Have you ever looked at the great Christian leaders of our time and wondered what it was that gave them their success? Were they just natural leaders? Had they worked hard at their studies of management and leadership as so many young leaders today are taught to do? Or were they perhaps just the right person at the right time? What about you? What would make you a good leader?
Well, today we launch into a study of the life of Nehemiah, one of the great leaders of Israel at a very difficult time in their history. And what we find today is that much of Nehemiah’s success goes back to the fact that he was a prayerful man. Today we’re going to think about the prayer that opens the book, that introduces us to him and sets the scene for what will follow. But first, a little bit of history. Israel split into two separate nations following the death of Solomon. The 10 northern tribes called themselves Israel while the people of the south became known as Judah. And, basically, things went from bad to worse from that moment on. There were occasionally good kings in each half of the country but mostly they varied from bad to rotten as they led the people to worship idols. So God sent his prophets to call them back to obeying him. He warned them of the danger they were walking into by ignoring him. He warned them that he’d exile them from the land if they persisted. But, sadly, they took no notice and so finally God acted. First, in 722 BC, the northern kingdom was overrun by Assyria and the entire population was taken away. They were replaced by foreigners who eventually became the Samaritans of Jesus’ day. Then in 586 BC Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians and this time the people were taken to exile in Babylon. A little under 50 years later the Persian king Cyrus overran Babylon.
Now Cyrus is significant because one of his policies was to return exiles to their country of origin. I guess he thought that would ensure his popularity. In any case he gave the Jews the opportunity of returning to Jerusalem, which some of them took up. They returned and began to rebuild the Temple. They also began the work of restoring the walls of Jerusalem in the face of much opposition from the surrounding tribes.
Meanwhile back in Babylon some of the Jews opted to move to Susa with the conquering armies. And, no doubt, as with Daniel and his 3 friends, the smartest of these would have been chosen by the king to be trained up as palace officials. Now, some 100 years later, Nehemiah is another of these young Jewish men raised to a position of some influence in the palace.
Here he is, the cupbearer to the king; a position of both influence and danger. He was the Persian equivalent of the Secret Service Agent who protects the President with his life. His job was to pour the wine and then taste it before handing it to the king. If someone had got to it and put poison in it, he’d be the one to die. Who want’s that job!?
On the positive side though, it meant that the king knew him and trusted him. He would have been chosen for his reliability, for his quick wits, for his initiative and probably for his grasp of palace politics. And he was always there so they would have built up a certain relationship over time that would come in handy in the weeks to come.
So that’s the scene: Nehemiah is one of the Jews in exile serving in a position of influence in the royal court. And as we’ll see in a moment he’s been well taught as a Jew. He knows his Scriptures and he longs for the day when he can see Jerusalem for himself.
Then one day he has a visitor.
The visitor is Hanani, described as one of his brothers, though brother here may simply mean countryman or possibly cousin.
He’s come from Judah and so Nehemiah eagerly asks him for news of Jerusalem. Like most Jews in exile Nehemiah longs for the day when he can return to the city of God.
But the news isn’t what he’s hoping for. Those Jews remaining in Jerusalem are in great trouble. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been destroyed by fire. You can imagine the few exiles who returned under Cyrus and those who’d never been taken into exile trying to rebuild the walls. But the surrounding tribes were worried about Jerusalem becoming a powerful city again so they’ve attacked it and knocked down the walls before they can be finished. They’ve burnt the gates leaving Jerusalem in the same state that the armies of Babylon had left it in.
This is one of those moments when you ask “Why?” “Why hasn’t God answered our prayers?” The Jews had been praying for years for God to return them to Jerusalem, to restore the fortunes of Zion and nothing has happened. I’m sure you’ve experienced that sort of frustration, wondering how long it would take for God to act, to answer your prayers. God’s timetable isn’t always our timetable and his plans aren’t always our plans. So sometimes we have to continue to wait patiently for the Lord to answer.
But that doesn’t make it any easier. This news hits Nehemiah hard. He’s thrown into a deep depression. He sits down and weeps. He mourns for days. He fasts and he prays to God.
It’s interesting, isn’t it, that for most of us it’s easier to pray when we’re upset or afraid or concerned about something; when we feel like we’ve lost control and the only one who can help us is God himself. At those moments our prayers become very focussed, very passionate. That’s quite natural. It’s those times when we realise our utter dependence on God that make us turn to him for help. But what about the other times, when we’re in control, when everything is going well? Do we continue to turn to him for help in those times? Someone once suggested that those are the times we most need to pray. Those are the times when we need to remind ourselves that even then we’re totally dependent on God for our well-being, for guidance, for wisdom.
Now here’s another interesting thing. There are nine of Nehemiah’s prayers recorded in this book but not this one. We’re not told what he prayed over those days of fasting, though perhaps we could hazard a guess. No doubt he’s praying for wisdom to know what to do about this ongoing situation in Jerusalem. You can tell that from the content of the prayer he prays at the end of this period of fasting and prayer.
One of the things about prayer is that it isn’t just a one way conversation. It isn’t just us speaking to ourselves. We don’t do it just so we feel better about things, as one Anglican Priest once suggested to me. No, as we pray God communicates with us. He may put a thought into our mind that shows us our next step. He may bring a bible verse to mind that reassures us of his care for us. He may lead us to think of someone who needs our care or who needs us to speak to them about Jesus.
