THE GRACIOUS HAND OF GOD

Nehemiah 2:1-10 / Keywords 2:8b

And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.

 

Artaxerxes Sends Nehemiah to Jerusalem

2:1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”

I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.

7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests. 9 So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.

10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.

1. Nehemiah was afraid for his life because the king recognized the sadness in his face. Such a display was not allowed in the king’s presence. When the king inquired about what was wrong, Nehemiah responded respectfully with courage and boldness. After proclaiming “May the king live forever!”, he went on to describe the shameful state of Jerusalem. This took courage because Artaxerxes himself had ordered the work on the walls of Jerusalem to be stopped. So where did Nehemiah’s courage and boldness come from? It came from months of fasting and prayer. After prayer, Nehemiah was willing to lay down his life for God’s people. His mind and his will became powerfully focused. When the king asked Nehemiah what he wanted, he continued to pray! He then made his request, and the king was pleased to grant it.

 

2. Clearly, Nehemiah depended upon the Lord in prayer. However, that did not stop him from making careful plans. Nehemiah was ready to act when God opened the door. Nehemiah requested two letters from the king: one for safe passage and another for supplies. The king granted these and provided army officers and cavalry for protection. Nehemiah was quick to offer God the glory in all of this. He realized that the gracious hand of God was on him and that God had answered his prayers.

 

Prayer Father, teach us to depend on you.

One Word The gracious hand of God is on us

NEHEMIAH PRAYS FOR GOD’S PEOPLE

Nehemiah 1:1-11 / Keywords 1:11

Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.” I was cupbearer to the king.

 

Nehemiah’s Prayer

1:1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:

In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”

4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said:

“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

8 “Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’

10 “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”

I was cupbearer to the king.

1. We learn a great deal about Nehemiah in this first chapter. In order for Nehemiah to be cupbearer to the king, he must have been a man of great loyalty and trustworthiness. His integrity was beyond question as he demonstrated great wisdom and self-control. By all accounts, he was a gifted and successful man. However, his deepest identity is found in his prayer. Nehemiah was a servant of God who delighted in revering God’s name. So, when he heard about the state of Jerusalem and the shame of God’s people, he was deeply grieved. This led Nehemiah to take immediate action and drop to his knees in prayer.

 

2. Nehemiah prayed according to the word of God. God had promised to return his people to the land if they returned to him and obeyed his commands. Nehemiah worshiped God for his faithfulness to his covenant of love and proceeded to confess the sins of the nation as well as his own sin and the sin of his family. Next, he appealed to God to remember his promise. The glory of God was at stake here! How could God be glorified if Jerusalem remained in shambles and his people in shame? Surely God would remember his servants and the nation he redeemed by his mighty hand. Nehemiah was fully dependent on God and ready to lay down his life.

 

Prayer Father, open our hearts to see the state of your church today. Help us to pray for your people.

One Word God hears the prayers of his servants

ALL NATIONS WILL SEE MY GLORY

Isaiah 66:1-24 / Keywords 66:19b

to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations.

 

Judgment and Hope

66:1 This is what the Lord says:

“Heaven is my throne,

    and the earth is my footstool.

Where is the house you will build for me?

    Where will my resting place be?

2 Has not my hand made all these things,

    and so they came into being?”

declares the Lord.

“These are the ones I look on with favor:

    those who are humble and contrite in spirit,

    and who tremble at my word.

3 But whoever sacrifices a bull

    is like one who kills a person,

and whoever offers a lamb

    is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;

whoever makes a grain offering

    is like one who presents pig’s blood,

and whoever burns memorial incense

    is like one who worships an idol.

They have chosen their own ways,

    and they delight in their abominations;

4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for them

    and will bring on them what they dread.

For when I called, no one answered,

    when I spoke, no one listened.

They did evil in my sight

    and chose what displeases me.”

5 Hear the word of the Lord,

    you who tremble at his word:

“Your own people who hate you,

    and exclude you because of my name, have said,

‘Let the Lord be glorified,

    that we may see your joy!’

    Yet they will be put to shame.

6 Hear that uproar from the city,

    hear that noise from the temple!

It is the sound of the Lord

    repaying his enemies all they deserve.

