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I've titled our sermon this 
morning, Nehemiah, a faithful 

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servant of God, a commentator 
that is pastors we agree on to 

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use to kind of keep things In 
Sync with the sermons is a 

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commentary on Nehemiah by writer
TJ Betts. 

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And he begins the part on that. 
We're going to speak this 

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morning on out of Isaiah chapter
40, verse 31. 

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He says, But those who wait on 
the Lord shall renew their 

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strength. 
They shall mount up with wings 

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like eagles. 
They shall run and not be weary.

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They shall walk and not faint. 
To me that's always been a very 

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special verse and part of the 
reason is that special is the 

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waiting part. 
To wait in faith is often the 

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hardest thing to do in life. 
Sometimes a person gets old. 

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Well, do something already, do 
something already. 

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And, and may be true. 
Sometimes that's the case. 

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We need to do something already 
and sometimes it's just we need 

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to get our act together and 
start going. 

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But sometimes the hardest thing 
is to not do something. 

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The hardest thing sometimes is 
to wait, to be patient, to allow

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time to run its course, just to 
wait. 

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Waiting is not easy, especially 
us Westerners in North America. 

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Everything is instant now, 
today, and we have to have it 

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all today in our culture 
especially never fast enough or 

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soon enough. 
I, for one, like things fast and

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quick. 
I like to see things happen now,

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but it's not always God's way of
doing things. 

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Last Sunday, Pastor Joe began 
our series that we're going 

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through now in Nehemiah, the 
people of Israel had been in 

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captivity for many, many years. 
They had gotten taken prisoner 

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to King Nebuchadnezzar, and this
is well way over 100 years 

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before that. 
Nebuchadnezzar had taken Judea, 

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the the land of Palestine, the 
southern part. 

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The people of Judah had been 
taken captive at the 70 year 

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mark of their captivity at the 
land of Babylon was under 

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different rulership. 
The Persians had taken over. 

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King Cyrus was king at the time 
and he made an offer and the the

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hand of God guided him and they 
could now go back to their 

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homeland. 
They now didn't have to be 

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captives anymore if they didn't 
want to be. 

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They could now all go home. 
Some did, many didn't. 

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But those who came back to 
Palestine, it's a long journey. 

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It takes months of travel on 
foot, actually, if you just walk

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the distance. 
They had walked back home and 

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they came to a very devastated 
place. 

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It was desolate that things were
not good. 

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We've heard some of that last 
Sunday already. 

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But just to recap a little bit, 
the the place where they came to

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was basically in ruins and also 
inhabited partially by other 

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foreign people who were not 
there before, before they were 

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taken captive. 
And these foreigners who had 

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settled in Palestine, in the 
area, in Jerusalem, in the area,

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they didn't like the Jews. 
And so here come these Jews 

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intent on rebuilding this 
ancient city. 

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And they didn't like that. 
And so if you read book of Ezra,

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they sent petitions back to 
Babylon. 

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And these Jews that are coming 
back, they're starting this 

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rebuild the city. 
It's going to be trouble. 

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And it got halted, it got 
stalled and so on. 

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And the years, just decades 
rolled by. 

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Nothing happened. 
Nothing took, nothing happened. 

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And not everybody had gone to do
it back home from Babylon 

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either. 
There was a lot of people who'd 

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stayed in Babylon and they had 
had children. 

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They had raised families and 
people lived in Babylon who had 

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never been to Judea. 
They were they were grown and 

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raised in Babylon, but they were
still Jews. 

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In all of this. 
There's a man who comes on the 

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scene. 
His name is Nehemiah, and he was

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the leader, the one who would 
rebuild the walls of this 

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ancient city. 
And that's the story of Nehemiah

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and how that rebuilding project 
unfolded is a very interesting 

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story of how God provided in 
hard times when things looked so

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hopeless. 
As Pastor Joe mentioned last 

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Sunday in his sermon, the 
hopelessness that was there and 

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how he prayed and through faith 
he got to work, it was not good.

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Outwardly, things looked very 
hopeless. 

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And Nehemiah, as a Jew living in
Babylon, he was serving the king

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Arctic Xerxes in a very high 
entrusted position. 

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He didn't, he really wouldn't 
have had any need to actually 

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pay any attention to what was 
going on back home. 

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Or maybe I don't know if he 
hadn't been even been there. 

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He just heard about what was 
there some, some of his family 

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or relations come from there and
told him, hey, it's, it's bad 

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over there and he's grieving. 
He's mourning, He's praying and 

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he doesn't like it. 
He's deeply grieved. 

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He's mourning, but he could have
had a different approach. 

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You know what? 
I've never been there. 

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Or maybe he has never been 
there. 

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Maybe he was there. 
I don't know. 

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But you know what? 
That's so far away. 

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It's weeks of travel. 
I'm not going to touch them. 

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I'm. 
I'm secure here. 

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I got my job with the king. 
But Nehemiah did what many 

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Saints before him have done. 
And Saints do. 

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They still do today. 
Still do. 

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He prayed. 
And last time we heard how he 

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prayed, it's actually a time 
period of about four months. 

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Four months went by that he 
didn't do anything. 

