9/4/2011 8:41:10 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: The Grace of God
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Nehemiah 9:31-38
Message of the verses: “31 "Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are a gracious and compassionate God. 32 "Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness, Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You, Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people, From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day. 33 "However, You are just in all that has come upon us; For You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly. 34 "For our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers have not kept Your law Or paid attention to Your commandments and Your admonitions with which You have admonished them. 35 "But they, in their own kingdom, With Your great goodness which You gave them, With the broad and rich land which You set before them, Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds. 36 "Behold, we are slaves today, And as to the land which You gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its bounty, Behold, we are slaves in it. 37 "Its abundant produce is for the kings Whom You have set over us because of our sins; They also rule over our bodies And over our cattle as they please, So we are in great distress. 38 "Now because of all this We are making an agreement in writing; And on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests.’”
This is the last section of the prayer that is found in the ninth chapter of Nehemiah and is prayed by those Levites who are mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. As stated before we see some of the history of the nation of Israel in this prayer, and we see the goodness of God in this prayer along with His faithfulness, grace and mercy.
I find it interesting that these exiles who came to Jerusalem from Babylon are now slaves in the land that God had promised to give them all the way back in the twelfth chapter of Genesis where God makes a covenant with Abram concerning the people that would come from him who would be part of the nation of Israel.
As mentioned before and now seen in this section of the prayer, the Levites who prayed to the Lord made themselves a part of the problem, and part of the sinfulness that caused them to be in the situation that they now found themselves. At the end of this prayer these Levites were again renewing the covenant that the Lord had made with them and would sign the document to confirm that they were part of this covenant that God had made with them. I have read many of Dr. Wiersbe’s books and have found a saying that he quotes from an old Scottish pastor that fits into this section: “The Christians life is a series of new beginnings.”
I will now quote from the last section of his commentary that he wrote at the end of this chapter: “Our God is a glorious God (Neh. 9:5). He is powerful (v-6), faithful (v-8), and concerned about the needs of His people (v-9). He is a pardoning God (vv.24-25, 35), who give us far more than we deserve. He is a God who keeps His promises even if we are unfaithful.
“Surely this God deserves our loving obedience!
“Perhaps the time has come for a new beginning.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I suppose that after coming back to our home in North Ridgeville, Ohio from an eight month stay on the island of Kauai it would be a good time for a new beginning, and to see what it is that the Lord now has for us to do, to seek Him in prayer and to give ourselves to Him seeking His direction for our lives.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. To make a commitment to serve the Lord in what He has for me to do since my return to Ohiol
2. To continue to learn contentment.
3. To serve the Lord faithfully. 9/4/2011 9:16:53 AM
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