A Broken Down Nation
Nehemiah 1:1-11
Take a moment and look in your mind’s eye at your favorite photograph or picture. If you can think of your favorite family picture, that is even better. The closer you look at the picture, the more details and memories you can recall. We have heard it said that every picture tells a story and a picture is worth a thousand words.
How did Israel become a broken-down nation, a broken-down community, a broken-down people?
The nation was founded on God’s given principles given to Moses and passed onto the people to live by, decrees to apply to every possible circumstance with clear guidelines to follow, literally written by the hand of God. But through many hundreds of years, coupled with numerous generations of people, the nation slowly began to compromise.
There was idolatry, which is putting any person, any place, or anything in front of the place where only God belongs. There was Rebellion against God to be free and to live as they pleased. There was selfishness or self-centeredness. Self-satisfaction became the goal in life. So, God allowed the nation to fall deeper into rebellion and then eventually crumble and fall morally, physically, and economically.
Today, we are going to break down Nehemiah Chapter 1 into five sections, highlighting the person God uses to rebuild what is broken down.
Section 1
Verses 1-3 A man with love for the people.
Nehemiah 1:1 (NLT)
1 These are the memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa.
Nehemiah lived in Shushan, the capital city of the Persians, and he lived in the Citadel, the fortified palace of the Persians. So, right away, we know Nehemiah is someone important in the world’s economy and power, living in the palace of the King of Persia.
Occupying an important position in the world’s economy does not guarantee we are doing what God has planned for our lives, but God has used him and placed him strategically there for the next season of his life.
I am certain that God will find you, wherever you’re at, and use you wherever you are if you are sensitive to the Spirit of God and willing to follow him to accomplish his will and purpose.
Nehemiah’s body was in Persia, but his heart was broken for Jerusalem, 800 miles away.
What are you longing for right now? Who or what has captivated your heart? Your body and mind are in one location, but your heart is in another place.
Let’s just take a glance at Nehemiah’s current lifestyle and struggle in his heart. First, this guy had an unlimited balance on his Persian credit card for the finest foods. Even when there was no indoor dining, he had special privileges being close to the king’s courts. He was also responsible for what the king ate and drank safely, and so, he was always eating the finest foods.
He had the best protection from harm offered. He had the luxury of not living in fear of running out of toilet paper, even though the rest of the people outside the fortress were living consumed by the current events of the day, supplied by social media and the stress and the fear of what tomorrow may hold.
Sounds like the perfect job, right? Nehemiah was also the governor, a non-partisan’s man that truly cared for the people he governed. There was no temptation for monetary gain or a certain political party to please.
Nehemiah was a faithful employee to the king. He truly did well with what God put in his hands to do because God’s hand was on him for such a time as this. He also rose above his circumstances, much like Daniel in the lion’s den and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace.
It was evident God’s Spirit was in control of his heart and life because he was supernaturally able to serve the king and the nation who destroyed and conquered and suppressed his very own people. Imagine that! Imagine serving the nation and the king of the people that suppressed your very own heart-touched nation.
But, deep down inside, something was missing because his heart was broken for his own people, the heritage of people where he truly belonged.
It is so important that our heart is in alignment with God during difficult circumstances that God allows in our lives to experience above all else.
Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)
23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Most of us have grown up being career-minded, focusing on what we want to be when we grow up. Most of which, if we are honest, has turned out a bit different than we thought. There’s been some forks in the road. There’s been some y’s in the road, and there’s been some roadblocks with some of these thoughts that we had with how our lives would turn out. Wouldn’t you agree?
I was thinking about my kids again. When they were young, I drew a picture in my mind of each one of them, of how I thought they were going to turn out. What I thought they would look like, and who they might even marry or what they might be for their career. And then about the time when they become a teenager, they take that picture, and they crumple it up, and they throw it on the ground, and they draw their own picture., don’t they? They all draw their own picture.
I learned that if I didn’t learn to embrace that picture that they drew, that I was going to miss out on a part of their life because I was wanting them to be a certain way, and go a certain place, and be with a certain person. But if I didn’t embrace what their picture was, then I was going to miss out on a portion of their life. And God showed me, after making some mistakes, if I didn’t get on board, that’s how it was going to go.