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As far as we know, he just 
prayed. 

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We're not told he did anything 
other than pray in regards to 

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the problem back in his home 
country. 

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You see, let's be real here. 
To pray is one thing, but to 

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just pray, that's an entirely 
different matter. 

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I'm not saying just praying is 
all we should do, but that's 

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where we need to start and our 
and our time today we face the 

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temptation to do everything else
but pray. 

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You see, often we learned a lot 
about a person, but what they do

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not do. 
We learned a lot about a 

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person's life by observing 
what's missing in their lives. 

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Prayer wasn't missing, not 
Nehemiah's life. 

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He was grieved at what's going 
on. 

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But note what we also do not 
find. 

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So here's these guys from Judea.
They've come and said, hey, it's

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bad back there, it's bad back 
home and said he's brought walls

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broken down, gates burned with 
fire. 

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It's not good. 
You know what he admired did not

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do? 
He didn't start writing letters 

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to the government. 
We don't find he wrote any 

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letters, but he wouldn't have 
had to. 

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He's the King's cup bearer. 
The guy gives the king the cup. 

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He doesn't start playing 
politics. 

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He doesn't start the movement, 
get support. 

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We got to have a fundraising 
program for this ministry. 

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Want to start? 
He's consumed with grief. 

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What's happened, why it 
happened, And if you read the 

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prayer again, I'm referring back
to that Sunday. 

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It's such an amazing prayer. 
I trust you read it last week. 

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Such an amazing prayer. 
And he prayed for four months. 

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As far as we know, he wanted 
something done, but that's how 

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he got to work by praying. 
There's a lesson for us in this.

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I'd say to us as a church, it 
behooves us to learn from 

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Nehemiah in some way. 
We all too have to decide how 

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we're going to face various 
challenges in our lives. 

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Do we first spend time in 
prayer, waiting on God? 

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Or do we just go rush ahead, 
take charge, take control, just 

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go to work and then ask 
questions later and hope things 

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work out? 
And if worst comes to worst, we 

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can still pray. 
We must fight the temptation, 

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just rush ahead without having 
first waited on the Lord. 

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It's our duty, our privilege, to
pray and seek first God's face 

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and to see what He has in store 
for us. 

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You see, sometimes in life we 
face circumstances where we feel

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as if we can only pray. 
And I'm not saying that's wrong.

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Sometimes all we can do is pray.
But we should pray before that's

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all we can do. 
Sometimes the only thing we 

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should be doing is praying, 
period, and let God do the rest.

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Nehemiah prayed and things began
to change, and it's not any 

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initiative that he was taking. 
It was God working through the 

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circumstances and God got things
going. 

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As we will go through the sermon
series, you'll find a lot about,

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I'll find a lot about about 
Nehemiah and it's so relevant to

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us today. 
He's a man of integrity. 

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What you saw on the outside was 
what actually was on the inside,

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because what was the inside was 
coming onto the outside. 

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He was a man of courage and 
strength. 

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He didn't allow circumstances to
dictate to him what he was going

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to do. 
He had trust. 

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He put his trust in God that God
would intervene in the 

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situations that they were going 
through. 

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He was a man of trust in hard 
times, that God would intervene 

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in his time. 
He had confidence in hard times.

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He looked to God to see him 
through. 

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It was hard. 
He wept, he prayed, but God used

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him powerfully. 
It was his faith in God and 

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trusting in God to do the right 
thing. 

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That connection, that 
relationship that kept him close

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to God and God used him to 
actually go to Jerusalem and 

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work and complete the temple. 
I mean the the wall around 

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Jerusalem. 
Want to read for this morning 

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chapter 2, verse one to 10 out 
of Nehemiah. 

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Nehemiah chapter 2, beginning 
verse one and through verse 10. 

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And it came to pass in the 
morning of Nissan, in the 20th 

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year of king Arctic Xerxes, when
wine was before him, that I took

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the wine and gave it to the 
king. 

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Now I had never been sad in his 
presence before. 

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Therefore the king said to me, 
Why is your face sad? 

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Since you're not sick? 
This is nothing but sorrow of 

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heart. 
So I became dreadfully afraid 

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and said to the king, May the 
king live forever. 

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Why should my face not be sad 
when the city, the place of my 

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father's tombs, lies waste, and 
its gates are burned with fire? 

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And the king said to me, What do
you request? 

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So I pray to the Lord, to the 
God of heaven. 

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And I said to the king, If it 
pleases the king, and if your 

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servant has found favour in your
sight, I ask that you send me to

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Judah, to the city of my 
father's tombs, that I may 

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rebuild it. 
Then said the king. 

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Then the king said to me, the 
queen also sitting beside him, 

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How long will your journey be, 
and when will you return? 

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So please the king to send me, 
and I set him a time. 

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Furthermore, I said to the king,
If it pleases the king, let 

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letters be given to me for the 
governors of the region beyond 

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the river, that they must permit
me to pass through till I come 

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to Judah. 
In a letter to Asaph, the keeper

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of the King's forest, that he 
must give me timber to make 

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beams for the gates of the 
citadel which pertains to the 

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temple, for the city wall, and 
for the house that I will 

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occupy. 
And the king granted them to me,

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according to the good hand of my
God upon me. 

