Nehemiah 9:1-38
Saturday, 25 January 2025
Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. -Nehemiah 9:2
Our reading (Nehemiah 9) records the longest prayer in the entire Bible. This prayer of sober self-examination follows just after the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles which was a time of celebration. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers. They were aware that the evil of one generation is often passed along to the next. They recognized clearly the connection between the evil in their own hearts and lives and the terrible conditions of slavery and bondage which they were in.
Sin is a kind of decay of the soul. God created us in His image, but sin eats away at that image and God’s nature diminishes in our souls. Because of sin, we tend to hide that rot where it can grow unhindered. Adam and Eve hid from God in the garden, and we have been hiding ever since. True spiritual revival always comes with a desire to tear off the coverings and expose our sin to God through confession. This isn’t for God to hurt us or shame us, but that He can begin rebuilding us through repentance and forgiveness.
Nehemiah chapters 1-7 are about rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem but chapters 8-13 are about rebuilding God’s people into a unified community of strong believers.
See the depth of our sin by seeing the height of God’s greatness.
This chapter is not centered on sin, but on God and His greatness! They began to exalt God and His greatness in Israel’s history by confessing God’s greatness in creation, covenant, delivering Israel from Egypt, giving the Law and in providing for their needs. They looked deep at God’s greatness and then genuine confession of their contrasting ungratefulness and wickedness. They took an honest and humble look at their sin, but the overpowering emphasis is on God’s greatness, not their sin.
Today SIN is replaced with more “acceptable” terms like pain and low self-esteem, mistakes, weakness, failures etc., When we lose an honest admission of our sin and the guilt of our souls, we lose our grip on the gospel itself, because Jesus said he came to save sinners (in other words, to those who are honest enough to confess that they are sinners) and the very core of the gospel is that Jesus died for our sins! As our gaze is fixed on God’s greatness, the first step towards spiritual healing is an honest confession of our sins!
Uncover our sin through confession, God will cover us with His mercy
Despite the rebelliousness and wickedness of Israel, repeatedly we see this covenant mercy expressed in forgiveness of their sin, because HE is a faithful covenant-keeping God. Even when we break the covenant, He keeps it, and when we confess our sin, He is ready to forgive. It’s a paradox: God calls us to uncover our sin – so that He can cover us with His forgiveness.
In Psalm 32, it’s a description of the decay of sin and its killing effects on our souls when it was not confessed. But David goes on to describe the remedy: I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.(Ps.32:5) When we hide our sins, it eats away at us, our fellowship with God and others. But when we take the cover off and expose it to God, He covers us with mercy.
He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy (Prov.28:13). Hidden sin causes rot. Christ can truly cleanse you so that you can experience His forgiveness full and free. There starts revival!
Thought for the Day: “In revival God is not concerned about filling empty churches, He is concerned about filling empty hearts." - Leonard Ravenhill
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