The Good Hand of God Part 2 - Nehemiah 1-2

0:41Nehemiah returns 13 years under the same king back to the land. We're going to read about him. Let's pray. Father, we pray that as we study this passage, that you would help us understand the details, that you'd help us understand what's going on, but also that we'd see your good hand. That's the phrase that keeps getting repeated over and over, just like it was in Ezra 7 and Ezra 8, that it's your hand who's doing all of this.

1:18And I pray, Lord, that we would understand you and understand your character and understand the way that you act. In Jesus' name, amen. Verse 1. Nehemiah 1.1, the words of Nehemiah, son of Hakaliah, now it happened in the month of Kislev, in the 20th year, as I was in Susa, the citadel. So he gives us a little bit of detail. Susa is where I think the Persian kings would have wintered. And so Nehemiah is there in Susa, and he tells us it's the month of Kislev, which is like our November, December time.

1:58And one more detail before we go on. Nehemiah means the Lord comforts. That's his name, the Lord comforts. Before we start the book, but look at verse 2. Verse 1: Now it happened, and then verse 2, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 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.

2:42So, opening it up to you guys, what has just happened? What's that opening scene tell us? What did Nehemiah just do or hear about? Right. Right. The wall's torn down. It's a shameful situation. Its gates have been destroyed by fire. One of his brothers has told him this, Hanani. This could mean one of his Jewish brothers. I could say one of my brothers and refer to one of the guys, one of you guys out there or something.

3:25So it could be that he's just talking about another Jew. It could be he's doing something like that. I think it's actually one of his brothers has come back. He's going to mention him again, and again later, he's going to call him my brother. So he's either very close to Hanani or he's actually one of his brothers. And they come back from visiting Jerusalem. They came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. So he wants to get a report. He's concerned about how things are going back in the land. So remember, Nehemiah is in Persia, so he can't see this firsthand. He can't just watch a video or watch the news or something like that. He's hearing the report, and it makes him grieved. Verse 3, they said to me, well, we won't see the grief yet, but 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. So this could mean that after they came back, Even though they built the temple, maybe they just never built the walls. Maybe they just lived there, and that's what's so surprising to Nehemiah: that now these enemies are starting to gain more traction, and Jerusalem still doesn't have walls, and so he's embarrassed for them. There's shame there, or something like that. Or maybe they had rebuilt the walls, at least partially, under Ezra, but now the enemies have torn them down. The governors of the land have antagonized the people and burned the walls again, or burned the gates again.

5:08But whatever the case, the people that have returned to Jerusalem are in great trouble and in great shame. Why do you think it's trouble and shame? Why does he use those words? They're not safe, right? They don't have walls. I mean, even just if your house didn't have walls, you wouldn't feel very safe, right? And then it's also shameful, right? In front of their enemies. You know, look, those are supposed to be God's people. Those are supposed to be the people who are saying that their God is the greatest God and they can't even keep their walls up. It's shameful. And so it's not a happy situation at the beginning of Nehemiah. Any thoughts before we move on to verse 4?

5:59All right, verse 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. That sounds familiar, right? Who does that sound like? Ezra, right? So Nehemiah hears this report, and instead of just going, oh, that's too bad, they must really be under some shame, or they must really be scared. He has this much bigger response than maybe we'd expect. He doesn't want God's people to be shamed. He doesn't want them to be in great trouble. And so right away, he begins to weep, and he mourns for days. He's sad for days. He continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And we'll find out later in chapter 2 that this seems to go on all the way until the month of Nisan. So that was like four months later, in the March to April time. So Nehemiah is just really stricken about this. And maybe just the fasting and praying or something is a few days, and then he goes back to work. But he is grieved about this. He's still sad even four months later, we'll see in chapter 2. So this lasts a while. He's devastated to hear of the walls that have been broken down. And he begins to pray. Verse 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. So as we study this prayer, I want you to pay attention to how Nehemiah prays.