7 “Before she goes into labor,

    she gives birth;

before the pains come upon her,

    she delivers a son.

8 Who has ever heard of such things?

    Who has ever seen things like this?

Can a country be born in a day

    or a nation be brought forth in a moment?

Yet no sooner is Zion in labor

    than she gives birth to her children.

9 Do I bring to the moment of birth

    and not give delivery?” says the Lord.

“Do I close up the womb

    when I bring to delivery?” says your God.

10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,

    all you who love her;

rejoice greatly with her,

    all you who mourn over her.

11 For you will nurse and be satisfied

    at her comforting breasts;

you will drink deeply

    and delight in her overflowing abundance.”

12 For this is what the Lord says:

“I will extend peace to her like a river,

    and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;

you will nurse and be carried on her arm

    and dandled on her knees.

13 As a mother comforts her child,

    so will I comfort you;

    and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”

14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice

    and you will flourish like grass;

the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants,

    but his fury will be shown to his foes.

15 See, the Lord is coming with fire,

    and his chariots are like a whirlwind;

he will bring down his anger with fury,

    and his rebuke with flames of fire.

16 For with fire and with his sword

    the Lord will execute judgment on all people,

    and many will be those slain by the Lord.

17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one who is among those who eat the flesh of pigs, rats and other unclean things—they will meet their end together with the one they follow,” declares the Lord.

18 “And I, because of what they have planned and done, am about to come[a] and gather the people of all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.

19 “I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans[b] and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations. 20 And they will bring all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the Lord. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels. 21 And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,” says the Lord.

22 “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure. 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord. 24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

Footnotes

a. Isaiah 66:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.

b. Isaiah 66:19 Some Septuagint manuscripts Put (Libyans); Hebrew Pul

1. The Creator God is too great to be contained in a man-made temple. Superficial worship offered in one’s own way and sin are offensive to him. God will bring his judgment on them. God wants us to have humble and contrite hearts that tremble at his word. When we listen carefully to every word God has spoken and obey it, we may be hated, mocked, and excluded by people. But God will vindicate us, comfort us as a mother comforts her child, and give us peace like a gentle river.

 

2. God doesn’t want his people to compromise with the ungodly, following their corrupted ways of life. He will come with fire to execute his judgment on all people. On that day, God will gather his remnants from all nations and languages and reveal his glory to all mankind by his acts of judgment on evil and by his saving grace and unfailing love. The remnant of God’s people, who see his glory and taste his forgiveness, will be sent out to the nations as witnesses of his gospel. They will call the Gentile world to an obedience that comes from faith. Those who are redeemed by the grace of Jesus also receive the privilege of priestly duty (Ro 15:16) with glorious hope in the kingdom of God.

 

Prayer Lord, cultivate me so I may be humble and contrite in spirit. Please help me to hold your great vision for world redemption in my heart and live as one of your holy people who proclaim your glory among the nations.

One Word Proclaim God’s glory to all nations

NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH 

Isaiah 65:1-25 / Keywords 65:17

“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

 

Judgment and Salvation

65:1 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;

    I was found by those who did not seek me.

To a nation that did not call on my name,

    I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’

2 All day long I have held out my hands

    to an obstinate people,

who walk in ways not good,

    pursuing their own imaginations—

3 a people who continually provoke me

    to my very face,

offering sacrifices in gardens

    and burning incense on altars of brick;

4 who sit among the graves

    and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;

who eat the flesh of pigs,

    and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;

5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,

    for I am too sacred for you!’

Such people are smoke in my nostrils,

    a fire that keeps burning all day.

6 “See, it stands written before me:

    I will not keep silent but will pay back in full;

    I will pay it back into their laps—

7 both your sins and the sins of your ancestors,”

    says the Lord.

“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains

    and defied me on the hills,

I will measure into their laps

    the full payment for their former deeds.”

8 This is what the Lord says:

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes

    and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,

    there is still a blessing in it,’

so will I do in behalf of my servants;

    I will not destroy them all.

9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

    and from Judah those who will possess my mountains;

my chosen people will inherit them,

    and there will my servants live.

10 Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,

    and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,

    for my people who seek me.