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Then I went to the governors in 
the region beyond the river and 

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gave them the King's letters. 
Now the king had sent captains 

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of the army and horsemen with 
me. 

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When Sanballat the Horror Night 
and Tobiah the Ammonite official

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heard of it, they were deeply 
disturbed that a man had come to

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seek the well-being of the 
children of Israel. 

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What a story. 
This is just a small slice of 

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the book, but what a story. 
What a sequence of events. 

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It starts with courage and hard 
times. 

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So the first what we see is 
Nehemiah showed faith through 

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courage. 
You know that courage is a 

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choice. 
I say that carefully, but it is 

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a choice. 
Courage does not mean the 

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absence of trouble or fear even,
but we decide to do things that 

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are hard based on what we trust 
God will do, and that's courage.

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He did not take a backseat 
approach at all. 

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You know a lot of people, as 
soon as it gets a bit rough and 

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bumpy and difficult and 
challenging, well, I'm out of 

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here. 
I'm done, I'm finished. 

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Walk away. 
When Nehemiah got the bad news 

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from Jerusalem. 
Oh, oh, oh, thank God. 

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I'm I'm, I'm in a good place 
right now. 

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I don't have to worry about 
that. 

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No, none of that. 
He prayed. 

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There's a phrase in chapter 1, 
the last verse of chapter 1. 

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I believe it's verse 11 here. 
Let me just go back there 

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00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,480
quickly. 
Chapter chapter one, verse 11 

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00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,680
and it says here I'll just read 
the verse. 

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00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,120
O Lord, please let your ear be 
attentive to the prayer of your 

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servant and to the prayer of 
your servants. 

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00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:51,120
Who here it is desire to fear 
your name? 

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00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,920
Who desire to fear your name? 
Is that our desire to fear God's

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name because that's what sees 
him through the rest of it? 

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00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:01,800
Is it my desire to fear God's 
name? 

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00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:03,440
Is it your desire to fear God's 
name? 

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00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:04,960
Or whose name do I desire to 
fear? 

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00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:08,640
I suggest that's the key 
connection running through the 

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heart of the book. 
That's why Nehemiah does what he

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does. 
He wants to fear God regardless 

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00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:21,560
of where he is. 
And then God worked through his 

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00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:24,280
prayers. 
The king got motivated, the 

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00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,880
King's heart was touched and 
everything started falling into 

242
00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:33,840
place. 
From a human perspective, what 

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00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,440
was going on in back home in the
city of his forefathers? 

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00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:37,840
He could have simply said, you 
know what? 

245
00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:42,120
It's no concern of mine. 
I got my career in Babylon 

246
00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:45,480
serving the king as a cupbearer.
My job is here. 

247
00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:50,040
Why would I give that up? 
Good retirement plan, good 

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00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:56,040
security, good house, no doubt. 
That was a very high position, 

249
00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:58,680
by the way. 
You couldn't get better than 

250
00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:02,440
that in terms of, you know, 
think about it, being the King's

251
00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:03,720
cupbearer. 
He saw the king in the morning 

252
00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:05,680
for breakfast, for lunch, for 
supper. 

253
00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:08,640
No doubt he always handed the 
king the cup, because the 

254
00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,080
cupbearer was the guy who had to
taste the wine, make sure it 

255
00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:12,680
wasn't poison, because if 
somebody died, it would be him, 

256
00:14:12,680 --> 00:14:16,520
not the king. 
Nehemiah is willing to give all 

257
00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:19,080
that up. 
His heart is back home, where 

258
00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:22,320
there was so much need, so much 
pain and desolation. 

259
00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,600
He realized the problem, he 
acknowledged the problem, He 

260
00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,080
prayed about the problem. 
Then he owned the problem 

261
00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:33,000
without having to. 
That's a huge deal. 

262
00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:41,520
But in this case, the the king 
notices in the early part of the

263
00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:44,480
chapter that he's sad, and he 
hadn't meant to be sad. 

264
00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:46,320
No doubt he didn't go to the 
king saying, look, I'll wear a 

265
00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:47,960
long face. 
Maybe the king will say why are 

266
00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:49,840
you unhappy? 
And then I will get some 

267
00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:51,680
attention. 
The commentator suggests that 

268
00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,200
this was a very dangerous 
position to be in when the king 

269
00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,440
is saying you're sad. 
The king had no idea because the

270
00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,000
king could interpret this 
negatively. 

271
00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,640
The king would say, OK, uh oh, 
this guy is not stable. 

272
00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:03,520
He's mentally unbalanced or 
whatever's going on with him. 

273
00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:05,320
We've got to get rid of him. 
And of course, they would kill 

274
00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,200
him because he can't have a guy 
who's with the king every day 

275
00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:11,160
out in the public without 
supervision. 

276
00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:13,400
He has to be controlled. 
And so just kill him. 

277
00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:15,960
Those were some things that did 
happen in those days. 

278
00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:19,480
So it was very nice to be close 
to the king as long as things 

279
00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:20,840
were good. 
But if they were not good, it 

280
00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:22,280
was just as bad to be with the 
king. 

