Let's turn together to the book of Nehemiah, chapter 2.
I don't hear pages flipping, so it sounds like you're already
there. And if that is the case, why
don't we pray one more time? Let's ask God for His help.
Father, we have so much to be thankful for.
We're so grateful that even in this busy season as a church, we
still come to your word. We still come to study and to
worship you through the Scriptures.
Lord, from the bottom of our hearts, we agree with the
psalmist who said, Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth I desire besides you.
If we can't say that with full confidence, Lord, and only You
know, our hearts satisfy us again.
Use every verse unleashed in this Bible study to remind us
that You are the fountain of living waters, that every other
cistern around us is broken, it's dirty, it's contaminated.
It will never satiate. We pray instead that we would
drink afresh as we just heard from the wells of salvation, and
we would be replenished in our worship, in our adoration, in
our awareness of who You are. We ask these things in the name
of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.
Amen and Amen. One of the greatest thrills of
the Christian life is to know that the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ is a God who answers prayer.
Such an experience, when genuinely realized, will never
fail to awaken your understanding and mine of just
how personal the Lord is in His dealings with us.
Answered prayer carries a unique force to our faith, to our
courage, and to our worship, among other things.
It was the psalmist who was so moved by this reality that he
penned these words in Psalm 116, verse one.
I love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my plea for
mercy. Hear those words carefully.
I love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my plea for
mercy. What an astounding admission.
And it becomes even more stunning when you are able to
testify to it for yourself. Nehemiah is going to experience
with the psalmist shared. And this is to our benefit
because one of the ways that God encourages us to believe that he
is a God who answers prayers by providing us real accounts of
his answering of prayers. And that is what is before us in
this chapter in our study of the book of Nehemiah.
God heard his plea, God heard his voice, and we get to rejoice
with him in it. Look quickly here at verse 11 of
chapter 1, the last verse of our previous text, and notice what
Nehemiah prayed for. O Lord, let your ear be
attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of
your servants, who delight to fear your name.
And give success to your servant today and grant him mercy in the
sight of this man. This man being the king of
Persia whom Nehemiah served. God is about to grant that very
mercy to this man of God. And I want to let you know from
the outset that we're going to walk away from this Bible study
with more than just a reminder of God's faithfulness in hearing
the petitions of His. People.
And the only way we will arrive there is if we take our time to
walk through these verses and examine the details of this
incredible testimony. Of Nehemiah Psalm 116 verse one
experience. And the way we're going to do
that is by looking at the 1st 8 verses of this chapter together.
So let's begin in verse one of Nehemiah chapter 2 in the month
of Nissan in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes when wine was
before him. I took up the wine and gave it
to the king. Now I had not been sad in his
presence, and the king said to me, Why is your face sad, seeing
you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of
the heart, that I was very much afraid.
I said to the king, Let the king live forever.
Why should not my face be sad when the city, the place of my
father's graves, lies in ruins and its gates have been
destroyed by fire? Then the king said to me.
What are you? Requesting so I pray to the God
of heaven. And I said to the king, If it
pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your
sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my
father's graves, that I may rebuild it.
And the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, How
long will you be gone, and when will you return?
So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time.
And I said to the king, If it pleases the king, that letters
be given me to the governors of the province beyond the river.
That they may let me pass through until I come to Judah.
And a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the King's forest,
that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the
fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for
the house that I shall occupy. And the king granted me what I
asked for. The good hand of my God was upon
me. The chapter begins with a time
stamp that we've already explored in our previous study,
and it's an important detail because understanding when the
answer came for Nehemiah lets us know.
How long he had been praying and fasting for?
You know this already. I'm sure that in the beginning
of this book. We know when the news of
Jerusalem's destitution came to Nehemiah, it was in the month of
Kislev and the 20th. Year of the King and that
corresponds to. November, December.
Now we come, and we read in chapter 2 that it was in the
month of Nissan where God came. Through for his servant, and
that falls between March and April.
So four months. Four months of depriving himself
of food. Four months of seeking
desperately. 4 months of patiently waiting on the Lord.
And it makes you wonder, maybe like it did for me, why didn't
God answer sooner? There are many reasons why God
does not answer our request right away.
And Nehemiah's story here in this chapter gives us one other
reason, a reason that we often don't think about.
Lean in and listen to this. Sometimes there is divine delay
to give us time to practically prepare.
You see, if the Lord were to open the door that you so
desperately want to open at your desired time, it's very possible
that you and I would not even be ready to manage the provision.