What would happen in a community or in a body of believers, or even just an individual person that begged God to show them what he would want to accomplish through them and then follow through with it? What would happen? What would happen to a nation, a community, in an individual person’s life if they begged God to show them what he wants from them, and then God shows the person, and they actually follow through with it?
Nehemiah 1:2 (NLT)
2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.
God is about to show favor on a broken nation, filled with broken people, with broken lives, and a city surrounded by broken walls.
2 Chronicles 16:9a (NLT)
9 The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
Nehemiah 1:2a – 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah.
Hanani, known as one of my brothers, possibly one of his blood brothers, but more importantly, his name is defined as gracious, favorable, or cause to be gracious. God’s miraculous grace is being portrayed in a man with a difficult message to bring to Nehemiah. He’s about ready to break Nehemiah’s heart.
How will God show his grace? Through the lives of his people who have their heart turned toward him.
David was known in the Bible as a man after God’s own heart. But you say, wait. Wait. David made many mistakes just in one small time frame of his life, his lust turned to adultery, and adultery turned to murder. David, like anyone, was not perfect or free from sin and mistakes. But David was a man after God’s own heart because when he failed, he would realign his heart with God’s heart through prayer and confession of sin to God and those he sinned against.
As imperfect as we all are, God uses people, men, women, and leaders gifted to encourage and influence others for the work of God.
Nehemiah 1:2b – I asked them …
God uses people who have a genuine love and burden for the well-being of other people. Here it is again (I asked about them) His heart was broken for those specific individuals who were there with him.
Nehemiah 1:2c –about the Jews … and about how things were going in Jerusalem.
His heart was broken for a specific group of people or community of persons. Nehemiah inquired about their well-being with a willingness to help.
We have all experienced having a genuine desire to help someone, and then as we get deeper and deeper into the service, it can become more than we can handle. You know what I am talking about. We get down on one knee to help change a tire, then find out the spare tire is flat, and they have the wrong rim in the trunk, and their lug nuts are missing from their tire. And this genuine effort to want to help someone turns into much more than we ever planned.
God is revealing a desperate need to his people that have an ear to listen to him, that at first glance, is truly a God-sized problem. But if God is leading, then God will empower those he calls.
Nehemiah 1:2d – I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.
His heart was broken for a specific location of people. God is about to expose a great need to a group of men, leaders, encouragers, influencers to begin to show his gracious, unmerited favor on his beaten-down people by their surrounding enemies.
Nehemiah 1:3 (NKJV)
3 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.â€
The phrase “great distress†is extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain. “Reproach†means poor opinion and disapproval by the people around them.
We have all done this, traveling anywhere close to home or far away and come across a group of people that are living in a less fortunate way of life. Some by choice, others just really down on their luck, and we will look at them in disgust or reproach of how they might live.
No wonder the people lived in constant distress, in constant disgrace (reproach). They were living only as survivors, just sitting, waiting for the other shoe to drop on their lives.
God has much more for our lives than to be just survivors. God not only wants us to be conquerors through him who loved us.
Romans 8:35, 37 (NKJV)
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
...
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
The broken state of the people and the broken state of the city walls were intimately connected because the hearts of the people were desperately broken. After all, fellowship with God was broken.
It is much easier to blame someone else for the condition of our home, family, or our nation. But like Nehemiah, now that we know the condition of our lives, family, and nation, what are we going to do about it?
We, as people, are all fully aware of the decline of our nation and how we have methodically removed ourselves from the protection of God by slowly removing him from the foundation and framework of our country by refusing to obey his statutes and commandments.
We have all willingly gone astray chasing our own desires, hoarding items to make sure we have what we need, searching for satisfaction, and security apart from God.
Just think what our lives or nation would be like if we were all rushing to turn back to God, standing in long lines waiting to hear from God, instead of desperately searching to see if the shelves have been stocked with supplies.
A city without walls and no foundation is completely open and vulnerable to enemies of doubt, wild animals of discouragement, varmints and rodents of defeat, and the most dangerous of all – deception from the bombardment of too much information at our fingertips.
Do you think it could ever get so bad that a person would try to capitalize on our current unrest to push their agenda onto an already broken and frazzled people and nation?
They had no defense, no protection at all. People, it is time to run straightway to God’s Word and his promises while we still can.
Judges 9:51 (NLT)
51 But there was a strong tower inside the town, and all the men and women--the entire population--fled to it. They barricaded themselves in and climbed up to the roof of the tower.