281
00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:25,520
Well, let's go through this 
verse by verse. 

282
00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:29,960
It says, and it came to pass in 
the month of Nissan, in the 20th

283
00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,480
year of Arctic searches, when 
wine was before, and that I took

284
00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:33,960
the wine and gave it to the 
king. 

285
00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:36,000
Now I had never been sad in his 
presence before. 

286
00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:38,720
Therefore the king said to me, 
Why is your face sad? 

287
00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:40,520
Since you're not sick, there's 
nothing but sorrow of heart. 

288
00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:44,600
So I became what? 
Dreadfully afraid? 

289
00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:49,800
Dreadfully afraid doesn't sound 
courageous, does it? 

290
00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,560
But as I said, courage does not 
mean that there's no sense of 

291
00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:57,680
fear. 
We may be afraid of doing some 

292
00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:00,800
things because we know the 
consequences, what they might 

293
00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,760
bring, but that should not stop 
us if it's the right thing to 

294
00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:09,760
do. 
The position Nehemiah held was a

295
00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:14,120
very good position, also very 
dangerous position. 

296
00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:21,240
Both the king notices he's sad 
and notice to Jeremiah 

297
00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:26,160
Nehemiah's responses to the 
king, he says and said to the 

298
00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:30,440
king, may the king live forever.
So he's dreadfully afraid. 

299
00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:32,600
And he says to the king, may the
king live forever. 

300
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:37,400
Why should my face not be sad 
when the city, the place of my 

301
00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:43,080
father's tombs by his waste and 
its gates are burned with fire? 

302
00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,680
Here Nehemiah is revealing a lot
about himself that maybe Arctic 

303
00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:49,520
Circus has known that Nehemiah 
was a Jew. 

304
00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:51,440
He maybe did or didn't know, I 
don't know. 

305
00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,600
But he's revealing his heart. 
That's always a sensitive thing 

306
00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:58,320
to do. 
He told the king what was 

307
00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:00,040
hurting him, what was bothering 
him. 

308
00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:06,760
But it's interesting also that 
he does not mention the name of 

309
00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:10,520
Jerusalem. 
Commentator that I read 

310
00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:14,319
mentioned made the point and 
said that he says the city of my

311
00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:17,440
father's tombs. 
The word Jerusalem was not a 

312
00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:22,560
good name, especially in the 
Babylonian higher circles of 

313
00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:23,800
power. 
And why? 

314
00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:27,400
Because they had been such a 
rebellious or such an obstinate 

315
00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,040
city when they first wanted to 
take over that part of the 

316
00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:34,120
world, God had told the kings of
Judah, look, you're going to be 

317
00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:35,200
captured. 
You're going to be taken 

318
00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,480
prisoner, captors of war, 
because you've disobeyed me. 

319
00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:39,480
And the Babylonians will come 
and take it. 

320
00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:41,560
While they fought, they fought 
hard. 

321
00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:44,920
And of course it was a very 
difficult situation. 

322
00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,760
And of course the Jews lost, and
Nebuchadnezzar came and took 

323
00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:51,120
them and they tore down the 
temple. 

324
00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:53,040
They destroyed the city, tore 
down the walls. 

325
00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:58,280
And here's now Nehemiah and said
that's what's making me sad. 

326
00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,080
Of course, many, many years 
later, but the records were 

327
00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:03,400
still there. 
The history wasn't erased. 

328
00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,600
Now many years later, says 
Nehemiah says that's the place 

329
00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,320
of my father's tombs and it's 
waste, It's lies waste. 

330
00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:11,400
It's gates are burned with fire.
And that makes me sad. 

331
00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:15,280
It grieved him still over all 
these years later. 

332
00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:18,840
No doubt King Antarctic Circus 
knew all that history, all the 

333
00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:23,120
victorious bads against them. 
And here's Nehemiah, a Jew, 

334
00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:25,160
telling the king, that's the 
cause of my grief. 

335
00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,840
That's not exactly something 
that would go over too well. 

336
00:18:36,430 --> 00:18:39,550
And he was dreadfully afraid, 
but he didn't shrink back from 

337
00:18:39,550 --> 00:18:41,910
telling the king what was going 
on. 

338
00:18:42,630 --> 00:18:45,230
And here it's the pivot. 
The king said, oh, oh, Nehemiah,

339
00:18:45,230 --> 00:18:47,510
you're done. 
We're not having a cup. 

340
00:18:47,510 --> 00:18:50,030
Bear for me with that kind of a 
person. 

341
00:18:50,030 --> 00:18:54,520
We're not doing that, but 
Nehemiah had prayed, he had 

342
00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,760
trusted God and verse 4 is such 
a special verse. 

343
00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,520
It says, and then the king said 
to me, what do you request? 

344
00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:03,320
Notice the next line right 
there. 

345
00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:07,800
So I pray to the God of heaven. 
So I prayed, we don't know how 

346
00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:10,520
much time elapsed minutes, I 
don't know, doesn't say. 

347
00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:13,280
The king says what do you 
request? 

348
00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:17,840
Nehemiah instantly senses, he 
instantly sees the Lord is at 

349
00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:22,800
work in this circumstance. 
It's a huge, monumental step. 

