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Nehemiah 1 (Part 1) Bible Study (Introduction / Report from Jerusalem) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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I'm so excited to invite you to turn with me now to the book of
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Nehemiah. You're probably already there,
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and if you're not, Nehemiah is right after the book of Ezra.
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Hopefully that's helpful. And once I hear those pages
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settled, I'd love for us to pray one more time.
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Can we do that together? Blessed Lord, thank you for a
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room every week that is filled with people who love your word.
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We pray that you would go before us in this new journey.
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You've been with us year after year, month after month, week
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after week, and we trust that you'll be no different as we
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faithfully come to this new text.
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We pray, Lord, that tonight as we are introduced to Nehemiah,
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his story, his mission, his message, that you'd use these
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truths to weaken our attachment to the world.
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And we pray that you would energize our holiness.
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You would supply greater grace to trust you, to love you, to
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adore you, To know that everything that we learned in
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this session means that we can know you in the same way that we
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can relate to you and experience you because you are the same
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God, the same God as Nehemiah served.
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So Lord, we do ask that you would protect this, this opening
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service from error, from confusion, frustration, and
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especially distraction. Lord, subdue any rebellious
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thing that would try to rob us from the experience of your
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voice through your written word. We bless you Lord, we love you.
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Lord, in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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The book of Nehemiah. I'm not sure if you've been in
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church circles long enough, but I have been to know that
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Nehemiah has developed an interesting reputation.
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And that reputation is that it is a narrative that many
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churches draw inspiration from, especially when that ministry is
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looking to enter into a new building campaign.
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Maybe you sat through such a series.
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Maybe you've heard Nehemiah quoted when there is a
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construction project being proposed to a group of
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believers. And Nehemiah is often referenced
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to see how things such as building or renovating or
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renewing can be done in remarkable timing.
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But I'm here to tell you with great joy that there is much
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more that Nehemiah has to offer than finding such inspiration.
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Like Ezra, we will see and learn about godly qualities concerning
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leadership, how to overcome various persecutions and
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pressures and adversity. We will notice the beauty of
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unity among believers. We will see again the power of
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prayer. We will look at some of the
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character traits that are necessary for longevity and
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serving God, and much, much more.
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But before we consider these things, let us take a moment to
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situate ourselves by reflecting and clarifying some background
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information. Nehemiah's story begins 13 years
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after Ezra enters Jerusalem from Babylonia.
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We know this because in Ezra Chapter 7 verse 8, Ezra tells us
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that he arrives at Jerusalem in the seventh year of King
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Artaxerxes who is the Persian king at the time, while Nehemiah
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chapter 2 verse one, it is recorded that Nehemiah received
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permission from the same king in the 20th year of his reign.
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So 13 years go by as we open this new book.
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And as many of you already know, Nehemiah will be raised up by
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God to be the leader who will guide the third movement of
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restoration for the Jewish exiles.
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Approximately 90 to 100 years earlier, God stirred the heart
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of a man named Zerubbabel to help rebuild the temple.
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Later, God summoned a man named Ezra to rebuild the community,
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the actual people, spiritually through the teaching of the law.
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And now, as we come to this new book, this new account, we will
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discover how Nehemiah will come alongside Ezra.
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Yes, Ezra and Nehemiah are actually going to work together
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to not only rebuild the walls, but to actually stabilize the
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people of God in their relationship with the Lord.
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Nehemiah is an important figure and his purpose and mission
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therefore make this book a natural sequence to what we have
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studied in Ezra. So much so that there are many
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people who believe that Ezra is the author of the book of
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Nehemiah. And though you may find some
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similar parallels or qualities, we will actually see that
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Nehemiah is in fact the author of this book.
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There's stronger evidence for that than anything else.
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Now, as I was meditating on on this new study, I could not help
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but think how difficult it must have been for the activities
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that were under Zerubbabel and Ezra without city walls all
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those years. This is staggering if you think
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about it. Over that timeline, the people
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of God did so much with so little protection and security.
