Nehemiah 2:1-8

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Our gracious God and loving heavenly Father, we thank You for the provision of the abiding and altogether true word of God. And we ask now for the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Speak now, for your servant is listening.
Speak now, for your servant is listening.
— 1 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. 2 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, 3 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?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 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.” 6 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. 7 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, 8 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.
AMEN, may God bless the reading of His precious and infallible Word.
Four months passed between Hanani’s visit from Jerusalem to his brother Nehemiah (ch. 1), and the question of King Artaxerxes (ch. 2).
Meanwhile Nehemiah patiently waited and prayed for guidance from God.
Four months can be a long time when a Christian needs to know God’s will! God’s time arrived for Nehemiah in Nisan,
the first month of the Jewish religious year,
equivalent to our months of March/April.
Now his prayers must be accompanied by vigorous activity.
God has promised to lead us I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.
but once his will is known we must, like Nehemiah, be ready to follow!
He’s a bit like us. Do you want to be useful for God
but don’t see how you can be in your present circumstances?
The section of Scripture that we are studying here is an example of what every Christian can do
regardless of how humdrum or constrained his or her present existence may be.
Meet Nehemiah: a man of immense integrity,
a gifted leader, a passionate advocate for the cause of God and his kingdom,
whose zeal could sometimes appear excessive, even intimidating,
but was always for the kingdom of God and
never for his own personal self-elevation.
Many of these qualities have yet to manifest themselves, of course, but already,
as “cupbearer to the king [Artaxerxes]” (), he has shown his heart:
he has shown his heart: to be trusted with the well-being of King Artaxerxes, ensuring that his food and drink were poison-free, was a task that could be given only to one whose trustworthiness was beyond question.
to be trusted with the well-being of King Artaxerxes,
ensuring that his food and drink were poison-free,
was a task that could be given only to one whose trustworthiness was beyond question.
Not just trustworthy, but a man of deep prayer and devotion to God.
That recent bad news delivered from his brother sent Nehemiah to his knees, beseeching “the God of heaven”
to remember his covenant love of his people, reminding God—
yes, prayer is sometimes that audacious—that he had “redeemed” them by his “great power” and “strong hand,”
as if to say, “Lord, if you don’t do something about this situation soon, it’s going to reflect badly on you!”
But the Lord has been teaching Nehemiah patience.
Even though the prayer had asked for an answer “today” (1:11), 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,
God’s “today” is often on a different timetable from our own.
A thousand years is “but as yesterday” (; cf. ).
Waiting on the Lord is a characteristic of believers who
cast their troubles on the Lord and his timetable,
knowing that fretful anxiety accomplishes nothing and
is a sign of distrust and unbelief.
So now let’s read the account of this answered prayer.
As the account in Nehemiah unfolds, it moves from the private aspects of his life
to his public duties.
As Nehemiah’s story unfolds, it moves from the private aspects of his life to his public duties. We turn from personal times of prayer and fasting to his daily work in a pagan environment, from what he prayed to God to what he said to the king. Nehemiah knew how vital it was to disengage for a while from life’s pressures in order to spend time with God and replenish his resources. Everybody needs that kind of spiritual ‘space’, quiet moments in every day for prayer, meditation and the reading of God’s Word. But prayer must never be an excuse for indolence; rising from his knees, this man was better equipped for his everyday work. That essential rhythm of withdrawal and involvement is a vital aspect of effective Christian living. It was characteristic of the ministry of our Lord and is a pattern for all believers.
We turn from personal times of prayer and fasting to his daily work in a pagan environment,
from what he prayed to God to what he said to the king.
Nehemiah knew how vital it was to disengage for a while from life’s pressures in order to spend time with God and replenish his resources.
Everybody needs that kind of spiritual ‘space’, quiet moments in every day
for prayer,
meditation and the
reading of God’s Word.
But prayer must never be an excuse for idleness and laziness;
rising from his knees,
this man was better equipped for his everyday work.
That essential rhythm of withdrawal from the world and reengaging the world
is a vital aspect of effective Christian living.
It was characteristic of the ministry of our Lord and is a pattern for all believers.
Today we’re simply going to look at some dimensions of practical spirituality.
From the prayer closet and out the door, goes the servant of Christ, living for Christ.
Let’s ask, Do you as God’s servant, Trust?
Nehemiah as a man of decisive action, and when he prayed it was natural for him to ask God to provide an early, if not immediate, opportunity for him to speak to the king:
Remember “Give your servant success today” (1:11). And for over 100 days Nehemiah waited upon the Lord.