Those living in an unwalled city lived in constant stress and tension. No protection, but…
Proverbs 18:10 (NLT)
10 The name of the LORD is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.
They never knew when they might be attacked and brutalized. Every man lived in constant fear for his wife and children.
Psalm 61:3 (NLT)
3 for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.
The Temple could be rebuilt but never made beautiful because anything valuable would be taken easily.
As we get older with less time in front of us than behind us, our priorities begin to change. Personal wealth loses its value. There are two sides to a silver dollar. The shrinking US dollar is certainly one side, and the sobering reality that it does not bring happiness and fulfillment is the other side. Our purpose in life becomes priceless. Time becomes the most precious commodity.
We might think that a prominent man like Nehemiah had more important things to think about than a distant city he had never been to. But God had been providing and sending people that are called to a specific location for a long time. These missionaries have been known to sacrifice many things to answer the call – even one’s life.
Every headstone in a cemetery has a date of birth and a date of death. But what makes each one uniquely different is the little dash in between the two dates – it is called your life. What do you want to be remembered by in your life before it is too late? Because right now, it’s not too late to start.
Moving on to section two.
Section 2
Verse 4 A man with a God-sized problem
Nehemiah 1:4 (NLT)
4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.
You know, there are many things we need to take ownership of as men, husbands, fathers, women, wives, and mothers that are clearly our responsibility. It is wise to take inventory of our responsibilities based on the current conditions of the needs and the people in our lives.
But then, in the midst of life, we are faced with a God-sized problem that belongs to God and God alone. And unless God intervenes or empowers us, we don’t stand a chance or even know where to start. For a time, we default to just surviving, just scratching and clawing, fending four ourselves, and just trying to get through it until we acknowledge we cannot take another breath unless God helps us.
Let’s read verse 4 again.
Nehemiah 1:4 (NLT)
4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.
When I said those words, when I heard this… what God-sized problem did you think of at that moment? When I said, I sat down and wept… what drives you to tears that only God can resolve and causes you to be weak in the knees? When we read, in fact, for days I mourned… for days, weeks, months, what has consumed your thoughts to where you have just been trying to survive?
Fasted and prayed to the God of heaven… Fasting and prayer are talked about, but mistakenly known as the double-barrel desperation method to get our immediate answer from God, rather than truly searching and seeking what is God’s specific will in a matter by taking our eyes off the things of this world, by depriving ourselves and focus our thoughts on God’s will for a designated time.
Section 3
Verses 5-7 A man driven to pray
Nehemiah 1:5 (NLT)
5 Then I said, “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands,
Let’s take a look at Nehemiah’s powerful model of prayer. First, we have adoration – acknowledging God’s character and attributes… the great and awesome God. Adoration directly to God also reminds us who we are speaking to, who he IS, and who we are.
Nehemiah 1:6 (NLT)
6 listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned!
Pleading desperately with true humility, accepting full responsibility. Confession is agreeing with God, not blaming God, or trying to justify our sinful actions.
There is a real need for specific confession to God. Corporate confession (as a nation), family confession (as a church or church family), and personal confession (as an individual). Please don’t miss this… God already knows about our sin, but he wants us to agree with him about our sin. (Remember, the first step to any kind of recovery program is admitting you have a problem.)
Nehemiah 1:7 (NLT)
7 We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.
A). Commands = ordinances and precepts
B). Decrees = the decrees of God are his eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose given to us
C). Regulations = favorable or unfavorable divine given law issued to individuals or collectively
Deuteronomy 6:1-5 (NLT)
1 (Moses speaking) “These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy,
2 and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the LORD your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life.
3 Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 “Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.
5 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
The Shema.
Section 4
Verses 8-9 A man clinging to God’s promises
This is a powerful way to come to God, asking him to remember his promises, but you need to know and be familiar with God’s promises yourself to be able to cling to them.
The Psalmist said, how can a young man keep his way pure? By taking heed according to your Word. Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Nehemiah 1:8 (NLT)
8 “Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations.
This is a promise we might struggle with. But all of God’s promises are yes and amen – this is a promise that God kept … ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations.
But the next verse is a promise of hope, and God will make good and is in the process of making good right now in the text.
Nehemiah 1:9 (NLT)
9 But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’
When we ask God to remember his promises, I do not think that he has forgotten them. I do not think that it helps God to remind him of his promises. But it sure helps us and truly increases our faith.