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In fact, the vulnerability of the people of God during this
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time may have been greater than most of us actually think.
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Isn't it interesting that the last things that we read in the
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book of Ezra are how the people of God committed a great sin,
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namely the sin of interfaith marriage?
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While the first thing that you and I encounter and face in the
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opening of Nehemiah is a reminder of how the city walls
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were still broken down. Now, I'm not suggesting that the
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primary cause for the people intermingling with idolaters was
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because there was no physical barrier.
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But it makes you wonder whether that contributed to the
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unregulated interaction of the surrounding world, if this
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allowed outside influences and forces to easily invade the
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space of the righteous, and if it overall weakened their sense
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of distinction and separation. In other words, Nehemiah appears
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to have this insight that the condition of the walls
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threatened more than just the dignity of the Jewish people.
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There was more at stake here. Nehemiah will show us that these
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walls actually offered practical help, safeguards for the
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sanctification of the people of God, in the same way that we
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have practical instructions in the New Testament to help us
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guard our own hearts and to avoid certain temptations and to
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secure an undivided devotion to the Lord.
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In fact, there is an example of this in the book of Nehemiah.
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Now we're there, the 1st chapter, but I'd like to ask you
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to go to chapter 13, which is the last chapter, just to
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reinforce this point. Look at Nehemiah 13, verse 20.
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This is long after the walls and the gates were resurrected.
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Notice what happens here. This is one among many
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instances, unfortunate instances.
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In the MI 13 verse 20, we read then the merchants and sellers
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of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.
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But I warned them and said to them, why do you lodge outside
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the wall? If you do so again, I will lay
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hands on you. From that time on.
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They did not come on the Sabbath.
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So this is a glimpse of of some of the lurking temptations that
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await the people of God even after the walls and the gates
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were rebuilt. Here you have merchants and
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sellers lingering outside the city, and they're seeking to
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entice the people inside the city who have barred themselves
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from any kind of trade or business deals because they are
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honoring the Sabbath. And yet you have these vultures.
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We're trying to tempt them with their presence and take
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advantage of the proximity to try to pull them away from
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obedience to God, namely in regards to the Sabbath.
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And although the wall didn't completely deter these
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influences, it did serve as a buffer.
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It provided separation between the pressures and the people of
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God that the community here. And so this is just a an
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illustration really of how what we have here, this enclosure
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offers much more than just protection against weaponry or
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some kind of siege. No, this actually provided a
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measure of protection for the people's hearts.
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It would preserve Judah's distinct way of life.
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And this is just, again, a small preview of the kinds of insights
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and instructions that we will unfold and discover that will
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help us in our own walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
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So with that in mind, let's come back to Nehemiah chapter 1,
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turning to this opening scene by reading and studying the first 3
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verses together, the words of Nehemiah, the son of Hakalaya.
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Now what happened in the month of Kislev in the 20th year, as I
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was in Susa, the citadel, the Hanani, one of my brothers came
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with certain men from Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews
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who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning
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Jerusalem. And they said to me, the remnant
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there in the province who had survived the Exiles in great
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trouble and shame, the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and
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it's gates are destroyed by fire.
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In this study, I'd like for us to organize our thoughts with
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three simple headings. We're going to consider three
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things tonight. One, the person, the person
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Nehemiah. Secondly, there is the
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preoccupation, the preoccupation in this man's heart and his
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mind. And lastly and briefly, we will
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look at the problem. The problem.
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Let's look at the person. Right at the outset, we are
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introduced to Nehemiah himself. And interestingly, unlike
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Zerubbabel, who is of royal descent and like Ezra who is
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from the priestly line, we do not have much data about
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Nehemiah's family background. Some assume and claim that he is
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from the tribe of Judah, but there's no conclusive evidence
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for that. All we know about Nehemiah is
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that he was a Jew and his father's name was Hakaliah.
