SERIES: The Book of Nehemiah
TEXT: Nehemiah 5:14-19
MESSAGE: “Living in the Moment with Integrity”
What is integrity?
“Whoever walks in integrity walks securely.” — Proverbs 10:9
“The word ‘integrity’ is the key word in Proverbs 10:9. A secure walk is not a matter of clever politics but of personal integrity. This Hebrew word suggests completeness, wholeness, fullness. So, no compromises, no breaches or gaps or refusals in the face of duty, but rather saying yes to the Lord moment by moment. There is a completeness to our life in Christ, with no compartmentalization. The Lord gives all, and He claims all. When we yield all, we walk securely.” — Ray Ortlund
TEXT: Nehemiah 5:14-19
Q: How did Nehemiah live with a God-centered integrity? Throughout this passage, we see three ways that God-centered integrity is lived out. It’s…(1. When God Sees 2. When God Calls 3. When God Rewards)
1. When God Sees (v. 14-15)
“Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. 15 But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that.”
“It was reverence for God which restrained him from lording it over the people and made heaven’s verdict all-important to him.” — Derek Kidner
2. When God Calls (v. 16-18)
“Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land. 17 Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. 18 Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.”
“Work—and lots of it—is an indispensable component in a meaningful human life. It is a supreme gift from God and one of the main things that gives our lives purpose. But it must play its proper role, subservient to God.” — Timothy Keller
3. When God Rewards (v. 19)
“Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.”
“Nehemiah’s behavior as governor was guided by principles of service rather than opportunism.” — Edwin Yamauchi
“Why would Nehemiah ask God to remember for his good what he has done? It seems that he wants the good that he has done for God’s people to be remembered because he is looking to the reward. He is looking to the great accounting, when breathtaking pleasures and heart-filling joys will be known by those who lived for God rather than for themselves. Here we see the source of Nehemiah’s selflessness. Nehemiah wants to serve God and God’s people because he believes that living by faith in what he cannot see will be more rewarding than living for what he can see in this life.” — James Hamilton
TAKEAWAYS
1. Avoid the entitlement trap
2. Embrace the Great Commandment
3. Remember what lasts
“Everyone wants to be successful rather than forgotten, and everyone wants to make a difference in life. But that is beyond the control of any of us… Unless there is God. If the God of the Bible exists, and there is a True Reality beneath and behind this one, and this life is not the only life, then every good endeavor, even the simplest ones, pursued in response to God’s calling, can matter forever.” — Tim Keller
“Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.” — Nehemiah 5:19