“The Effective Prayers Of A
Righteous Man” • 12.2.18 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
Text
• Nehemiah
1:1,2 : "The words of Nehemiah the
son of Hachaliah. It
came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in
Shushan the citadel, that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I
asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity,
and concerning Jerusalem." : It is
December as the book of Nehemiah opens, in the twentieth year of King
Artaxerxes' reign in Persia. Nehemiah is a Jewish man who was born in
captivity.
- He has only known experientially, the land of
Babylon Persia. Shushan or Susa was the winter city for Artaxerxes and the
"citadel" was his winter palace. This is where we find God's man.
- Like many other Jewish people that we have
come to know, Mordecai, Esther, Daniel, etc., Nehemiah has risen to a great
place of service for the King.
- Nehemiah, we'll find, was the King's
Cupbearer, a position we'll describe when we come to it in verse 11. He is not the only member of his
family that is serving the King.
- Nehemiah's brother Hanani or Hananiah, the
man that is entering the story now, was the leader of the citadel according to Nehemiah 7:2.
- On this particular day, Hanani has returned from
an official visit to Jerusalem and Nehemiah's interest is immediately upon the
welfare of his brethren. Notice how he describes them.
- They had "escaped." Nehemiah didn't
know anything beside palace life. He had never lived in Jerusalem, but he knew
that Babylon Persia was a prison for the people of God.
- Those that had gone back to Jerusalem were
free to live before the Lord, to fulfill their purpose on the Earth in God's
land.
- Nehemiah is living among the rich, well taken
care of and a person of some significance. Yet, his heart is pointed in the
direction of home and the welfare of those that survived captivity!
- More than anything, he wants to hear a report
concerning the city of Jerusalem. Every indication points to the fact that he
believed he was about to hear a good report.
- He is serving the same King that sent Ezra
back to Jersualem thirteen years prior to this. Certainly, things have gone
well. To his surprise, Hanani's words were far from good. Verse 3.
• Nehemiah
1:3,4 : "And they said to me, 'The survivors who are left from the
captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of
Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.' So it was, when I heard these
words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and
praying before the God of heaven." : Hanani's
group gave a grim report of the state of Jerusalem. The people were in
"great distress and reproach."
- The NET says that they were dealing with
"considerable adversity." They were mired in misfortune and were
victims of "reproach." They were treated shamefully.
- They were living under the difficulty of
scorn, being taunted by their enemies. This was made even more distressing by
their lack of safety.
- The wall of Jerusalem had been breached and the
gates of the city stood as charred remains. Why had this been so? I'd encourage
you to revisit Ezra 4 if you need a
refresher.
- Israel's enemies had sent a letter to
Artaxerxes to sound the alarm about the building of the wall and what it would
mean to the King in lost revenue.
- In Ezra
4:21, the King put an official stop to the labor that had begun and some
years later, the walls had laid in the state that Babylon had left them. Why
are city walls so important?
- Walls represent safety from the outside and
the ability to remain separated from it. In essence, the people of God were
exposed to the elements and unable to truly be God's people.
- How would you have responded to this? You
live 900 miles away and are living in one of the most formidable countries on
Earth. Nehemiah's response is one of utter devastation!
- He slumped down onto a chair and wept, a word
synonymous with "wailing" and he "mourned" as if a near
relative had passed away suddenly!
- For the next several days, Nehemiah sought
the Lord in prayer and fasting. His grief over the land of Judah was
overwhelming him.
- It's interesting that this was the response
of a man that didn't live there. Why hadn't this been the response of those
actually living there?
- Had they become accustomed to living this
way, merely making their way between new negative lowpoints? Had they just
accepted their "lot" in life?
- You hear of their distress and reproach, but
not a cry out to God for a change!
- Because there wasn't this kind of outcry in
Jerusalem, God raised up a man 900 miles away that would match His heart for
His land and for His people!
- We can't really expect to be used until God
moves our hearts to respond in the same way that He does to what He sees!
Nehemiah is on the cusp of that and goes to prayer. Verse 5.
•
Nehemiah 1:5-11 : "And I said: 'I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome
God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe
Your commandments," : As Nehemiah begins his
prayer, he reminds himself of who he is praying to. He is making his call to
the Lord, the God of heaven!
-
You and I have this same privilege! The Psalmist wrote that when his heart was
overwhelmed, he should be led to the Rock that was higher than he was! (Psalm 61:2)
-
Are you in over your head? Are you wondering where your help comes from? That's
your cue to go to prayer!
-
Keep in mind that he has been in the King's palace for a prolonged period of time.
He knows great men and serves the greatest King on earth. But that King has
failed to deliver a proper Israel.
