GOD’S ELECTIVE LOVE, Nehemiah 9:1-15 The Israelites who had gathered for celebration at the completion of the wall had listened to the reading of God's word, had been convicted by it, and had bowed down before God in humility and weeping. Then they had spent a week in joyful celebration of some of the Feasts of Jehovah and in unified fellowship. The nation seemed to be on the road to recovery. The effects of the earlier events of the month and of the reading of the scriptures continued, and the people gathered again to hear the word of God.
Two days after the Feast of Tabernacles ended, the Jews separated themselves from all the foreigners who were there and who worshipped other gods. If they had remained mixed, it would have harmed the integrity of the worship of Yaweh (“The God”). After three hours of scripture reading, confession, and mourning for sins committed, a three-hour period was set aside for worship and praise to God, who is from everlasting to everlasting, “forever and ever.” Outward evidence of sorrow, repentance, and mourning for sins committed addresses the barrier sin creates and opens the way for praise and worship of God.
This kind of open confession leaves no room for dishonesty and deception when a sincere person has been spoken to by God through His word. We cannot have a right relationship with God unless we truly confess and forsake our sins. Praise to God is real when we remember our spiritual heritage, our personal history of God’s dealings with us, and how our spiritual growth helps us become the kind of person God wants us to be.
It doesn't happen very often; humility is rarely seen in public. Usually, it takes a coffin or an unexpected disaster. So, when God's people all stand and are not trying to impress others, things not previously planned are expressed sincerely and openly. The word of God, when applied to life situations, makes us stop and consider. Sins are excused or even denied; we face them, even though the taste is bitter. The word of God also provides the solution, so that which is wrong is made right. Confession then brings a conclusion that brings relief, and darkness yields to light.
Reading the scriptures has an awakening effect on the sincere person who is conscious of God and finally willing to listen to His word. A conscious awareness of God, who gives us the big picture in His word of our past, present, and future, and of our place and responsibility to Him in our time, changes us. Understanding the truth is not a casual "Yes" but gives us the full perspective on what it means to be a child of God and how we fit into the great unfolding of divine purposes.
But this time, on the twenty-fourth of the month, they came with a different attitude. They deliberately placed sackcloth and dirt on themselves. There had been fasting, separation, and confession of sin. The reality was evident in what they had been considering over the past days since the big celebration.
It is notable that Ezra 9, Nehemiah 9, and Daniel 9 are devoted to the Israelites’ confessions of national sins and to prayers that focus on God’s grace. Much of this prayer draws on various scriptural references. It begins with creation [v.6], then recounts the call of Abraham, the exodus from Egypt, the giving of the law, and God’s provision for their needs in the wilderness. Each of these follows the course of the books of the Pentateuch. The first fifteen verses describe God’s love in choosing the seed of Abraham as His earthly people.
As the people of Israel gathered, heard the word of the Lord read to them, and worshipped, it was a natural response to the will of God revealed in the word to confront themselves in the presence of divine holiness. The word of God, read carefully and understood in context, often precedes prayer. The word awakens the soul to what is real, lasting, and important. The things with which we have been occupied then seem trivial and insignificant in the light of a consciousness of God as real and involved in the lives of His people. Then the Lord's people began to pray and to acknowledge the Person and work of God on their behalf as a nation called by Him to be different.
It is to be hoped that the Lord's people today realize that our relationship with the Lord God is real. He is a gracious and merciful God, and He is to be feared and reverenced among us. To approach Him in prayer is a holy practice, not entered into with a casual attitude as we would with contemporaries of the same status in life. Even though we have received "the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, "Abba Father,'", that doesn't give us license to approach and address Him with any disrespect or familiarity. "Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone" gives us a sense of the uniqueness of our heavenly Father.