So here, as Nehemiah prays, God seems to speak to him. In fact by the time he’s finished he seems to have formulated a plan, a plan that you’ll discover next week if you’re here.
But I’m jumping ahead of myself. After spending days in fasting and prayer, Nehemiah finally puts his words together and mouths the prayer we have in the passage before us. And what a model of prayer it is!
Notice how he begins. If you’re going to pray it’s good if you know who you’re praying to, doesn’t it? I think there are some people who just pray to whoever might be out there listening at the time; to some amorphous god that they believe must exist even if they don’t know who he is. But not Nehemiah. He knows this God and what he knows about him gives him great confidence.
See how he begins: “5O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God”. What he’s about to ask isn’t going to be easy. It requires a powerful God to change world events; to shape the minds of pagan kings to his plans. But our God is the God of the universe, the one who made the earth and moon and stars.
But not only do you need a powerful God you need one who cares about you, who you know will answer your prayers. Do you see what he prays next? “The great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.” This is the God who rescued his people from slavery; who parted the Red Sea; who fed them for 40 years in the wilderness, even though they rebelled against him; who brought them into the land that he’d promised to Abraham and his descendants forever.
I wonder if there are some here today who struggle with asking God for help. Do you sometimes wonder whether you deserve God’s help? Do you wonder whether you’re good enough to receive his attention? After all he does say he “keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.” Who of us can claim that we’ve kept his commandments? That of course is where the gospel comes in. This is what we saw when we studied 1 John a few months back. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We can have confidence in asking him for help because he promises to forgive us when we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.
And that’s exactly what Nehemiah does here. He confesses the sins of his people. He says: “Both I and my family have sinned. 7We have offended you deeply, failing to keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that you commanded your servant Moses.” God’s judgement on his people was totally just. They’d ignored him, disobeyed his commands repeatedly, worshipped false gods, allowed injustice to flourish and they’d got just what they deserved. So now he prays as their representative, confessing their corporate sin, asking for God’s mercy on the whole nation.
That’s something that’s quite foreign to our modern mindset isn’t it? We’re so individualistic that we can’t imagine praying on behalf of the nation or even of our church. We might get the vestry together to pray for the church, to ask forgiveness for something we’ve done wrong, but we wouldn’t think of taking the responsibility on ourselves. Yet there’s a sense in which every member of the church is responsible for the decisions that we make as a church. Even if you’re not a member of vestry you still have a responsibility to make sure your vestry is making wise and godly decisions. If you don’t think they are you should raise the question with me or the wardens, or speak up at the annual general meeting. And pray for the leadership of the church, that they’ll make wise and godly decisions.
Well Nehemiah asks for forgiveness on behalf of the nation then he pleads with God for help. But notice the basis on which he pleads. This man knows his scriptures well. He quotes the word of God from Deut 28 & 30. There God warned what would happen if they were unfaithful but also promised to forgive them if they repented and returned to him and to bring them back to Jerusalem.
As Nehemiah pleads with God he reminds him that these are his chosen people, his servants. This is the nation that God redeemed from Egypt with his powerful hand. What he’s saying is that his concern is as much for God’s glory, for God’s eternal plan, as it is for his own desire to return to Jerusalem. That’s an important reminder for us isn’t it? Jesus said if we ask anything in his name he would grant our request. But to ask in Jesus name implies we’re asking for his sake not just our own. This isn’t a blank cheque that Jesus has given us with no conditions attached. If we ask in his name his character is attached to the request. And so it is here. Nehemiah asks because he wants to see God’s people raised up again for the glory of God.
And finally he makes his big request. This is the culmination of all those days of prayer and fasting and at first it seems so trivial: “Give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man!” This man being Artaxerxes, the Persian emperor of course. It seems such a huge build up for such a small request.
But what’s been going through his mind in all these days of fasting and prayer? You can imagine him coming up with all sorts of requests about Jerusalem. Destroy our enemies. Help the Jews there to withstand their opposition. Raise up a leader for them, someone to help them fight their battles. But in the end it comes down to this. Nehemiah has perhaps come to realise that God is raising up a leader for the people. The degree of passion he feels is in fact part of the call of God to serve him, to be the one who goes. That’s often the way it works isn’t it? And so as he’s prayed and meditated he’s come up with a plan. All it needs is for the Emperor to be favourable towards him.
So he asks for the one strategic element that will ensure him success. He prays that he would receive mercy in the sight of the Emperor.
I said that Nehemiah was probably chosen for his position at court for his reliability, for his quick wits, for his initiative and probably for his grasp of palace politics but what we see here is that he also had a deep spiritual maturity. A maturity perhaps brought on by the situation he finds himself in. Often people rise to maturity as they face a challenge. But it’s a maturity built on a clear knowledge of God and his word and a deep trust that he will keep his promises. And it’s a maturity that shows itself as he turns to prayer as the foundation for his future action.
We’ll hear more about Nehemiah and his mission to rebuild Jerusalem over the next few weeks, but for now the lesson we need to learn from Nehemiah is that prayer is the first step in any godly enterprise. Prayer that recognises the greatness and power of God, that acknowledges our own unworthiness and that trusts God to keep the promises he’s made to his people.