Nehemiah 1:10 (NLT)
10 “The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants.
I really love this next verse.
Psalm 81:10 (NLT)
10 For it was I, the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.
Promises. Songs. Protection. Hope. Joy. Victory. Every promise of God restores hope, gives us the strength we need for the moment and the faith we need to do more than just survive.
Section 5
Verse 11 A man ready to do something with a petition to God
Nehemiah 1:11 (NLT)
11 O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.†In those days I was the king’s cup-bearer.
Nehemiah was going to do something about the sorry state of Jerusalem’s walls and the sorry state of the people, because of the burden God had put on his heart, not for any other reason. But he also knows without God’s intervention; he can do nothing. This was a God-sized problem that requires a God-sized answer.
This prayer request came with the heart and plan – not criticism from an armchair quarterback. Take note, this is a humble, genuine petition in prayer with no complaints or asking God to make it better, or even sending someone else – only his plea to God… use me to be a part of the answer.
The answer for the nation then and for us as a nation now is to desperately turn back to God before it’s too late.
Let’s begin to close with a powerful promise from God.
Proverbs 21:1 (NLT)
1 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the LORD; he guides it wherever he pleases.
According to this verse, God is totally in control of our nation. He can guide the heart of a king or our current president or our new president wherever he chooses.
Next week, we will see the results of Nehemiah’s prayer, kicking off an incredible construction project where God will provide the funds, the materials, the schedule, and the leaders to prepare the way for rebuilding the walls and make ready for a spiritual revival of the people through Ezra the prophet.
We will review the God-given tools that Nehemiah had to work with in Chapter 2, that are essential for leadership to oversee a God-sized project. Tools like passion, permission, miraculous provision, God’s given protection, following God’s plan, relying on God’s favor and power, and perseverance.
Let me end with two quotes.
Alan Redpath:
“Recognition of need must be followed by earnest, persistent waiting upon God until the overwhelming sense of world need becomes a specific burden in my soul for one particular piece of work which God would have me do.â€
Charles Spurgeon:
“Laying the matter to heart, (speaking of Nehemiah) he did not begin to speak with other people about what they would do, nor did he draw up a wonderful scheme about what might be done if so many thousand people joined in the enterprise; but it occurred to him that he would do something himself.â€
How did Israel become a broken-down nation, a broken-down community, a broken-down people?
The nation was founded on God’s given principles given to Moses and passed onto the people to live by, decrees to apply to every possible circumstance with clear guidelines to follow, literally written by the hand of God. But through many hundreds of years, coupled with numerous generations of people, the nation slowly began to compromise.
There was idolatry, which is putting any person, any place, or anything in front of the place where only God belongs. There was Rebellion against God to be free and to live as they pleased. There was selfishness or self-centeredness. Self-satisfaction became the goal in life. So, God allowed the nation to fall deeper into rebellion and then eventually crumble and fall morally, physically, and economically.
Today, we are going to break down Nehemiah Chapter 1 into five sections, highlighting the person God uses to rebuild what is broken down.
Section 1
Verses 1-3 A man with love for the people.
Nehemiah 1:1 (NLT)
1 These are the memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa.
Nehemiah lived in Shushan, the capital city of the Persians, and he lived in the Citadel, the fortified palace of the Persians. So, right away, we know Nehemiah is someone important in the world’s economy and power, living in the palace of the King of Persia.
Occupying an important position in the world’s economy does not guarantee we are doing what God has planned for our lives, but God has used him and placed him strategically there for the next season of his life.
I am certain that God will find you, wherever you’re at, and use you wherever you are if you are sensitive to the Spirit of God and willing to follow him to accomplish his will and purpose.
Nehemiah’s body was in Persia, but his heart was broken for Jerusalem, 800 miles away.
What are you longing for right now? Who or what has captivated your heart? Your body and mind are in one location, but your heart is in another place.
Let’s just take a glance at Nehemiah’s current lifestyle and struggle in his heart. First, this guy had an unlimited balance on his Persian credit card for the finest foods. Even when there was no indoor dining, he had special privileges being close to the king’s courts. He was also responsible for what the king ate and drank safely, and so, he was always eating the finest foods.