We wouldn't even know what to do with it.
In fact, should a door open at the time that we want, we may
find ourselves causing. Delay because of a lack of.
Preparation and the Lord knows more than we do, and so many
times He makes us wait. Nehemiah, on the other hand,
shows us that during these four months of fasting and praying,
he was also thinking and strategizing.
He was contemplating. He was, in a sense, listening,
planning. Organizing, wondering the best
way to approach this so that when the door would swing open,
Nehemiah would be able to run through it.
And we know that Nehemiah was preparing himself based on the
verses that we just read. Maybe you miss it and that's OK.
Look at verse 6 again of Nehemiah chapter 2.
And the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, How
long will you be gone, and when will you return?
So it pleased the king to send. Me when I had given him a time.
What does that tell you? Nehemiah knew how long it would
take to get there. He thought about how long it
would take to get the resources, how long it would take to build
the walls, how long it would take for him to come.
Back he thought about this. He didn't sit there and
thinking, you know what King, to be honest, I didn't even think
that you were going to ask me this.
And so can you give me like a couple days to just circle back
and think about this and talk to some of my friends and you know,
I have to send a few letters to to to.
He didn't do any of that. Why?
Because he already did it. He was prepared much more
prepared than we think. Look at verse 7.
And I said to the king, If it pleases the king, let letters be
given me to the governors of the province beyond the river.
That they may let me pass through until I come to Judah.
And a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the King's Forest,
That he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the
fortress of the Temple and for the wall of the city, and for
the house that I shall occupy. He's he's covering everything.
He knows the name of the manager of the King's Forest.
He knows the permits that he needs from the government.
He knows the materials that anybody used for the gate and
for the wall and for the house that he shall occupy.
He he has it all figured out. Why?
Because while he was praying, he was preparing.
Those are not odds against one another.
They work together. In fact, let me add this, when
you and I prepare while we pray, that in itself is an act of
faith. I am getting ready for God to
answer this. And so you may be listening to
this today and you find yourself in the same predicament as this
man of. God, you are patiently and
eagerly, consistently waiting on the Lord for something.
And here's what I what I want to.
Ask you, have you ever considered how you are
stewarding this time of waiting? Are you stewarding it well?
So you may be asking the Lord for an opportunity to be in
ministry. Let me say this in love, what
are you doing to be prepared to be the minister?
You may be desperately seeking the Lord for a spouse, a husband
or wife, and that's a great thing to ask God for.
But may I ask what adjustments are you making in order for you
to be more suitable for that responsibility?
Nehemiah teaches us that any potential frustration that may
come with waiting on the Lord can be turned into an investment
that will enrich the answer when it finally comes.
I think about this church and the season that we are in that
we are enjoying together. God answered our prayer.
But I can tell you this from behind the scenes.
We have been preparing. We have been to the best of our
ability. Because as a church, we all
believe that God was going to bring us to that next phase.
And I can say again with great confidence that we are in a
position where we believe that all these years of waiting has
been a time that God allowed the cement of the foundation of this
ministry to dry so that that next chapter, when it comes, we
can hit the. Floor running and we are running
a lot. Some guys have back pain because
they've been running so much. So we find here something so
instrumental about waiting on the Lord.
There's so many things that come with that, and one of the things
that we need to be mindful of is that the Lord wants us to
steward that time well and not waste it so that we can know the
answer in a more fulfilling and effective manner.
Now as we come to verse two, I was struck by two emotions that
are attributed to this man. Look at it again with me and the
king said to me, why is your face sad?
Seeing you were not sick? This is nothing but sadness of
the heart. Then I was very much afraid.
Sadness and fear, sadness and fear.
Now let's look at these things separately.
Why was why was Nehemiah sad? Well, we know, but what can we
learn about it? Many things.
Let me just present one Nehemiah.
Nehemiah's sadness in the setting was actually very
dangerous. It was dangerous because history
tells us that there was a certain etiquette for the
Persian court. And one of.
Those things, those rules, was that you could not show yourself
to be despondent. You could not show yourself to
be grieving because that may be a sign, a signal of disloyalty
or dissatisfaction. If you served in the presence of
the king, it was your job to make the king happy.
You cannot afford to show what Nehemiah is showing here.
You could be. Demoted, And depending on the
mood of the king, you could even be killed for carrying a frown
on your face. In fact, this rule actually
shows up in the Book of Esther. It's a neighboring text to
Nehemiah. Look at Esther chapter 4 with
me, just to confirm this and to understand just how serious
Nehemiah's sadness is in this context.
