Nehemiah: Faith, Prayer, and Planning in God's Service. Neh. 2:1-8
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
We are working our way through the book of Nehemiah.
I have given some background in the last couple of sermons.
Unfortunately last week we had some technical difficulties and the audio did not record, but if you missed it and would like to catch up, I can get you a printed copy.
The Israelites have returned to the land after their exile.
Last week in chapter 1 we were introduced to our main character for this book, Nehemiah.
Nehemiah was a Jewish man,
with an important role in the Persian court.
He was a cupbearer to the king, an advisor.
He recieved a visit from is brother and some other men to whom he inquired, what was the state of the people, and of Jerusalem.
Their grim news punched Nehemiah in the gut.
The remnant was in great trouble and shame, and the wall was broken down, the gates destroyed by fire.
He was deeply saddened and driven to prayer.
Nehemiah’s prayer is one of desperate need.
We catch a glimpse in Nehemiah’s prayer to God that he knows what he needs to do, but we don’t see what that is until chapter 2 which we come to today.
1 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” 6 And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. 7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
Pray
We pick up our story today in the month of Nisan.
Nehemiah 2:1 (ESV)
1 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,
Still in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes reign, Nisan in our calendar would be March-April.
So approximately 4 months have passed since Nehemiah recieved the news about the state of Jerusalem and the people.
We are officially introduced to another character, King Artaxerxes.
Nehemiah, while being in an important position as the cupbearer to the king, was also in a difficult one.
He had no rights.
The kings of Persia were absolute rulers.
Their word was law.
Difficult is really an understatement.
Historians often describe the Persian kings as impossible at best and were often cruel.
We read now Nehemiah, after months of prayer and likely fasting as well, could no longer hide his sorrow from the king.
This was a dangerous thing.
Eastern monarchs were sheltered from anything that might bring them unhappiness
In the book of Esther, Mordecai learned of Haman’s plot against the Jewish people and was mourning.
In
2 He went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.
Mordecai could not be in the kings presence while mourning.
Here in chapter 2, we see
Be Determined Chapter Two: The Mountain Starts to Move (Nehemiah 2)
The king noticed that his cupbearer was carrying a burden. Had Artaxerxes been in a bad mood, he might have banished Nehemiah or even ordered him killed; but instead, the king inquired why his servant was so sad.
This is the first miraculous thing to happen in this chapter.
2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid.
The true gravity of this situation is expressed in the last sentence of this verse.
For one, this was the moment Nehemiah has been waiting for, praying for.
Nehemiah is trusting that the Lord has been at work in the King’s heart, but how will he respond?
Nehemiah, had been praying for this for 4 months.
4 months is a long time when you have a heavy burden weighing upon your heart.
Think with me for a moment, what is the longest you have prayed consistently for something?
A week, a month perhaps.
Maybe you have been praying for an extended period, years or more.
These burdens are in our lives, they are in our lives for just this purpose, to drive us to prayer.
To bring us into a more intimate relationship with the Lord.
Burdens are in our lives to cause us to seek the Lord!
Compared to other men in the Bible whom God used, four months was a pretty short wait.
Abraham waited over 25 years for God to give him Isaac.
(And also tried to accomplish the promise in his own strength along the way).
Joseph spent time as Potiphar’s slave and then two years in prison before God elevated him to second beneath Pharaoh.
Israel was enslaved for 400 years in Egypt.
Moses spent 40 years in the desert before God used him to bring Israel out of Egypt.
Then the nation spent 40 more years in the wilderness.
David spent his twenties running from King Saul.
Even Jesus did not begin his public earthly ministry until he was 30 years old.
Those whom God uses must learn to wait on Him.
One of the longest waits we see recorded is that of the Jewish people awaiting the messiah that God promised.
All of OT history is directing and pointing to that moment.
All the way back to the Garden of Eden when God tells Satan
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
The sad part for the many of the Jewish people though, is that they are still waiting.
They missed it.
Many, because of their sin, have missed Jesus, the Messiah that God promised.
