Seeds for 07/23/2024 - Repent - Nehemiah 1:5-9
In this series on prayer and scripture, we are following the acronym P.R.A.Y. as a guide for prayer. We are considering scriptures throughout the Bible on each theme. My prayer is that studying scriptures on these themes will give us biblical words to use as our own and simple insights for our praying.
Scripture:
5 Then I said:
“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’”
Observation:
The context for this passage is Nehemiah 1, in which he heard a report about the sad state of disrepair in Jerusalem. This broke Nehemiah’s heart and he longed to do something about it. In Babylonian exile, Nehemiah served in the court of King Artaxerxes, from whom he needed permission to take leave in order to address the situation in Jerusalem. Given all of this, Nehemiah turned to prayer as he prepared to ask the king for permission to go to Jerusalem. He fasted and prayed before God and the above is a portion of that prayer. Repentance was a vital part of his praying.
First, Nehemiah’s confession is on behalf of his people—the Israelites, his family, and himself. His desire is to address something on behalf of his country, so in his personal confession and repentance, he confesses that they have sinned before God.
Second, Nehemiah doesn’t confess what other people have done and let himself off the hook. He specifically includes himself and his family in his confession. No throwing stones at others. Nehemiah takes responsibility for his part.
Third, Nehemiah doesn’t hedge or downplay. He says, “We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.” This is the furthest thing from buck-passing or excuse-making as you can get. He speaks the reality plainly and leaves it at that.
Fourth, Nehemiah confesses and repents in view of God’s promise of restoration. Nehemiah knows the two-fold truth expressed in 1 John 1:8-9.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Application:
When are you or have you been tempted to hedge and excuse when simple confession and repentance is the better path?
How well do you hold together God’s promise of restoration with the rigor of repentance?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, I have sinned and failed to obey you and I’m relying not on my goodness but on the promise of your restoring grace. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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