May 6, 2025 - Nehemiah 1-3

It is reported that Nehemiah was concerned about the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem, and he asked, of some who had returned, about the status of the people in Jerusalem.  He heard this:   “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” (1:3).  A good reminder that, though the sons and daughters of God, we live in a fallen world in which we suffer many of the same ills as all others.  But the story of Nehemiah also reminds us that God takes notice of his people’s difficulties.  Nehemiah tells us, “As soon as I heard these words [about the status of Jerusalem] I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven” (1:4).  And to that same God, Nehemiah prayed, “confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you” (1:6).  God heard, and he, through King Cyrus of Persia, worked to bring Nehemiah to Jerusalem where he restored the walls of the city and restored the people’s hope.  When God’s people confess their sins and turn away from them, pleading God’s help, he is gracious.

We have not known thee as we ought,

nor learned thy wisdom, grace and pow’r;

the things of earth have filled our thought,

and trifles of the passing hour.

Lord, give us light thy truth to see,

and make us wise in knowing thee.

We have not feared thee as we ought,

nor bowed beneath thine awesome eye,

nor guarded deed and word and thought,

remembering that God was nigh.

Lord, give us faith to know thee near,

and grant the grace of holy fear.   -- Thomas Benson Pollock (1889)