The more he prayed, the more he realized that he must wait upon the Lord and trust in His unfailing promises.
After all, the early Christian mission had begun not in working but in waiting.
For almost six weeks the first Christians did exactly what Jesus had told them to do:
‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait’.
A vast world was waiting to be won but, at that moment, prayerful dependence and obedient listening was a greater responsibility.
— 2 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, 3 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?”
On a human level, Nehemiah’s prayer was pointless.
Nehemiah was a servant to the most powerful man in the world.
To ask to be released from this position was a right that he did not possess, and requesting to leave could signal disloyalty—something that could result in his imprisonment or even death.
Given Nehemiah’s courage elsewhere, we must conclude that it was not possible for him simply to ask the king to send him to Jerusalem, or else he would surely have done so.
The odds that events would occur in the manner they did were so bad as to be slim to none.
From one point of view, Nehemiah had been praying the impossible.
Perhaps Nehemiah had been praying, “I have no idea how you will do this, but do it!”
For you and me, the need before us may be something entirely different
—a new job, a spouse, a change of economic circumstances (Keelie)
—none of which have obvious ways of being fulfilled.
We may not be in the circumstances that Nehemiah found himself in, unable to do anything beyond prayer.
But it is also possible that this is exactly where we find ourselves.
And like Nehemiah, we must look to and lean upon a power that is beyond us.
We must look to and lean upon God’s ability to change our circumstances and
bring certain events to pass that baffle our imagination.
But remember where God’s providence has led Nehemiah. It’s a place of extreme difficulty! A place of extreme danger...
See in v2 when the king notices his gloomy fact and tell Nehemiah that this is nothing but sadness of heart.
Nehemiah was understandably “afraid.” Suddenly, as we sometimes say, his whole life flashed before him.
Fear may have been unusual for Nehemiah, but when the king asked his searching question he was desperately afraid.
Most people are fearful about something or other.
Natural phobias possess immense power.
Some people are afraid of the past of something
shameful that happened,
terrified that something sinister will catch up on them.
Others are fearful of the present and spend their days imprisoned by crippling fear,
fear of the dark,
of people,
spiders, snakes,
water,
crowds, confined spaces, open spaces.
Others are fearful of the future, its unknown events,
possible hardships,
inevitable problems,
painful insecurity.
The terrorizing things are not actually present but form part of a threateningly possible scenario:
the fear of illness,
poverty,
loneliness,
insecurity.
And then, that inescapable reality, the fear of death.
Those who receive God’s peace have found the answer to life’s greatest fears.
The early Christians
faced ridicule,
slander,
misrepresentation,
hardship,
persecution,
imprisonment and
cruel death
in the calm confidence that they were not alone.
Nothing could deflect them from a serene trust which enabled them to look natural fears in the face.
Christ had given them the assurance that his peace would always be there, enabling them to put life’s problems into perspective,
banishing anxiety,
marginalizing their adversities,
replenishing their resources.
Finding oneself in a difficult place is something that most of us can identify with.
Finding oneself in a life-threatening place is something that requires an extraordinary amount of faith and most definitely grace.
But grace there was for Nehemiah, as “what happened next” clearly reveals.
The end of verse 2, “So I became dreadfully afraid, 3 and said to the king,”
Grace comes in the moment of need doesn’t. This is the testimony of millions of Christians down through history.
In crisis they were enabled to respond to the challenge with a resourcefulness they would scarcely have thought possible.
The crisis did not engulf them as they might have feared. It opened new doors and they proved God’s sufficiency as never before.
Nehemiah proved the abundant sufficiency of immediate grace.
The praying months had prepared him for these crucial minutes.
He trusted God, and in that moment the courage came.

Artaxerxes asked him exactly what he wanted. Before answering the king, it was essential to speak briefly with Someone else.

Artaxerxes asked him exactly what he wanted.
Before answering the king, it was essential to speak briefly with Someone else.
As we ask, Do you, As God’s servant, Pray? (2:4-5a) 4 Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king,
This emphasizes the necessity of prayer.
Although he had prayed at every available opportunity during the past four months,
“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.”
he could not face this critical moment in the conversation without once more looking to God to meet his needs.
It also describes the immediacy of prayer.
You don’t need to wait to go home and get in your closet to pray, as he had been for four months.
At any moment we can talk to God! At that very moment in the presence of a human king, Nehemiah is at the footstool of the King of kings.
This prayer also illustrates the naturalness of prayer.
