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THE KING’S BUSINESS
estness before God in prayer that leads one to forego even the necessities of life that we may seek God’s favor and obtain God’s help (cf. Dan. 9:3; Acts 13:2, 3; 14:23). There is also power in that humil iation of self and realization of one’s utter unworthiness before God that leads us to humble' ourselves before God by fasting. Nehemiah was not only doing the very best thing, he was doing exactly what God, centuries before, had bidden his people to do in such an emergency as this (2 Chron. 7:14). vs. 5-11. "And said, I beseech thee, O LORD (add, the) God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe (keep ) his commandments : Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear (hearken unto) the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now (at this time) day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and (while I) confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I (yea, I) and my father’s house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept thy com mandments. nor the statutes, nor the judg ments (judgements), which thou command- est thy servant Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou command- est thy servant Moses, saying, I f ye trans gress (trespass), I will scatter you abroad among the nations (peoples) : But if ye turn (return) unto me, and keep my com mandments, (omit ,) and do them; (,) though they were of you cast out unto (your outcasts were in) the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set (cause) my name (add, to dwell) there. Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servants, who desire (delight) to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy
warning but the latter are as sure as the former. v. 4. “And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, (;) and (add, I) fasted, (omit ,) and prayed before the God of h e a v e n The sorrow of his people Nehemiah took upon his own heart. It was his own sorrow. His sorrow was no pang of mere passing sympathy, but an over whelming grief that lasted for days. What a lesson there is here for us, who because we are saved ourselves are quite content with that and have no deep and lasting bur den for those who are unsaved, even for the unsaved of our own household (Rom. 9 :l-3; *10:1; Acts 20:31). Nehemiah’s gen uine sorrow for his people lay at the foun dation of his persistent self-sacrifice and his untiring and finally successful efforts for their redemption. If we are to put forth successful efforts for the salvation of the lost today, we must first have true heart sorrow for them. Of course, back of Nehe miah’s sorrow for his people was love for them, and back of his love for them was love for God. If we are to have true sor row for the lost, we must first of all love them, and if we are to love them, we must first love God. Any love for the lost that does not spring from love of God is not deep and real and lasting. Nehemiah did not stop with idle mourning and weeping— he “fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” That was the very best thing he could do. It is the very best thing we can do for anyone who is lost or in trouble. The godly man can accomplish more by fasting and prayer than he can accomplish in any other way (James 5:16). If Nehe miah had undertaken to accomplish some thing by his mere efforts without prayer, it would have come to nothing, even though he was so influential at court. Out of his prayers came divinely guided and divinely' empowered and divinely triumphant efforts (cf. Dan. 9:33 ff). Nehemiah’s prayer was accompanied by fasting. There is no virtue in merely going without necessary food, but there is power in that downright earn
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