7:45We don't know if this is just one prayer that he prayed on a certain day. He was fasting and praying for days, so maybe this was a summary of all that he prayed. But it's pretty neat that we get to see the prayer that he prayed. It sounds similar to the prayer that Ezra prayed, similar to the prayer that Daniel prayed. We can learn a lot from these men of God. So what do you notice already in verse 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. What do you notice already about his prayer? He starts with praise. Yeah, he starts with praise. He starts by, excuse me, sorry. He starts by remembering who God is, remembering God's character and basing his prayer off of that. Not that we always have to do that, but I think it's a good, godly example to remember what is God like. That's who I'm praying to. Oh, Lord, God of heaven. He's the God who is in heaven, like we talked about this morning, even.

8:48The great and awesome God. So he's great over the kings. He's awesome in the true sense of the word. He fills us with awe. He keeps us. Covenant. He keeps his promises. He keeps steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments. That's who God is. Verse 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. So what do you see next about prayer?

9:33What does he do in verse 6? Yeah, he's confessing his sins. What else does he do? Yeah, he asks God to listen. I think that when we pray to the Lord, when we're praising him, we can say, Lord, please hear my prayer. I think that's a glorifying thing to pray because he does hear. Then he confesses his sin, and he is just like Ezra. You remember Ezra, he never married a foreign wife, but when he's praying, he's praying as if he's part of the people who have done this great sin. And so he's sympathizing on behalf of the people. Well, here, Nehemiah is doing that, but he's also confessing his own sin. Look, he says, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, so as a whole, which we have sinned against you, even I and my father's house. So I've sinned against you, Lord. My family sinned against you, and the whole nation has sinned against you. And we confess that. We make it plain.

10:41Verse 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. That's the sin that he's confessing. They haven't kept the law in Israel. Verse 8: Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. 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.

11:19What does he do there? What else do you see about prayer in verse 8 and 9? He quotes Moses, right? He's remembering God's word, and he's asking God to remember his word. He's saying, verse 8, remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses. So he's saying to God, remember your word. And I think he's dealing with God on the terms that God has already set in his word. He's remembering what God has said, and that's what he's praying for, praying according to the Lord. Lord's will.

12:02Verse 9, 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, bring them to the place that I have chosen to make my name dwell there. Nehemiah isn't necessarily remembering one verse of Scripture where God is saying this. This seems to be some different parts that are put together that Nehemiah is saying. He's just saying generally, remember that, God, what you said is that when your people sin, you're going to scatter them.

12:32But even there, if they repent, you're going to gather them back. Remember that you said that. Well, God has done that. And look at verse 10. They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 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.

13:04Now I was cupbearer to the king. It's kind of a mysterious way to end the prayer, right? We don't know what man he's talking about yet. He hasn't introduced that in the story. And we'll actually see this throughout the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is written mostly in first person, and it's kind of exciting. You know, it doesn't have the feel of a normal narrative that's just reported to us. It's kind of like we get to live it along with. Nehemiah. And so he's praying this prayer. He's grieved. He's praying to the Lord, Lord, remember what you said to us. Remember your character. We confess that we've sinned against you, but you also said that if we repent, you'll bring us back. And so remember your people and give your servant success today in the sight of this man. Grant him mercy in the sight of this man.

13:57Who do you think this man is? The king, right? The king. King Artaxerxes, we'll find out in just a minute. So before we move on, are there any other thoughts about the prayer? As you see his prayer, God is going to answer this prayer, and we have written an account of that. I think it's neat that we are able to read the prayer itself. So he prays for mercy, and then he says, Now I was cup-bearer to the king. Now, what do you know about cup-bearers to the king? Anyone know anything about a cupbearer? They're very trusted about the king. Yeah, they're very trusted, right? The cupbearer is not just a guy who's good at holding cups, right? It's more than that. That's not why he gets the job because he's got excellent waiter skills or something like that. He gets the job because he's trusted. So one of the easy Ways to kill a king is to poison him. And so, if you want to be a king who doesn't die that way, then you need a trustworthy cup-bearer. And so, Nehemiah was trusted by the king of the world at this time, King Artaxerxes. And he's got access to him and probably, just reading in between the lines a little bit, probably even a friendship with him. We'll see that the king is upset when Nehemiah is sad.