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And the limited information that we have about this may can
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actually be more encouraging, depending on the way you look at
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it. Think about it, up to this point
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in the storyline, we have seen how the Lord raised up certain
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men that we would expect for him to use.
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Zerubbabel, who had David's blood running through his veins.
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I can see why you would use a man like that.
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And you have Ezra, who is from that ancient priesthood.
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But then you come to a man like Nehemiah and he doesn't have any
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kind of pedigree. There isn't any significant
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heritage that he represents, but from time to time, you know what
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the Lord does. He often surprises the world and
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even his own people by whom he chooses to use to do great
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things for His name. And Nehemiah is one of those
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surprises. And if you are completely
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convinced that you want to live for the glory of God, you may be
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surprised yourself of how God can use your life.
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Nehemiah may not have known how the Lord was going to use him as
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a governor, as a reviver of sorts, but I wonder if his
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parents had high hopes for him, saying where do you get that
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idea from? By the fact that Hakalaya and
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his wife named their son Nehemiah.
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Do you know what Nehemiah means? The Lord comforts.
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Isn't that a beautiful name? The Lord comforts.
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Now, I'm sure that in part they named Nehemiah this because his
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presence, his birth, his entrance into their world indeed
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brought comfort to them, especially because they were in
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exile. But I also wonder if they hoped
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and long for Nehemiah to be an extension of God's comfort to
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others. And what we're going to see
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early in this study is that Nehemiah is going to live up to
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that name. He is indeed going to be a
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conduit. He's going to be a vessel used
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by God to bring comfort to a hurting, despairing, and
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distressed people because of his leadership, because of his
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conviction, because of his drive.
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We're going to see in a moment how that's the case, but we
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learn more about the person of Nehemiah.
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His character shines through even in the fact that he tells
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us where he was at the time of the introduction of his memoirs.
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Look here at the second part of verse one.
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Now, what happened in the month of Kislev in the 20th year, as I
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was in Susa, the Citadel. Now the month of Kislev
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corresponds to November or December, so we're in the winter
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months here. But notice the location as I was
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in Susa, the citadel. Does that setting sound familiar
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to any of us? Where do you find the setting
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and other portions of the Old Testament?
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You can you can say it out loud if you have an idea.
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Esther, Very good. Anybody else?
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Let me read this verse without giving you the quote and tell me
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who you think it is. And I saw in the vision, and
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when I saw I was in Susa, the citadel, which is in the
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province of Elam. And I saw in the vision, and I
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was at you lie at you lie canal. Daniel.
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So you had Daniel who was in Susa.
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You had Esther who became a queen in Susa.
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So that tells us at least two things #1 Susa and the citadel,
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the fortress, the palace. There was the winter residence
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for the kings of Persia. But #2 we also learned that
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whoever operated in that kind of a setting must have been a
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high-ranking official or someone closely associated with those
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and upper levels of government. So what does that tell us about
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Nehemiah? Nehemiah may not have come from
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a notable family tree, but he did become somebody very
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important. And that's confirmed further in
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this chapter in the very last verse.
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Look at the last sentence of verse 11 of Nehemiah 1.
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He writes, Now I was cup bearer to the king.
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Now, in our modern context, that might not be very impressive.
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That may sound like a Butler of some sorts, but history teaches
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that a cupbearer was a much more impressive and respected role
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than we might imagine. You see, one of the dangers that
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a king would face was what poisoning among many other
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dangers. And so a cupbearer would be
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recruited to taste the wine before it was consumed by
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royalty, so that if it was contaminated, then that man
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would die instead of the king. So cupbearer put his life on the
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line every single day. And you would think then with
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such a responsibility that you would require a trustworthy
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individual to fill it, which indicates that Nehemiah must
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have been a man of impeccable character.
