Well, I'd like you to turn with
me to the book of Nehemiah that we read earlier, the first chapter
of Nehemiah. And the title of the message
this morning is Praying in a Fallen World, which without any planning
of it whatsoever fits very well with what Cliff was bringing
to us in Psalm 3 about prayer earlier on. Now, we've been looking
at aspects of the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah in the
context of the return to Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple that
was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar before the 70 years of Babylonian
exile. And then in Ezra, we saw how
exactly as God had prophesied by Isaiah, Cyrus, the Persian
emperor, came in, overtook the Babylonian empire, swept them
away in a night, and Cyrus was the one that God had anointed
to get the people to go back and to rebuild the temple, and
so they did. Zerubbabel and Joshua, the high
priest, Zerubbabel was the rightful heir to the throne of Judah.
He was one of the ones that first that went back, and you remember
we saw how they had all sorts of difficulties in getting temple
worship reestablished. Why did they have to have temple
worship reestablished? Because it's the gospel of grace
in picture. Don't think for one minute that
the Old Testament worship of the temple and the animal sacrifices
is that way of getting right with God, but now we've got a
new and better way of getting right. No, it was the gospel
in picture and in type. It was how God said he would
reconcile his people to himself. Look at the books of Moses. The
book of Leviticus is about animal sacrifice. Why? Because it's
on the basis of substitutionary atonement. The people of God
who are sinners, who cannot possibly be justified by a holy God. It's
against the character and nature of a holy God to justify those
that are sinners. But in the person of his son,
he can. How can a man be just with God?
He puts them in his son, and his son covenanted, I will come,
I will be a man, I will stand in their place, I will bear their
sins, every sin. The bliss of this glorious thought,
wrote the hymn writer. My sin not in part, but the whole. Every sin of his people loaded
onto his son. That's why he sweat drops of
blood in the Garden of Eden. That's why he was nearly crushed
with the burden of that which was coming to him. He was going
to the cross of Calvary to pay the sin debt of His people. Why was He called Jesus? He would
save His people from their sins. He didn't go to the cross of
Calvary to pay for every sin that ever was committed. He didn't
do that. If He did, there's nobody in
hell, because nobody has anything to answer against the law of
God. He went for those that the Father gave Him before the beginning
of time. The scripture couldn't be clearer.
It screams from every page. If you have that key to the scripture,
you'll read it and you'll know it's God declaring to his elect
how he saves his elect, effectually, from their sins, that he might
bring them to glory. And so the temple was all part
of that, and the temple worship was re-established, and we saw
how Ezra had various problems to sort out, and we saw Ezra
preaching last week. But now we come to the book of
Nehemiah, and this, just to set it in its historical context,
is about 90 years after Zerubbabel first returned at the end of
the 70 year exile. So the beginning of Nehemiah
is probably about 433 years before Christ was born. The temple in Jerusalem had been
restored. Temple worship had been re-established.
The temple had been built. Remember? Zerubbabel brought
forth the headstone, as Zechariah had promised, and he set it up,
and there the temple was re-established. That temple in which the Lord
Jesus Christ would walk in 450, 60 years time from when it was
set up. He would walk there, and because
of that, that house would be more glorious than the first
house. That's what it says in Haggai.