He had the best protection from harm offered. He had the luxury of not living in fear of running out of toilet paper, even though the rest of the people outside the fortress were living consumed by the current events of the day, supplied by social media and the stress and the fear of what tomorrow may hold.
Sounds like the perfect job, right? Nehemiah was also the governor, a non-partisan’s man that truly cared for the people he governed. There was no temptation for monetary gain or a certain political party to please.
Nehemiah was a faithful employee to the king. He truly did well with what God put in his hands to do because God’s hand was on him for such a time as this. He also rose above his circumstances, much like Daniel in the lion’s den and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace.
It was evident God’s Spirit was in control of his heart and life because he was supernaturally able to serve the king and the nation who destroyed and conquered and suppressed his very own people. Imagine that! Imagine serving the nation and the king of the people that suppressed your very own heart-touched nation.
But, deep down inside, something was missing because his heart was broken for his own people, the heritage of people where he truly belonged.
It is so important that our heart is in alignment with God during difficult circumstances that God allows in our lives to experience above all else.
Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)
23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Most of us have grown up being career-minded, focusing on what we want to be when we grow up. Most of which, if we are honest, has turned out a bit different than we thought. There’s been some forks in the road. There’s been some y’s in the road, and there’s been some roadblocks with some of these thoughts that we had with how our lives would turn out. Wouldn’t you agree?
I was thinking about my kids again. When they were young, I drew a picture in my mind of each one of them, of how I thought they were going to turn out. What I thought they would look like, and who they might even marry or what they might be for their career. And then about the time when they become a teenager, they take that picture, and they crumple it up, and they throw it on the ground, and they draw their own picture., don’t they? They all draw their own picture.
I learned that if I didn’t learn to embrace that picture that they drew, that I was going to miss out on a part of their life because I was wanting them to be a certain way, and go a certain place, and be with a certain person. But if I didn’t embrace what their picture was, then I was going to miss out on a portion of their life. And God showed me, after making some mistakes, if I didn’t get on board, that’s how it was going to go.
What would happen in a community or in a body of believers, or even just an individual person that begged God to show them what he would want to accomplish through them and then follow through with it? What would happen? What would happen to a nation, a community, in an individual person’s life if they begged God to show them what he wants from them, and then God shows the person, and they actually follow through with it?
Nehemiah 1:2 (NLT)
2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.
God is about to show favor on a broken nation, filled with broken people, with broken lives, and a city surrounded by broken walls.
2 Chronicles 16:9a (NLT)
9 The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
Nehemiah 1:2a – 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah.
Hanani, known as one of my brothers, possibly one of his blood brothers, but more importantly, his name is defined as gracious, favorable, or cause to be gracious. God’s miraculous grace is being portrayed in a man with a difficult message to bring to Nehemiah. He’s about ready to break Nehemiah’s heart.
How will God show his grace? Through the lives of his people who have their heart turned toward him.
David was known in the Bible as a man after God’s own heart. But you say, wait. Wait. David made many mistakes just in one small time frame of his life, his lust turned to adultery, and adultery turned to murder. David, like anyone, was not perfect or free from sin and mistakes. But David was a man after God’s own heart because when he failed, he would realign his heart with God’s heart through prayer and confession of sin to God and those he sinned against.
As imperfect as we all are, God uses people, men, women, and leaders gifted to encourage and influence others for the work of God.
Nehemiah 1:2b – I asked them …
God uses people who have a genuine love and burden for the well-being of other people. Here it is again (I asked about them) His heart was broken for those specific individuals who were there with him.
Nehemiah 1:2c –about the Jews … and about how things were going in Jerusalem.
His heart was broken for a specific group of people or community of persons. Nehemiah inquired about their well-being with a willingness to help.
We have all experienced having a genuine desire to help someone, and then as we get deeper and deeper into the service, it can become more than we can handle. You know what I am talking about. We get down on one knee to help change a tire, then find out the spare tire is flat, and they have the wrong rim in the trunk, and their lug nuts are missing from their tire. And this genuine effort to want to help someone turns into much more than we ever planned.
God is revealing a desperate need to his people that have an ear to listen to him, that at first glance, is truly a God-sized problem. But if God is leading, then God will empower those he calls.
Nehemiah 1:2d – I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.
His heart was broken for a specific location of people. God is about to expose a great need to a group of men, leaders, encouragers, influencers to begin to show his gracious, unmerited favor on his beaten-down people by their surrounding enemies.
