Nehemiah 1:1-4 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, 2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. 4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven …

I believe our country has lost it’s vision, not to mention it’s mind. Everywhere I look I see more insanity parading about as if it is normal. The news channels are all taken over by madness. Rioting and pillaging along the lines that the Vikings used to do is now considered a First Amendment right. Godliness has taken a sabbatical, and it seems as if darkness reigns. Yet I am not discouraged. I believe when we are in the worst place we can be (and Beloved, we are there), this is the best place we can be.

Now we must rely upon God.

Darkness has assimilated all sanity and rational discourse. In our nation we have First Amendment rights so that all can have free speech. In recent years the colleges and universities have taught our children that the First Amendment only applies to one viewpoint, and if all do not agree with the darkness, they are to be cast out and vilified. If the mob doesn’t get its way, it shouts “Go home, Jacob, Go home!”, and considers itself vindicated. Children running wild in the community are now told that their childish imaginations are more important than what anyone else says. We do not live in a day of tolerance, but of “he (or she) who shouts the loudest must be right”. Insanity and confusion reign. The CHAZ becomes the CHOP which is a microcosm of what used to be the USA. Yet I am not discouraged. I believe when we are in the worst place we can be (and Beloved, we are there), this is the best place we can be.

Now we must rely on God.

Social media is clamping down on anything and everything that does not agree with the darkness. Viewpoints are blocked, fact checked, censored. Fahrenheit 451, a novel published in 1953 by Ray Bradbury, presented a future America where books were outlawed. Offending books were burned by “firemen”. That America is here now. Though books are not being burned by firemen, social media platforms are erasing and blocking any viewpoint that does not agree with the censor. America used to be a place where people could discuss viewpoints. Today the dark mob demands that it’s viewpoint is the only way. Yet I am not discouraged. I believe when we are in the worst place we can be (and Beloved, we are there), this is the best place we can be.

Now we must rely on God.

When Everything Is Confusion And Defeat,
We Must Rely On God

The Bible is the Book of God. Those things that are written in it are things that God our Creator and Father want us to know. The madness that America seems to be gripped in is not unique in the history of the world. God’s Old Covenant people called “Israel” has been in 70 or so years of captivity, first to Babylon and later to Medo-Persia. A nation once blessed by God wandered away from the God Who loved her. The Bible says:

Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

If the nation “whose God is the Lord” is blessed, then the nation that has abandoned God is cursed. Israel was cursed. She had turned her back on God, and had lost her freedom. When we refuse to follow God, and choose to follow self, it is not long before destruction comes. This was Nehemiah’s Israel. Nehemiah himself …

was in Shushan the palace

He is not in Israel, but held captive in the conquering King’s home. He was in a position of cupbearer. Many are those who think – if I stay silent when the darkness comes – I will be spared. Beloved, do not think this to be the case. In Nazi Germany many good Germans were silent as the innocent Jews were systematically murdered. Yet all suffered the error of their ways. As a person sows, that person reaps (Galatians 6:7-8). He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity (Proverbs 22:8).

If you let the darkness come, it will soon cover you.
Being silent and complacent will not save you!

Though “cupbearer to the King” is a lowly position, Nehemiah has been largely insulated from suffering. Then he has a visitor.

Nehemiah 1:2 … Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

Nehemiah’s “brother” Hanani along with other men of Judah came to visit. Judah was supposed to be the ruling tribe of Israel, the tribe to whom the Throne belonged. Nehemiah asked this governing delegation about Jerusalem, the Capital city of God’s people. They told him:

Nehemiah 1:3 … And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

His homeland is totally destroyed. Those who have not been captured are afflicted and bullied. All of the defenses of the Nation’s Capital are down, destroyed by fire.

Nehemiah 1:4 … And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven …

What did Nehemiah do?

• Nehemiah SAT DOWN. When trials come we often think, “I’ve got to DO SOMETHING”. Then we run around like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off “doing something”, often just making the water muddier and a bigger mess. We rush to Social Media and post a rant. We call a friend (often an unsaved friend) and complain, marring our testimony. We “do SOMETHING” – what we do does no good whatsoever.
• Nehemiah WEPT and MOURNED. He cried over what had happened. It is fine to weep and mourn. Our Lord Jesus wept (John 11:35). There is nothing wrong with weeping and mourning, but do not stop there. There are many who, suffering loss, all they can do I weep, whine, and wring their hands. No Beloved, do not stop there. Nehemiah wept CERTAIN DAYS, a determined amount of time. He was not consumed by his anguish, but controlled it. Do not burn up or burn out in the flame of your emotion!
• Nehemiah FASTED and PRAYED before the God of Heaven. Though alienated from the throne room of Jerusalem, Nehemiah was not alienated from the Throne Room of Heaven. He went to his God in prayer. Our God has promised:

Psalm 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Illustrate We have all heard of the man who gets lost going somewhere. His wife tells him, “Pull over and ask directions”, but the man is so prideful that he refuses to do so. “I know where I’m going” is his creed, as he gets more and more lost. We are all like this on the highway of life. We think we know where we’re going. We don’t. But God does. We need to “pull over and ask directions”. That’s what Nehemiah did. He heeded the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13).

