. When you hear people talking in a foreign language, like when you’re at a Chinese restaurant, the things they say to one another as they speak their native language don’t make any sense to you. Unless you speak Chinese, you can’t understand a thing they’re saying. For all you know, they could be talking about you. And maybe they are. Maybe their making fun of you for eating a dog at their restaurant and thinking it was chicken—I don’t know. But regardless of what they’re saying, you can’t even begin to understand it. And I think that’s kind of the way it is with the modern American mind as it approaches a text like Ezekiel 36. It’s an entirely different paradigm than the one we’re used to—an entirely different way of viewing reality. God is supreme instead of us. This universe is all about his Name and his glory rather than ours. And when he’s not receiving the glory he deserves, it’s a tragedy beyond all others. And that, I believe, is what Nehemiah was primarily concerned about back in our main text. When he heard about the devastating events that had taken place in Jerusalem, the city where God’s temple was located, he grieved not just for various sentimental reasons but primarily for the glory of God—out of a concern that God’s name was being profaned in front of the world. 

And let me tell you something: that’s how you can know whether you truly love God. How much do you grieve when you see that his Name isn’t being glorified? When you look out over the city of Pittsburgh and you see people relatively ignorant of the gospel and captivated by various things that are not God and when see them even hating the things that God loves and loving the things that God hates, to what extent does that grieve you? The fact is that if you love God, you will be burdened for God’s glory. Now if you’re not a Christian and God hasn’t yet changed your heart and made you a new person, you probably find all this talk about God’s glory a bit excessive. But if you’re truly a Christian and you truly love God, you understand what a tragedy it is when he’s not glorified. It’s the greatest tragedy in the world. And Nehemiah understands that. So he grieves when he hears this news about Jerusalem. 

Nehemiah’s Prayer 

And, as we’ll see, Nehemiah eventually does something about the situation. But before he does anything to try to fix the situation, he prays. That’s his first response. Prayer isn’t something Nehemiah does when he’s already tried to fix the situation himself and failed. Rather, it’s his first order of business upon hearing this troubling report about Jerusalem. So having looked, number one, at Nehemiah’s burden, let’s now look, number two, at Nehemiah’s prayer. In verse 5, we see that he begins his prayer by recognizing some of the key attributes of God for a situation like this. He says, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.” Whenever you come to God in prayer, you have to know who you’re praying to. You have to have a biblical view of God. Particularly, you have to believe that God is both able and willing to answer your prayer. Otherwise, why pray at all? And Nehemiah recognizes both of these things about God. He recognizes that God is able to answer by describing him as the “Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God” and he then recognizes that God is willing to answer by describing him as the God “who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.” And in addition to Nehemiah recognizing these things about God, I would say that Jesus also recognizes these things in the model prayer he teaches his disciples to pray. Jesus begins that prayer by addressing God as “our Father in heaven.” Think about that phrase: “Our Father in heaven.” “Our Father” emphasizes God’s love and willingness to answer, and the addition of “in heaven” emphasizes God’s greatness and ability to answer. So when you pray, make sure you know who you’re praying to. 

Then Nehemiah continues his prayer in verses 6-7 by humbling himself before the Lord. That’s another element of this prayer we would do well to imitate. He states, “6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.” So as a part of humbling himself, Nehemiah confesses both his own sins and the sins of the Israelite people as a whole. And by doing that, he’s also admitting that God was entirely justified in sending them into exile. They deserved it. 

But then, Nehemiah asks God to remember a promise he had made to Moses—a promise of mercy. Verses 8-9: “8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’” So that’s the promise God had made. In case you’re curious, it’s recorded Deuteronomy 4:25-31. We don’t have time to read it, but that’s where it is. And Nehemiah is reminding God of this promise. So don’t be afraid to do the same in your prayers. In fact, make it a point to do that. Show God that you’re taking his promises seriously and that you’re trusting in his faithfulness. Sometimes, I’ll make promises to my kids about certain things like going to the playground or going to McDonald’s or going out for ice cream. And whenever I make those promises, my kids have never once hesitated to take me up on those promises and to remind me of them regularly. If I tell them this morning that we’re going out for ice cream this evening, guess what they’re going to be reminding me of from now until evening? My promise of ice cream. They won’t have any concern whatsoever about getting on my nerves by asking me too much but will feel total freedom to ask me about getting ice cream and remind me of my promise as often as they desire. Now, I can almost guarantee that will get on my nerves and I’ll tell them to stop talking about it, but God’s different. He wants us to ask him and to remind him of things he’s said. He actually invites us to pray and to pray often and to boldly claim biblical promises in our prayers. It’s really a form of worship since it reveals a high regard of his character. 