Nehemiah 1:3 (NKJV)
3 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.â€
The phrase “great distress†is extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain. “Reproach†means poor opinion and disapproval by the people around them.
We have all done this, traveling anywhere close to home or far away and come across a group of people that are living in a less fortunate way of life. Some by choice, others just really down on their luck, and we will look at them in disgust or reproach of how they might live.
No wonder the people lived in constant distress, in constant disgrace (reproach). They were living only as survivors, just sitting, waiting for the other shoe to drop on their lives.
God has much more for our lives than to be just survivors. God not only wants us to be conquerors through him who loved us.
Romans 8:35, 37 (NKJV)
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
...
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
The broken state of the people and the broken state of the city walls were intimately connected because the hearts of the people were desperately broken. After all, fellowship with God was broken.
It is much easier to blame someone else for the condition of our home, family, or our nation. But like Nehemiah, now that we know the condition of our lives, family, and nation, what are we going to do about it?
We, as people, are all fully aware of the decline of our nation and how we have methodically removed ourselves from the protection of God by slowly removing him from the foundation and framework of our country by refusing to obey his statutes and commandments.
We have all willingly gone astray chasing our own desires, hoarding items to make sure we have what we need, searching for satisfaction, and security apart from God.
Just think what our lives or nation would be like if we were all rushing to turn back to God, standing in long lines waiting to hear from God, instead of desperately searching to see if the shelves have been stocked with supplies.
A city without walls and no foundation is completely open and vulnerable to enemies of doubt, wild animals of discouragement, varmints and rodents of defeat, and the most dangerous of all – deception from the bombardment of too much information at our fingertips.
Do you think it could ever get so bad that a person would try to capitalize on our current unrest to push their agenda onto an already broken and frazzled people and nation?
They had no defense, no protection at all. People, it is time to run straightway to God’s Word and his promises while we still can.
Judges 9:51 (NLT)
51 But there was a strong tower inside the town, and all the men and women--the entire population--fled to it. They barricaded themselves in and climbed up to the roof of the tower.
Those living in an unwalled city lived in constant stress and tension. No protection, but…
Proverbs 18:10 (NLT)
10 The name of the LORD is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.
They never knew when they might be attacked and brutalized. Every man lived in constant fear for his wife and children.
Psalm 61:3 (NLT)
3 for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.
The Temple could be rebuilt but never made beautiful because anything valuable would be taken easily.
As we get older with less time in front of us than behind us, our priorities begin to change. Personal wealth loses its value. There are two sides to a silver dollar. The shrinking US dollar is certainly one side, and the sobering reality that it does not bring happiness and fulfillment is the other side. Our purpose in life becomes priceless. Time becomes the most precious commodity.
We might think that a prominent man like Nehemiah had more important things to think about than a distant city he had never been to. But God had been providing and sending people that are called to a specific location for a long time. These missionaries have been known to sacrifice many things to answer the call – even one’s life.
Every headstone in a cemetery has a date of birth and a date of death. But what makes each one uniquely different is the little dash in between the two dates – it is called your life. What do you want to be remembered by in your life before it is too late? Because right now, it’s not too late to start.
Moving on to section two.
Section 2
Verse 4 A man with a God-sized problem
Nehemiah 1:4 (NLT)
4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.
You know, there are many things we need to take ownership of as men, husbands, fathers, women, wives, and mothers that are clearly our responsibility. It is wise to take inventory of our responsibilities based on the current conditions of the needs and the people in our lives.
But then, in the midst of life, we are faced with a God-sized problem that belongs to God and God alone. And unless God intervenes or empowers us, we don’t stand a chance or even know where to start. For a time, we default to just surviving, just scratching and clawing, fending four ourselves, and just trying to get through it until we acknowledge we cannot take another breath unless God helps us.
Let’s read verse 4 again.
Nehemiah 1:4 (NLT)
4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.
When I said those words, when I heard this… what God-sized problem did you think of at that moment? When I said, I sat down and wept… what drives you to tears that only God can resolve and causes you to be weak in the knees? When we read, in fact, for days I mourned… for days, weeks, months, what has consumed your thoughts to where you have just been trying to survive?
Fasted and prayed to the God of heaven… Fasting and prayer are talked about, but mistakenly known as the double-barrel desperation method to get our immediate answer from God, rather than truly searching and seeking what is God’s specific will in a matter by taking our eyes off the things of this world, by depriving ourselves and focus our thoughts on God’s will for a designated time.