15:28But you can imagine, as Nehemiah is this trusted person with the king, that they're spending a lot of time together. Nehemiah is there at the meals, he's the one who brings the wine to the king. You can imagine that they would become at least social with one another, if not close friends. So, in chapter 2, he says, In the month of Nisan, in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now, I had not been sad in his presence. So, he kind of catches us up there. He says, Some time has passed by, but all this time, even though Nehemiah was in mourning and fasting and praying before the king, he hadn't let the king see that he was sad. He didn't, when he was giving the cup to the king, he didn't break down crying or anything like that. He didn't make it obvious to the king before we move there, actually. I wanted to look at Deuteronomy since we have the time. Back to his prayer when he's remembering God's promise to bring the people back if they are faithful and they repent. I wanted to look at just a couple passages where he talks about that. Then we're going to move on to chapter 2. So turn to Deuteronomy chapter 4.

16:56Versus verse 27. Deuteronomy 4:27. God has just said, If you worship idols, then I call heaven and earth to witness against you that you're going to perish from the land. You're not going to possess it anymore. So, verse 27, and the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations, where the Lord will drive you. And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. So God says, if you want to worship those idols that already can't do any of those things, they can't see, they can't hear, they can't eat, they can't smell, if you really want to worship them, then I'm going to go ahead and let you go to those lands. And you're going to be taken captive over there, and you're going to have to serve those. Gods, or at least serve the people who are serving those gods. But when you're there, you're going to realize your mistake, and from there you'll seek, verse 29, the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. Verse 30, when you are in tribulation and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice, for the Lord your God is a merciful God, he will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

18:31So you can see why Nehemiah is basing his prayer off of ideas like this. God has said, Even when I scatter you, even when the worst of the worst comes and I scatter you all over the globe, know that I will always have mercy on you when you return to me with your whole heart. And so that's what Nehemiah is doing. Look over at Deuteronomy 30. Deuteronomy 30, verse 1. When all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, so he's kind of reviewing what's going on, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice. And all that I command you today with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, remember Nehemiah used that phrase in his prayer. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And so it's a blessing that God promises from the very beginning, even when you're cursed, even when you're sent out, I'll still have mercy if you call out. I'll send you back. And so that's what Nehemiah is praying for his people. I think it's cool to see the confidence that Nehemiah has, the same confidence that Ezra had in the character of God, that he's not going to go back on these promises. And I think it's really special to see the mercy of our Lord, that even after all that they've sinned, all that they've done, and they're in this foreign land, he's still willing to send them back.

20:35And the amazing sovereignty and the foresight of the Lord. To say this more than once in the law, in Deuteronomy, you're going to be scattered among the peoples, but when you are, just call out to me. I'll have mercy on you. I think it is an amazing attribute of God. Can see his mercy, but also his foresight that he would know the future and still be merciful to his people. Okay, back to chapter 2, Nehemiah 2.

21:14In the month of Nisan, in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, when the wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence, and the king said to me, Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart. Then I was very much afraid. So, Nehemiah, he hasn't been crying around the king for these four months. He hasn't been saying, Woe is me. He hasn't been complaining. He's been keeping it to himself, but at least on this day, maybe he was crying earlier for the people of God. Maybe he was still in mourning, but it showed on his face. Maybe it's from the fasting. Maybe he's getting thin. We don't know. But it showed on his face. He's got a sad face. But the king knows that he's not sick. And so the king is saying, Why are you sad? Why is your face sad, seeing that you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart. So the king can tell things about people. He's not totally oblivious, right? He's got some amount of wisdom, and he can see, wow, my friend, or at least my cupbearer, is sad. He's sad in his heart. I can see it on his face. Well, Nehemiah gets afraid. Why do you think Nehemiah would get afraid? Because he's not going to be sad. Yeah. I mean, the king, you never know with kings.