Esther chapter 4, Look at verse 1 and 2, when Mordecai learned
all that had been done. Mordecai tore his clothes and
put on sackcloth and ashes and went out into the midst of the
city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.
He went up to the entrance of the King's Gate, for no one was
allowed to enter the King's Gate clothed in sackcloth, you see.
You can't come into the presence of the king with sadness that
can get you killed. And Nehemiah himself shows us he
hints at the grave mistake it would have been to appear grief
stricken before Arctic Xerxes and what he records at the end
of verse one. What does he say at the end of
verse one? Now, I had not been sad in His
presence. In other words, up to this
moment, I've been consistent in concealing my true feelings.
I came to work with a smile every single day.
I was able to hide it. But on this particular day, the.
The sorrow was too severe. It was.
It was bubbling. Over and he exposed himself, his
face told on him and the cultural background to this.
Text help helps us understand why Nehemiah was so afraid when
the king began to question his countenance.
He understood the risk now. And when I was meditating on
this the other night, something struck me.
It struck me so deep it caused me to rejoice over my Bible.
Unlike Artaxerxes, I serve a king who gives me permission to
enter into his presence just as I am.
If I'm discouraged, I can go to him.
If I'm worried, I can go to him. If I'm angry, I can go to him.
If I'm broken, I can go to him. If I'm confused, I can go to
him. If I've failed, I can go to him.
And I never have to worry if he will be angry with me.
Going to him just as I am, I never have to worry if he will
demote me. I never have to think if he will
kill me. In fact, Hebrews tells us
something so wonderful about our priestly king.
He sympathizes with our weaknesses.
So more than the Lord Jesus being willing to hear us in the
state of our heart, He actually feels for us in our frailties.
And that's why in the same passage where we learned that in
Hebrews 416, we are told, let us with confidence drawn near to
the throne of grace. You know that word confidence in
your translation? It might read boldness, but in
the original, it's something so applicable to our study that
word confidence actually means freedom of speech,
unreservedness in speech. In other words, go to your king
and speak your mind. Open your heart before him.
Not only is your Lord infinitely more powerful than Art exerses,
he's also incomparably compassionate and more
approachable than he is. See, Nehemiah needed permission
to speak about what was in his heart.
You don't need permission. You can go freely.
You can go whenever and how many times you need to go.
You know, sometimes we, we have these understandings, these
theological understandings of who God is, and they're
wonderful, but they're limited unless you really.
Meditate. Jesus Christ is King.
We hear that, and that causes something to store within us.
Yes, Amen. He has authority, He's
sovereign. But listen, what kind of king is
he? That makes all the difference.
He's unlike any other king that history has ever known, and we
see it even here. We don't have to cower.
We don't have to be sheepish. We can come with boldness before
him and all His Majesty and royalty and splendor.
We have freedom to speak to him and he welcomes us.
He, he doesn't judge us. He sympathizes with us because
he came and took on flesh and he experienced temptation, so he
knows where we're coming from. This is something so wonderful.
We see even Christ being contrasted here to our benefit.
Now, although Artaxerxes is so inferior to our Jesus, there is
something pleasantly surprising about what he does here in our
main text, because in verse 2 we read that he notices that
Nehemiah is sad, and so he asks about it.
Now, his inquiry into Nehemiah's dejection is not only something
for us to consider concerning his discernment, right?
He knew that this was a matter of the heart.
Nehemiah is not sick, he's heartsick.
But there's debate if the king is doing this because he is
suspicious. Or if he is caring and it could
be a mixture of both, and the sympathy that the king is
showing here is unusual. If it is sympathy, again, I
believe that it's a mixture. I think that there's different
things going on in Artaxerci's mind.
He's wondering why does he look different?
Nehemiah is about to give him or he gave him wine.
Is there something going on here that I don't know about?
I'm sure that's part of the the thinking, but at the same time
there might be this. Conflict because he knows
Nehemiah. We're about to find out that he
really admires Nehemiah, and so perhaps he's also wondering, is
there something going on? This is intriguing, but it's
also instructive because we're not.
We're barely 2 chapters into our study, the book of Nehemiah, and
already we're learning. We're seeing something being
emphasized by the Holy Spirit that there is wonderful God
glorifying testimonies that can unfold with this one practice,
inquiring about somebody in their pain, you see.
How does this story begin? Nehemiah feels for the shame of
his brethren back in Jerusalem. And that feeling, that sympathy
is going to lead to a revival in Jerusalem.
