FINALLY, SINCERE CONFESSION. Nehemiah 9:32-38 In this prayer, their history was brought up to date, and they took heed to their present state. They asked for mercy beyond the terms of the covenant, which they had often spurned and broken. They confessed that they deserved the trials of captivity, except for the faithful prophets who had warned them and had suffered along with them because of the sins of the rest of the Jews.
Now things had changed. Even though there was restoration, they confessed they had disobeyed as servants of God and still faced adversity. On the basis of their repentance and prayer, they again made an agreement with God to separate from the heathen nations around them and obey the commandments of the Lord.
Those who lead God's people in prayer need to be mindful that they speak on behalf of the whole congregation. They need to be able to "Lift up holy hands without wrath or doubting." They need to pray with sincerity and honesty. An understanding of scripture helps us know God's will and ensures that our requests are consistent with that will. Public prayers of appreciation, adoration, praise, and thanksgiving by those who are mature in the faith will often open the minds of men with less or little experience in public prayer to participate to the degree of their spiritual experience. The reading of the word of God opens us to sincerity in prayer, adoration, thanksgiving, intercession, and worship.
The One to whom we speak in prayer is the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth. Supreme authority over everything is His alone. He created all things, and "by Him do all things consist." He created the universe and maintains everything in it in order by the power of His own word. He is eternal in His Person and His existence. Without a beginning and without an end, He lives in an eternal "now" and has an orderly plan that He allows us to glimpse in the Scriptures.
He is the Sovereign God, with the right to do what He wants, when He wants, with whoever He wants, for whatever purpose He wants. He knows who is willing to believe in Him and chooses to save them by His grace. He sets up kings and kingdoms and has the right to put them down. He appoints those who lead His people and knows who will obey His word and keep His laws. He knows everything and everybody. He chooses those who will do His will to represent Him in each generation. He saves us from hell and for heaven by His mercy and grace. He keeps those who trust Him from falling, and when they face opposition and pressure to compromise, "He is near unto all that call upon Him."
Our God is a compassionate Lord who has experienced suffering Himself and is able to help those who pass through times of suffering because He has already been there. He was troubled in His soul as He looked forward to the cross and all He would endure there when "He made His soul an offering for sin." He was troubled in His spirit as He thought of one who would betray Him and of that person's end. He was troubled in His body on the cross, in pain and physical agony, bearing our sins so He might bring us to God. But when speaking to those who belonged to Him by faith, He said, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me."
The holiness of God is a character trait of the One who said, "Be ye holy for I am holy." He is perfectly holy. His law sets the standard of perfection that is consistent with His character and serves as the template for what He desires in us. This righteous standard reveals our imperfection and sinfulness. It is "our schoolmaster to bring us to God" in our need and lack of righteousness. When we admit that need and accept His gracious provision because of the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf, we are granted the righteousness of the One who is our substitute. As the children of Israel continued in their prayer of adoration and worship, they remembered past events and the unmistakable evidence of God's presence in their national history. We do well to review God's ways with us as we journey through life, surrounded by temptations and snares from the world, the flesh, and the devil. As they said in their prayer, so we too know God to be a forgiving God who is willing to forgive those who confess their sin and forsake what is wrong. As a gracious God, they, and we, know that we do not deserve the least of His mercies, but His grace gives us what we are helpless to obtain or do for ourselves. He is to be trusted because He is "faithful and just." There is nothing unfair about our God.
Those who prayed together in the streets of Jerusalem were reminded of God's power to subdue their enemies and grant them an inheritance. He delivered them by His power. He fed them and gave them water by His power. He opened the way into the promised land and made it possible for them to claim every place where they put their feet by His power. They were protected by His power from enemies and even disasters as long as they were willing to obey and serve Him.
God is a just God in His dealings with us and in His decisions and judgments. He allowed judgments to fall on His people to bring about repentance and open the way to recovery of fellowship with Him. He is a patient God who gave warnings through the prophets of coming judgment if there was no return to Him by faith and obedience. He still is patient with us, knowing that we are only frail, mortal men. He is consistent in keeping His promises, even when there is opposition to His will. He keeps His covenants despite our failures. He can be called upon by anyone with a pure heart and is "ready to pardon." He is always true to His word.
They rose to their feet to show honor and respect. They had been humbled and no longer hardened their necks against God and His ways, His truth, and His laws. On the stairs, in front of all the leaders, they pleaded their cause to God Himself, in open and frank confession – declaring that they, as a nation, have learned their lesson. And now, in humility and heartfelt contrition, they have come to seek mercy and grace for a sinful nation.
As we review our history, we need to learn that the blessings we have received are not a mystery but provisions from God, who, in His bountiful grace, has kept and fed us, giving us this wonderful place to live and serve Him as a people who found mercy. But a terrible attitude has come upon us – we no longer serve Him from our hearts. The idols of materialism, existentialism, and pride have turned us from God, and we have no place to hide.
The review of assembly life from its inception to the present helps newer generations learn where we came from and how we are a unique company of people with a strong heritage that we need to remember and learn from. From our own experience, we gauge what has happened over the last years and the causes of our failures and weaknesses, so that we will fear the God who has cut a covenant with the people He chose – and for our part, we will humble ourselves lest we lose our testimony.
A family's history has real benefits for our children. It provides continuity and respect for those who came before. Children never met most of those in the family tree, but their place in their generation will help them see they are part of a group of people who found God in the past and lived their lives in view of God so their heritage would last. Now it has been passed on to the new generation that has arrived, so they can see how the family unit, by God’s grace, has survived.
I review alone the events and years of my life: Where I came from; what I have done; how Linda became my wife. And I consider with wonder God’s mercy and grace to me – allowing me to be a servant of His and letting me see His hand in salvation, as His Gospel I sought to preach – and those He has saved; He has instructed me to teach. I am not an important person; I’m limited in so many ways, but I have learned through my own history the glories of God’s grace.
This review made by people in the past, and how because of it, they covenanted with God again, awakens an earnest desire in me, that, if it is possible in some way, I, my family, this assembly, even this departed nation, may again experience and appreciate the kindness, mercy and grace of our faithful God to us.