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Nehemiah 9:1-20, (My Comments in bold)
Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.
And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.
(I've mentioned this verse before, and how it seems no one does this today. There used to be a time in the Churches where there were days of prayer and fasting, of reading the Word, preaching, confessing, and worshipping, and that is how great moves of God occured)
Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God.
(Cry with a loud voice, and in sincerity and singleness of heart)
Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
(They start with blessing and praising God for who He is. They are not asking anything. This is how all prayer should begin, and that right early in the morning)
Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.
Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;
And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:
And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;
And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day.
And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.
(Although God certainly knows He has done all these things, the people recount a litany of them. This not only acknowledges what the LORD Yahweh has done for you, but also strengthens your faith. Do you give praise and Thanksgiving for things God hath done for you?)
Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.
(There's an entire message in this verse, that the LORD gives light in the way wherein you should go. He has given light, and He will give light. Trust in that Light, for to trust in His light is to trust in Jesus who is the Light of the world.)
Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:
(God wrote the 10 commandments with His own hand, and these are still the moral law for today regarding our relationship to the LORD, and our relationship to other people. Jesus did not abolish this part of the law, and magnified it even greater so that even a thought of breaking any of the commandments is as if you already broke them. To love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself sums up the law and the prophets)
And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:
(The holy Sabbath, the 7th day, a day of rest is both necessary for our bodies to rest and rejuvenate, and for a day to have corporate worship. I still honor the 7th day, though man changed their day of corporate worship to Sunday, so personally I do both.)
And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.
(God provided for their needs, and shall provide for ours. Give us this day, our daily bread, and not only give unto us water to drink for our physical being, but give us ever the living water that Jesus Christ promised the woman at the well, that the living water would spring up to eternal life.)
But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,
(When I read this chapter last night it really smote me with conviction. I felt like I had lived my Christian life like Israel. I then went back and prayed as at the beginning and reread much of this and got right into it again first thing this morning before 5 AM. WE are called to abide in Christ, and to be consistent, and not to go astray like this)
And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.
(Thank God for His mercies, and that He calls us His children and does not forsake us. Forgive my sins and the sins of my people!)
Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;
Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.
(Manifold mercies, are a multitude of mercies, or numerous. We do not realize how manifold His mercies are, and that He will continue to be there. We can quench the Spirit, and that leaves us in a dire state, but His light is right there, again to lead us in the way wherein we should go)
Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
(His Holy Spirit is given to us and is in us, to teach us all things, to bring things to our remembrance, and to show us things to come: again, to lead us in the way wherein we should go.)
(Now I'm going to skip to verses 26 - 35)
Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.
Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the land of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;
(Here we see a pattern of backsliding into sin, and captivity, and then deliverance when they were afflicted. How like us sometimes! I can attest to this. It is an awful way to go, to lose the blessings of God and be in torment because of my sin! For it causes depression, and fear, and I ended up seeking to escape via drink, and unlawful relationships, which exacerbated the problem, because it compounded sin upon sin)
And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them
and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.
Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.
(Again, God shows His patience, His long-suffering, and His mercy towards Israel, and again towards, us. These things are written for our examples)
Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.
Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:
(If thou hast sinned, confess and repent. That is what they were doing in Nehemiah's time, and that is exactly what we are are called to do now if we have sinned. And even if we have not sinned recently after these manners, but have in years past, let this be a reminder not to sin, for as David cried, "my sin is ever before me." In Christ it is forgiven, and we are cleansed, and shall be cleansed, but let us not forget that we are forgiven and cleansed!)
Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.
For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.
(We should also pray for those over us, those in authority, and confess their sins as well. Not that it gains them any forgiveness if they do not confess and repent themselves, but we are commanded to pray for our leaders, and we see here and in Daniel and elsewhere that they confessed corporate sins, and if your nation has sinned, confess it. America has certainly sinned, and is still sliding downward into sin, therefore it must be confessed, and that any judgment upon the land is just, for they have not turned from their wicked works.
Let us then as individuals turn from our wicked ways, and maintain a steady and steadfast walk in Christ Jesus the Lord. Amen)
Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.