It's going to be more glorious because the Son of God is going
to walk there. His human presence is going to
walk there in that temple. And that worship had been restored,
but things had then started to degenerate. And remember there
were all sorts of unlawful marriages that had been entered into in
a period of 40 or 50 years. And when Ezra got back to Jerusalem
for the second time, he discovered it was in a terrible state. Because
there were all of these unlawful marriages with the heathen around
the area. And why was that so bad? Surely
we live in a liberal-minded society today, don't we? Why was that
such a bad thing? Well, don't for one minute think
that that is giving a recipe for how to deal with divorce
and stuff like that. It isn't. What it's talking about
is this. It was vital in the purposes of God that the holy
seed, the line that would culminate in Christ's coming, should be
preserved. And the problem with the unlawful
marriages that Ezra found was that the holy seed had mingled
with that which was unholy. How were we going to know that
the true line of Christ was in place? That's why he had to put
a stop to it. Ezra 9.2, the holy seed had been
mingled And so he stopped that, so that's good, but Jerusalem
is still in ruins. There's a temple in the middle
of it, the unlawful marriages have ended, but Jerusalem itself
is still in ruins. All of this is set in the context
of great world empires. Do you remember the dream that
Nebuchadnezzar had, it's given to us in Daniel chapter 2. When
Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and none of his magicians could tell
him what it meant and he dreamt, not only could they not tell
him, but then when they got Daniel to come, Daniel told him not
only the meaning, he told him what he dreamt. He said, this
was the dream that you had. Why? Because God showed it to
him. This was the dream you had, he dreamt of a statue, a huge
statue with a head of gold, and then the chest part of silver,
and then the waist part of bronze, and the legs of iron, and the
feet of clay. And what was that? You know what
history is? Some of you studying history,
you know what history is? It's his story. It's God's story. He's ordained all things. The
end from the beginning, his story. He said this is what's going
to be. He told Daniel, there's this powerful kingdom, which
is the head of gold. You, Nebuchadnezzar, are that
head of gold. Then would come the Medo-Persian
Empire, Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes and all of those.
They were the silver shoulders and arms. They were a strong
thing that would come along, a strong empire. And then would
be the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great. And then would be
the Roman Empire, with its legs of iron, strong, powerful, crushing. And then the feet of clay, all
human history that has come down the last 2,000 years, the feet
of clay since the Roman Empire ended. The gospel of grace is
set in the context of that. But in God's purpose, his word
says relatively little about those empires. Apart from enough
for us to confirm that it's true and set it in its historical
context, what this book is about is not a book of world history,
it's a book of redemption. It's God's purpose in the Scripture
to show us how he saves his people. Scripture is about redemption. Scripture is about distinguishing
grace, set in the context of real world history. These empires
really existed. You can go to the British Museum
and you can see the artifacts of some of those empires today,
found by archaeology. This is a book of grace, distinguishing
grace, set in the context of world history. Note this, the
gospel I wish so many people would hear this. The gospel is
not about reforming the world and its great empires. That's
not the purpose of the gospel. Oh, if only we would have this
big utopia where everybody was a Christian. Wouldn't it be a
wonderful thing? If only we could persuade all
the Americans and the Russians and the Chinese all to get together
and all be great pals together and we have this wonderful great
utopia. It's not about that. It's about God saving His people
out of the world. Have you ever noticed, if you
listen to the Sunday morning service on Radio 4, you will
so often hear the priest or whoever they call themselves, praying
for the world. We pray for the world. It's funny that, isn't
it? Isn't that interesting? Do you know what Jesus said?
John chapter 17, he said, I pray not for the world, Oh, aren't
you the followers of Jesus? We pray for the world. Jesus
said, I pray not for the world. Hello? Hello, you who call yourselves
Christians, do you follow Jesus? He said, I pray not for the world. He said, I pray for those whom
the Father gave him out of the world, that they might be kept
in the world, that they might be kept. He'd given them distinguishing
grace. Oh, that they might be kept.
Oh, what a blessing it is to be amongst those people. As Cliff
was saying earlier, how do you know you're amongst those people?
You believe the gospel of His grace. You've called on Christ
for salvation. You've found nothing in yourself
that would recommend you to God. You've come as a beggar. You've
come as that publican at the wall of the temple in Jerusalem
praying, God be merciful to me, the sinner, as if there wasn't
another one. God be merciful, knowing where
I stand before God, you've come there and you've believed that
gospel of grace. For he said, look, like John
Bunyan's pilgrim with his burden on his back and he comes to the
cross and he sees there, the burden rolls away down into the
tomb because Christ has paid his sin debt. He's paid it. It's
like when you've got a huge debt down at the bank, and it's a
horrible position to be in. And you don't know what you're
going to do, and you haven't got the wherewithal. There are people who find themselves
in that situation. You know, their house is going
to be taken off them, or whatever else it might be. And there's
no way around it, because there it is in the books, on the computer
systems, indelibly written, this debt is owed and remains outstanding,
and you cannot get away until it's paid. And you go there one
day, and some benefactor has paid your debt. And it's there,
cleared, it's gone. As Balaam, the false prophet
said in Numbers, that God, he says, Balak said to him, go and
curse Israel. And the words that came out of
Balaam's mouth were these, I looked for iniquity in Jacob, and I
found none. Are you amongst Jacob, that number,
Israel, sinners saved by grace? I looked for iniquity, says God.
