Nehemiah was a Jew that was exiled after the fall of Jerusalem. He was the cupbearer to the Persian king which meant that he tasted everything that the king was about to drink. This was to keep the king from being poisoned. He was a friend of Ezra the priest but he was what we would call a layman. This book recounts the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and the return of God's people.
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The words of Nechemyah the son of Hakhalyah: It was in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the capital, that Hanani, one of my kinsmen, came out of Y’hudah with some men; and I asked them about the remnant of Judeans who had escaped the exile, and about Yerushalayim.
Nehemiah introduces himself and gives us a date for the start of this book. He also tells us that he was in Iran (citadel of Susa). Men come from Jerusalem and he asks them about the people and the state of the city.
They answered me, “The remnant of the exile left there in the province are in great distress and are held in contempt, the wall of Yerushalayim is in ruins, and its gates have been completely burned up.”
The report of the men from Judah is not good. They report that the city of Jerusalem is defenseless as its walls are torn down. In this time, all the important cities had walls and gates. It was shameful for the city to be in this shape.
On hearing this answer, I sat down and wept; I mourned for several days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
His first reaction in the midst of this very bad news was to turn to God. He mourned, fasted, and prayed which is a very good lesson for us today. When we see how nations turn away from faith in Jesus Christ, do we have the same reaction?
I said, “Please, Adonai! God of heaven! You great and fearsome God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot! Let your ear now be attentive and your eyes be open, so that you will listen to the prayer of your servant, which I am praying before you these days, day and night, for the people of Isra’el your servants — even as I confess the sins of the people of Isra’el that we have committed against you. Yes, I and my father’s house have sinned. We have deeply offended you. We haven’t observed the mitzvot, laws or rulings you ordered your servant Moshe.
Now, Nehemiah lifts up prayers to God for his people. He starts by acknowledging who God is and asks for him to hear the prayers. He then confesses that they have sinned by not obeying the commands that God gave them through Moses. He is humble enough to include himself and his family in those who have sinned.
Remember, please, the word you gave through your servant Moshe, ‘If you break faith, I will scatter you among the peoples; but if you return to me, observe my mitzvot and obey them, then, even if your scattered ones are in the most distant part of heaven, nevertheless, I will collect them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen for bearing my name.’
Nehemiah's prayer turns to a promise that God made through Moses. God promised that, if his people would turn back to him, they would again be gathered in Jerusalem. Nehemiah knows that God keeps his promises and that gives him hope for the people and for Jerusalem.
Now these are your servants, your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and strong hand. Adonai, please, let your ear now be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who take joy in fearing your name: please let your servant succeed today and win this man’s compassion” — for I was the king’s personal attendant.
The prayer continues as he asks for God to hear the prayers of the people and to be with him as he talks with the king. It is striking in this prayer how little time Nehemiah spends asking God for things and how much time is spent in worship. This is a very difficult time and it seems that he could ask for many things for the people but he simply asks for the very presence of God with him in dealing with the king. We would do well to follow this pattern in our own prayers during difficult times.
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