And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.
(I've mentioned this verse before, and how it seems no one does this today. There used to be a time in the Churches where there were days of prayer and fasting, of reading the Word, preaching, confessing, and worshipping, and that is how great moves of God occured)
Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God.
(Cry with a loud voice, and in sincerity and singleness of heart)
Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
(They start with blessing and praising God for who He is. They are not asking anything. This is how all prayer should begin, and that right early in the morning)
Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.
Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;
And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:
And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;
And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day.
And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.
(Although God certainly knows He has done all these things, the people recount a litany of them. This not only acknowledges what the LORD Yahweh has done for you, but also strengthens your faith. Do you give praise and Thanksgiving for things God hath done for you?)
Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.
(There's an entire message in this verse, that the LORD gives light in the way wherein you should go. He has given light, and He will give light. Trust in that Light, for to trust in His light is to trust in Jesus who is the Light of the world.)
Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:
(God wrote the 10 commandments with His own hand, and these are still the moral law for today regarding our relationship to the LORD, and our relationship to other people. Jesus did not abolish this part of the law, and magnified it even greater so that even a thought of breaking any of the commandments is as if you already broke them. To love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself sums up the law and the prophets)
And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:
(The holy Sabbath, the 7th day, a day of rest is both necessary for our bodies to rest and rejuvenate, and for a day to have corporate worship. I still honor the 7th day, though man changed their day of corporate worship to Sunday, so personally I do both.)
And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.
(God provided for their needs, and shall provide for ours. Give us this day, our daily bread, and not only give unto us water to drink for our physical being, but give us ever the living water that Jesus Christ promised the woman at the well, that the living water would spring up to eternal life.)
But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,
(When I read this chapter last night it really smote me with conviction. I felt like I had lived my Christian life like Israel. I then went back and prayed as at the beginning and reread much of this and got right into it again first thing this morning before 5 AM. WE are called to abide in Christ, and to be consistent, and not to go astray like this)
And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.
(Thank God for His mercies, and that He calls us His children and does not forsake us. Forgive my sins and the sins of my people!)
Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;
Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.
(Manifold mercies, are a multitude of mercies, or numerous. We do not realize how manifold His mercies are, and that He will continue to be there. We can quench the Spirit, and that leaves us in a dire state, but His light is right there, again to lead us in the way wherein we should go)
Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
(His Holy Spirit is given to us and is in us, to teach us all things, to bring things to our remembrance, and to show us things to come: again, to lead us in the way wherein we should go.)
(Now I'm going to skip to verses 26 - 35)
Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.
Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the land of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;
(Here we see a pattern of backsliding into sin, and captivity, and then deliverance when they were afflicted. How like us sometimes! I can attest to this. It is an awful way to go, to lose the blessings of God and be in torment because of my sin! For it causes depression, and fear, and I ended up seeking to escape via drink, and unlawful relationships, which exacerbated the problem, because it compounded sin upon sin)
And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them
and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.
Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.
(Again, God shows His patience, His long-suffering, and His mercy towards Israel, and again towards, us. These things are written for our examples)
Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.
Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:
(If thou hast sinned, confess and repent. That is what they were doing in Nehemiah's time, and that is exactly what we are are called to do now if we have sinned. And even if we have not sinned recently after these manners, but have in years past, let this be a reminder not to sin, for as David cried, "my sin is ever before me." In Christ it is forgiven, and we are cleansed, and shall be cleansed, but let us not forget that we are forgiven and cleansed!)
Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.
For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.
(We should also pray for those over us, those in authority, and confess their sins as well. Not that it gains them any forgiveness if they do not confess and repent themselves, but we are commanded to pray for our leaders, and we see here and in Daniel and elsewhere that they confessed corporate sins, and if your nation has sinned, confess it. America has certainly sinned, and is still sliding downward into sin, therefore it must be confessed, and that any judgment upon the land is just, for they have not turned from their wicked works.
Let us then as individuals turn from our wicked ways, and maintain a steady and steadfast walk in Christ Jesus the Lord. Amen)