And now you have the king. What is the king doing?
He is showing somewhat of a concern for his own servant,
Nehemiah, and that is going to lead to the launch of this whole
thing. And so even with the king, we
have inspiration. Do not underestimate the power
of leaning into somebody's brokenness and showing Christ
like. Care because there is a ripple.
Effect that can ensue. A ripple effect of blessing.
You remember what Joseph did. Joseph's story had a turning
point when he was the manager of that prison, and he asked why
the faces of the Baker and the cupbearer to Pharaoh were
hanging low. And that would change the
trajectory of. His own life.
And so the king asked, why are you?
Why are you sad? What is happening here?
If these are just some of the things that we can learn about
Nehemiah's sadness, but what about his fear?
We've already discussed the contextual reason for a sudden
dismay, right? He understands that I can be, I
can be killed right here and right now.
If the king does not have favor towards me, but there's more to
learn about his trouble. Was Nehemiah man of God?
Absolutely. Did he know the law?
He did read his prayer. He quoted Scripture.
Was his heart in tune with God's desires?
Absolutely. Did he have a high view of God?
You better believe it. One of his favorite titles for
God is the God of heaven. He repeats that the God of
heaven, that you're above everything.
In fact, when he was praying to the God of heaven in chapter 1,
he saw this same king as just a man, this man, this man.
And yet with all of those praiseworthy qualities.
Nehemiah is being honest. He experienced real fear,
reminding us that any of us can be surprised by temptation, that
even the greatest heroes of the faith can know the things that
you and I experience on a regular basis, filled with fear.
And you wonder, is this a man of faith or what?
He is a man of faith, but he's, he's a man and so are you.
And at the same time, Nehemiah, admitting here that he was
fearful, encourages us how necessary it is to be prepared
for the things that we do not suspect to visit us.
As much as Nehemiah is visited by this terror, I argue he was
ready to face it. Do you know why he was ready to
face it? Do you know why he managed it so
well? Do you know why that he was able
to dig his heels into the ground and face the king?
Because he'd been praying for months.
He's been seeking God about this very opportunity that was before
him. And so I understand how Nehemiah
is perceiving this. He understands here that this
this is an open door. And though initially he was
startled by the question and he understands the risks behind
this, potentially, he also knew that this is it.
I'm seeing the door open right before me and he.
Seized it. Please listen very carefully.
There is a preparatory grace that comes with prayer that even
though you are not praying about something in the immediate.
Sense even though you don't know how God is going to answer the
very thing you're praying for, because you are praying for it,
you are investing in your future strength and wisdom and grace.
Because Nehemiah had been saturating himself in the
presence of the God of heaven, he was able to stand before the
king in all his intimidation. So prayer in many ways prepares
us. And because this man had been
praying, he was ready to squash this fear and actually speak up
and take advantage of this moment.
And this is exactly what he will do.
Look at verse 3 again. Before we look at Nehemiah
answers the king, you need to be mindful of another factor that
makes the situation a little bit more complicated for him.
When we studied Ezra, we learn in chapter 4 verse 21 and 22
that Artaxerxes had already made a decree that he is not
interested in seeing the city or the walls of Jerusalem being
rebuilt. That is the last thing that we
know about Artaxerxes and his relationship to the idea.
Of Jerusalem being restored. And Nehemiah was aware of this,
so you understand. You understand why he is fearful
here, not just. Because of the protocol of being
a servant in the presence of the king, but also because of
Artaxerxes personal opinion about the idea of rebuilding the
walls. So Nehemiah here not only has to
explain his sadness and justify it, but he also has to challenge
Artaxerxes original decree. That's going to be difficult to
do. But he thought to himself, I
have no other choice, and that's why he's going to speak with
wisdom. Look again at verse three.
I said that the king let the king live forever.
Why should not my face be sad when the city, the place of my
father's graves, lies in ruins and its gates have been
destroyed by fire? So when Nehemiah was speaking to
the Lord about Arctic Xerxes, he called him a man.
Grammy mercy in the sight of this man.
But when Nehemiah spoke directly to Arctic Xerxes, he did so with
dignity and honor. Let the king live forever.
He was courageous, but he was respectful.
And if this is just basic social skills, if you and I want our
request to be heard, do it with respect, especially with people
in positions of authority. And added to that, if, if we do
not know how to control our emotions, remember he, he's
knowing sadness and fear all at the same time.
