O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man." (At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.) Sermons I. REVERENCE. "I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God" (ver. 5). "Let thine ear be attentive, and thine eyes open" (ver. 6). Nehemiah speaks as one who feels that it is an infinite condescension for the Majesty on high to "humble himself to behold the things which are done upon the earth." In our "access with boldness" there is danger lest we run into irreverence. Who can help marking a painful familiarity in the addresses of some men to the Saviour of mankind? If we feel that our Maker is our friend, we must never forget that our friend is our Maker. II. ADORATION. "Thou keepest covenant and mercy," etc. (ver. 5). Critics who raise an easy sneer about our "telling God the truth concerning himself" must not be allowed to deprive us of the privilege and drive us from the duty of adoration. It is a fitting thing, well sanctioned in Scripture, fruitful of humility and sacred joy, to ascribe in prayer "the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty" to our God (1 Chronicles 29:11; Revelation 4:11, etc.). III. CONFESSION. "The sins which we have sinned against thee," etc. (vers. 6, 7). Here is confession of national sin. Our consciousness tells us of our own guilt, and should lead us to confess (a) our transgressions ("we have dealt corruptly") and (b) our shortcomings ("we have not kept," etc.). Our confession of sin should be simple and natural, not conventional or ostentatious. The truer, the more acceptable. Beside the acknowledgment of our own personal faultiness, our sympathy with our fellows (of the same family, Church, nation) will lead us to confess our sins as members of a community. IV. SUPPLICATION, PLEADING (vers. 8, 9, 10). Nehemiah pleads with God his ancient promises, and he reverently affirms that they for whom he is making intercession are such as these promises included. We cannot do better than plead (a) God's word of promise, and (b) his past deliverances (ver. 10): "Thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt thou not deliver my feet from falling?" (Psalm 56:13). V. EARNESTNESS. In verse 11 Nehemiah urges his petition: "O Lord, I beseech thee," etc. Earnestness is not content with one clear utterance. It returns and repeats. The language of entreaty is naturally redundant. It does not spare words; it pleads and pleads again. VI. DEFINITENESS. "Prosper thy servant . . and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer" (ver. 11). Nehemiah prays not only generally for God's merciful regard to be given to his people, but he asks especially that the mind of the king, Artaxerxes, may be favourably disposed towards himself. We should consider what we urgently require when we draw nigh to God in prayer, and ask him for those special and definite favours which are most calculated to meet the need of our circumstances and life. Only, as here, we must be unselfish and high-minded in the desires we cherish. - C.
Which camp in the hedges in the cold day. Paxton and others have remarked that there is much difficulty in this passage; but to anyone who has attentively watched the habits of the locusts it is not only plain, but very striking. In the evenings, as soon as the air became cool, at Aheih, they literally camped in the hedges and loose stone walls, covering them over like a swarm of bees settled on a bush. There they remained until the next day's sun waxed warm, when they again commenced to march. One of the days on which they were passing was quite cool, and the locusts scarcely moved at all from their camps, and multitudes remained actually stationary until the next morning. Those that did march crept along very heavily, as if cramped and stiff; but in a hot day they hurried forward in a very earnest, lively manner. It is an aggravation of the calamity if the weather continues cool; for then they prolong their stay, and do far more damage.(Thomson's "Land and Book.") People Hachaliah, Hanani, Israelites, NehemiahPlaces Jerusalem, SusaTopics Attentive, Bearer, Beg, Beseech, Butler, Compassion, Cup, Cupbearer, Cup-bearer, Delight, Delighting, Desire, Ear, Favor, Fear, Grant, Granting, King's, Mercies, Mercy, Note, O, Please, Prayer, Prayers, Presence, Prosper, Prosperity, Revere, Revering, Servant, Servants, Sight, Success, Successful, To-day, Wine-servant, WorshippingOutline 1. Nehemiah, understanding by Hanani the misery of Jerusalem, mourns, fasts, and prays5. His prayer Dictionary of Bible Themes Nehemiah 1:11 1070 God, joy of 6655 forgiveness, application Library The Church and Social Evils'It came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven.'--NEH. i. 4. Ninety years had passed since the returning exiles had arrived at Jerusalem. They had encountered many difficulties which had marred their progress and cooled their enthusiasm. The Temple, indeed, was rebuilt, but Jerusalem lay in ruins, and its walls remained as they had been left, by Nebuchadnezzar's siege, some century and a half before. … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture A Reformer's Schooling Nehemiah, the Praying Builder Discouragements and Courage The Last Days of the Old Eastern World A Treatise of the Fear of God; Influences that Gave Rise to the Priestly Laws and Histories Ezra-Nehemiah Links Nehemiah 1:11 NIVNehemiah 1:11 NLT Nehemiah 1:11 ESV Nehemiah 1:11 NASB Nehemiah 1:11 KJV Nehemiah 1:11 Bible Apps Nehemiah 1:11 Parallel Nehemiah 1:11 Biblia Paralela Nehemiah 1:11 Chinese Bible Nehemiah 1:11 French Bible Nehemiah 1:11 German Bible Nehemiah 1:11 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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