Oh, sin, yes, I know I'm a sinner in this flesh, in this Adamic
nature, I know what I am. But in Christ, he looks for sin,
and he finds none. There's none. So who's going
to condemn? Christ has died. This is why
Paul says, who's going to condemn you? Christ has died. Oh, the
blessedness of being amongst those people. Deuteronomy 33
verse 29. Listen, happy art thou, O Israel, And this is the Israel of God,
Galatians 6, the Israel of God. If you're amongst these people,
if you're a believer, you're amongst the Israel of God. Happy
art thou, O Israel, who is like unto thee, O people saved by
the Lord. What have I got? What have I
got in this world? What things can you write down? When I'm dead and gone and I've
decayed away to dust, what can you write down about me? What
can you write down? There was that one, William Huntington,
wasn't it? Had it put on his gravestone. SS. Sinner saved. Sinner saved. That was it. Didn't
matter what you've achieved in this life, what property you've
accumulated, what riches you've accumulated, what fame, what
fortune. Is my name written in the Lamb's Book of Life? Will
I stand there on that day of judgment and know that I am accepted
in the beloved because he has paid my sin debt? Happy art thou,
O Israel, who is like unto thee, a people saved by the Lord. But
God leaves his people in the world. Such blessings, but were
left in this world for a time. Again, in Jesus' prayer in John
17, verse 15, He says, keep them. I don't pray that you will take
them out of the world, I pray that you will keep them from
evil. Keep them there, in the world. It's good for a time,
in the chastisement of God, in the training of God, for His
people, whilst we have this flesh, to know what salvation really
is. He chastises, He He brings us into circumstances
to train us. And sometimes it's painful. He
says of his people, he saved his people, but there will be
times when he punishes them in chastisement for their sin, to
teach them. And this is what God does. He
puts his people, as it says in Revelation 12 and verse 6, the
woman representing the church is driven into a wilderness. A wilderness. This world is a
wilderness as far as the grace of God is concerned, isn't it?
It's a wilderness. And he's driven his people there
to a place prepared by God. Where are you now? Where are
you now? If you're a child of God, wherever
you are, I don't just mean in this room, I mean wherever you
conduct your life, if you're a child of God, you're in a place
prepared by God. He's prepared it for his people,
and do you know what he does? He says, to feed her there. God
feeds his people in the place where he puts them. That's an
encouraging thing. We may not see huge churches
and huge movements of loads of people coming to a knowledge
of the true gospel. Bear in mind I'm always talking
about the true gospel, this gospel of grace. All those places that
look like enormous churches even in this country, if you go and
put the standard of the test of what is the gospel you preach
that I've just outlined to you, then you'll pretty soon conclude
that they're not churches because they're not preaching that gospel
of grace, they're preaching all sorts of a mixture. They might
be using the words Jesus and God and they might be using a
book that they call the Bible, but they're not talking about
the gospel of grace that God has revealed in his word at all. But God puts his people in the
world and leaves them there to train them. And here was Nehemiah
in the world. He was in the palace, in Shushan,
in the Persian Empire. He wasn't in Jerusalem. He was
in the world, doing a job. He was the king's cupbearer.
He was the one that had to taste the wine to make sure it hadn't
been poisoned, so that when the king had the wine, he knew that
it was safe, because Nehemiah hadn't yet dropped down dead,
and the other cupbearers. That was his job. Surely God's
going to give him a bigger purpose and role than that, isn't it?
No, here he is. He's a cupbearer. in a palace
in the Persian Empire, serving a pagan emperor, in the heart
of the government of the greatest empire in the world at the time.
But he's still a child of God. And he still has a concern for
God's people. He asks them, how is it back
in Jerusalem? In verse 2, when Hanani and the brethren came,
he asked, what's the first thing he wants to know? How are things
in Jerusalem? That's where my affection is.
I might be here serving this pagan king in the palace in Shushan. in the heart of the Persian Empire.