22:44You know, maybe the king, he was feeling kind of sad that day, and he was really wanting a cupbearer to cheer him up or something like that. You never know. And so maybe Nehemiah is thinking, I'm not supposed to be sad in front of the king. And all these four months, he's done a really good job of it. But finally, it shows, and he's afraid. You know, he doesn't want to be kicked out. Well, verse 3: I said to the king, let the king live forever. That's the first thing off his lips. You could tell he's afraid. Let the king live forever. But then he continues, Why should not my face be sad when the city, the place of my father's graves, lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?

23:32Why should not my face be sad when the city, the place of my father's graves, lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire? So he says, How could I not be sad? He's just heard this report of his homeland, the place of his father's graves. That's kind of an interesting expression. We don't use that very often, but it's the place where his ancestors have been buried. It's the land of promise, the land that he loves.

24:01And so he is sad. It lies in ruins. Its gates have been destroyed by fire. Remember, the gates were the center of city life. They needed to be defensible so that the enemy couldn't just run in through the gates and overtake the city. But they also were the center of commerce and the center of city councils and things like that. And so things are in ruins. It's not a happy situation. Verse 4. Then the king said to me, What are you requesting? So this king is really wise. He's saying, basically, well, what do you want? What are you asking me? Why are you telling me this? So I prayed to the God of heaven. That's Nehemiah's response. So we've already seen Nehemiah's prayer during this time when he's mourning and fasting. But even now, as he's before the king and he's scared for his life, he doesn't know if the king is going to be favorable. He doesn't know if the king is going to grant his request. He just seems to kind of silently or under his breath utter up another prayer, a quick prayer before the Lord.

25:11Verse 5. So I prayed to the God of heaven, and I said to the king, If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's graves, that I may rebuild it. And the king said to me, The queen sitting beside him, how long will you be gone, and when will you return? So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time.

25:40So Nehemiah is there. He's obviously thought about this problem a lot. He cares about his people a lot. He knows what the need is. And so when the king asks, well, what do you want? What are you requesting? Nehemiah knows. He knows how long it's going to take. He knows what he needs. Verse 7: I said to the king, If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me. So another need that he has, besides the ability to go, is that letters would go with him.

26:10Letters be given to me to the governors of the province beyond the river, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah. So these enemies are hostile to the people of Israel. And so Nehemiah wants some letters so that when he gets there, he can make sure they know the king's on my side. He's not on your side. Verse 8, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest. That's a Jewish name, Asaph. So they think maybe the keeper of the king's forest was also Jewish, another Jew in high authority in the Persian Empire. The letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.

27:00And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. So he knows he needs protection. He needs to be not harassed by these governors that are in the land. But he also needs something else very important that they don't have in Israel. And that's wood. Okay, they need timber. They've got a lot of stone. They've got a lot of rock that they can get from the cliffs, but they don't have a lot of wood. So they need these timbers. That's why throughout the Old Testament, Israel isn't the place that's talked about as having these great cedars and things like that. Where is that place? Lebanon, right? And we hear about it all over the Old Testament.

27:43That's not Israel, right? That's another place. So they need wood to build the walls. He knows he needs wood to build the gates and for the house that I shall occupy. So make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall occupy. So Nehemiah is ready. He's thought about this. He knows what he needs. He gives the king a time and he tells the king, I need protection and I need wood for my house and also for the wall so we can get this job done. And the king does it. The king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. So Nehemiah, after praying to the Lord and after having his prayer answered, And answered with a yes to send them back. And then praying again quickly as he's talking to the king, he has strung prayer throughout this entire situation. He's noticed that, or he's known that he needs the Lord's help. And so he's prayed and he's prayed and he's prayed. And finally, when the day comes and he gets to talk to the king and the king grants his requests, the first thing he says is not because he's so smooth or because he's a good friend or because he smooth talked the king into giving him these letters. Instead, he gives God the credit. The king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. It's the same thing that Ezra was saying earlier. All of this, that they were sent back to the land over and over, all these blessings that they got, all this favor they were shown, was only because of the Lord and his good hand.