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A cupbearer would be one of the closest people to the king in
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all of the Kingdom. And though, yes, he would serve
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the drinks and the foods, ensuring that it was safe to
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consume, but more than that, they would be trusted friends to
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some extent. There would be conversations.
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Sometimes even the king would inquire and seek advice or have
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just, you know, a developed sense of growing love and
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admiration and respect. And so Nehemiah was somebody who
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developed a character of integrity and reliability and
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really a blameless testimony. And I think that's important for
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us to consider because we mentioned earlier how God can
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use anyone in the sense that he will never hold against us
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things that are outside of our control.
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Nehemiah could not control which parents he was born to, which
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family line he came from. But you know what?
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Nehemiah could control who he was as a man.
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And so, yes, God can use anyone, but God has a standard, a
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standard that's achievable for any of us.
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And before Nehemiah even enters into his ultimate calling, we
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learned that he was a man of great character.
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That's what prepared him to win the trust and even the favor of
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the king. We're going to see that
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especially in Chapter 2. Had Nehemiah been sketchy, had
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he been inconsistent? Had he had been someone that was
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not really respected or trusted or make you wonder how that
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would jeopardize this potential mission.
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But instead we find a man who was strong with his walk, with
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his work ethic, with his history, and that won him a
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calling. And so this is what we see about
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the person of Nehemiah. Not much information, but enough
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for us to be inspired. And more of his God honoring
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character shines in the next part of our analysis.
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We looked at the person, but let's consider the
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preoccupation. At this point.
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We may have some fresh questions springing up in our minds about
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Nehemiah. One of them might be the
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following How did somebody like Nehemiah arrive at this role?
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That's a legitimate question. Or why didn't Nehemiah join Ezra
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a few short years earlier when he called the Exiles in
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Babylonia to come back with him to Jerusalem?
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That's what I was thinking, and we can't spend too much time
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entertaining the possible answers.
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Instead, I want to look at what's obvious and what's clear
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here. That although Nehemiah was a man
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who enjoyed unique privileges and advantages, really being so
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near to royalty and having interaction and and relationship
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with those of nobility, his heart was still set on the
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people of God and the place that represented God's glory.
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Look again at verse 2, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came
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with certain men from Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews
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who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning
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Jerusalem. Again, we don't have much
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insight about what led to this interaction between Nehemiah,
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his actual blood brother Hanani, and some of the men that came
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back from Judah. But it's telling, isn't it, that
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when they come and visit their friend, the brother, he's the
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one who initiates the inquiry? What is going on back in
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Jerusalem? What is happening with the
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people of God? What condition is the city in?
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I don't know about you, but this is a strong reminder and it's
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really an encouragement that it is totally possible.
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Like Nehemiah proves to be somebody who is promoted in
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different arenas in society and who operates in prominence and
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yet still have a love for the Lord and still be concerned with
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the purposes of God being advanced and honored.
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Nehemiah did not lose that. You know what makes that even
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more staggering? Nehemiah was not born in
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Jerusalem. He was not born in the Promised
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Land. He had never seen the holy city
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with his own eyes. He never tasted of the milk and
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honey that Moses spoke of all his life.
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Nehemiah only heard, and he was certainly taught, and he had a
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grasp on the truth of God's Word.
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And with everything around him, with all the opportunities he
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had, with the promotion that he had here, even now he still had
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this deep burden. This is instructive for us
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because one of the ways that you and I can determine if our souls
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are healthy in the midst of success is if you can honestly
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identify a genuine, sincere concern for that which God cares
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about. Nehemiah proves to us that it is
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absolutely possible. Now.
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He was not a prophet. He was not a king.
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For all we know, he was a layperson, and yet he possessed
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an authentic love for what God loved.
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And notice here the order of his inquiry.
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Look at verse 2 again. And I asked them concerning the
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Jews who escaped and would survive the exile and concerning
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Jerusalem. Nehemiah asked first about the
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holy people before the holy city.
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This is a true leader in the making.