Although Nehemiah had spend hours in prayer over the waiting weeks,
to pray again at that crucial moment was the instinctive reaction of a dependent believer.
It portrays the intimacy of prayer.
When in those seconds he prayed to the God of heaven it was not a desperate cry to a distant God.
He was communing in secret with a caring Father.
There was hardly time for words; the sigh became a supplication.
Between one breath and another he was in the audience chamber of God,
assured that he would not lack anything necessary in his daring venture.
It demonstrates the confidence of prayer.
He was communing with the God of heaven, the God of unique sovereignty, comforting omniscience and limitless resources.
Jesus taught his disciples to address their prayers to a Father ‘in heaven’ and,
exemplifying this, Nehemiah looked to heaven in moments of need.
It proves the effectiveness of prayer.
The quick petition was immediately answered.
The unfailing Lord was at his side.
Within seconds, the right and best words were on his lips and, in the same moment,
the God of heaven caused generous thoughts to enter Artaxerxes’ enquiring mind.
Do you, As God’s servant, Pray? Lastly,
Do you, As Gods Servant make plans (by God’s grace)?
— 5 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.” 6 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. 7 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, 8 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.
Nehemiah had lifted his heart to God; now he must open his mouth to the king.
The unhurried prayer-times, frequent meditation and reflection over the past few months now came to rich fruition.
He had thought it out carefully.
There was nothing remotely haphazard about his utterances.
He believed not only in dependent praying but also in deliberate planning.
Time and again he had asked the Lord to guide his thinking as he endeavoured to shape an effective strategy.
Ever since he had heard of Jerusalem’s troubles, Nehemiah had wanted to help and was eager to offer his best.
During the waiting period there was only one skill he could bring to the prospective enterprise:
the careful thoughts of an alert and dedicated mind.
Later on he would use
feet to make the journey,
eyes to survey the scene,
hands to move the stones,
but initially he could only offer heart (wept, 1:4) and mind.
Now, all that rigorous thinking must become vocal as he shared with the king what he had planned for God.
You see at the end of v8 Artaxerxes granted his request not because he spoke eloquently.
Nor because it was a noble request, but because “the good hand of my God was upon me.”
Artaxerxes was only the channel through which God poured out His blessing upon Nehemiah and God’s people.
The king’s heart was a stream of water in the hand of the Creator God who is sovereign over both creation and history.
Of the power and grace of God!
Turn to . As we think about this being the deciding factor, the determinative factor as to whether we see God move here or not.
this Ezra came up from Babylon; and he was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. On the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. and has extended mercy to me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. So I was encouraged, as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me; and I gathered leading men of Israel to go up with me. Then, by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and brothers, eighteen men; And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.
As we have already seen, the reference to the gracious hand of God is a refrain heard several times
in both the books of Ezra and Nehemiah (, , ; ; ).
Nehemiah realized that there is a King in heaven far greater than any earthly potentate.
Utter brokenness, persistent prevailing prayer that pierced the heavens!! Moving God to move upon the heart of the king.
Described as the good hand of God being upon you!
From this concluding verse we learn three things.
First, that God is altogether sovereign and that the power of a Persian dictator is no match for the power of the God of heaven:
“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will” ().
If God can change the heart of Artaxerxes, he can change the heart of anyone.
We worship the God who reversed the decisions of an ancient dictator!
Second, what happened that day in Susa was an example of the goodness of God; “the good hand of God” was upon Nehemiah.
He will recount this tale of God’s grace again when he gets to Jerusalem ().
God is good by nature.
It is the refrain of the psalmist, for example,
that every meal,
every pleasure,
every possession,
every bit of sun,
every night’s sleep,
every moment of health and safety,
and everything else that sustains and enriches life
is a divine gift (cf. , ).
But this ought not to cloud the fact that there are times of special goodness—
the goodness of God’s divine interruptions in the course of things,
interruptions designed to bring us blessing and further God’s kingdom.
God had answered Nehemiah’s prayer, both the sustained prayer of the past few months and the arrow-like prayer
that he had just prayed in the king’s presence.
Artaxerxes, the earthly king, had been good to Nehemiah; but the explanation lay in the fact
that the King of kings had been good to him.
Third, it is a mark of Nehemiah’s godly leadership that he attributes the entirety of his success to the Lord’s hand.
He is careful that God receives all the glory.
He could so easily have turned this into a story of self-congratulation, highlighting his own skill and wisdom and courage.
All these qualities are there in abundance, but only because God has enabled him.
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