Nehemiah 1:1-4,11; Nehemiah 2:1-5,8
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, that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, 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.
And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven…O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer…
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, and said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it…
And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): Do not let us forget that Heaven’s clock is different from ours.
D. L. MOODY (1837-1899): It was in November or December when those men arrived at that court, and this man prayed on until March or April before he spoke to the king. If a blessing doesn’t come tonight, pray harder tomorrow, and if it doesn’t come tomorrow, pray harder, and then, if it doesn’t come, keep right on, and you will not be disappointed. God in heaven will hear your prayers, and will answer them…Let your faith beget patience.
J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): The time and way in which our prayers shall be answered are matters which we must leave entirely to God. But that every petition which we offer in faith shall certainly be answered, we need not doubt. Let us lay our matters before God again and again, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. The answer may be long in coming―but though it tarry, let us pray on and wait for it. At the right time it will surely come and not tarry.
WILLIAM GURNALL (1617-1679): Nehemiah also, upon the occasion of the king’s speech to him, interposeth a short prayer to God between the king’s question and his answer to it: “Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven, and I said unto the king…” So soon was this holy man at heaven and back again—even in a trice —without any breach of manners in making the king wait for his answer. Sometimes you have the saints forming their desires into a few smart and passionate words, which fly with a holy force from their lips to heaven, as an arrow out of a bow.
D. L. MOODY: Nehemiah shot up a prayer to heaven right there in the king’s dining hall that the Lord would help him to make his request in the right way. He first looked beyond Artaxerxes to the King of Kings.
ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): A short but fervent prayer―silently, but powerfully sent up, for grace in the king’s sight.
CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): We are here reminded of one course of God’s Providential acting: His uncontrollable sway upon the most absolute of all wills—the king’s heart. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will,” Proverbs 21:1.
THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): The king consented that he should go.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Nehemiah also asked for a convoy, and an order upon the governors, not only to permit and suffer him to pass through their respective provinces, but to supply him with what he had occasion for, with another order upon the keeper of the forest of Lebanon to give him timber for the work that he designed, Nehemiah 2:7,8.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): “And the king granted me”―all the above favours.
MATTHEW HENRY: Nehemiah gained his point, not according to his merit, his interest in the king, or his good management, but “according to the good hand of his God upon him.” Gracious souls take notice of God’s hand, His good hand, in all events which turn in their favour.
H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): What an atmosphere of prayer surrounds this man! It is his constant resource throughout all his varied experiences. He walked with God because he talked with God.
JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688): Yea, let me add, if a man can with a good conscience say that he desires to fear the name of God, it will add boldness to his soul in his approaches into the presence of God. “O Lord,” said Nehemiah, “I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and servants, who desire to fear thy name.” He pleaded his desire of fearing the name of God, as an argument with God to grant him his request; and the reason was, because God had promised before “to bless them that fear him, both small and great,” Psalm 115:13.
D. L. MOODY: He has never failed, if a man has been honest in his petitions and honest in his confessions.
C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): Blessed be God, when the heart is true to Him, He always comes in to cheer, to strengthen, and to fortify, at the right time.
D. L. MOODY: You need not make a long prayer.
MATTHEW HENRY: This may well be the summary of our petitions; we need no more to make us happy than this: “Remember me, O my God, for good,” Nehemiah 13:31.
THOMAS GOODWIN (1600-1679): God will remember thee, as good Nehemiah prays in his last chapter, for thy zeal for God.
J. C. RYLE: We are never beyond the reach of His care. Our way is never hid from Him. He knows the path that we take, and is still able to help. He may not come to our aid at the time we like best, but He will never allow us utterly to fail. He that walked upon the water never changes. He will always come at the right time to uphold His people. Though He tarry, let us wait patiently. Jesus sees us, and will not forsake us.