29:28Let's move on. Verse 9. Then I came to the governors of the province beyond the river and gave them the king's letters. Now, the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. And remember, Ezra, he wouldn't accept those. Do you guys remember that? He had just gotten finished telling the king that God was going to protect them, God's hand was on them, and so he was embarrassed to ask for soldiers and things like that. Well, the soldiers go with Nehemiah, officers of the army.

30:00Verse 10, but when Sanbalat, the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. So you have San Ballet and Tobiah, bad guys, and they are angry simply because Nehemiah has come and he wants to help Israel. They are so against the people of God that just someone coming to show them favor gets them upset. They're angry about it.

30:46It displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. Verse 12. So Nehemiah is going to be sneaky. Look at verse 12. Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me, and I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. Okay, so Nehemiah knows there's opposition. He knows these people hate Israel, and so he's going to be sneaky. He's not going to do this in the day. He hasn't told anybody that he even wants to rebuild the walls. Just the king knows this back in Persia. And so he hasn't told anybody yet. He's being witnessed. Wise about this, shrewd as a serpent. And he gets up in the middle of the night. He doesn't take anything. He doesn't take any animals except the one he's riding around on. Verse 13, I went out by night by the valley gate to the dragon spring and to the dung gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. Then I went up in the night by valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the valley gate and so returned. So he's going to all these different gates on all the sides of the city. He's riding his animal. Some gates are so messed up that he can't even go through it on his animal. So he's inspecting maybe to see, you know, how much of the gate can be salvaged, how much work are we actually going to do, what gates are we going to need to build first, where are the walls the worst? All of these kinds of things. He's looking around. He's making a plan. He's seeing what needs to be done, but he's doing so sneakily. He doesn't want anyone to understand what he's doing, that he wants to rebuild these walls.

32:44Verse 16. And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing. And I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work. So not just the enemies, but he hadn't even told his own countrymen. The Israelites, what he was doing, even though they were going to be the ones that had to do the work. He hasn't filled them in on the plane yet. Verse 17: so he does. Then I said to them, probably in the morning or something like that, then I said to them, You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer suffer derision. And I told them of the good. I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work. So Nehemiah, you know, the people knew. The people who were living there, they knew. You could wake up in the morning and see our city doesn't have a wall. And maybe they didn't care, or maybe they were too scared. Maybe San Balad had harassed them and told them, You better not build a wall back, or something like that. Or maybe they had just forgotten to pay attention. You know how that happens around your own house? You have like projects you want to do, but then like months later, you never did them, and you don't even notice that there's a big hole in the wall or something like that until someone else brings it up. It just becomes something you don't even notice. Maybe that's what it was. They just didn't even notice. They've lived there so long without notice. Walls, they had forgotten. But Nehemiah brings it to their attention. You see the trouble we're in. It's not safe for you to live here without walls. Let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer suffer derision. So that was the other thing. Remember, they said, trouble and shame. So he says, You see, you're in trouble. You're not safe. But also, we want to build a wall so we will no longer suffer derision. We don't want San Ballet and the others making fun of us.

35:02And then he encourages them. Verse 18, I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So even though the people hadn't for a long time just gotten up and started to build walls and repair things when they needed to be done, Nehemiah, under the good hand of the Lord, encourages the people and says, The hand of the Lord has been upon me. Let's go ahead and do this. Let's stop living in this shame. So they strengthened their hands for the good work. Verse 19, but when San Ballet, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the Ammonite servant, and Geshem, the Arab, so there's a third guy, heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king? Now, these people probably knew, these were leaders of the surrounding land. Kind of north of Jerusalem, the Samaritan area, and in Geshem, the Arab. So they probably saw the letter already from the king. They know, I'm presuming, that Nehemiah has got the permission to do this, that he's not an enemy of the king. But you get the picture that they're trying to publicly make the people feel like they shouldn't build the wall. You know, it's the same kind of thing that the Jews told Pilate whenever they're trying to get Jesus crucified. Are you an enemy of Rome? Are you an enemy of the king? And so that's what they're trying to do. What is this thing that you're doing? Are you rebelling against the king? Maybe they're trying to make the people afraid. They're trying to make the people stop building the wall.

