Nehemiah 1:1-11 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year… I. LET US NOTICE THE WORDS ALLUDED TO BY NEHEMIAH. They were as follows: "And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year," etc. 1. You observe that the time and the place of this conversation are given. It was at Shushan or Susa, the winter residence of the King of Persia. 2. There are places and periods that stand out more prominently than others in the history of most of us. "It came to pass in the month Chisleu," etc. 3. The particular matter referred to was a conversation he had with a kinsman of his, and with other co-religionists lately come from Palestine, respecting the state of the Jews there, "and concerning Jerusalem." Nehemiah was not indifferent to his country's condition. It was a twofold question that he put. (1) He wanted to know how it had fared with the Hebrews — "the delivered ones," "the escaped ones."(2) The other aspect of the question here put by Nehemiah has reference to Jerusalem. An exiled Londoner or Parisian's love for London or Paris would not, we may be sure, be deeper, stronger than that which Nehemiah must have had for the promised land, and for "the city, the place of his fathers' sepulchres." As was to be expected, he asked for information" concerning Jerusalem." It has been well said, "No place is so strong, no building so grand, no wall so firm, that sin cannot undermine and overthrow it." Let no man trust in ceremonies, or sacred-houses, or sacred traditions, so long as his heart is far from God, and his life is not in accord with His righteous creed. II. LET US NOTICE THE EMOTION OF NEHEMIAH ON HEARING THE TIDINGS ALLUDED TO. "I sat down and wept," he says, "and mourned certain days, and fasted." He also adds, "and prayed before the God of heaven." He wept. Nor was it weak or unmanly for him to do so. "His was the tear most sacred shed for others' pain." To weep at trifles, or at fictitious sorrows, may be effeminate; but 'twas no trifle, no imaginary sorrow, that now drew tears from Nehemiah. 1. His grief was further manifested by lamentation and fasting. 2. It was a profound grief which seized him. 3. It was a somewhat prolonged as well as profound grief. It lasted, at any rate, certain days. 4. It was a patriot's grief. 5. Again, it was a penitent grief. 6. Nehemiah's grief reminds us of another and yet more touching spectacle, the tears which Jesus shed over Jerusalem.And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it, etc. III. In the third place, LET US LOOK AT THE PRAYER WHICH NEHEMIAH WAS THUS PROMPTED TO OFFER, Let us learn that the province of prayer is not restricted to things spiritual. It embraces the affairs of everyday life, and all lawful undertakings great and small. (T. Rowson.) Parallel Verses KJV: The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, |
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