-
He turns his attention to the Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome or fear
inspiring God! That is who we pray to!
-
How often are we more intimidated by our present need than we are impressed by
the God that can meet it? The God that you serve is the Lord of heaven, the
great and terror inducing God!
-
That is who He is, but what does He do? What is His chief characteristic?
Listen again.
-
This is the God that keeps His promises, who is faithful to His Word! The one
piece of information makes the other possible.
-
Because of who He is, great and awesome, we can bank on His doing what He has
always done! He has the power to keep His promise in spite of the circumstance!
-
He keeps His promise and dispenses His mercy to those that love and observe His
commandments. When God calls you to godliness, He doesn't leave you without Himself.
-
He will provide for and bless your way with His mercy! Note Nehemiah's request.
Verse 6.
•
Nehemiah 1:6-9 : "please let Your ear be attentive
and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray
before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and
confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You.
Both my father’s house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly
against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the
ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. Remember, I pray, the word that You
commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter
you among the nations; but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them,
though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I
will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as
a dwelling for My name.’" : Notice that Nehemiah's
prayer wasn't a one time event. He kept asking for God's attention, praying for
his brethren day and night.
-
He was as present and persistent in prayer as he was passionate! He kept
confessing their sin, which had been committed against the Lord.
-
There was an acknowledgment of Israel's sin, which Nehemiah included himself
in! Can you think of a leader that ever felt himself worthy to lead God's
people?
-
Nehemiah admits that they, including Him, had sinned terribly by not keeping
God's laws.
-
Even if they had been better than their counterparts, Nehemiah is conscious of
how little he had advanced. This is what happens when the Lord impresses
Himself upon a believer.
-
They lose all sense of self-righteousness! Like Isaiah, they know that they are
persons of unclean lips!
•
"The nearer a man lives to God, the
more intensely has he to mourn over his own evil heart!" Charles
Spurgeon
•
"It appears to me that were it not
for free grace, exalted and raised up to the infinite height of all the fullness
and glory of the great Jehovah, and the arm of his power and grace stretched
forth in all the majesty of his power and in all the glory of His sovereignty,
I should appear sunk down in my sins below hell itself!" Jonathan
Edwards
-
It's strange, but often people believe that upon that reflection, they consider
themselves unworthy to utter another phrase and consequently stop their
prayers. That isn't the point!
-
It's BECAUSE of our helpless condition that we reach out to the One that is and
has always been our only help! Our recognition of our condition is the basis
which allows Nehemiah to be clear.
-
What he is about to ask has nothing to do with his own merit, his deserving to
be heard. He continues to request and bases his request on God's faithfulness
and the Word that He had spoken.
-
Nehemiah says, "Remember, you said this." God had promised the people
of Israel a punishment fitting the crime of forsaking Him. He would scatter
them among the nations.
-
They had experienced that reality. The majority that survived were living in
Babylon Persia, but there were other nations that they found themselves in.
-
God had held to His promise, but He had not forsaken His other promise. His
warning also came with a ray of hope. "If you return to me, I will gather
you and bring you back!"
-
Does this not signal the power of God's attention to us? He tells them that it
didn't matter where they were. "Some of you will be cast out to the
farthest heavens! Don't fear. I will find you!"
-
There isn't a place on earth or in the heavens where God cannot reach! There
isn't a depth too low or a corner too dark that He can't rescue you from!
-
In the case of the rebellious and subsequently repentant Jews, God would bring
them back to settle in their land, specifically in Jerusalem where God's Name
dwells! Verse 10.
•
Nehemiah 1:10,11 : "Now these are Your servants and
Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong
hand. O Lord, I
pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to
the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant
prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.' For I
was the king’s cupbearer." : Nehemiah
continues to lay out his case to the Lord. The Jewish people living in
Jerusalem were His servants that He redeemed! He is not saying this because God
has forgotten.
-
He is saying this because when God did this He assumed responsibility for them!
They aren't orphans. They belong to God!
-
The Jews were what they were by the power of His hand. Nehemiah is saying,
"You can't stop now! You must finish what You started!"
-
Nehemiah is asking the Lord to listen to his prayer, as well as all the ones
that were praying, who had a desire to fear His Name!
-
Nehemiah wasn't alone in praying and he wasn't resigned to that act alone. He
was already intent upon a plan of action. He would have to go before the King.
-
There is something to be said about a person who prays and sees themselves as
being willing to be the answer to it! "Oh Lord do something" should
be replaced by, "Lord, what can I do!"
-
God had laid a plan in His man's heart. Now he asks him to grant favor that he
might participate in it! This was the opportunity and the issue rolled up into
one.