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This is a true minister being molded here.
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You know, I've even met many, many people who really champion
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and sacrifice and love the church and ministry in the
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church for different reasons. And sometimes those reasons
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don't include the people being served.
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Some people like to preach because of how it makes them
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feel, the purpose that it gives them, the honor that they
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receive. Some people like to play because
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of the musical element. Some people like to come just
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because fill in the blank. But you know what Nehemiah shows
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us? This whole thing ultimately is
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about God's glory. And we glorify God by loving the
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people of God. We minister, we serve, we take
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up opportunities, we volunteer, we sacrifice, we get for what?
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The well-being of God's people, the welfare of the Saints, the
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strength of the church through the people of God being
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strengthened. So he asked about the people
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before he asked about anything else.
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Now, you and I heard earlier how character is vital in order for
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us to be positioned for God's calling.
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But there's something else we have to be mindful of.
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As valuable as character is, God uses men and women who have real
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concern, real desires that are aimed at the right things, real
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passions that are in agreement with what makes God and his
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heart move. God does not, and He cannot use
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somebody who does not have the ambition and the right motive in
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serving Him. You know, many people miss this.
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I'd like to give you another example.
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Moses. Where did Moses calling begin?
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You know how many people think the burning Bush?
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Although that was his official commissioning, this man was
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being prepared long before he heard a voice from a burning
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Bush. Can I tell you where it started?
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It's in Acts Chapter 7. Notice what I said about Moses
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in Acts 7. Acts 7, verse 22.
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You'll notice that there's some similarity between Moses and
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Nehemiah. It reads here in Acts 722.
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And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and
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he was mighty in his words and deeds.
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When he was 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his
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brothers, the children of Israel.
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It came to where his heart, something was birthed in this
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man's heart to check on the well-being of his brethren.
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This is where it all begins. And I want you to see here that
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both Moses and Nehemiah were born in a foreign land.
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Both held positions of influence.
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Both interact with people of power and prestige, and yet both
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had the welfare of the people of God burning in their hearts, and
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that is why God used them. And so you and I have to ask
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ourselves at this point, especially for those who are
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more inclined to relate to men like Moses and Nehemiah, you
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can't really maybe understand Ezra's whole thing because he
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was a priest, he was a minister, he studied the Word of God 24/7.
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So here you are now with Nehemiah before you as an
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example. And I'd like to ask you this,
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Can God find a concern for his people and His purpose in your
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heart? How do you feel about the
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church? What does it do to you when you
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hear the church at large or even on the local level is not doing
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well or has many needs or suffering?
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Or are you completely wrapped up in your career?
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Are you completely consumed with your personal agenda?
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If you can't find it in your heart to say I I want to do what
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I can to help build up God's work, especially God's people.
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You are limiting yourself and you are hindering a possible
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ministry being born in and through you.
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Moses had it in his heart. Nehemiah asked what is going on,
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and he did so from the place of a genuine care.
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And this is all showing us that how necessary it is to be
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connected with the Lord internally before we do anything
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for him externally. This is the preoccupation of
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this man. I'd like to offer another hope,
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another note of inspiration. Come back with me here to verse
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2. Notice who it is that is named
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among the group that came to Nehemiah and Hanani, one of my
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brothers. Now that's not a spiritual
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brother. This is his actual brother, his
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kinsmen. They share the same blood.
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So I thought if they named Nehemiah the Lord Conference,
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what does Hannity mean? And I discovered that it means
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gracious. Now we don't know much about
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Nehemiah's brother here until you go later on in the book of
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Nehemiah. And I want you to see what is
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said of this man in Chapter 7, verse 2.
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Can we go there? Look at Chapter 7 verse 2.
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Nehemiah writes I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah, the
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governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem for he was a more
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faithful and God fearing man than many.
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Notice how careful Nehemiah is. He didn't say that he elected
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Hanani because he was his brother.