350
00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:25,920
What do you request? 
He doesn't say he's going to get

351
00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:27,880
to go. 
This is what do you request? 

352
00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:30,480
You know what Nehemiah doesn't 
do? 

353
00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:32,520
He doesn't. 
He does not jump in with and 

354
00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,280
fire off a long grocery list of 
demands and requests and 

355
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:37,680
complaints and whatnot, all 
because this is what's going on 

356
00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:39,800
and we got conquered and I want 
this fixed and I want this 

357
00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,720
remedied. 
I want no, none of that, none of

358
00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:49,680
that. 
He responded with courage, and 

359
00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:54,000
he showed faith through trust. 
Nehemiah showed faith. 

360
00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:56,400
He stepped out in trust and in 
faith. 

361
00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:59,040
He prayed to God. 
He had taken the time to ground 

362
00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:00,840
himself in God. 
He'd done his homework in his 

363
00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:02,320
heart. 
He allowed God to condition his 

364
00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,520
heart, prepare his heart, and 
pray that God would work the 

365
00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,880
rest. 
Here's the moment of truth. 

366
00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,960
It takes courage to do that. 
The the trust foundation, the 

367
00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,400
faith foundation has to be there
for this to work. 

368
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,240
And he says in chapter, in the 
chapter 2, verse 5 says, and I 

369
00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:27,880
said to the king, if it pleases 
the king, and if your servant 

370
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:33,720
has found favor in your sight, I
ask that you send me to the city

371
00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:35,560
of my father's tombs. 
Again, Judaism is missing. 

372
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,760
He doesn't say the word the city
of my father's tombs that I may 

373
00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:42,600
rebuild it. 
I'm asking you to lay me off, 

374
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:48,080
give me a leave of absence. 
Give me whatever he doesn't 

375
00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,320
demand, doesn't tell him, 
doesn't come with. 

376
00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:54,680
Hey, Mr. King, you need me to to
tell me or to give me none of 

377
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,680
that. 
I ask you to send me to Judah, 

378
00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:03,680
the city of my father's tombs, 
that I may rebuild it, 

379
00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:06,760
rebuilding that, rebuild your 
city. 

380
00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:10,240
And we're going to find, by the 
way, at the end, we mentioned 

381
00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:14,000
horror, the the sand ballot, the
whatever, and there's a bunch of

382
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:14,680
guys. 
They still didn't. 

383
00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:16,400
There's going to be a lot of 
problems down the road as we go 

384
00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:17,600
through the series. 
There's going to be a lot of 

385
00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,480
problems. 
Can you imagine how Nehemiah may

386
00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,200
have felt? 
This could have been a suicide 

387
00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,040
request. 
Not just any kind. 

388
00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:31,040
Nehemiah had the courage to 
state his cause and to make his 

389
00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:35,000
request. 
What if Arctic Xerxes had been a

390
00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:40,440
power hungry, paranoid king, 
which he could have been. 

391
00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,440
We don't know him, I don't know 
him, I haven't studied him, but 

392
00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,160
God was at work here. 
Nehemiah stated his request. 

393
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,560
God was in control. 
Having no idea what the response

394
00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:55,320
would be, but having prayed, 
Nehemiah now waited for the 

395
00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:58,800
response. 
It says #6 Then the king said to

396
00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,320
me, the queen sitting also 
beside him. 

397
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:04,600
How long will your journey be 
and when will you return? 

398
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,680
OK, it's not a death sentence. 
I'm not going to get my head 

399
00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:12,840
chopped off for asking that. 
He's not asking how long and 

400
00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:17,120
when can you just feel the 
excitement in the room stirring 

401
00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:19,880
in Nehemiah's heart? 
The pain, the agony, the 

402
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:22,160
desolation back home. 
It's constant occupying this 

403
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,200
life of prayers going on. 
Here's hope the king is 

404
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,480
interested. 
He's asking how long it will be 

405
00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:31,080
when he'll return. 
He feels respected by the king, 

406
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,480
and king doesn't even want to 
delay. 

407
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:34,000
Good. 
No, no. 

408
00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:35,680
When you weren't going to come 
back, Nehemiah, when are you 

409
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,120
coming back? 
He wants to keep this faithful, 

410
00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:44,560
trusted cupbearer. 
And again, the courage that 

411
00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:49,360
Nehemiah had to to take this 
stand, this position, he's going

412
00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:53,160
to give up this secure this 
this, this secure position as a 

413
00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:56,400
cupbearer before the king and go
and do that job that maybe 

414
00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,440
nobody would like to do because 
of the problems it had had 

415
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,600
before and would have again. 
He wants to do that. 

416
00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:11,280
He had a passion and a drive and
an and a desire to be involved 

417
00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:14,560
and something so difficult, so 
challenging. 

418
00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:19,920
That was a huge project to 
undertake, says so. 

419
00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:22,680
It pleased the king and I set a 
time. 

420
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:26,520
All right, all right. 
From here, everything smooth 

421
00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:28,160
sailing, right? 
Nope. 

422
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,080
This is the starting line. 
This is only the beginning. 