Section 3
Verses 5-7 A man driven to pray
Nehemiah 1:5 (NLT)
5 Then I said, “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands,
Let’s take a look at Nehemiah’s powerful model of prayer. First, we have adoration – acknowledging God’s character and attributes… the great and awesome God. Adoration directly to God also reminds us who we are speaking to, who he IS, and who we are.
Nehemiah 1:6 (NLT)
6 listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned!
Pleading desperately with true humility, accepting full responsibility. Confession is agreeing with God, not blaming God, or trying to justify our sinful actions.
There is a real need for specific confession to God. Corporate confession (as a nation), family confession (as a church or church family), and personal confession (as an individual). Please don’t miss this… God already knows about our sin, but he wants us to agree with him about our sin. (Remember, the first step to any kind of recovery program is admitting you have a problem.)
Nehemiah 1:7 (NLT)
7 We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.
A). Commands = ordinances and precepts
B). Decrees = the decrees of God are his eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose given to us
C). Regulations = favorable or unfavorable divine given law issued to individuals or collectively
Deuteronomy 6:1-5 (NLT)
1 (Moses speaking) “These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy,
2 and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the LORD your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life.
3 Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 “Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.
5 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
The Shema.
Section 4
Verses 8-9 A man clinging to God’s promises
This is a powerful way to come to God, asking him to remember his promises, but you need to know and be familiar with God’s promises yourself to be able to cling to them.
The Psalmist said, how can a young man keep his way pure? By taking heed according to your Word. Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Nehemiah 1:8 (NLT)
8 “Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations.
This is a promise we might struggle with. But all of God’s promises are yes and amen – this is a promise that God kept … ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations.
But the next verse is a promise of hope, and God will make good and is in the process of making good right now in the text.
Nehemiah 1:9 (NLT)
9 But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’
When we ask God to remember his promises, I do not think that he has forgotten them. I do not think that it helps God to remind him of his promises. But it sure helps us and truly increases our faith.
Nehemiah 1:10 (NLT)
10 “The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants.
I really love this next verse.
Psalm 81:10 (NLT)
10 For it was I, the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.
Promises. Songs. Protection. Hope. Joy. Victory. Every promise of God restores hope, gives us the strength we need for the moment and the faith we need to do more than just survive.
Section 5
Verse 11 A man ready to do something with a petition to God
Nehemiah 1:11 (NLT)
11 O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.†In those days I was the king’s cup-bearer.
Nehemiah was going to do something about the sorry state of Jerusalem’s walls and the sorry state of the people, because of the burden God had put on his heart, not for any other reason. But he also knows without God’s intervention; he can do nothing. This was a God-sized problem that requires a God-sized answer.
This prayer request came with the heart and plan – not criticism from an armchair quarterback. Take note, this is a humble, genuine petition in prayer with no complaints or asking God to make it better, or even sending someone else – only his plea to God… use me to be a part of the answer.
The answer for the nation then and for us as a nation now is to desperately turn back to God before it’s too late.
Let’s begin to close with a powerful promise from God.
Proverbs 21:1 (NLT)
1 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the LORD; he guides it wherever he pleases.
According to this verse, God is totally in control of our nation. He can guide the heart of a king or our current president or our new president wherever he chooses.
Next week, we will see the results of Nehemiah’s prayer, kicking off an incredible construction project where God will provide the funds, the materials, the schedule, and the leaders to prepare the way for rebuilding the walls and make ready for a spiritual revival of the people through Ezra the prophet.
We will review the God-given tools that Nehemiah had to work with in Chapter 2, that are essential for leadership to oversee a God-sized project. Tools like passion, permission, miraculous provision, God’s given protection, following God’s plan, relying on God’s favor and power, and perseverance.
Let me end with two quotes.
Alan Redpath:
“Recognition of need must be followed by earnest, persistent waiting upon God until the overwhelming sense of world need becomes a specific burden in my soul for one particular piece of work which God would have me do.â€
Charles Spurgeon:
“Laying the matter to heart, (speaking of Nehemiah) he did not begin to speak with other people about what they would do, nor did he draw up a wonderful scheme about what might be done if so many thousand people joined in the enterprise; but it occurred to him that he would do something himself.â€