Prayer in Nehemiah (18)
“Even when they made a molded calf for themselves, and said, ‘This is your god that brought you up out of Egypt,’ and worked great provocations, yet in Your manifold mercies You did not forsake them in the wilderness.” (Nehemiah 9:18-19, NKJV)
Reading Nehemiah 9:16-31 is like watching a tug of war. The people would constantly pull away from God, rejecting His gracious warnings and returning to their folly with regularity. But instead of letting go of the rope to allow the people to go their own way, God would hold tight and pull them back to Himself.
Nehemiah describes the back and forth as part of his prayer. “But they and our fathers acted proudly, hardened their necks, and did not heed Your commandments. They refused to obey, and they were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to their bondage. But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them” (Neh. 9:16–17).
The picture that Nehemiah paints is of God’s grasp of the rope of His tenacious love that tethered His people to Him. God showered them with blessing and privilege yet they turned their backs on Him. Still, His love would not let them go.
In his prayer Nehemiah multiplies examples. By God’s hand of goodness, “they took strong cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all goods, cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and grew fat, and delighted themselves in Your great goodness” (Neh. 9:25). The peoples’ response? “Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against You, cast Your law behind their backs and killed Your prophets, who testified against them to turn them to Yourself; and they worked great provocations” (Neh. 9:26).
Nehemiah goes on to describe God’s dealings with a stiff-necked and rebellious people. But where he ends the tug of war is not with their sin but with God’s steadfast love rooted in His unchanging character. “Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; for You are God, gracious and merciful” (Neh. 9:31).
It is so easy to think ourselves better than the people of Israel in their disdain of God and disregard for His abundant mercies. But do we not do the same? God blesses us with safety, health, and abundance, yet we presume upon Him and are quick to wander, turning our hearts to idols that serve us and the lusts of our eyes, the lusts of our flesh, and the pride of life. We turn back to God, find forgiveness and assurance of grace, yet in the blink of an eye we stray yet again.
And if we do the same, is it not appropriate that we be descriptive before God in our own prayers, particularly prayers of confession of sin? Should we not spend time in reflection, trying to understand our motives, unpack our offenses, and underscore our waywardness?
Nehemiah did not simply highlight the manifold blessings of God on His people, although we could mine the passage for its gold and appreciate the beauty of God’s mercy, grace, and love. Rather, Nehemiah takes pain to describe the atrocities, ingratitude, presumption, rebellion, wickedness, and wretchedness of the people’s actions. He lays bare their hearts. Against this backdrop, he highlights the unreasonable response of God’s grace that does not treat them as their sins deserve.
We can never be tolerant of sin. We can never excuse sin that grace may abound as though that somehow brings glory to God. But recognition and ownership of sin should not lead us to despair; it should lead us to Christ.
Nehemiah’s “but God” is ultimately actualized in the giving of His Son. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Rom. 5:8–9).
How should we respond to God’s mercies to us in Christ?
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
