SERIES: The Book of Nehemiah
TEXT: Nehemiah 9:1-38
MESSAGE: “A Prayer of Confession from Renewed Hearts”
Q: What do we learn about right confession from Israel’s prayer? We see the need for…
1. The posture of confession
2.Remembering our history
3.Relational reconciliation
1. The posture of confession
“At the very least, they can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls.” — C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
“Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” — Matthew 9:14-15 ESV
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” — Matthew 6:16-18 ESV
“For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” — Psalm 51:16-17 ESV
2.Remembering our history
“And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.” — Nehemiah 9:7 ESV
“But You are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.” — Nehemiah 9:17 ESV
“You in Your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness.” — Nehemiah 9:19 ESV
“You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst.” — Nehemiah 9:20 ESV
“Forty years You sustained them…”— Nehemiah 9:21 ESV
“You heard them from heaven, and according to Your great mercies you gave them saviors…”— Nehemiah 9:27 ESV
“…many times you delivered them according to your mercies”— Nehemiah 9:28 ESV
“Nevertheless in Your great mercies You did not make an end of them or forsake them, for You are a gracious and merciful God.”— Nehemiah 9:30 ESV
“The great, the mighty and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love.”— Nehemiah 9:32 ESV
“Yet you have been righteous in all that came upon us, for You have dealt faithfully…” — Nehemiah 9:33 ESV
“But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments.”— Nehemiah 9:16 ESV
“Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf… and had committed great blasphemies…”— Nehemiah 9:18 ESV
“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.”— Nehemiah 9:26 ESV
“… Yet they acted presumptuously and they did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules.”— Nehemiah 9:29 ESV
“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”— Joshua 1:7-8 ESV
“One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. 6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. 7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.”— Psalm 145:4-7 ESV
“And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you–with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant–and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”— Deuteronomy 6:10-12 ESV
“In every Christian’s heart, there is a cross and a throne, and the Christian is on the throne till he puts himself on the cross; if he refuses the cross, he remains on the throne. Perhaps this is at the bottom of the backsliding and worldliness among gospel believers today. We want to be saved, but we insist that Christ does all the dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of [man’s soul] and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of a caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility.” — AW Tozer, The Radical Cross
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”— Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV
3.Relational reconciliation
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” — Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV
“…we judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior. This is why… one of the fastest ways to restore trust is to make and keep commitments—even very small commitments—to ourselves and to others.” — M.R. Covey, The Speed of Trust
“And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”” — Genesis 3:8-13 ESV
“To be loved but not known is comforting, but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear.” — Timothy Keller
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” — Genesis 3:15 ESV
“Some creature had to die in order to provide them with garments, and you know who it is that died in order that we might be robed in his spotless righteousness. The Lamb of God has made for us a garment which covers our nakedness so that we are not afraid to stand even before the bar of God.” — Charles Spurgeon
“”Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 33 Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. 35 Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. 36 Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. 37 And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress. 38 “Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.” — Nehemiah 9:32-38 ESV
“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” — Romans 5:9-10 ESV
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” — 1 John 1:9 ESV
Takeaways: What are ways that we can experience reconciliation by practicing confession?
1. Ask God with a humble heart what spiritual disciplines may aid and focus our personal worship
2. Make a practice of corporate confession
3. Remember your own history and testimony of God’s goodness, faithfulness, and trustworthiness in your life