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That's nepotism where you give favor towards relatives, though
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they don't merit that position or that authority or that
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ministry. No, he says Hannity was promoted
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because he feared God than most of the others.
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Now, we'll talk more about that when we arrive to Chapter 7.
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But for now, I want to show you how encouraging this is.
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God can do a great work in households.
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God can do a great work through siblings, spouses, husbands and
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wives, entire families. And I looked at this and I
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meditated on it and I thought, it's possible.
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It's possible for brothers to serve God in the ministry
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together. It's possible for sisters to
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have an equally yoked devotion and love for the things of God.
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It's possible for husband and wives.
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I mean, think about some of the apostles.
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They were brothers. Did you know that?
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Think about some of the couples that God used in the New
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Testament to to have churches in their homes.
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So you might be sitting there tonight thinking, I wish I had
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that with my sibling. We barely get along.
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And May God do a work in your heart and in their hearts.
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But should you become a leader in your own home, Should you
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become a mother who raises more than one child, believe this for
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your family. Believe this for your
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descendants. Believe this for your children.
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It's a little thought, but it means so much to me that
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Nehemiah is not working solo here.
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Yes, he had a group supporting him, but he even had his own
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brother in his corner. And when we see God working in
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families in the local church, we should celebrate that.
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We should love that. We should say, I want that for
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my own house. I want that for every house.
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Is there concerns in ministry when when there's family members
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serving in a capacity of authority?
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Absolutely. But Nehemiah shows us, and
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Hannity is a qualified man. He wasn't where he was because
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he was Nehemiah's brother. He was where he was because he
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loved God and feared God more than anything.
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The preoccupation. But now we look at the problem.
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Look at verse 3 again with me. And they said to me, the remnant
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there in the province who had survived the exile is in great
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trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken
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down and its gates are destroyed by fire.
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It doesn't take much to understand how disappointing it
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is to learn that after all these years, the Exiles were still
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unable to restore their sense of stability and security.
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Whether they attempted to rebuild over those years is
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unclear. Whether prior attempts, it's not
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obvious to us, it's not indicated.
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However, the current condition of the city was a perilous 1,
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one that disturbed Nehemiah, as we're about to find out.
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So much so a city without walls in biblical times was so
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unthinkable that it actually became an illustration or
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proverb of a concerning spiritual condition.
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Did you know that? Let me give you one example in
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the book of Proverbs. Go to Proverbs 25 with me,
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Proverbs 25 and verse 28. A man without self-control is
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like a city broken into and left without walls.
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You see that? How is it that a man without
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self-control is like a city left without walls, or like a city?
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In that state you become totally vulnerable to the enemy.
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You become an easy prey for foes and predators.
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The temptations and the impulses of the flesh of the world will
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have a much easier time invading the soul and seizing whatever
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good remains in US. In other words, the Holy Spirit
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teaches us here that that self-control is like a wall
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around the heart and it provides resistance against anything that
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was seek to subdue us and control us and dominate us.
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And so we understand here that Nehemiah knows the value of
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physical walls absolutely, but he will also show by way of
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examples that there are protocols that we must make for
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our own souls, that we must raise up safeguards in order to
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protect our testimony and our ministry.
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And perhaps this is a good place to land and making this
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connection between a broken city with no protection and a
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vulnerable heart, in the same way that there were years after
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years being spent without knowing the fullness of the
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grace that could have been known with walls.
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I'm afraid that there are many people even in the church who
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have not tasted what they can know in their walk with Christ
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because they have not considered how to build the right barriers
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around their own hearts. And one of the things that we
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have to understand when we consider this proverb is that
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the place to start is with the help of the Holy Spirit.
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When we think about the fruit of the Holy Spirit, the last item
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mentioned is what self-control meaning as much as you think
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that those urges and those habits and those tendencies are
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virtually impossible to overcome and conquer, you will never be
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able to know what God wants to know without God himself.
