What Is It You Want? (Nehemiah 2:4)
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Psalms 137; 138
Nehemiah 1:1-2:8
1 Peter 5
What Is It You Want? (Nehemiah 2:4)
After yesterday’s distressing conclusion, we move across to a contemporary of Ezra, Zechariah and Haggai: Nehemiah. All four of these men had instrumental parts to play in the return of the exiles and the rebuilding work. Haggai and Zechariah were prophets, providing their own form of encouragement: Haggai, the gentle encouragement of a thoughtful man of years; Zechariah, the contagious enthusiasm of youth. Ezra was full of love of the Lord and his ways, and came to teach the people what he had learned from reading the scriptures. Now we turn to Nehemiah, a cupbearer to the king of Persia.
Do you remember your Arthurian legends? The old stories of kings and queens in palaces, attended to by armies of servants, courts filled with intrigue? A cupbearer was more than a royal waiter. He was in the inner circle; he was trusted to taste every thing that was to then be served to the king, to make sure nothing was poisoned. If you couldn’t trust the cupbearer, you couldn’t trust anyone. And so Nehemiah was right up there at the top of the Persian empire when it came to its government. His role in our story of the new Jerusalem will be of civil governance; he is our project manager.
Nehemiah was also a man of prayer. He knew what was going on in his hometown, that the rebuilding work had begun. Asking for news, he hears that the work has been postponed. For such a man as Nehemiah, who has a soul that loves engineering and the Lord almost in equal measure, he cannot bear the thought of work not happening. And so he prays this incredible prayer, a prayer that shows a deep understanding of and reverence for God’s awesome holiness.
But the Bible is full of these long prayers. What is more striking is his conversation with the king. Unable to keep his sadness off his face, the king turns to his trusted adviser and asks “are you OK”? Nehemiah could not have been expecting this. He may have hoped to be able to influence events down in Jerusalem, but he knows the king has more important matters to attend to, matters to which Nehemiah’s input is vital. And so in the time it takes to turn his head and take in a breath, Nehemiah shoots up a prayer to heaven. What is even more striking, is that it works! God hears this prayer-of-the-moment and the conversation ends up with Nehemiah asking for more than he ever could have hoped for, and getting it.
How often do we send up these little emergency prayers? The type that asks for a free car park outside the hospital as you pull up in an emergency, or enough milk in the fridge as you open the door? It is said that one pastor, when walking up to knock on the door of his home visits, would simply repeat the phrase “I believe in the Holy Spirit” until the door was answered. We can certainly sit down and write out beautifully sacred prayers for ourselves when we have the time, but do we have the same faith that God answers the emergency calls for help we make in the moment?
O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night.
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