-
Nehemiah was the King's cupbearer. At first glance, one might believe him to
simply be the one that brought the King's vintage to him, an important but
simple job.
-
The cupbearer would be the first to taste what went into the King's cup to
secure the King's life from assassination attempts. Some believe that he was a
butler, the King's house manager.
-
Others have mentioned however, that this title might mean much more. There was
once a man that we have studied called the "Rabshakeh" who worked for
the Assyrians.
-
You will recall that he was tasked with threatening King Hezekiah and leading
Assyrian's army to Judah's front door! It could be that Nehemiah was one of
these kind of chief officers!
-
In any event, he has a very integrated job that is not easily left for the
purpose that he is believing will be necessary.
-
What is most important however, is that in spite of his station in life,
Nehemiah now senses that the call of God is greater than his employment! He has
to follow God's call! Chapter 2.
• Nehemiah
2:1,2 : "And it came to pass in
the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was
before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been
sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said
to me, 'Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but
sorrow of heart.' So
I became dreadfully afraid," : About a
four month period of time has elapsed. Nehemiah has been repeatedly praying,
waiting for the right moment.
- Was it possible that Nehemiah had been
waiting for some right moment that kept alluding him? Was he out thinking
himself? God allowed the issue to be forced.
- In the middle of doing his job, the King
noticed his sour disposition. Many had been executed for less by other Persian
Kings. The King's court was always to be a place for cheer and joy.
- This is why Nehemiah fears multiplied! He
wasn't sure in that moment if he would live or die! It is time to address the
King! Verse 3.
•
Nehemiah 2:3-5 : " and said to the king, 'May the king live forever! Why should my
face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and
its gates are burned with fire?' Then the king said to me, 'What do you request?' So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, 'If it pleases the king, and if your
servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the
city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.'" : Nehemiah's response was quick. Can you hear his voice trembling
to get the words out?
-
"May the King live forever!" was a common way of addressing royalty,
even though it was not common to address royalty! Unless they addressed you,
you walked around silently in your service!
-
Nehemiah has served the King with distinction, but he has done so with the
state of his homeland ever present in his thoughts.
-
He can't keep out of his mind the fact that the tombs of Israel were desecrated
and that the gates were sitting open because of the fire that burned them.
-
Can you imagine the air flying out of that chamber? The music from the string
quartet has screeched to a halt. The jugglers have dropped their pins to the
floor. All eyes are on the King.
-
His next words could have been catastrophic, but by God's good grace, they end
up being compassionate and not necessarily what Nehemiah thought was coming!
"What do you request?"
-
When Artaxerxes asked for his request, Nehemiah quietly and quickly came before
the God of heaven! Whether it's three months or three seconds, prayer is the
right response!
-
God has given the opportunity and now gives Nehemiah the words in the moment of
need.
-
He asked Artaxerxes to send him back to Jersualem so that he could rebuild the
city. Artaxerxes was fine with a Temple, but to allow a city to be rebuilt? He
responds in verse 6.
•
Nehemiah 2:6-8 : "Then the king said to me (the queen
also sitting beside him), 'How long will your journey be? And when will you
return?' So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Furthermore I said to the king, 'If it
pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region
beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to
Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the
king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the
citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that
I will occupy.' And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of
my God upon me." : Don't miss the statement here.
The Queen was sitting beside him. This might have been the King's wife, but it
is just as likely Queen Esther!
-
Artaxerxes is running the show, but Queen Esther is right there to wink her
approval! What a fruitful life of service Esther had! What an influence for God
she became!
-
God has been setting up this moment for years, moving unrelated pieces into
place, turning the wheels of ideas at just the right time in history.
-
Artaxerxes is open to the idea, but he wants to make sure that a time frame set
in motion, which Nehemiah already had in mind. He has thought this through from
beginning to end.
-
While he has the floor, Nehemiah asks for letters from the King allowing him
safe passage to Judah as well as for construction materials from the King's
wood accountant.
-
He's going to rebuild the elements of the Temple and the wall that were in a
state of disrepair now, as well as to build a house to live in while he was
there. The King approved!
-
It wasn't because the King was in charge or because Nehemiah's prayers were
more spiritual. Nehemiah, like Ezra before him, recognizes the Lord's sovereign
direction.
Conclusion
- Nehemiah had
risen to a wonderful position far away from his people's misery. When he heard
of their condition, he prayed fervently, patiently for God to send him to
restore the breach.
- This is the
very story of redemption. Jesus Christ, the Creator of the heavens and the
Earth, saw His people's misery, and took the very form of a servant, that He
might bring them to Him!
- Perhaps
today, we will look out upon the vast reaches of our land and find a way to act
accordingly. May we receive the grace to be as moved and as motivated in
redemption!
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