Then finally, down in verse 11, Nehemiah presents his request to God. He prays, “O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.” So Nehemiah’s request is a request for success. He’s planning to ask the king for various things related to Jerusalem. And by the way, when it says that Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king, that was a very high position. His job was to sample all of the foods and drinks that were brought to the king to eat so that if the food was poisoned, the king would know it before eating it. So the king had a lot of faith that Nehemiah wasn’t going to pull a fast one on him and was exercising an extraordinary amount of trust in Nehemiah. So Nehemiah was kind of like a Secret Service agent assigned to the presidential detail. He had direct access to the king and therefore had an opportunity to talk to the king about the situation in Jerusalem. But let’s remember, this was a pagan king with no particular reason to look sympathetically on Jerusalem. So Nehemiah understands that it’s going to take a miracle from God for this king to do what Nehemiah plans on asking him to do and not only permit Jerusalem’s walls to be rebuilt but even let Nehemiah leave to go oversee the project and—oh yes, by the way—finance the whole operation. As we’ll see next week, that’s what Nehemiah’s going to request. And only God can make that happen. So, Nehemiah prays. 

Conclusion

And as I think about Pittsburgh, I can see a lot of parallels between our city and the city of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day. Just like Jerusalem was in a state of physical disrepair, is there any denying that Pittsburgh is currently in a state of spiritual disrepair? Is there any denying that God is quite far from receiving the glory and worship he deserves from our city? And as with Nehemiah making his request about Jerusalem, I believe that the only way we can see significant change come to our city is through the work of God. Only God can bring the spiritual awakening this city needs. 

And that begins with us being burdened for God’s glory the same way Nehemiah was burdened for God’s glory. I don’t think we can expect anything to happen until we start wanting it badly enough and until we then let that burden drive us to prayer. We have to start praying for a spiritual awakening with a new kind of zeal and consistency and faith. We have to pray, number one, for those who are far from God. The fact is, before they can be saved, they first have to be crushed. They have to be inwardly crushed by the reality of their sin, the gravity of their sin, the vileness of their sin, and the eternal consequences of their sin. They have to see their own wretchedness and the fact that they need God to save them—that there’s nothing they can do to save themselves. Only God can help them see that. And then, God has to reveal himself to them and show them that though they can’t save themselves, Jesus can save them. By dying on the cross, Jesus suffered our punishment. The punishment we had coming to us as a result of our sin was poured out on Jesus so it wouldn’t have to be poured out on us. And then, Jesus triumphantly rose from dead and is therefore able to save all who will come to him. And he invites us to do exactly that—to turn away from our sins and put our trust in him for rescue. That’s what people all over Pittsburgh need to do. But the only way they’ll ever see the things they need to see about themselves and then about Jesus is if God opens their eyes. People coming to faith requires a work of God. Therefore, we pray.

Also, not only does praying for spiritual awakening involve praying for non-Christians, it also involves praying for Christians. The fact is, although we’ve come to Christ and seek in many ways to follow him, we easily become tolerant and even comfortable with the sin the remains within us. So we need to pray that God would crush us also and cause us to hate our sin the way he hates it and grieve over our sin as he grieves over it. As Nehemiah grieved over Jerusalem, we need to grieve over our sin. And then, we should pray that God would help us to be entirely surrendered to him and be committed to both seeking him and serving him like never before. 

I’m reminded of an awakening that took place in Wales in 1904-1905. Although there were a number of prominent leaders in this awakening, the most well-known was a young man named Evan Roberts. Leading up to the awakening, Roberts was known to spend long hours of both the day and night praying. He would typically wake up every night at 1:00am to be “taken up into divine fellowship” and would continue praying until 5:00am. Then after sleeping for four hours, he would wake up again at 9:00am and continue in prayer until noon. Eventually, in September of 1904, Roberts experienced something of a spiritual breakthrough in prayer. He prayed for an awakening and desperately cried out to the Lord, “Bend me! Bend me!” And God did. God took hold of this young 26-year-old and filled him with an unusual passion and started using him to ignite spiritual awakenings in towns all over Wales. Before long, the entire country had been caught up in the awakening. Political meetings were cancelled, sporting events were cancelled, theaters were closed down, bars and casinos lost their customers. Not only that but debtors paid their debts, denominational barriers were broken, crime rates were radically reduced, and racial barriers began to crumble. All together, during that one-year period, it’s estimated that over 100,000 Welsh were converted—not to mention the immeasurable international influence this awakening had. But the thing that sticks out the most to me about this awakening was the prayer Evan Roberts prayed that ended up being one of the key catalysts that brought all of this about—when he prayed, “Bend me.” What do you think would happen if we started praying prayers like that on a regular basis—asking God to bend us and to disrupt our routines and shock us out of our complacency and to awaken us out of our slumber? I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw things happen that we’ve never seen before.