423
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:34,200
It would take years to complete 
this. 

424
00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,560
And you will find as you read 
Nehemiah, he showed 

425
00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:40,040
steadfastness, He saw things 
through. 

426
00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:42,640
He demonstrated character 
traits, maturity. 

427
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,520
He took calculated risk. 
He demonstrated courage. 

428
00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,480
We have to remember at all times
that this man Nehemiah was at 

429
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:52,640
this, at the complete mercy of 
this king, but with God's 

430
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:56,080
strength, with God's courage, he
did the hard things. 

431
00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,400
You know how we Christians in 
the West so often are first and 

432
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,480
foremost concerned about, OK, 
what isn't it for me or what 

433
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,320
will it do to me? 
Before we're even concerned 

434
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:10,200
about what glorifies your name, 
remember who desire to fear your

435
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:16,040
name and the world. 
This, this idea. 

436
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:20,000
Well, I deserve a easy life. 
I deserve to have comfort. 

437
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,760
I deserve the best. 
I've earned the best. 

438
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:26,680
That would have been 
embarrassing to Nehemiah. 

439
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,040
He was so focused on what God 
wanted out of him that God will 

440
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:33,720
glorify himself through him. 
Never mind my position with the 

441
00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,760
king. 
He's gotten the blessing to go. 

442
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,120
Everything OK now? 
Not quite yet. 

443
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:45,680
Notice his confidence in moving 
forward. 

444
00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:47,800
He now has the King's attention.
He has the King's interest. 

445
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,680
He has the King's blessing. 
Now he goes all in. 

446
00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:55,320
He showed faith through 
confidence. 

447
00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:59,120
What had prepared him first was 
his was his first response when 

448
00:24:59,120 --> 00:25:02,080
he heard the bad news It grieved
him, it changed him it motivated

449
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:03,680
him. 
He prayed he he wrestled in 

450
00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:06,560
prayer, he fasted and prayed. 
That was the state of his heart 

451
00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:10,160
caused him sadness and the king 
noticed the sadness was a huge 

452
00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:11,800
deal. 
We don't know how much it 

453
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:13,680
affected Nehemiah how this all 
panned out. 

454
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,360
Was it ours, was it Daisy? 
We don't know, but he got the 

455
00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:19,080
King's attention and God put it 
in. 

456
00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:21,800
King art exerts his heart to be 
favorably minded towards 

457
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:23,320
Nehemiah. 
And so with the king, when the 

458
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,920
king asked about it, he, 
Nehemiah told him God worked it 

459
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:28,200
out. 
It says here, it says in 

460
00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:31,360
Proverbs, I'm going to read this
verse in Proverbs, Proverbs 21, 

461
00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:34,480
one says the King's heart is in 
the hand of the Lord like the 

462
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:37,600
rivers of water. 
He turns it wherever he wishes. 

463
00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:42,400
The king was a little tiny pawn 
in the hands of God. 

464
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,920
God knew what he was going to 
do, but he wanted Nehemiah to be

465
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,480
faithful. 
He wanted Nehemiah to be 

466
00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,360
faithful. 
Now with the King's favor on his

467
00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:56,120
side, it's time for phase two of
his plan. 

468
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:58,880
Phase one was getting time to 
leave and get the king to 

469
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:01,200
approve the project. 
Now on the next phase, he's 

470
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:02,760
going to get the king to fund 
the trip. 

471
00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:07,840
Verse 7. 
Furthermore, I said to the king,

472
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,320
if it pleases the king, let 
letters be given. 

473
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,120
He's again asking, let letters 
be given to me for the governors

474
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:16,560
of the region beyond the river 
that they must permit me to pass

475
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:18,600
through to through till I come 
to Judah. 

476
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:22,080
And verse 8, and the letter to 
Asaph, the keeper of the gates 

477
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:24,760
of the king of the King's 
forest, that he must give me 

478
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:27,160
timber to make beams for the 
gates of the citadel which 

479
00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:29,520
pertains to the temple, for the 
city wall, and for the house 

480
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,840
that I will occupy. 
And the king granted them to me 

481
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:36,280
according to the good hand of my
God upon me. 

482
00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,600
Wow. 
Not just had the king been 

483
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:43,080
favorable toward him. 
Now the king funds the whole 

484
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,320
ordeal. 
You imagine that? 

485
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:50,280
How good can it get? 
It's like somebody isn't quite 

486
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:52,480
sure it's going to go. 
And then the the top guy of the 

487
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:54,200
country, the president, the 
Prime Minister, the king, 

488
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:56,400
whatever you have, the emperor, 
the dictator, whatever it is, 

489
00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:58,960
he's favorable. 
And he tells all the premiers 

490
00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:01,560
and the bosses and the 
governors, whoever they are, OK,

491
00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:04,200
you better do what he says. 
Here's the letter to prove it. 

492
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,400
Here's a testimony of the 
careful planning that Nehemiah 

493
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:12,240
had no doubt done ahead of time,
even the only the day before. 

494
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:15,000
He had no idea how it would work
out, but he had done. 

495
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:17,040
He had prayed for months. 
He carried this burden. 