If, if we can't subdue our emotions in certain settings, we
may actually hurt our cause instead of helping it.
There's a time to be emotional. There's a time when being
emotional actually will help you.
And there are times when you need to rein it in and speak
clearly and directly for the sake of the 'cause that you're
trying to advocate for. So this man speaks with great
respect. But secondly, he makes the
situation personal to try to get the king to relate to his
distress. Does Nehemiah bring up Jerusalem
by name? He doesn't.
Do you know what he does? Instead, he speaks of the city
as the place of my father's graves.
He does it twice. Look at verse 5.
It's right there that you may send me to Judah, to the city of
my father's graves. What's going on here?
Nehemiah is going to meet Arctic Zerys at his level.
He understands that this ruler has his own perspective, an
unfavorable one, about the history and reputation of
Jerusalem. Let me remind you just what the
king thought. I'm going to read to you from
Ezra 4, the decree that the same king made about Jerusalem.
Listen carefully in Ezra 4 verse 19, Arctic Zercy says and I made
a decree and search has been made and it has been found that
this city from old has risen against kings, and that
rebellion and sedition have been made in it.
So you understand that to Arctic Zercy.
Is Jerusalem synonymous with rebellion and treason?
Nehemiah knows this, So what does he do?
He emphasizes the personal aspect of the situation to help
the king see it from his own eyes, from his own perspective.
This is where my father's graves are being desecrated.
We're open and vulnerable to our enemies.
The king could relate to the respect that we should give to
the dead now. There is a fine line between
wisdom and compromise, especially in how we speak to
the unsaved. Nehemiah is not being
disingenuous here. He's not being cunning and
devious, right? He's not trying to manipulate
the king. He's being helpful.
And there's a distinction that needs to be made.
If Nehemiah really wanted to twist the King's arm, if you
really want to play games with him, then I suppose that he
would speak about what most concerned the king relating to
Jerusalem. What was the main concern when
he was told about the rebuilding back in Ezra 4?
His officials said, hey, listen, if they rebuild these walls,
you're going to miss out on tolls, on taxes.
They're not going to respect you.
And they're going to gain strength and perhaps get the
idea of actually rebel. And no king wants that.
But you know what Nehemiah doesn't do when he asks for
permission to go back and rebuild the city?
King, listen, I got to tell you something.
If you allow this to happen, it's going to boost up your
tourism. I'm telling you, it's going to
be wonderful. You're going to get more
political points, you're going to be popular, people are going
to love you. He doesn't.
He doesn't say anything of the sort.
He's so plain. He's so direct.
He's actually very honest. The king says.
What do you want? I want to go back and rebuild
the city. That's it.
I want to restore its honor and because of the directness,
because of how? Obvious and clear this is
Nehemiah understands that he's going to need a fresh dose of
boldness. So what does he do after verse
3? You know very well, but let's
look at it again. And the king said to me, what
are you requesting? So I pray to the God of heaven.
I don't know about you. To me, this is one of the most
powerful passages in all the Bible about prayer.
So I pray to the God of heaven. How?
Where? Here are a few reasons why this
is so profound. First of all, the location of
Nehemiah's praying. I don't know how close he was to
the king. He was definitely standing
before him. And yet, because of this hidden
inner cry, Nehemiah in a split second was transported before
the throne of grace. Nehemiah didn't have time to
retreat to a room and to ask for a little bit more time to seek
God for courage. So he prays right there and
then. And it shows us that God hearing
us is not dependent upon designated rooms or holy.
Sites, you can seek him wherever you are.
And that is precisely what he does here.
It's his reflex. But secondly, we also realize
that there is the volume of his prayer and the brevity of it.
So yes, Nehemiah prays before the king.
That doesn't dismiss the importance of meeting with the
Lord for private fellowship, but it also reminds us that we can
have fellowship with Him anywhere.
But consider the volume of this prayer.
Consider how swift it is. It would be hard to imagine that
Nehemiah, when asked by the king, What are you?
Requesting that he close his eyes and bent his head and
murmured beneath his breath. In fact, you get the opposite
impression that the King didn't even take notice of anything.
He didn't squint. His eyes, he didn't do anything.
It was totally internal. Listen to this.
Nehemiah's praying was slipped between the King's request and
his response. He was able to tuck it in there.
And so in total silence in the inner parts of his soul, he
seeks the Lord. And it's it's.
Spontaneous and brief, yet warm and sincere.