But how are things in Jerusalem? How is it there? He's still a
child of God. He's concerned for God's people.
He's concerned for the cause of Christ. He's concerned about
the fulfillment of God's promises to save his people. Some of you
are there. In fact, I find myself in that
position now. You're in secular employment. You're doing an honest
job. You're trying to do an honest
job. You're fulfilling responsibilities which you have. You know, the
belief of the gospel is not a ticket to opt out of this world and
go and just have a good time at other people's expense, not
in the slightest. No, you have responsibilities.
You've got work to do, you've got families to support, you've
got all of these things to do. But your thoughts and your affections
are on Christ's church. Why? Because they're your brethren. In Christ they're your brethren.
If you believe the same Lord Jesus Christ as I do, we're brethren.
We're brothers and sisters. We love the same one. We're united
together with bonds that are much stronger than the bonds
of genetic descent, of flesh and blood, much stronger than
that We've got a common heavenly treasure, haven't we? You know
how often brothers and sisters, siblings in a family might be
united in the fact that there's some great fantastically valuable
family heirloom that's coming their way at some stage, and
that joins them together. Well, believers, brethren in
Christ, you have common heavenly treasure. What's your treasure?
When I get to that day, when I get to that day, The price
has been paid for my sins. And riches, I have all riches
in heavenly places in Christ. That's it, the common treasure
that we share in what Christ has accomplished in saving his
people. In verses 2 and 3 of chapter
1 we see the report and it's a pretty sorry tale. What's things
like there? Verse 3, the remnant that are
left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction
and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is
broken down and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Hadn't
they gone back in victory after the 70 years? Hadn't Cyrus said
you will go back and rebuild the temple? Shouldn't all have
been restored to glory? No, God says to his people, and
let's not forget it, in this world, Jesus said this, in this
world you will have tribulation. This is the lot of the people
of God. In this world you will have tribulation. You know, I've
told you before, somebody said to me, if what you're doing with
Nebwith Grace Church is of God, then lots of people will come
to it from the surrounding community. I don't think that's scriptural.
In fact, I'm convinced that is not scriptural. If you're proclaiming
the true gospel of scripture, whether there's 200 or 20 or
two of you, That's in the purpose of God.
It's the truth of the gospel that absolutely matters. In this
world we have tribulation. In this world we have tribulation
of opposition from others, of being ignored. Do you know that's
a form of persecution? You know I told you about offering
the prospect of a preacher to come and preach the gospel in
a place we used to be at. And what did I get? Just completely
ignored. That's persecution. We're not
interested in that. We don't want anything to do
with it. In this world you will have tribulation. Look at the
Church of Christ today. Isn't it in a broken down state?
Doesn't it appear that way? Where are the gospel walls of
salvation? Did you notice those walls of
Jerusalem were broken down? In the scriptures, the walls
of Jerusalem, they're walls of salvation. That's what they picture,
walls of salvation. Salvation is that which is accomplished
by Christ in his living and dying, in his representing his people
under the law of God. and bearing the curse and the
punishment for it. Cursed is everyone who does not
continue in all things which are written in the book of the
law to do them. But Christ has redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made that curse for us. He saved us. Walls of salvation, Jerusalem's
walls were broken down. When you look at that which you
hoped was the church, when you thought, you know, the place
I mentioned earlier, we really felt that the gospel of Christ
was proclaimed there. And now, they're not interested.
They're not interested in the grace of God, in the gospel of
grace. Does it not appear as though the walls of Jerusalem
are broken down? They're in ruins. where you would
expect them to be already built up again. Nehemiah had expected
to hear, yes, it's good, the walls are built up, they're safe
and secure. No, they were broken down. What
of the gates? The gates were burned with fire.
The gates, that reminded me of the way of entering Zion. They
were the way into Zion. We enter by the door, which is
Christ. What's happening? Where's the preaching of the
gospel of grace? That by Christ alone, we enter
into the sheepfold. By Christ alone, the gates are
broken down and burned. The preaching of the gospel isn't
there. What's the condition of the remnant that's left? Are
they prospering? Are they thriving? No, they're
small. They're insignificant. They're persecuted. They're harassed
on every side. The people round about them are
trying to crush them out of existence. They're longing for the day when
they can rejoice over the fact that they finally got rid of
them. What was Nehemiah's reaction to this? Because it's a situation
that I think you can draw parallels with today. What was Nehemiah's
reaction? It was shock. It was sorrow. It was mourning. It was fasting. He couldn't eat
anything for several days. Why is he hurting so much? He's
heard some news of some people hundreds of miles away in Jerusalem.