36:48But listen to what Nehemiah says to them, verse 20. Then I replied to them, The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we, his servants, will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem. So he says, God's going to make us prosper. So we're not worried about what you say. Number two, we, his servants, will arise and build. So no matter what you say, we're just going to get to work anyways. You can't dissuade us. We're going to get to work. And number three, you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem. You don't belong here anyways. You guys are not part. Of God's people who have gathered in Jerusalem. So why are you pretending like you have a say in this?

37:37So Nehemiah is pretty bold, right? He often, and maybe you guys have heard this, one of the main lessons that a lot of commentators and preachers and things like that, they take out of Nehemiah is that he's kind of like the prototypical leader. Have you guys heard that before? And I don't think that that's necessarily what the book of Nehemiah is communicating. I think the book of Nehemiah is tracing the good hand of the Lord, that he's answering their prayers, that he is having mercy on his people, just like he said he would. Nehemiah is a book that says, see, what I said in Deuteronomy, it's true. And when you prayed, I listened. And when you asked for mercy, I had mercy. I think that's the point of what we're reading in Nehemiah. But I do think that we get to see a godly man, a godly leader in Nehemiah. He's thinking through these things. He's working hard, even to his own harm. He's sympathizing on behalf of his people. He's praying to the Lord. He's got a plan. And he's bold in the face of adversity. So there are some things to be learned there. But I think that some of the main applications, actually, we have some time. Why don't you guys, from those first two chapters that we just studied, already in this. What are some applications, things we learn about the Lord and his character? Some special things, or maybe some things that we can do differently?

39:10It's encouraging to me, seeing those for Ezra and Nehemiah, that the Lord sent two different men, really roughly at a time, same time frame, two different men to the same place to do two very different things. Yeah. And that he calls each of us to unique things, to certain things. And together we build the whole whatever is the Lord's going to build, he uses a bunch of people to do it, and each one has a part, and it's kind of a neat picture of the way the body of Christ works. Yeah, I think so. I think the Lord picked the right man for the job both times with Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra was perfect. I mean, not he wasn't perfect. What I mean is like, he's a perfect man for the job. You know, the whole nation gathers around Ezra. They're weeping with him over their sin. They're praying with him. And they're convicted together, this teacher of the law. By the way, they know each other, Ezra and Nehemiah. They're going to be interacting later on in this book.

40:16But yeah, the Lord picks the perfect fit for each job. Nehemiah is totally different than Ezra. Ezra is more quiet. Nehemiah, we'll see, is pretty lively as we go throughout this book. And energetic, he's a bold leader, but both of them are what God's people needed to get back to work and become what God wanted them to be. Any other thoughts or applications? Are you coming to the part where it says they try to dissuade him and take him away from the working?

40:52Are you coming to that part? Well, we're done for today. We're not coming to it today. We'll save it for later. Well, Nehemiah's example, he just needs to know but know what the word says. Because he says in his first prayer, this is who you are, this is what you said, and then he, I almost said, claim it, but he follows what the Lord says. He's obedient in what he says, and he acts plus obedience to the way there's no reason we can't get it. Totally. Totally. I think when we are reading the word regularly, when we're in the word, we understand God's character. We're praying on behalf of that. We're living in light of that, and it affects things. It really does. You see it in Nehemiah that he wasn't just, you know, he was a cupbearer. And so you think, you know, he just has a normal job, and so maybe he's not going to know the word of God. But even this normal guy, this cupbearer, he knows God's Word. He knows who God is and he prays in light of that. I think it's it's an encouragement and a challenge to all of us. Effie?

42:20Yeah. I thought it was interesting how he addressed the king and not letting people know what he's saying. It's like they each have their own task. Yeah, totally. Yeah, and we haven't even seen a half of Nehemiah's planning skills. He has got some amazing planning skills and we've only touched on the surface of them. Anybody, Marilyn? I think sometimes we look at these prayers and they're beautiful and everything. But what I really love is in verse 4. He's standing before the king, he's frightened and shaking.