496
00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:21,000
And finally, as we heard last 
Sunday, here was hope. 

497
00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:24,160
And now things were beginning to
move. 

498
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:28,560
The letters were not just 
ordinary letters. 

499
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:33,080
They were letters, written by 
scribes, no doubt, and stamped 

500
00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:37,000
with a King's signature seal. 
Nobody could tamper with it. 

501
00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:40,160
And the governors of the 
territories he would travel 

502
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,400
through, from Babylon down to 
Judea, those governors had no 

503
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:44,840
choice. 
Give him what he says. 

504
00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:46,040
Give him. 
Give him what the letters 

505
00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:49,920
demand. 
So now he's got the trip, but it

506
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,680
gets a little bit better yet. 
Verse 9, Then I went to the 

507
00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,840
governor's in the region beyond 
the river on his way now, and I 

508
00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:59,800
gave him the King's letters. 
There they go and notice next. 

509
00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:03,600
And now the king sent captains 
of the army and horsemen with 

510
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:05,480
me. 
He gets military escort. 

511
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:13,160
It doesn't get better than that.
You know, friends, when God's 

512
00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:19,040
behind something, it just works.
Nothing can stop it. 

513
00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:21,960
Nothing can overturn it, nothing
can change it. 

514
00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:25,640
I believe often times when 
something does not work in our 

515
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:27,640
favor, it's not because God 
doesn't want it. 

516
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:30,880
He wants it all right, He's all 
for it. 

517
00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,480
But it's our own sinful, selfish
pride and whatever else gets in 

518
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:36,520
the way and slows it down. 
You remember the story of the 

519
00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:38,960
children of Israel? 
God redeemed them. 

520
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:41,040
He saved them. 
He rescued out of Egypt into the

521
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:43,000
desert, and there He gave them 
the law and He had plans for 

522
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:44,400
them. 
Give them to the land of Canaan 

523
00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:47,080
and inherit the land. 
Should have been a very short 

524
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:49,160
journey, but guess what? 
They got to the border. 

525
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:57,080
Fear, anger, frustration set in 
and they got to wander the 

526
00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:03,000
desert for 40 years. 
For Nehemiah, his only goal was 

527
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:05,760
the secret Glorify God who 
sought to fear God's name. 

528
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:11,920
From here on in, it would be 
great joy and adventure, right? 

529
00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:14,040
Experience of joy for rebuilding
of the temple. 

530
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:15,920
I mean, the wall of Jerusalem, 
restoring it to its glory, 

531
00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:17,000
right? 
Nope. 

532
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:22,880
There were problems. 
Nehemiah showed faith to 

533
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:25,680
resolve. 
How easy it would have been just

534
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:30,280
to not take it seriously. 
I mean, again, sometimes you 

535
00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:31,960
have second thoughts. 
I shouldn't have started this. 

536
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:34,240
I shouldn't have gone into this.
I should have known better. 

537
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:36,560
I wish I hadn't. 
And we say those things because 

538
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:38,400
that's how our mind works and we
shouldn't. 

539
00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:44,680
Nehemiah doesn't do that. 
Sometimes we see our way through

540
00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:46,720
a little ways and then it gets 
rough and then we back out. 

541
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,680
Nehemiah should resolve at the 
outset to pray. 

542
00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,880
He got engaged in the situation.
He resolved to do things right, 

543
00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:57,600
as we'll see in the coming 
sermons in the following weeks. 

544
00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:03,120
It's easy to be strong when 
there's no need for strength, 

545
00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:04,160
right? 
I mean, anybody can have a 

546
00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,600
loudmouth from far away. 
But once it gets close, then we 

547
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:10,960
our fear breaks us down and the 
courage leaves and and so we do 

548
00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:16,800
those things. 
Maybe you've really had resolve 

549
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:19,960
one time to do something like 
maybe ziplining or skydiving and

550
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,400
until the moment of truth and 
then you backed out. 

551
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:25,400
I don't know. 
But Nehemiah is not that kind of

552
00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:30,160
guy. 
It says here in verse 10, when 

553
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:32,400
Sanballat the Horan Knight and 
Tobiah, the Ammonite official 

554
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,440
heard of it, they were deeply 
disturbed that a man had come to

555
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:37,320
seek the well-being of the 
children of Israel. 

556
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:40,520
So here he is. 
He's back home, old homeland, 

557
00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:45,360
and here's these two guys or 
these, yeah, these two guys. 

558
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,680
They're not Israelites, They're 
not Jews, but they're there. 

559
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:50,720
They've moved in with a bunch of
other people, and they're there.

560
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:52,400
Oh, this is not going to be good
for us. 

561
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:56,120
We can't have this. 
We don't want these people to be

562
00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:58,480
here. 
And we're going to hear about 

563
00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:02,080
that in the following sermons. 
And as we will find out later, 

564
00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:03,920
Nehemiah didn't let a thing stop
him. 

565
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:07,400
Hostility and opposition and 
challenges began at the outset. 

566
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:12,920
And again, Nehemiah hadn't had 
any need to do this. 

