Seeds for 11/06/2024 - Nehemiah 12:1-30
Scripture:
27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. 28 The musicians also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem—from the villages of the Netophathites, 29 from Beth Gilgal, and from the area of Geba and Azmaveth, for the musicians had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. 30 When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall.
Observation:
The beginning of this chapter is a record of leaders and priests.
This leads up to the dedication of the restored wall of Jerusalem. A great building project has been successfully completed, therefore a celebration is in order!
Here’s an observation that is simple and straightforward yet nonetheless worth noting: Celebration was worth giving time and energy to.
The “Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem” and the “musicians also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem.” Someone (Nehemiah or his assistants?) made a point to find those needed to make the celebration honoring to God and meaningful for the people and bring them into Jerusalem for the celebration.
I love how their work and purpose is described in verse 27. They were brought in “to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres.”
When God has done a great work in and through us, it is more than appropriate “to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving.”
Coming together to rebuild the wall was an expression of faith in God’s future for them as a people. Coming together for “joyful celebration” of that project’s completion was an act of worship and an expression of faith in what God had done among and through them to move toward that future.
Application:
When have you come together for “joyful celebration” at what God has done in your life? In your church?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, give me a heart of joy to celebrate your faithful work in me and through me. 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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