Waiting is hard!
It seems like life is too short, anyway.
Time’s a wasting!
And then, God puts you on hold.
What do you do while you wait?
We see in this chapter, through Nehemiah’s conversation with the king that he was doing things while waiting.
What are you doing, while you are waiting?
Nehemiah helps us to see that we need to be actively waiting upon the Lord.
With the moment in front of him, Nehemiah speaks.
3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
He begins first with a few words of respect to the king.
May the king live forever shows respect and loyalty.
Nehemiah’s response that follows is one that is designed.
In order to know this we need to know a little bit about the culture.
Throughout the near east, the tombs of the dead were considered to be sacred.
Even today, we consider graves to be a sort of sacred place.
Nehemiah is giving a reason that the king could relate to as to why he is sad.
The city, the place of his fathers’ graves, lies in ruins.
He is being somewhat vague here, many commentators believe this to be because of the kings previous decree about Jerusalem.
In Ezra 4, this same king had ordered the rebuilding of the city to stop until he made a further decree.
This is a possibility of course, however there may be another explanation.
It is hard for me to believe that a man of such power, would know so little about the people who were so close to him and in a sense held his life in their hands.
It may not be vagueness, it may be knowledge the king already has.
We don’t know for sure.
We do know that the kings father, Xerxes was the one who married Esther.
And we know the influence that Esther had on the king.
Causing policies to change and be friendly towards the Jews.
History shows that Esther is Artaxerxes mother, but it is also possible that she had a significant influence in his life.
Which would explain why he has a Jewish man in such a high position in his court.
When Artaxerxes earlier decree was made, there was significant political unrest happening.
There was a revolt under way in Egypt threatening the country and his kingship.
To make that decree at that time was a significant political move on his part in a time of distress.
Now in this part of our story, that revolt had been finally squashed three years earlier.
Opening the door for rebuilding to happen once again.
If we even look back to his decree in Ezra 4, it was not one such that the city should never be rebuild again, but that it would not be rebuilt without his decree.
Nehemiah pushed through his fear, knowing what he was asking.
The kings response was surprisingly favorable.
Nehemiah 2:4 (ESV)
4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?”
Nehemiah then once again resorted to what he knew best, prayer.
“So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king….”
It had to be a silent, instantaneous cry of “Help, Lord!”
Or, “Lord, give me wisdom now!”
Perhaps you have prayed in this manner before.
A quick, Lord help me with what is before me!
This quick sentence prayer for Nehemiah though rested on four months of extended praying.
It shows that Nehemiah depended on the Lord in every situation.
As 2:8 shows, Nehemiah didn’t attribute the king’s favorable response to good luck.
Rather, “the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
As Proverbs 21:1
1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he turns it wherever he will.
Or, as Hudson Taylor a missionary and another great man of prayer said, “It is possible to move men through God by prayer alone”
The chapter shows that Nehemiah had been doing a lot of advance thinking and planning.
When the king asked how long he would be gone, Nehemiah didn’t vaguely say, “Well, that’s up to the Lord!”
He gave him a definite time.
While we later learn (5:14) that he was in Jerusalem for 12 years,
probably he finished the wall, then returned to report to Artaxerxes, and then came back to serve as governor.
Not only did Nehemiah give the king a definite time, he also laid out some definite requests that show that he had been doing some careful planning
Nehemiah 2:7–8 (ESV)
7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.”
He requested letters from the king to the governors of the provinces to allow him to pass through their territory.
He asked for a letter to the keeper of the king’s forest, to get timber for making repairs to the walls and gates, and for a house for himself.
Prayer and planning are not at odds with each other.
There are some Christians who think that it’s unspiritual to plan.
They will say, “Let’s just trust the Lord,” which being interpreted means, “I don’t have a clue about how we’re going to move from here to there!”
It’s true that we can go to the other extreme of being so elaborate in our plans that we trust the plans, not the Lord.
But Nehemiah shows the biblical balance of waiting on God in prayer, but also thinking and planning about what he would do when God opened the door.
