Dec 24 Nehemiah 1, Nehemiah 2 Revelation 16 Psalm 147:1-11

Neh 1:4

As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 

When Nehemiah heard the plight of his people, what did he do first? Did he run off in a storming rage, ready to confront someone about it? Did he immediately look for a solution to the problem? Did he protest or post angrily about it on facebook?

No.

He wept and mourned. He prayed and he fasted. And He did so for days. He prayed for forgiveness for his nation. He prayed for his father’s house and their sin. He also prayed for forgiveness for his own, because he recognised he was a part of the problem. He owned his own sin and he repented.

That’s where real action starts. In prayer. In repentance. In bringing it to God.

I know we often want to skip this bit… but that’s when things go wrong. It’s good to be passionate. It’s good to want to see change. But don’t skip out on the foundation. Prayer and repentance.

Neh 2:1-3

In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

Why was Nehemiah afraid when the king saw his sadness? Well, he was cupbearer to the king. This was a prominent position and one of trust. If was up to him to make sure the cup was not poisoned. It was up to him to test it. Cupbearers may not have had a very long life expectancy but it was a worthwhile job to have the ear of the king.

But Nehemiah did not want to abuse this position. If he did, then it would have been easy to turn up with a face full of woe, waiting to be asked what was wrong. Many of us do that when we want someone to ask what is wrong with us. We bring out the pet lip, we sigh… we make sure people know we are unhappy in the hope that they will ask why and we can unburden ourselves on them… 

No, that kind of behaviour is not what Nehemiah was doing. That would have got him killed – that’s why he was afraid. Imagine for the moment that you are the king… and the man who tests your wine to make sure it is not poisoned walks into the room with a downcast face, looking like the world was on his shoulders. You’d be pretty suspicious as to why! Does he know something about the wine? Is he plotting, has he been turned by someone?

A sad cup bearer? Not something you want.

Nehemiah’s sadness was dangerous to him. That’s why he was afraid. He’s been coming to work and putting on his best smile, making sure that there was no hint of sadness in him, then on this day it was all too much and he couldn’t hide it. That’s why his response starts with the word “May the king live forever!”. In other words, I don’t want you dead. He then opens up about his problem.

Nehemiah cared deeply for his people, but he wasn’t looking for a chance to abuse his position. He was sad, but he didn’t sit there waiting for someone to ask why he was sad. No, he got on with it.

That’s admirable. We need to be honest with each other, but let’s not wear our sadness on our sleeves, waiting for someone to ask what’s wrong. Pick yourself up. Get on with the day. Do your best. And let God open up the right opportunity at the right time to bring things to people’s attentions.