11 “But as for you who forsake the Lord

    and forget my holy mountain,

who spread a table for Fortune

    and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,

12 I will destine you for the sword,

    and all of you will fall in the slaughter;

for I called but you did not answer,

    I spoke but you did not listen.

You did evil in my sight

    and chose what displeases me.”

13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“My servants will eat,

    but you will go hungry;

my servants will drink,

    but you will go thirsty;

my servants will rejoice,

    but you will be put to shame.

14 My servants will sing

    out of the joy of their hearts,

but you will cry out

    from anguish of heart

    and wail in brokenness of spirit.

15 You will leave your name

    for my chosen ones to use in their curses;

the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,

    but to his servants he will give another name.

16 Whoever invokes a blessing in the land

    will do so by the one true God;

whoever takes an oath in the land

    will swear by the one true God.

For the past troubles will be forgotten

    and hidden from my eyes.

New Heavens and a New Earth

17 “See, I will create

    new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered,

    nor will they come to mind.

18 But be glad and rejoice forever

    in what I will create,

for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight

    and its people a joy.

19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem

    and take delight in my people;

the sound of weeping and of crying

    will be heard in it no more.

20 “Never again will there be in it

    an infant who lives but a few days,

    or an old man who does not live out his years;

the one who dies at a hundred

    will be thought a mere child;

the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred

    will be considered accursed.

21 They will build houses and dwell in them;

    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,

    or plant and others eat.

For as the days of a tree,

    so will be the days of my people;

my chosen ones will long enjoy

    the work of their hands.

23 They will not labor in vain,

    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;

for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,

    they and their descendants with them.

24 Before they call I will answer;

    while they are still speaking I will hear.

25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,

    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,

    and dust will be the serpent’s food.

They will neither harm nor destroy

    on all my holy mountain,”

says the Lord.

Footnotes

a. Isaiah 65:20 Or the sinner who reaches

1. God had not been silent, as the people thought. He revealed himself through his prophets, but they didn’t seek him nor listen to him. He extended his hands many times to his people, but they remained stubbornly rebellious. They were idolatrous, sought help from demons, and deposed God’s word. They will not escape God’s judgment. However, God will show mercy on the remnant who seek him (8-11). Destruction waits for those who forsake the Lord. They will go hungry, thirsty, experience shame, wail in anguish, and be destroyed, but God’s servants - those who obey him and do his work - will eat, drink, rejoice, and sing joyful songs.

 

2. God promises to his remnant, his remaining people, new heavens and a new earth: the new Jerusalem, a place where they will forever have unutterable joy without earth’s tragedies ever repeating again. The old order of things will pass away at the time of renewal. The Lord’s protection will ensure complete security and satisfaction for his people, and God’s people and their descendants will be blessed. The wolf and the lamb will lie down together and on God’s holy mountain there will be a perfect peace. This vision will become a reality only when our Lord Jesus comes again. His people will reign forever with Christ in glory (Rev 21).

 

Prayer Lord, thank you for your promise of new heavens and a new earth. Help me hold your vision in my heart and do your work by faith.

One Word Seek God and hope in him

THE LORD IS OUR FATHER

Isaiah 63:1-64:12 / Keywords 64:8-9

 He said, “Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me”; and so he became their Savior. In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

 

God’s Day of Vengeance and Redemption

63:1 Who is this coming from Edom,

    from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?

Who is this, robed in splendor,

    striding forward in the greatness of his strength?

“It is I, proclaiming victory,

    mighty to save.”

2 Why are your garments red,

    like those of one treading the winepress?

3 “I have trodden the winepress alone;

    from the nations no one was with me.

I trampled them in my anger

    and trod them down in my wrath;

their blood spattered my garments,

    and I stained all my clothing.

4 It was for me the day of vengeance;

    the year for me to redeem had come.

5 I looked, but there was no one to help,

    I was appalled that no one gave support;

so my own arm achieved salvation for me,

    and my own wrath sustained me.

6 I trampled the nations in my anger;

    in my wrath I made them drunk

    and poured their blood on the ground.”

