Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
I want to give you a little bit of context, and I want to help you understand a little bit of the work beforehand and maybe just a little bit after what we've just read.
The verse that we just shared together is an encouragement in and of itself. Because in this prayer to God, we see expressed some truths that are known about the living God in reference to humanity. This God who keeps His covenant, this God who is mindful of us—just the words of this prayer are so important because in them are expressed realities about God that we need to be reminded of on a daily basis.
The Context of Nehemiah's Story
This prayer actually gets a little bit richer and deeper in meaning when you look at what's happening right before it and what happens right after it. In this particular situation, there's a context to the story of Nehemiah. He'll go on to oversee the rebuilding of the wall, as many of us are very familiar with in the Bible story of this.
What I want you to see right before this prayer that is expressed to God is Nehemiah's posture before it and Nehemiah's posture after it. Right before we see these beautiful words that are spoken, we see a posture that Nehemiah has on behalf of his people in light of what he sees as a deep need in the world. His heart is broken.
Nehemiah's Broken Heart
Nehemiah is broken at the reality of the plight of humanity and the need for God to move and to bring action and order into things that are in chaos.
Nehemiah—it says right before this beautiful prayer—is weeping and enters into a time of prayer and fasting. He is sobered by the reality that in and of himself, in the realization of what is broken, he has no power and no authority according to his own abilities to pull anything off that will be helpful.
His First Posture: Laying Before the Father
His first posture is to lay himself before the Father and say, God, whatever it is that You would do in order to bring remedy, in order to bring healing, in order to bring order into the chaos—I'm listening, and I'm ready for You to do it.
There's a humility and a sobriety that enters into this beautiful prayer that we just read in verse 5.
Calling on the God of the Covenant
He's calling God, this Lord of the covenant, who remembers those who are faithful to Him, to do something that he can't do in his own strength.
Remember, he doesn't go flippantly before God with this request. He goes with a soberness and a realization that it is before this living God that to even have the right and the ability to ask for anything brings to the awareness of his heart and mind that God is big and he is not.
His Second Posture: Waiting on God
Then right after this beautiful prayer that we just prayed, he says he goes before God and then he tells God, "Let Your ear be attentive and direct my steps."
What it says is he prays to God, and then he waits for God to show him what to do. He doesn't go ahead of the Father. He doesn't take it upon himself. As a result of laying himself before God, he says, "You know better than I. You have all power and authority. Will You show me what to do?"
Patience and Trust
This takes patience and it takes trust.
I don't know where you find yourself in the midst of hearing this Verse of the Day, but I want you to know this God who keeps His covenant has all power and authority and ability to remedy and to take care of the things that we need and to show us where to go in this life.
Let's trust Him together today to lead us where we need to go in our steps.
