NEHEMIAH was a man of prayer; he was definite in his petitions; he knew what he wanted, he asked for it, and he got it, for he had to do with the “Lord God of heaven.”
When tidings of the low state of things at Jerusalem reached his ears, it drove him to God in confession and prayer, and it was there that he derived all the power for the service he was afterward called to.
“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” (Neh. 1:66Let 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. (Nehemiah 1:6)).
But if there is a time for prayer and humiliation, there is also a time for energy and action.
The dangers at the hand of man were great. The people of God themselves, through long years of listlessness and inactivity in the work of the Lord, had grown accustomed to their low estate, and needed to be aroused to a sense of the responsibilities and possibilities of the hour.
The man who had just been linking himself in all sincerity with the sin of the whole people― “we have sinned”―now rises in the individuality of faith.
“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” (chap. 1:11).
Some have compared Ezra and Nehemiah, and have wondered why Nehemiah did not go up to Jerusalem at the first; they have thought, too, that there was a lack of faith in God inasmuch as Nehemiah asked letters and protection at the hands of the king (Neh. 2:5-105And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. 6And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. 7Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; 8And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. 9Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. 10When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. (Nehemiah 2:5‑10)), whereas Ezra refused the king’s help (Ezra 8:2222For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. (Ezra 8:22)). It is easy to sit at home in the ease and security of one’s own study and to judge others who are battling in the forefront with the passions and hate of evil men against them. There is a tendency in some minds of becoming more theoretical than practical, but such persons as a rule prefer the quieter and safer paths of service rather than those of bodily danger and possible martyrdom.
It would be difficult, in the Christian dispensation, to find one who understood practically what faith in God meant better than the apostle Paul, and yet we find him claiming the rights of Roman citizenship (Acts 22:25, 23:17, &c.).
Nehemiah, at any rate, gladly accepts the favor of the king as a direct answer to his prayer to the God of heaven.
“Grant him mercy in the sight of this man.... And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me” (chap. 1:11, 2:8).
Arrived at Jerusalem Nehemiah views with deep concern the broken walls, the charred gates, and waste spaces in the city. Neither the rulers, nor the priests, nor the nobles, not even Ezra appear to have known anything of the deep exercises of his soul. He had been alone with God about it all, but now had come the time to speak and to act.
We cannot but be struck with the grace, the wisdom, and the tact displayed by this man who had come “to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.” No words of harshness, of censure, nor of severity; no giving the impression of superior faithfulness on his part, and want of it on theirs―no, all was gracious association with them in the work, and encouragement to drooping spirits― “Come and let us build up the wall.”
Nehemiah links himself with them in their distress, and he links them with him in his service.
“Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work” (ver. 18).
How beautiful is all this! Nehemiah dwells upon the remarkable evidences of God’s hand in all the exercises through which he himself had passed. How doors had been opened, hearts touched, and his own path made clear.
All this was traced to its proper source in God.
His testimony instils fresh vigor into the hearts of his hearers, and he who a little while previously stood alone, now finds a band of willing helpers. “Come, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem” had been his earnest appeal, and now what joy must have filled his heart as he hears echoing back from all sides the response, “Let us rise up and build” (ver. 18) “So they strengthened their hands for this good work.”
Here was evidence of the finger of God, and a much-needed lesson may be learned by us all.
Some there are who are always finding fault, and ready to throw cold water upon everything that others may be seeking to accomplish.
They have no word of encouragement for any one, or anything. Nobody is exactly right, and nothing just as it should be. Doubtless they are perfectly right in so thinking, and quite sincere in so speaking, but it does not help anybody, neither, as a rule, are they themselves accomplishing much. If the salvation of the lost around them depended on them, few would be saved, as was once said in the writer’s hearing― “God pity the world if all the Christians in it were like―.” Thank God the salvation of the lost does not depend upon man at all, and yet there is such a thing in this connection as being “pure from the blood of all men” (Acts 20:2626Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. (Acts 20:26)). May the writer and the reader consider these things.
Certainly we are all liable to make mistakes, and we are not pleading for liberty so to do. It has been aptly said that the man who never makes a mistake is the man who never attempts anything. But a censorious, criticizing, and fault-finding style will only alienate the hearer, whereas an encouraging word in spite of his mistakes will open the way to his heart, and most likely incline him to listen to words of instruction.
No one likes to have their faults exposed in public. We have known of some who have been driven away from Bible-readings by the harsh words of others. Truly we need to earnestly contend for the faith, but an intolerant attitude towards one who may not have the same intelligence is much to be deplored. Some seem to think that they alone can possibly be right in all things, and have no patience with any who may be of a different opinion.
Brethren, let us “provoke one another unto love and good works.”
A. H. B.
(To be continued.)