Thus while you wait on the Lord, you pray, you develop patience, and you plan.
A quick example from my own life.
As I was considering God’s calling me to be a pastor, I had a period of waiting like this.
I prayed to the Lord seeking his direction.
I asked him for things to confirm what I was thinking and feeling.
But I did not just sit around a wait.
I began to meet with my pastor at the time.
I began with his help, to lead a Bible study.
I began to consider some options to get further training.
And when God gave me those confirmations that I had been asking, I had no doubts.
Not that it was not a somewhat frightening thing.
But I knew that God was at work.
Has the Lord laid a burden upon your heart of some way to serve him?
If so, I would encourage you now, write it down.
Take a note in your phone.
Begin to pray about it.
Pray fervently as Nehemiah did.
There are many different ways to serve our Lord.
Serving the Lord can be a deeply fulfilling way to express your faith.
Perhaps the Lord is laying it upon your heart to serve the church in some way.
Perhaps the Lord is laying it upon your heart to begin a ministry of some sort.
Do you have a passion for teaching?
Do you have musical talents?
Do you see a need in our community?
There are numerous ways to serve the Lord!
Nehemiah's story is not just a historical account but a powerful lesson for us today.
As we've journeyed through the beginning of this chapter, we've seen how Nehemiah's faith, prayer, and planning intersected in a remarkable way.
These principles remain relevant and applicable to our lives as believers seeking to serve the Lord in various capacities.
We must keep in mind that Nehemiah’s goal was first to secure Jerusalem, but it was not his end goal.
Nehemiah’s end goal was the restoration of the people in their relationship with God.
Nehemiah’s faith encourages us to wait upon the Lord for His timing.
Nehemiah teaches us about the importance of prayer.
His four months of fervent prayer demonstrate that patience and persistence in seeking God's guidance are essential.
In our fast-paced world, waiting on the Lord can be challenging, but Nehemiah reminds us that waiting is an opportunity to deepen our relationship with God.
Through prayer, we can align our desires with His will and trust that He will open doors at the right time.
Nehemiah's courage in approaching King Artaxerxes serves as a reminder that God can work through unlikely circumstances and people.
Despite the risks involved, Nehemiah boldly presented his request to the king.
Nehemiah's faith in God's sovereignty emboldened him to take action.
Nehemiah's careful planning highlights the importance of how we connect faith with practicality.
God can, and does do amazing things, but he also gives us brains for a reason and expects us to use them.
While we rely on God for guidance, we should also prepare and plan for the tasks He calls us to.
As we step out in faith, it's crucial to have a clear vision and a strategy in place.
Nehemiah's specific requests to the king demonstrate that he had thought through the details,
showing us the importance of preparation in serving the Lord effectively.
As we consider Nehemiah's example, think about the burdens and callings the Lord has placed on your heart.
Whether it's a ministry within the church, a community outreach, or a personal mission, remember that God's timing is perfect.
Be patient in prayer, trusting that He will guide you and open doors when the time is right.
Like Nehemiah, don't be afraid to approach seemingly insurmountable challenges.
God can use you in unexpected ways to accomplish His purposes.
Seek His wisdom and courage as you step out in faith.
Planning is not a sign of lack of faith but a practical step of obedience.
As we continue in the book we will see that Nehemiah's combination of prayer and planning led to the successful rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls.
Similarly, as you pursue your God-given goals, be diligent in your preparations, trusting that God will bless your efforts.
Nehemiah's story is a testament to the power of faith, prayer, and planning.
His journey from a cupbearer in a foreign court to the leader of a rebuilding project in Jerusalem
teaches us that God can use ordinary individuals to accomplish extraordinary things.
Let Nehemiah's example inspire you to seek God's guidance,
step out in faith,
and diligently plan as you serve the Lord in your unique calling.
As you do so, may you experience the fulfillment and joy that come from partnering with God in His work.
In your own life, may you find the balance between faith, prayer, and planning, trusting that God is with you every step of the way.