And they're in a sorry state and it breaks his heart. And
he's nearly crushed by it. And he mourns and he can't eat
for several days. Why is he hurting so much? because
it's the body of Christ. In the New Testament we read
in the epistles about the body of Christ. When one member hurts,
all members feel the pain. How should he respond to this
dreadful news? Where should he go in his anguish?
What's he going to do about it? He goes to God. He goes to God
who has ordained all these things. to God who has ordained all these
things, to God who is sovereign over everything, and he goes
to him in prayer. Now then, prayer. We've heard
something about prayer already this morning. Prayer. Praying
in a fallen world. Prayer is illogical to the rational
mind. You know, there's a lot of talk
about rationality in the world. that Professor Brian Cox and
his friends think that everything is explicable by rational argument. So in a rational world, even
if you believe in God, and even if you believe in a sovereign
God, you would say, prayer's illogical, because God's sovereign
and able to do everything, and he's going to do all his will,
so why do we need to pray in the slightest? It's an unchangeable
will anyway. We don't pray to change God's
mind. No. This is the reason prayer is
at the core of a living, loving relationship with God. That's
why we speak to him, we commune with him, because the relationship
of the believer and the believer's God is one of communication,
one of communion. Think of a marriage. In a marriage
you could have a marriage where The husband and the wife are
perfectly well aware of their separate roles and they know
their responsibilities to the household and the family and
all of those things. They know who's responsible for
this and who's responsible for that. All of those details, but
they never talk. Not a loving marriage, is it? The loving marriage is about
the unity of mind. This is why believers pray. He can't stay, Nehemiah, he can't
stay in dust and ashes and fasting. He's still got his duties at
the palace to do. So what does he do? He can't
stay like this, he's got to go back to work. What does he do?
He's got to serve before the most powerful king in the world.
So what does he do? He comes before the king of kings.
The King of Kings, you and I, if we're believers, have access
to the throne room of the King of Kings, the one who rules the
universe, the one who upholds all things by the word of the
power of the Lord Jesus Christ. He would have us pray to him.
We read again and again in the scriptures that God would be
inquired of by his people. I would that brethren pray always. Pray without ceasing, we're told.
He can't stay in dust and ashes, so he comes to the king of kings.
He comes to the one who says that his church, you know how
God describes his church, his people? Here's his people in
a terrible state. But God says his people are the
apple of his eye. The apple of the eye is that
little bit in the middle. I can't even stand an optician
opening my eyelids. They have to sedate me to get
anything in my eye. It drives me crazy. As much as
I try and stay calm, I just can't stand it. Well, that's the picture.
As far as God is concerned, he said, it's like the apple of
my eye. That most sensitive bit, he doesn't want it touched. He
won't allow it to be touched. He will preserve it, he will
protect it, he will bring it to glory. So what does Nehemiah
pray? What does he pray? Here's the
first prayer. I've got three prayers, and I've
not got much time left, but let's get through it quickly. Here's
his first prayer in the last half of the first chapter. He
humbly He reverently, he fearfully, why fearfully? Look, fearfully. He comes before the Lord God
of heaven in verse five, the great and terrible God. Why fearfully? He knows that sin must be at
the root of why things are as they are. He knows sin must be
there. But look what he comes pleading,
that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him, and observe
his commandments. He pleads the covenant. Which
covenant? The one to Abraham. That was
the one, the covenant of grace that he talks about to Abraham.
That in his seed, in Abraham's seed, all the nations of the
earth would be blessed. Galatians 3.16 tells us what
Abraham's seed was. He says not, as unto seeds as
of many, but as unto his seed, which is one, which is Christ.