And this reflex shows us one of the greatest illustrations of
the Bible, of what Paul commands us to do, and that is to pray
without ceasing. This is it.
You want an illustration of what that looks like?
It's this. Before you walk into that
appointment, you, you pray, Lord, give me peace, give me
grace. When you experience a wonderful
testimony or when somebody brings you a delightful news of
some sort, you in that moment, you just, you turn your gaze to
the Lord with the eyes of your heart, and you thank him for it.
This is what it looks like to be in constant fellowship with
Christ. Which brings me to the final
thought about his praying. And that's the practice of it.
What you'll find from this moment on in our study of
Nehemiah is that he will pray just like this on many
occasions. In fact, there's a total of a
dozen times, just around a dozen times where Nehemiah is recorded
seeking the Lord. And most of those times are
what? Short breaths of prayer.
One sentence prayers thanking the Lord, Asking the Lord for
remembrance, Asking the Lord for grace, for for mercy.
In a moment. And the reason why he does this,
you know why, is because he believed it was effective.
And you and I have to believe the same.
You may not think that that whisper of prayer can be heard
by God, but every single sigh is heard by God.
In fact, if you want to do a fascinating Bible study for
yourself, don't study the long prayers, the recorded prayers,
the known prayers in the Bible. Look for these kind of prayers,
the spontaneous, awkward, placed in the moment seekings of God.
Do you remember Eliezer, Abraham's servant, when he was
sent by Abraham to find a wife for Isaac?
Go back to the region of my relatives.
So he does. He's at the well outside of the
city. The ladies come, and what does
he do? The same thing Nehemiah does.
He prays. God, you're going to have to
help me here. And he's got camels around him,
and he's got ladies approaching him, and he's tired after a long
journey, but he knows how to lift up his heart to the Lord in
a moment. And God heard that very prayer.
Come on. Do you talk to the Lord
throughout the day? Why not?
Let me challenge you?
If we have an ending unbroken access to the mercy seat, why
not visit it frequently? Why not take everything to the
Lord, from the car to the building, Talk to him from the
grocery aisles to the cashier, Talk to him in any place.
In every place, speak to the Lord.
But I will say. This in order for these short
spontaneous prayers to be effective, it has to be based on
intentional time with the Lord in in private in many ways.
This should encourage us that we can pray short prayers at any
time. But that should.
Never substitute intentional focus time with Christ in the
same way no spouse would allow for.
Somebody to remain in contact with them in brief text only.
Those texts with your husband throughout the day are nice,
they can be sweet and they can keep you connected.
But I should never replace eye to eye, face to face
relationship. Nehemiah chapter 1 sought God
spent time with God and I make the case that that is what made
these moments of prayer more effective.
So he seeks the Lord and what happens?
An interesting detail is added in verse 6.
And the king said to me, look at what's in parenthesis here, the
queen sitting beside him. Why does that matter?
This is the only time the queen appears in this narrative, and
for whatever reason, the Holy Spirit, through Nehemiah wants
to let us know that when he was interacting with the king, the
queen was sitting beside the king.
One possible reason for the mention is that Nehemiah
observes something as he engaged with the king, that the King's
openness to Nehemiah perhaps was influenced by the presence of
the queen. If a man is humble enough, the
presence of a woman that he loves can make him tender, at
least a little bit more tender, especially with others who are
in pain. Women have a more compassionate
wiring than men do. And I think what Nehemiah is
doing here is that he's signaling to us that he
recognizes A providential grace in this very moment, that God so
set this stage that he even identifies the presence of the
queen right there, right now as a gift from God.
Nehemiah was able to perceive God's Providence in the things
that the average person would miss.
So I read that and I think to myself, Lord, I want to be able
to see that your fingerprints in as many places as possible.
He was able to see that the queen is sitting beside him.
That clearly is a key piece to this whole thing unfolding.
And by the end of the section you read it, he knows that it's
all God. But that doesn't mean that the
king did not have a positive opinion about Nehemiah.
Read again his question in verse 6.
How long will you be gone and when will you return?
So there's an openness. Now the king is actually
entertaining this. But you know what moves me about
this question? The king wants Nehemiah to come
back. I'm willing to let you go, but I
want to know when can you come back to your post?
What does that say about Nehemiah?
It says something about his integrity.
It says something about his competence, This king who had
the resources of the world, saw the value of this one man, and
he didn't want to lose him. He didn't want him to travel
indefinitely. I need to know that this is all
planned out and I'm going to see you again.
You know as much as the New Testament prepares Christians.
