I wonder do any of you keep a diary? Most of us may well have a diary to write down things that are coming up - keeping track of appointments and meetings and parties. But do any of us keep a diary, looking backwards? Perhaps you do. You take some time each day to write down what has happened, so that in the future you’ll be able to look back to the events of today. Or maybe you journal, keeping a book to write and think and pray in, perhaps to collect the Bible verses that have spoken to you each day.
The book that stands before us tonight is a bit like a diary, a bit like a journal, and a lot like a memoir. When I was growing up, I remember reading The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 133/4. But these days, it’s autobiography that is very popular. Rather than reading a biography, we want the autobiography - the person’s story in their own words. I heard recently on the radio that the motorbike racer Jonathan Rea is publishing his autobiography - at the age of 31. In the world of politics, the memoir is the big deal - where the person involved can tell their story. The title of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election campaign is very simple, but is what everyone wanted to know: ‘What Happened.’
The book of Nehemiah is his memoir, his telling of ‘What Happened.’ And as he begins his book, we come across some strange words and strange places. It’s the month of Kislev when the story starts - around November/December for us. And Nehemiah is in the citadel of Susa. Where’s that? And what’s he doing there?
Susa is in modern-day Iran, but in Nehemiah’s day, it was one of the cities of the Persian empire. So what is a Jew doing in Susa, in Persia? Nehemiah is far from home, in exile.
After Moses had brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, and they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, Joshua led them into the land. The judges ruled, then the kings - Saul, David, Solomon and so on. The kingdom of Israel split into two - the northern kingdom of Israel (centred on Samaria) and the southern kingdom of Judah (centred on Jerusalem). Israel fell first, to the Assyrians, and then Judah was conquered by the Babylonians. But later, the Babylonians were conquered by the Medes and the Persians. And so Nehemiah finds himself in Susa.
And the beginning of the story concerns an important day in Nehemiah’s life. It was a day he wouldn’t forget, indeed, he couldn’t forget it. His brother and some other men had arrived into Susa from Judah. And Nehemiah, who had never been to Jerusalem, wanted to know all about it, and the people who had returned there after the exile.
The answer to Nehemiah’s question brings a devastating report. We see it in verse 3: ‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.’
The city isn’t in great shape - the gates burned with fire, and the wall broken down. Think of the city wall that runs around Londonderry. Built for security and protection, the wall would be useless if its been broken down. But it’s not just the city that’s bad. It’s also the people. They’re in great trouble and disgrace. They’re back in the promised land, but it doesn’t sound promising for them.
So how does Nehemiah respond to this devastating report? We see his initial response in verse 4. ‘When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.’
Such is his concern for Jerusalem and its people, all he can do is weep. He cares for them. He loves them. And he is devastated to hear of their fallen condition - their great trouble and disgrace. In Nehemiah, we see a hint of another one who would weep for the people of Jerusalem - the very people who would soon cry out ‘Crucify!’ The Lord Jesus is full of compassion. But he didn’t just sit in heaven, thinking how terrible our situation was. He moved in action. And that’s what we’ll see Nehemiah do as his story unfolds.
In the meantime, though, the news was so devastating that Nehemiah tells us he mourned and fasted and prayed ‘for some days.’ He continued to think and pray about this one issue. He was focused on it. Perhaps you know someone who is persistent and consistent about the same issue every time you see them? For most of us, the news cycle moves on so quickly that we move on from the victims of this hurricane to whatever happens on Tuesday, or Thursday. But Nehemiah’s focus is on the people and the city. It’s all that occupies his thoughts and prayers.
And it leads him to formulate his settled response - this prayer that takes up the rest of the chapter. The prayer arises out of the devastating news, and Nehemiah wants to do something about it - but much more than that, he wants God to do something about it.
In verse 5, he is focused on who he is praying to. Who is God? ‘O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands...’
He’s speaking to the LORD - the capital letters LORD, the promise-making, promise-keeping God. The LORD is the God of heaven, who sits enthroned as sovereign over all. And he is great and awesome. And we get the reminder which LORD points to - he keeps his covenant of love...
It’s a good reminder, as we begin to pray, to think of who it is we are praying to. His name, his character, his power. Nehemiah knows his God, and is confident of his God.
In verse 6, he makes a request to the Lord. ‘Let your ears be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before day and night for your servants, the people of Israel.’ He’s asking God to hear his prayer - which he prays day and night. He’s persistent, just like the persistent widow in Jesus’ parable. He wants God to hear and answer his prayer.
And what is it he is praying? Before he asks for anything, he first of all confesses the sins of the people. We see the details in verse 7 - acting very wickedly towards God; not obeying God’s commands, decrees and laws. He’s confessing on behalf of the nation - but notice that he doesn’t just say, yeah, they’re all bad. He includes himself in the confession. He puts his own hands up and acknowledges his own sin, and that of his father’s house.
But, as John tells us - as we saw this morning, when we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Nehemiah confesses on behalf of his people, confessing the sins that have led them to be disgraced.
From confessing his sin, Nehemiah then moves on to reminding God of his promises. That’s in verse 8. He reminds God of what God had previously said through Moses - that unfaithfulness would lead to scattering and exile; but a return to God would bring a return to the promised land. And that promise was even for people at the farthest horizon - the place where Nehemiah probably felt he was. Far away. Distant.
Have you ever prayed God’s word back to him? God, you say in your word ... so please do it! But to be able to do that, we need to know what God’s word says. Nehemiah knew the promises, and prayed the promises.
Verse 10 also prays for God to help his people, because he has done it in the past. He’s reminding God that these people are his people - people he has redeemed (probably looking back to the Exodus). They belong to him, so he should act to help them.
In the last verse, he repeats the request for his prayer to be heard, for God’s ear to be attentive - not only to his prayer, but to all the prayers of all his servants who delight in revering his name. Nehemiah knows that he is not the only one praying.
But Nehemiah is the only one praying his last phrase. ‘Give your servant success today by granting him favour in the presence of his man.’ This is his prayer before he steps out of his room in the morning. He wants to be successful - but successful in God’s eyes - receiving favour (grace) in the presence of this man. And who is ‘this man’? Up to now, we don’t know. But the last line of the chapter lets us in on a secret. Nehemiah is cupbearer to the king, someone in close contact with the ruler of the whole Persian empire.
As powerful as the king surely is, Nehemiah goes to the higher authority, to the king of kings, asking for favour and success. His people are disgraced, he asks for grace. His people are far from God, he asks for return. And every day when he’s at work, he’s watching to see how God will answer his prayer.
In this chapter we get a glimpse of Nehemiah’s compassion, and his earnestness in prayer. Are we like that? What is it that you cry over? Do your prayers match your tears? Are you willing to confess your own failings? The glimpse of Nehemiah’s compassion and earnestness is eclipsed and surpassed by the glimpse of Nehemiah’s God - the God of the promises of covenant commitment; the God of compassion; the God of the second and third and thousandth chance; the God who hears our prayers. Do you know him tonight? You’ll get to know him as we take bread and wine, because he is the God who gave himself for us and offers himself to us.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 16th September 2018.
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