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And so as we look at this tonight, I'd like for us to
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pause and ask the Lord to help us looking at our own hearts.
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It may not mean much to us to look at this historical account
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and think about a wall without a city without walls.
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But let's look at our own, our own lives and ask the Lord to
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help us to know the spiritual protection that He can offer for
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desperate and concerned enough like Nehemiah is.
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So be honest and pinpoint in your own life what it is that
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you feel like has mastery over you.
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Then ask yourself, what kind of walls am I building to protect
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myself from such influences? What kind of investments have I
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made? What kind of plans like Nehemiah
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is going to show us here? What kind of efforts have I made
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with others to ensure that I am not so easily arrested and
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controlled by these things and believe that God is willing and
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waiting to do something in that very area?
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All it took was one man, as we're going to see, who realized
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the seriousness of this state to bring change and actually shape
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history, not just for himself, but for the people of God.
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And like manner, it's going to take a level of burden, not
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guilt, not condemnation, but God inspired burden to see similar
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change in our own lives. I remember the story in seminary
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in our spiritual discipleship class, where they encouraged us
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to have an accountability partner for that semester.
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And the professor gave an example of a real story of two
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classmates who were working together, and one of the
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classmates kept falling into the same sin over and over and over
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again, had dealt with his sexual lust.
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And I don't advise that you say this unless you're absolutely
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confident in your observation and your conversation with such
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a person. But this individual who was
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holding this friend accountable eventually looked at this, this
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brother in Christ in the eyes and said, it seems to me that
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the reason why you are not overcoming and you will never
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overcome is because you don't hate your sin enough.
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You actually love it, you enjoy it.
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And that individual who received that observation was honest
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enough to say you're right. And he prayed differently.
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He began to get before God and asked God for an awareness of
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how heinous and destructive and of how poor of a condition he is
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because he is just allowing the sin to eat away at his life.
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And over time, God changed his heart.
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God gave him the strategy, and that was the turning point in
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his walk with the Lord. You see Nehemiah here showing
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us, as we're going to see in the next verse, that there are
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certain things that should bring us to our knees, not just out of
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an emotional reaction. Keep in mind here when Nehemiah
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introduces us to his story in the month of Kislev, because
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there's going to be another time stamp that's going to show us
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that Nehemiah's reaction to this whole thing wasn't just a
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spontaneous emotional eruption because he was surprised by what
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his brother and his friends said.
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It was something that sat with him.
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It was something that made such an impression on him.
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And it was that kind of impression that birth something
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that would restore Jerusalem and the people in Jerusalem.
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Let's pray and thank God for these truths.
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Father, we thank you for this introduction to this book.
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And Lord, those though these were just a few verses, we
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believe that they will prepare us for what you have in in store
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in the coming weeks. Thank you that You are ready to
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use anyone, and yet there is a responsibility in our end then
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in the waiting, in our faithfulness, in whatever area
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we find ourselves in, to allow Christ's character to be moulded
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and pressed against our own hearts.
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Thank you Lord, that before anything can actually gain
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traction, before anything can actually be done effectively, it
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needs to be birthed in the heart.
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We need to have a perception and an awareness and a connection
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with your heart in order to engage with it successfully.
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And Lord, as we're about to see, thank you for the reminder that
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not just physical walls, but spiritual walls are important.
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And one of the layers of protection that you remind us of
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is self-control. And Lord, if we lack that, that
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may we partner with the Holy Spirit to see those bricks being
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built up in a way that we've never known before.
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And Lord, if we have no motivation to that end, give us
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a sensitivity that Nehemiah had when he learned that the gates
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were burned and the walls were in rubble.
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In other words, may we not be so satisfied of being defeated in
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any area where sin is having its way with us.
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Maybe with instead with the great excitement believe that
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things can change. So Lord we we praise you now we
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sing these songs and Thanksgiving for these truths.
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In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Amen.
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Let's stand and worship the Lord together.