To be hated by the world because of our faith, our character, our
work ethic, our trustworthiness should make people despising us
a lot more difficult. There are some Christians who
believe they are being persecuted because of their
relationship with Christ, when in reality they're just
unpleasant to be around. They show up to work late all
the time. They murmur and complain like
there wasn't a God sitting in a throne in heaven.
For whatever reason. They're rude and demanding and
they think they're being persecuted, and that's not
really what's happening. That should not be.
Nehemiah inspires us. This king who didn't worship his
God, who had his own agenda, his own interests, who like many
other kings believed he was the king of the universe, liked
being around Nehemiah and was. There's something about
Nehemiah's, again, his character.
There was something about his his convictions.
There was something about his behavior.
There was something about his attitude that made him an asset.
Believer. Listen, no matter what setting
you find yourself in, by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the
things that we know from this book, we should be an added
blessing, not a burden. We.
We should give people a reason to rejoice even if they disagree
with you. And they may hate you no matter
what. That's fine.
But let them hate. You because of what you believe,
not because of how you behave. It was.
Peter, who told the believers, Let your conduct in first.
Peter 212 Let your conduct be honorable in the sight of the
Gentiles, so that in seeing your deeds they may glorify God in
the day of visitation. In seeing your deeds, not
hearing your arguments for why Christianity is the true faith.
I'm not saying that you can't do that.
We need to do that. We need to preach the gospel
with words, absolutely. But Peter shows us a part that
we sometimes miss. People watch.
They watch. They see the king work with
Nehemiah long enough to know when, when are you coming back?
If I let you go, That's a wonderful thing to have.
That's a wonderful. Testimony that we should strive
for and it requires practical Christianity it.
Requires real life, day-to-day efforts.
And intentionality with how we engage and how we respond and
what we do with what we've been entrusted with, all of that
matters if we really want to be ambassadors of Christ.
Again, our goal is not to be liked by everybody.
I wear the badge of Christ, and so do you.
And so I I want to be like this man in that should I leave a
place, people will feel it because the fragrance of Christ
is upon me and upon you. Nehemiah gives him a time.
We don't know how long he said he would be gone for, but
Nehemiah is going to take advantage of this.
He realizes the king is for me. So what does he do in verse 7?
And I said that the king give, it pleases the king.
Let letters be given to the governors of the province beyond
the river. That they may let me.
Pass through until I come to Judah.
And the letter to ASA, the keep of the King's Forest, that he
may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of
the Temple and the wall. You can tell that he's been
balling all this up inside, right?
It just it spills out. I need it all.
And I love how this section ends.
And the king granted me what I asked for.
The good hand of my God was upon me.
You know, Nehemiah wants to make sure that none of us conclude
that he was successful and received the favourable response
because of his cleverness, because he didn't mention
Jerusalem, he was sensitive. It wasn't because of that.
He didn't highlight the King's generosity.
He didn't even emphasize about the Queen's presence, for that
matter. Right away, in the same breath
where he tells us that the king granted them what he asked, he
points us to the God who made it happen.
At the same time, you cannot dismiss that God's hand moved
upon the King's heart because Nehemiah had been on his knees,
he had been seeking God. Prayer can move the hearts of
kings. The power prayer is seen.
And that it unravelled all the slander that had been made
against Jerusalem and convinced our Xerxes.
It dismantled that. Think about it this way.
One man's private praying changed a royal decree.
There's power here. Real power.
So why are we hesitant to pray? And I'm sure that we can collect
all our reasons if we're honest enough, but all of those excuses
shatter under the weight of this truth.
God can move the hearts of kings on behalf of his people,
especially praying people. So as you know, I not only study
and meditate for Friday nights in the book of Nehemiah, at
least in this season, but we're in the Book of Revelation.
And I stumbled upon something in Revelation 17, the very text
that we're looking at this Sunday, although not the verses
that I'm about to show you. And it's amazing how sometimes
you study one thing and you think it's totally unrelated,
and then God just reminds you how every part of His word is
married to each other. Look at Revelation 17.
It really puts an exclamation point to this thought.
And Revelation 17, which is our final text tonight.
Notice what John says about A. Whole different thing about
prophecy, about kings to come. About the end of the world, but
one truth remains the same. Revelation 17 verse 16.
And the 10 horns that you saw. This is John receiving
explanation for the vision that he had received.
And the 10 horns that you saw? What?
Horns. Literal horns?
No. Earlier we read that the horns
represent kings. 10 kings and the 10 horns that you saw.
