“I SAT DOWN AND WEPT. I MOURNED AND FASTED AND PRAYED BEFORE THE GOD OF HEAVEN.” So begins the powerful words of a mighty prayer warrior who lived 2500 years ago. His heart heavy with the sorrow from the aftermath of war and destruction, the patriot Nehemiah petitioned the only one he knew that could restore justice where there seemed to be none.
With his heart and mind focused on God, Nehemiah began simply by identifying personally with the situation in great humility. Then he continued powerfully through constant contact with the Almighty in prayer. In fact, he prayed at least 10 times in the short book of Nehemiah, one of which is the longest recorded prayer in the entire Bible.
“In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani (Hey’ ne ni), one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, ‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.’” Nehemiah 1:1-3
The lesson Nehemiah left behind is a powerful and timely one for us for this entire month. The 1st day of God’s 9th month, Kislev, began December 2 at sunset on our 2024 Gregorian calendar.
“When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1:4
Though heartbroken by this circumstance, Nehemiah didn’t rage about it to others or jump immediately into action. Instead, he allowed himself to be broken by the news, identifying with the pain and struggle of his countrymen and his beloved nation.
“Then I said: ‘Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.’” Nehemiah 1:4-7
Nehemiah praised God and asked Him to hear his prayer. He could have pointed fingers at others around him but instead, in great humility, he confessed that they, as a nation, had not kept God’s commandments as the moral precepts by which their lives should be governed. They had not honored His Feast Days, Sabbaths, etc. as He had appointed. Nor had they honored His judgments as the precepts of justice that should have governed their conduct with each other.
Nehemiah understood why Israel had been decimated as a nation, split in two with the surviving remnant of Judah forced into Babylonian exile, then ruled by the conquering Persian Empire for 150 years. As a second-generation exile born in Babylon, he had helped document it all.
Nehemiah continued his prayer by repeating God’s Word, effectively bowing himself and his national concerns under its weight. “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. “
He closed his first of 10 prayers recorded in the book of Nehemiah by humbly asking God to acknowledge him before the King. “Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” Nehemiah 1:8-11
After closing his prayer, he states very simply, “I was cupbearer to the king.”
Nehemiah prayed his second prayer shortly afterward. “The king said to me, ‘What is it you want?’ Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, ‘If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.’” Nehemiah 2:4-5
While serving as cupbearer to the King, Nehemiah was given the unenviable task of guarding the King's cup and tasting it to insure it was not poisoned. On the positive side, the position required that one be regarded as totally trustworthy, which usually carried the reward of a high position in the kingdom. Indeed, Nehemiah was appointed as master of ceremonies in the palace of King Artaxerxes, who ruled Persia from 465-423 B.C.
Historical records also suggest that the position of cupbearer was as influential a position as the Queen was to the King. Ironically, through the influence of the great Queen Esther in the court of King Xerxes in the very same palace, the people of Israel had been saved from annihilation several decades earlier. Some historians even speculate that King Artaxerxes was the stepson of Queen Esther, and son of King Xerxes.
Nehemiah succeeded in securing financial support from the Persian King where he had lived in captivity. When the King also appointed him governor of Persian Judah, he organized a community rebuilding of the Jerusalem walls. When there were those who despised him for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah asked God to remove the opposition in his 3rd prayer. (4:4-5)
After he recognized the injustice of the current legal system and established social reforms for the needy by providing food and financial support, he prayed a 4th time and asked God to remember what he’d done to help the people.(5:19)
When some schemed to scare the workers repairing the Jerusalem walls, he prayed a 5th time and asked God to “strengthen my hands.”(6:9)
Nehemiah asked God five times to remember his deeds (5:19, 13:14, 13:21, 13:22, 13:31), and twice to remember his enemies. (6:14, 13:29)
When he reinstituted God’s Holy Day appointments, along with national days of reading God’s Word, Nehemiah prayed the longest prayer in the Bible (9:5-38) on the Feast of Tabernacles and included phrases like “You are just in all that has befallen us; For You have dealt faithfully, But we have done wickedly.”
The people publicly repented of their sins, renewed a covenant sealed in writing, and made a public oath “to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our Lord.”
Sadly, the book ends with a frustrated Nehemiah rebuking those in Jerusalem for breaking the covenant they had just renewed. “I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair.” Indeed, though Nehemiah succeeded in rebuilding the Old City walls in 52 days, 500 years later the same walls would lie in ruins when Jerusalem fell again, this time to the Romans.
This is not the ending Nehemiah had prayed and hoped for. But through it all, he remained faithful to God and prayed without ceasing over every detail, honoring Him.
It’s not the ending God has planned for His people either. His plan is to accomplish what our leadership and rule on this earth can never do.
“For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given: and the government will be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” Isaiah 9:6-7.
“I SAT DOWN AND WEPT. I MOURNED AND FASTED AND PRAYED BEFORE THE GOD OF HEAVEN…”