43:09I think we see the origin here of flare prayers. You're in the situation and the Lord give me the words about it. And I love that kind of prayer. It should be this concept. Right. Yeah. I get so encouraged by that because, you know, yes, he does have this long prayer that we can learn so much from, but he also, in the moment, is just able to say a quick prayer first before he talks to the king.

43:46I think that should be a regular habit in our life to be consistent like that in prayer. Kevin? You mentioned earlier the way both Ezra and Nehemiah identified with the worst of the Israelites. It would have been easy for them to say, I didn't sin. Right. They identified as sinners with the whole nation. Totally. Right. It would be easy for them to say, oh, no, that woman you gave me. Right. Right? That's right. So I thought I think that's the best part of it. Yeah. I totally agree.

44:30He is on the people's side. Or he's with God's people. He's confessing with them. He's even in Persia. You know, he's got it made. He's a cupbearer to the king. He's in the palace. He's getting to handle the fine wines and things like that. He's got it made. And yet, when he hears about the walls and he hears about the people, he doesn't say, not my problem. Right? He says, I'm going to go there. I'm going to pray to the Lord. I'm going to go. Their behalf. I'm going to confess with the people, and I'm going to go there and help them fix it.

45:07I think that's another godly thing we see. So, let me wrap up. I think that by way of application, something just to remember in our prayers, our prayers can be long or short. They can be out loud or they can be silent. But we should know God and we should pray. At our prayer meeting, one of my favorite examples that I've heard Daniel use before is that our prayer meetings are another opportunity, just like an opportunity to bring somebody a meal, just like an opportunity to help somebody move in the congregation. We're serving each other, we're helping each other. That can be what our prayer meetings are like. Nehemiah, even though he's got it made, living in the palace, he is thinking about the people of God, and he is serving them by praying for them. He doesn't know he's going to go back yet, but he's weeping and he's praying for God's help for God's people. And then, when the time comes and he can go back, he says, I'll go back, and he's serving. And so, I just encourage you: number one, if you've never been to our prayer meetings on Wednesdays, you should come. It's not going to be the most entertaining part of your week, right? It'd be maybe more fun to watch a movie, but it's a great opportunity to serve each other, to pray for one another.

46:32And serve one another. So we can pay attention to needs in the body. We can work hard and encourage others to do the same. Look for ways that we can help the body instead of just overlooking things. I think these are some qualities we see from Nehemiah, from a godly man. I think a huge one is that we need to remember when God answers our prayers. We need to give Him credit. You know, there are a lot of athletes that pray before a game or something, but after the game, for the most part, they're going to take all the credit. Or, you know, students will pray before a test, help me do good. But then afterwards, they're telling their friends, I aced that test, right? And, you know, those are just silly examples, but you get the point. We need to remember when we pray and remember that the good hand of the Lord was on us and give him the glory.

47:27Another application: don't name your child Sandballot if you're thinking about it. Probably the worst name ever. Sandballot. Don't go with that one. But also, do good even in adversity. You see the boldness of Nehemiah, but even when there's trials, even when God's people are suffering, and you can write down 1 Peter 4, verse 19. Maybe we can look there next week. Even when we're suffering, even when we're in trial, we can still do good. We can still pray to the Lord. We can still serve his people while we wait. Let's pray. Father, I pray that you would help us see the character of the true hero in this story, which is yourself. That you're a God who's merciful, that you're a God who answers prayer.

48:26That you're a God who pays attention to his people and sends us what we need. And Lord, I pray that you'd also make us imitators in the godly characteristics of Nehemiah as he prays to you, as he knows your word, as he's a hard worker and a good planner and all of these things. I just pray, Lord, that you'd help us live with that kind of wisdom. But, Lord, I pray that we would always give you the glory, that we'd always remember to be constant in prayer, to pray in private and pray according to your word, but even when we can't think of the words, even when we can't think of the passages of Scripture to, in each moment of the day, remember to pray to you, even quickly, even silently, and just keep you on our minds. Lord, we thank you for this passage. We pray that even this week we'd be changed by it and that we'd grow. In Jesus' name. Amen.