Prayer is when we “Pull over and ask directions”.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Not WITH Christ, nor APART FROM Christ, but THROUGH Christ. I must pray, and seek God’s direction if I will get out of this mess. Notice how Nehemiah prayed:

Nehemiah 1:5-11 I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: 6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. 8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. 10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.

Nehemiah prayed:

• Humbly. He did not demand of God, but prayed “I beseech Thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God. The Bible says:

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

• Expectantly. Nehemiah said, “Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now”. Nehemiah approached the throne room of God and honored the Father as the Father. He did not complain nor whine, but asked humbly, expecting much of God.

• Responsibly. He prayed to “confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses”. So often when we find ourselves in trouble we blame God.

God is NOT to blame. WE ARE!

Nehemiah confessed his sins and the sins of Israel before God our Father. The Bible promises:

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

• Specifically. Nehemiah said, “O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” He asked God to go before him as he went to the earthly King’s chamber. He wanted to ask the Medo-Persian King for help, so he asked God to prepare that man’s heart. Nehemiah did not limit God, but asked for guidance and control in very specific ways.

Though Nehemiah Had A Secular Job,
He Believed His First Responsibility Was To Glorify God

Nehemiah ends this chapter with:

For I was the king’s cupbearer.

Though Nehemiah had a secular job, he believed the job that he did for God his Savior superseded all else. Every believer in Christ has an earthly calling, and a heavenly calling. We are representatives of God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. The reason that God left us on this earth is to carry His message of reconciliation:

2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Darkness can only be defeated by drawing it toward the Light that is Christ. The Apostle Paul, imprisoned for preaching the Gospel, said:

Ephesians 4:1-3 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

The primary “vocation” of the Christian is to live our lives for our God. We live to honor Him, to spread the good news of His Gospel to a lost and dying world. We are to be sowers. Jesus said:

Matthew 13:18-23 … Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. 19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Jesus spoke of four conditions of the soil of the heart. Some will hear God’s Word, and will not understand it. Others will receive the Word, understand it, but will not dwell on it. A third type of person will hear God’s Word, understand it, but reject it because they prefer the darkness. But that fourth type of soil, the ready heart, will receive the good Word of God, and will bring forth much fruit. It is not the Christian’s place to plow the soil, but it is our place to sow the Gospel seed. We do so only after asking God to prepare the hearer.

We Must Never Lose The Vision

The one thing Nehemiah did NOT do was lose his vision and his hope.

I once read the story of Florence Chadwick, the first woman to swim the English Channel. In 1952 she decided to swim the 26 miles from Catalina Island to the California coast. Her mother accompanied her swim by following in a small boat. On the day that she tried this difficult swim, it was very foggy. She told her mama, “I can’t make it; I can’t go any further”. Her mother told her to keep on going, that she wasn’t far from her goal. But the fog kept Florence from seeing the coastline. Defeated, she gave up.

Florence was less than a half a mile from her goal.

Two months later, Florence tried again. She not only made it, but beat a world’s record, finishing two and a half hours faster than anyone had ever done. How did she do it? she got back in the water, and not only did she swim from Catalina Island to California, but she also beat the women’s world record for that distance. How did she do it? She said:

“I kept a picture in my mind of the shoreline. Even though I couldn’t see it with my eyes, it was ever before me. I never lost sight of {my goal}”

Christian, what is YOUR goal in life? A great man, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr, once said:

“The whole concept of the “image of God ” is the idea that all men have something within them that God injected. .. . And this gives [man] a uniqueness, it gives him worth, it gives him dignity. And we must never forget this . . . there are no gradations in the image of God. Every man from a treble white to a bass black is significant on God’s keyboard, precisely because every man is made in the image of God. One day we will learn that. We will know one day that God made us to live together as brothers and to respect the dignity and worth of every man.”

Our nation will not come back to stability until the Gospel of Christ is heard, shared, and magnified. The solution to the problems that ail us as a nation is spiritual. Let us, like Nehemiah, mourn where we have fallen. But let’s not leave it there. You cannot change the world by staying in the salt shaker. Beloved, we are to get out into the world, and love others as Christ has commanded. We need to be salt and light while we can. These are exciting days. Let’s look to God, relying upon Him and His Word. For a better America. In Christ’s name I pray this. Amen and Amen.