That was where the blessing is, in Christ, who would be the one
who would save his people from their sins. Look at verse 10. Now these, people that he's praying
for, are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed
He's paid for them. He's paid their sin debt. You've
redeemed them. How has he redeemed them? He's
redeemed them. He's justified them from eternity
in the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He's justified
them in what the temple worship pictured in every detail. He's
justified them in what the Messiah, the Christ, would surely come
and accomplish. This is what Nehemiah's mind
and all the true saints of God was on. Was what would happen. Messiah would come. The promised
one would come and do everything in time, actually, that was represented
in heaven, that was represented in the temple, as his people's
substitute at the cross of Calvary. He would come. He's justified
them. This is the covenant that he's talking about, the covenant
by which he has redeemed his people. You've redeemed them
by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, I beseech
you, let now your ear be attentive. to the prayer of your servant.
He prays that God would hear and see in verse 6, let thine
ear now be attentive, let your eyes be open that you may hear
the prayer of thy servant which I pray before you, confessing
the sins of Israel. He's Looking back to Leviticus
chapter 26, he talks about the things that Moses wrote in verse
7, but in Leviticus 26 and verse 40 we read this, If they shall
confess, because God is saying by Moses, you're going to go
away from me, but in sin, you're gonna go away from me, but if
they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers
with their trespass, which they trespassed against thee, me,
and that also they have walked contrary to me, and that I also
have walked contrary to them, because God said I'll leave them
if they leave me, and have brought them into the land of their enemies,
as had happened with the captivity, if then their uncircumcised hearts
be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment for their iniquity,
then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant
with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember,
and I will remember the land." This is what, this is what he's
alluding to in this prayer, this promise of God, he's confessing
their sins, he's confessing that things are in a bad way, and
it must be because of the sins of the people that they're in
that condition. They've gone into these false marriages, these
unlawful marriages, and all of those things. And today, bring
it up to date, we need to confess the abandonment of the gospel
that is abroad and around. Because you see, when he talks
about everything that Moses wrote about, that you commanded by
your servant Moses, everything that Moses wrote about pointed
to the gospel. Jesus said, Moses looked for
my day and rejoiced and was glad. Should we not pray for those
who once professed truth, who we hear now are in a state of
ruin with the walls of salvation broken down? Should we not pray,
O Lord, please give them a mind and will for your truth? Where
it once was, we thought, so clearly proclaimed, give them a mind
and will for your truth. Give them a preacher who will
come and proclaim the truth of the gospel of your grace. Verse
7, he confesses, there's repentance. But if you return, verses 8 and
9, if you return, return to the gospel of truth, God will gather
his true people. In verse 9, he says at the end
there, Yet will I gather them from thence, and bring them into
the place that I have chosen to set my name there. Gather
them, the place I have chosen to set my name there. Where was
that? In his day, it was Jerusalem.
In his day, it was the temple. What is it now? It's Christ.
It's the gospel of His grace, the true gospel of His grace.
In the dedication of the first temple, Solomon prayed this,
1 Kings chapter 8, verses 29 and 30, O that your eyes, praying
to God, may be open toward this house night and day, even toward
the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there,
that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant
shall make toward this place, and hearken thou to the supplication
of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray
toward this place, and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place,
and when thou hearest, forgive." The people, the Jews, scattered,
were to pray towards the temple in Jerusalem. Why? Why? What's the equivalent for us
today? It's praying to the place where God sets his presence,
sets his salvation, displays his salvation. And where is that?
It's in the gospel of his grace. That's what we pray, that's how
we pray, that's where we pray too. We pray in the name of Christ
because it's in Christ that the gospel is established and completed. The temple in Jerusalem was their
confidence in prayer. The core of God's covenant love
for his people was there in the temple in Jerusalem. Our prayer
is in Christ, and our confidence is in everything that that temple
represented, which is the gospel of his grace. Now you may be
thinking, this sounds very high, and good, and a great aspiration. I am very, very slow to pray. very slow, in my flesh. The Spirit
might be willing, but the flesh is very weak. And I'm sure you
can echo this. I'm very slow to confess before
God, to plead before Him, to trust, to believe. I'm weak in
this sinful flesh. My prayer is this, O God, as
with David, be pleased to put it in my heart to pray." 2 Samuel
chapter 7 verse 27, it says, God put it in David's heart to
pray. Oh that God would put in our
hearts to pray to him, to plead with him. We see a delayed answer
to this prayer. His prayer is, I'm the king's
cup bearer. Artaxerxes the king is the one
politically who can do something about this situation in Jerusalem
and I go into his presence and that's why in verse 11 he says
that towards the end, grant him, that's himself, mercy in the
sight of this man, the king, for I was the king's cupbearer.
