I Was The Kings Cupbearer

I Was the Kings CupBearer

Neh 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,

2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:

6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.

7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.

8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:

9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence,and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.

11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.

Let others exist is abject apathy, let others live within the constricting confines of complacency, let others ruin in shallow religiosity there are those among us tonight who will not with hold our praise

-hand claps - dance -shout -testimony -our voice

for something got a hold of us and changed us we are different because of his doings and works in our life

the experiences we have had with god are real enough that we know we must lift our voice we must arise from our seat of security our couch of carelessness and our lounge of laziness

For forty years a carnal and corrupted and calloused king never concerned himself with the presence of God, but no sooner had David been coronated until he’s trading in his scepter for a sword shouting, "Where is the ark of God?"

A calling from god will change a sheep herder into a king of a nation

I see Mordecai anxiously pacing the floor before the young and beautiful queen saying, "Don’t think you’ll escape Esther when Hamaan unsheaths the sword of slaughter. It’s time for you to do something. And who knows if you have not been brought to the kingdom for such a time as this."

No Esther not because of your talents or traits but because of gods call.

The call of god will change a common young teenage girl into a queen

Whether it was by casual conversation or an expedited dispatch, the message came to Nehemiah that walls and the city of Jerusalem laid in ruins.

When the king noticed the distress of his heart and inquired, Nehemiah had no other perogative but to answer-

Neh 2:3

…why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

Despite the very real possibility of young nehimiah at least losing his notable position and at worst losing his life he made known unto the king his burden

Is there anyone here tonight…

…whose countenance is saddened when the baptismal waters are untroubled?

…whose heart becomes heavy when the altars are barren?

…whose spirit is troubled when they see the spiritual decay in your city?

…whose soul is smitten when you witness the reproach of sin that has imprisoned today’s society.

….who are absolutely eaten up with concern when services are dead dullo and boring…