Praise and Prayer

7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord,

    the deeds for which he is to be praised,

    according to all the Lord has done for us—

yes, the many good things

    he has done for Israel,

    according to his compassion and many kindnesses.

8 He said, “Surely they are my people,

    children who will be true to me”;

    and so he became their Savior.

9 In all their distress he too was distressed,

    and the angel of his presence saved them.[a]

In his love and mercy he redeemed them;

    he lifted them up and carried them

    all the days of old.

10 Yet they rebelled

    and grieved his Holy Spirit.

So he turned and became their enemy

    and he himself fought against them.

11 Then his people recalled[b] the days of old,

    the days of Moses and his people—

where is he who brought them through the sea,

    with the shepherd of his flock?

Where is he who set

    his Holy Spirit among them,

12 who sent his glorious arm of power

    to be at Moses’ right hand,

who divided the waters before them,

    to gain for himself everlasting renown,

13 who led them through the depths?

Like a horse in open country,

    they did not stumble;

14 like cattle that go down to the plain,

    they were given rest by the Spirit of the Lord.

This is how you guided your people

    to make for yourself a glorious name.

15 Look down from heaven and see,

    from your lofty throne, holy and glorious.

Where are your zeal and your might?

    Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us.

16 But you are our Father,

    though Abraham does not know us

    or Israel acknowledge us;

you, Lord, are our Father,

    our Redeemer from of old is your name.

17 Why, Lord, do you make us wander from your ways

    and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?

Return for the sake of your servants,

    the tribes that are your inheritance.

18 For a little while your people possessed your holy place,

    but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.

19 We are yours from of old;

    but you have not ruled over them,

    they have not been called[c] by your name.

64:1 [d]Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,

    that the mountains would tremble before you!

2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze

    and causes water to boil,

come down to make your name known to your enemies

    and cause the nations to quake before you!

3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,

    you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.

4 Since ancient times no one has heard,

    no ear has perceived,

no eye has seen any God besides you,

    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,

    who remember your ways.

But when we continued to sin against them,

    you were angry.

    How then can we be saved?

6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,

    and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

we all shrivel up like a leaf,

    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

7 No one calls on your name

    or strives to lay hold of you;

for you have hidden your face from us

    and have given us over to[e] our sins.

8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father.

    We are the clay, you are the potter;

    we are all the work of your hand.

9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord;

    do not remember our sins forever.

Oh, look on us, we pray,

    for we are all your people.

10 Your sacred cities have become a wasteland;

    even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you,

    has been burned with fire,

    and all that we treasured lies in ruins.

12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?

    Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?

Footnotes

a. Isaiah 63:9 Or Savior 9 in their distress. / It was no envoy or angel / but his own presence that saved them

b. Isaiah 63:11 Or But may he recall

c. Isaiah 63:19 Or We are like those you have never ruled, / like those never called

d. Isaiah 64:1 In Hebrew texts 64:1 is numbered 63:19b, and 64:2-12 is numbered 64:1-11.

e. Isaiah 64:7 Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew have made us melt because of

1. The divine warrior comes with his garment soaked in blood. His coming is the day of vengeance for the enemies of his people, symbolized by Edom. It is also the day of salvation for his people. We look forward to this day when Jesus comes again to put all his enemies, even sin and death, under his feet.

 

2. The prophet remembers God’s steadfast love for his people, demonstrated in his people’s redemption from slavery in Egypt in the days of Moses. In light of God’s faithfulness to Israel in the past, Isaiah asks God to show mercy and compassion on them. He asks for God’s active intervention to save them. God acts on behalf of those who wait on him and helps those who do right and remembers his ways. Isaiah confesses their sins, identifying himself with his sinful and unclean people. Even all their righteous acts are like filthy rags (12). We cannot claim anything from God. We need God’s grace of forgiveness. We must put on Jesus Christ, God’s righteousness. The prophet asks God for mercy, as a child comes to his father, asserting: “LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay; you are the potter. We are all the work of your hand.” Our hope lies only in God who will not keep silent forever but helps those who ask for mercy and wait patiently on him.

 

Prayer Lord, I am not able to do what is right in your sight without your grace. Cleanse me and clothe me with the righteousness of Christ.

One Word God is our Father and Redeemer