So he prayed his prayer. We're told in verse one of chapter
one that it was in the month Chisliu We're told in verse one
of chapter two that it was in the month Nisan. Now if our understanding
of history is correct, that's a gap of four months. How long
does four months appear to you? In some respects, time flies,
doesn't it? Seems five minutes ago that it
was May or June or whenever four months ago was. In another respect,
You pray urgently for God to do something. You pray for something. Nothing happens. Four months
goes by. There's a delayed answer. It's
often the case that God delays his answer. All in his chastisement
and training of his people. All in getting them to look,
not to expect instant responses and give up if they don't get
an instant response. But four months later, he does
get a response. It came to pass in the month
Nisan, in the 20th year of Ataxerxes the king, that wine was before
him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. And Nehemiah
is still depressed in the presence of the king. He's still sad in
the presence of the king. And he daren't be sad, because
this man has the power to have him executed for looking sad.
Stop sulking in my presence, Artaxerxes might say, because
if not, you might lose the means by which you show your happiness
or sadness. I'll cut your head off, basically
the way that it used to work. And so he was fearful in the
presence of the king. End of verse two, I was very
sore afraid. He was scared stiff in that moment.
And so he says to the king, let the king live forever. Why should
not my countenance be sad when the city, the place of my father's
sepulchers lies waste and the gates thereof are consumed with
fire? Right, he said, that's why I'm sad. And the king said
to me, well, what do you want me to do about it? Not I'm gonna
chop your head off. What do you want me to do about
it? So look, end of verse four, good lesson. What does he do? Does he start blurting out from
his own heart the things he wants to happen? I prayed to my God. I prayed to the God of heaven.
In that moment, here's the most powerful king on earth saying,
tell me what you want and we'll do it. I prayed to the God of
heaven. Not even words that are recorded,
not words that were spoken with the lips, just in the heart,
in the mind, a prayer to God. Oh Lord, you are sovereign over
this situation. Here is the man whose heart is
in your hand, as Proverbs 21 says, the heart of the king is
in the hands of God. He's asked me what do I want?
My heart, my affection is in Jerusalem. Here is the most powerful
man in the world saying, what do you want me to do? Oh Lord,
his heart is in your hands. Now, in this moment, without
speaking a word, he prays to his God. Do you know that's often
the case? In your situation, in your secular situation, a
prayer to God. I just want to show you one other
thing about prayer. Turn over to chapter four of
Nehemiah. So he went back and the walls
were built and the gates were put on and they got no end of
opposition from those all around. And they were coming to fight
against Jerusalem, the enemies of Jerusalem, in chapter four.
And in verse 9, here again we see a prayer. Nevertheless, we
made our prayer unto our God. and set a watch against them
day and night because of them. It's a practical prayer. We've
had a long prayer, a long prayer of confession. We've had a short
prayer, we've seen that the answer was delayed but then in the moment,
a short prayer, that prayer that wings up to heaven in this moment,
Lord help me, show me what to do in this situation, your sovereign.
But now a practical prayer, very practical prayer. There'd been
good progress but increasing hindrance from the Samaritans,
that tribulation all around. There was the threat of attack,
They prayed and then they sat back saying this is all down
to the sovereignty of God and we don't need to do anything.
No, God has given us abilities and means and alertness and awareness
and brains to think with and hands to do with Prayer is not
an alternative to responsibility and effort. Prayer is essential,
but it's not an alternative. It's not an excuse for inactivity.
We shouldn't dare to embark on any gospel venture without prayer,
but if we pray and do nothing, and don't prepare sermons, and
don't seek the Lord to raise up preachers, and don't do that
which encourages those who go and preach the gospel, and don't
try and get the word out to other, it won't happen. We pray to our
God and we set a watch. There's some lessons on prayer
from this book of Nehemiah, two and a half thousand years ago.
Lessons on prayer for us as the people of God today. Amen.