Nehemiah responds to the sad news about the disrepair of the walls of Jerusalem with tears and grief. His mourning for the city walls turns into a sincere prayer to God for His intervention into the nation’s turmoil.
“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, 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…” (verses 5-6a).
Part 1 of this series focused on Nehemiah’s initial acknowledgement of the power and awesome character of the Lord, the God of heaven. Before I can move on to a second major aspect of the leadership prayer (confession), I need to mention a few more dynamic details of Nehemiah’s opening words. In addition to describing the Lord as the God of heaven, great and awesome, Nehemiah paints his picture of God with two other bright colors of significance – the color of covenant and the color of steadfast love.
God is a Being who keeps covenant. Covenant is a rich Old Testament word that brings with it the concepts of contract, promise, relationship, and trust. The rainbow is the sign of the covenant between God and Noah; circumcision – the sign of the Abrahamic covenant; the Ten Commandments – the sign of the Sinai covenant; the body and blood of Jesus – the sign of the New Covenant. When God makes a promise, He keeps the promise for all time and with complete faithfulness. Nehemiah will recount one of the promises of the Lord in verses 8-9.
God also keeps steadfast love with His people. I so appreciate and embrace the concept of steadfastness. Nothing can move something that is steadfast. It is a rock on which one can stand with utmost confidence; it is an anchor that cannot be dislodged; it is truth that cannot be rewritten; and it is the eternal flame that cannot be extinguished. God’s love for His people is inexhaustible, abundantly patient, unmovable and unchangeable.
However, notice the human element that impacts the divine covenants - the last part of verse 5: “God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.” God is faithful with those who love and obey Him. And as Shakespeare would say, “there’s the rub.” Nehemiah quickly confesses that he has sinned, his father’s house has sinned, and the people have sinned. Despite the reality of the failure of man, Nehemiah falls before the God of heaven, with a boldness of petition and yet a humility within his supplication. This godly man asks for the ear and eye of God to be attentive to his prayer – not because he is worthy, but because he is His servant.
Nehemiah is diligent, consistent, and perseverant in his time with God. He prays day and night for the people of Israel – this burden is not just an item on his prayer list – it is the prayer list. Israel has failed in its faithfulness to God. The nation has experienced a time of exile; a time away from the blessing of the God of heaven; a time of being scattered among the nations. They have experienced the consequences of their mistakes and have reaped the harvest of their disobedience. Nehemiah’s prayer is for a frail nation, a frail people, and a frail city and a frail leader.
This frailty of man brings us to the second aspect of this leader’s prayer – confession. In verse six, Nehemiah uses the term sin three times, emphasizing the failure of the nation and the sin of the individual. Verse 7 delineates the sin into specific areas: we (notice that Nehemiah, the leader, does not point fingers or cast blame onto the heads of others, but includes himself – we) have acted corruptly; we have not kept the commandments OR the statutes OR the rules that you have commanded Moses. The actions of the people were negative – they did what they were not to do – they acted corruptly. They also failed to do what they were supposed to do – the commands, statutes, and rules. They really blew it in both dimensions.
Nehemiah then asks God to remember a statement that He had made to Moses (like God is going to forget!) Verses 8-9 contain that statement. It is filled with bad news and good news. This post will stop with the bad news, but remember to finish the sentence into verse 9. (The next post will lift up this incredible, positive statement in hopes of encouraging every leader preparing to do great things for the Kingdom). But verse 8 contains the bad news:” If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the people.” Israel was unfaithful. Israel had sinned. Israel had been scattered. God was faithful to His word, His warning, His consequences. All that Nehemiah could do was to confess; all that every leader can do is to humbly confess his/her miscues, fall on his/her face admitting frailty and mistakes, and call sin, sin.
The first word of verse 9 is one of the most powerful three letter words in the English language, but. The bad news is bad, BUT…. Man is sinful, BUT…. You have been scattered, BUT…. The walls are broken, BUT… The enemy would have us stop at verse 8, BUT verse 9 must be read and applied and realized. The leadership prayer of preparation is not complete without it. Please come back and read the powerful conclusion of this wonderful prayer of a godly leader.
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