They and the beast will hate the prostitute.
They will make her desolate and naked and devour her flesh and
burn her up with fire. You might be wondering what what
is going on here. Just wait till Sunday.
You'll know that this is not about an actual prostitute.
That's a symbol for something else.
We're talking about systems in the world, we're talking about
institutions. 10 Kings turn on the prostitute, which represents
something very powerful in the last days.
But notice why they turned on her?
Verse 17 For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his
purpose by being of one mind and handing over the royal power to
the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.
Why did they do this? Because God put it in their
hearts. There's no mention of prayer
here, but we go to Nehemiah and we learn something that Nehemiah
praying to God move God to put something in Arctic Xerxes heart
and more than that. Here's a different Ephesus in
Revelation, the very text that we just read.
God put it into the hearts of how many kings 10 when at the
same time any king at any time, no matter the amount God can do
something in their hearts for his purpose and for the good of
his people. So why do we hesitate to pray?
Here's how I'm going to end very simply, very, very, very
applicably. What obstacle stands before you
today? What difficult person is a
challenge to what you want to see God do?
Is it a spouse? Is it a Christian friend?
Is it a godless employer? Do you believe that God can
touch their hearts? If not, what do you do with
this? And I think the reason why we
don't see God do what he can do in prayer is because we don't
invest in prayer enough for Him to do it.
We give up way too easily, and yet God and His kindness uses
Bible studies like this to get us back to our knees to seek Him
until He does something. You know what?
So many things move me about this man, So many things.
One of the things that stir me is that four months pass and his
sorrow is not depleting, It's getting stronger.
Do you see? That for months he was able to
hide it, but at the four month mark he could no longer hide it.
It showed up showing it was intensifying.
That is not the pattern when it comes to our concern for the
things of God, but I look at. This and I choose to be among
those who interpret the Bible in the following way.
Lord, if you did it in this man Nehemiah, who is flesh.
And blood just like me. He knows fear, he knows
temptation. So do I, I'm not just going to
relate to him in his temptation. I want to relate to him in his
victory. Listen, so many Christians study
the Bible with that one-dimensional view.
Let me come to the Bible to see that even people in the Bible
failed like I failed. OK, that's great, but what about
their successes? So many Bible studies are just
us comforting ourselves and patting ourselves on the back
saying, you know, David failed, so we failed and God is
merciful. That's wonderful.
But David was a worship man. David was a man who knew how to
give God his complete heart. Why don't we emphasize that as
much Nehemiah? He was a man who had great fear.
Yes, he had man who He was a man with great weaknesses, but he
was also a praying man. Why don't we emphasize the fact
that he prayed? So I should be able to pray just
as much. That's a good place to end, I
think, to allow these truths to engage our faith and to move us
until we say, Lord, I want to choose to believe this and ask
you to do it in me, and he's able to do it.
So what stands before you today? Do you have enough faith tonight
to give God a breath? I say, Lord, I choose to believe
you with all of me that you can do something about this and I
just offer it here because you're being stirred
emotionally. But to take it home with you and
say I have nothing to lose. I have nothing to lose.
I'm going to give this to the Lord until he comes through and
I'm going to plan for it while I wait.
And you might have your own Psalm 116 verse one experience.
I love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my plea for
mercy. But we thank you that you're a
God who hears prayers. You know what is burdening us.
But Lord, you were so kind to remind us the kind of God that
you are. And Lord, tonight we remember
that you are not like Arctic Xerxes.
We don't have to wonder what kind of mood you are in today.
You were the same yesterday, today, and forever.
And so that we come to you. We believe that you are and that
you reward those who diligently seek you.
So we come to you as a church. And Lord, we ask that You make
us a praying church. May the prayer meeting of NBC
never die. And Lord, may our own prayer
lives come back to life again. Maybe know the beauty of praying
in private, but also praying throughout the day, inviting you
into everything, remaining in contact with you and reaping all
the benefits that come with that.
So Lord, if there's anything that's going to be reinforced as
a result of the study, may be how we seek you in all things.
We love you Lord, and we honor you tonight in Jesus name, Amen.
Listen, if this, if this touched you in a certain way where you
want to speak to the Lord, stay seated, talk to the Lord,
commune with him, just offer yourself to him.
If you want to stand and sing and rejoice over the truths that
you heard, you can do that as well.
But let's engage with the Lord, at least engage with the Lord.
If you want to stand, you can do that.
If you want to sit, you can do that as well.