567
00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:15,600
It wasn't something that he 
would have said, Oh, you know 

568
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:17,280
what? 
I, I always know he was maybe 

569
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:19,080
born in, in Babylon, I don't 
know. 

570
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:24,000
But he didn't think of himself. 
He thought of what does God want

571
00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:25,400
me to do? 
He did the right thing. 

572
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:31,640
He prayed, he showed courage, he
trusted, he went ahead 

573
00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:35,240
confidently, and he was resolved
to do the right thing. 

574
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:40,440
What about you and I? 
Would we have gone? 

575
00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:45,600
Would we have held back? 
You know what, folks? 

576
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:49,720
We hold back a lot more for a 
lot less too many times. 

577
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:54,560
I include myself in this as much
as anyone, but Nehemiah is a 

578
00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:58,720
life is life of a portrait of a 
man to put God first in all that

579
00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:00,400
he did as a cupbearer to the 
king. 

580
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:04,520
That secure, steady, comfortable
job going out to a high risk 

581
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,120
country, do a building project 
that was going to be fraught 

582
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:12,080
with risk. 
Maybe we're not called to go fix

583
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:14,800
a broken city, but maybe we're 
called to rebuild something, 

584
00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:20,760
whatever that may be. 
Could be relationships, could be

585
00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:23,000
saying yes to something, 
surrender to something or 

586
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:24,840
surrendering to do not do 
something. 

587
00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:31,560
But let me just say this. 
If we hang on to the things that

588
00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:35,360
don't have eternal value at the 
cost of things that do, we may 

589
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:39,160
well lose both. 
Are we people like Nehemiah, 

590
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:44,880
people of prayer, we trust God 
no matter how daunting, how 

591
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:47,000
impasse possible things may look
to us. 

592
00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:49,040
You see here in North America, 
it's easy to make a confession 

593
00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:51,200
of faith. 
Jesus, Lord, follow you wherever

594
00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:52,920
you want me to go. 
And then we start telling him, 

595
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:56,000
not here, not there. 
It's a little bit like this, a 

596
00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:59,400
cartoon clip I saw some some 
time ago, a social media clip 

597
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:05,000
where a person wanted to know if
can I ask them questions? 

598
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:06,280
Well, yeah. 
Here's a list of approved 

599
00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:10,920
questions you can ask the person
wanted to know further about can

600
00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:11,760
I do some research? 
Oh yeah. 

601
00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:13,320
Here's the approved sources you 
can search. 

602
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:18,120
And finally, the person, we're 
not trying to stifle thought. 

603
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:19,400
We just want to learn 
everything. 

604
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,840
You want you to learn all you 
can from these approved and 

605
00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:23,040
reach these approved 
conclusions. 

606
00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:26,200
That's where we put God 
sometimes. 

607
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:28,440
OK God, you can tell me 
everywhere except not here. 

608
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:29,320
You can. 
These are the list. 

609
00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:30,640
These are the places you can 
send me, Lord. 

610
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:33,160
These are the things you can ask
me to do, Lord. 

611
00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:34,920
And here's what I want the 
outcome to be. 

612
00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:39,360
Lord, how foolish is that? 
Oh, we may not admit, we may not

613
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:44,360
say it, but that's how we live. 
Imagine Nehemiah having tried 

614
00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:46,720
that. 
His name would not be in the 

615
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:51,720
Bible today. 
We must ask ourselves, where are

616
00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,040
you and I in our relationship 
with God? 

617
00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:58,360
Do we seek to fear His name? 
Who calls the shots? 

618
00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:02,000
Again, We may not be called to 
build a city. 

619
00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:05,480
Whatever it is we're called to 
do, it is we're called to do to 

620
00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:07,680
serve God. 
We're called to wait upon the 

621
00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:08,480
Lord. 
What for? 

622
00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:14,719
We're called to wait in prayer. 
We're called to be confident, 

623
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:18,960
trustworthy, and true and 
honest. 

624
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:21,000
Sacrifice ourselves for His 
cause. 

625
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:24,960
Whatever is the Lord is calling 
us to do, I won't encourage us 

626
00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:27,360
this morning. 
Set our eyes on God. 

627
00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:34,040
If we wait upon Him as Nehemiah 
did, we too will mount up with 

628
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,960
wings as eagles. 
We'll run and not be weary. 

629
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,560
We'll walk and not faint. 
And in doing that, God will 

630
00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:46,440
bless us as His people. 
Let's pray Lord, the story of 

631
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:49,400
Nehemiah is in your word for a 
reason. 

632
00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:53,760
You've placed your people in 
this world to be salt and light 

633
00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:57,760
in this world in our community. 
Nehemiah was a powerful 

634
00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:01,640
testimony in the King's palace 
where he served as his cup 

635
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:04,040
bearer. 
He was a powerful influence in 

636
00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:05,240
the field of work you called him
to. 

637
00:35:05,240 --> 00:35:10,080
Lord, we ask help us to have the
character like Nehemiah had that

638
00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:13,040
we Orient our lives around what 
you want from us. 

639
00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:15,960
Lord, we ask that you guide us 
as we seek to serve in your 

640
00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:17,640
community. 
Here in Leamington. 

641
00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:19,520
We pray in Jesus name, Amen.