A Man with a Broken Heart
Nehemiah 1:1-11
Rodeo Road Baptist Church
August 24, 2014
Disclaimer: Each sermon in this series on Nehemiah was written with both commentary help and referencing from time to time information from sermons and illustration found on Sermon Central. In most cases I tried to be faithful in giving credit to the author but I acknowledge that I was not consistent in that endeavor. So any similarity to other older posted sermons on this web site are due in part to the quality of their work and the timelessness of the truth they shared originally. There was no intentional intent to use without credit any material in these sermons that were first delivered by other pastors.
Introduction
Nehemiah lived in the royal city of Susa, the winter residence of Artaxerxes, the Persian king. Judah, the homeland of Nehemiah, was a thousand miles away.
Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king. He was more than a “butler”. A cupbearer held a position of great responsibility. At each meal, he tested the king’s wine and food to make sure it wasn’t poisoned. If he died, then the king wouldn’t. Doesn’t sound like a great job. But think. A man who stood that close to the king in public had to be handsome, cultured, knowledgeable, and able to advise the king when asked. Because he had access to the king, the cupbearer was a man of great influence. The cupbearer was rather like a prime minister and master of ceremonies rolled into one.
Does Anybody Really Care? by Christian Cheong
Ever had this experience? You are excited about being a Christian and living for God, and then something happen and everything changes.
I. Is there anything broken in your life?
Nehemiah 1:3 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."
What is it that is broken in your life - something that needs to be rebuilt? Everybody has something that is broken.
Now, these walls were literal walls in that day. Because, you see, walls are also symbolical. Walls, in the Bible, and especially around the city of Jerusalem, had a symbolic meaning. They spoke of the glory of God; they spoke of the salvation of God; they spoke of the protection of God over His people. And, the walls had fallen.
Now, what does this mean to us today? We too are called to rebuild some walls that are in decay. And, I want you to think with me, for a moment, about some walls today that have fallen to the ground, some walls that are in disarray.
1. Historical Walls – a nation in crisis – foundational worldviews are in shambles
2. Relational Walls – Family, Race (Fergusson, MO), Neighborhoods, etc. – emotionally isolated from God and each other
3. Moral Walls – Drugs, Sex, Violence, etc. – self-centeredness is weakening the core values of our culture and society.
4. Christian Walls – the church rather than being at the center of the community is now on the fringe and is badly in need of repair because of compromise and loss of mission
The most hopeless people in the world are people who recognize that they have a problem, but have no vision from God about how to solve with that problem.
Where there is no vision, the people perish… Proverbs 29:18
Illustration – ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: Some have been fun. Some have really been more about the person than the cause, my 5 minutes of fame; some have been funny, President and Laura Bush; some like Dave Ramsey have combined personal stories with some fun; others have been very sober because they have told the story of the real heartbreak of ALS.
We live in an America where there are broken walls
II. But what breaks your heart?
Nehemiah 1:4 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.
Have you ever had such experience? You are bothered by something, so much that you couldn’t sleep, you couldn’t eat, or you just sit there and cry?
Nehemiah was concerned about the welfare of his people, no doubt about that. But more than that, in his prayer we sense something bigger than these. It wasn’t just a social concern, it wasn’t just a physical concern; it was a spiritual concern.
Matthew 23:37“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.”
A heart-broken little girl began to kneel and pour out her heart to God in the altar at her local church. She did not know what to say. As she wept speechless, she began to remember what her Father had told her, "God knows your needs even before you pray, and he can answer when you don’t even know for what to ask." So she began to say her alphabet. A concerned adult from that church knelt beside her and heard her sobbing and saying her ABC’s and inquired what exactly she was trying to do. The little girl told this caring adult, "I’m praying to God from my heart." But the adult answered, "It sounds to me more like your are saying the alphabet!"
"Yes," she said, "But God knows more about what I need than I do, and he can take all these letters and arrange them in just the right way to hear and answer my prayers!"
III. Who Do You Turn to When the Burden is Bigger than You?
From Kislev (November-December) to Nisan (March-April) is over a hundred days, more than three months, perhaps more than four. For at least three months, then, Nehemiah and his friends waited on God, asking each day that God would act today.
This is the first of 12 instances of prayer recorded in this book. This book opens and closes with prayer. You would see through this book that prayer was a habit for him. He unburdens his heart to God! He was a man of faith who depended wholly on God to help him. He succeeded because he prayed.
Abraham Lincoln says, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of those about me seemed insufficient for the day.”
Many commentators have seen parallels in the prayer with the Lord’s Prayer
He begins with Praise of the nature & character of God
Nehemiah 1:5 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,
He continues with a Petition to the God who is personal not a theological concept
Nehemiah 1:6 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,
He acknowledges sin in his life and his peoples lives in Confession
confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned.
Nehemiah 1:7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.
His prayer is based upon the Promises of God and speaks with humble boldness
Nehemiah 1:8-10 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.' They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
He closes his prayer with another Request that reflects his heart and the heart of his fellow Jews
Nehemiah 1:11 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." Now I was cupbearer to the king.
Conclusion
Joe Wright is the pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita, KS. On January 23, 1996, He was asked to be the guest chaplain for the Kansas State House in Topeka. He prayed a prayer of repentance that was written by Bob Russell, pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. According to an article in the Kansas City Star from January 24, 1996, his prayer stirred controversy, and one member of the legislative body walked out. Others criticized the prayer.
"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that:
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multi-culturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it a choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the airwaves with profanity and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state. Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your
will... Amen
