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nehemiah 1:4-11

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Nehemiah 1:4-11

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”

— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

4. 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, 5. And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: 6. Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. 7. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. 8. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, [If] ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 9. But [if] ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, [yet] will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. 10. Now these [are] thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. 11. 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.

Nehemiah 1:4-11 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Nehemiah 1:4

Theological / Devotional

I sat down and wept. Nehemiah was deeply shocked when he learned about the plight of his countrymen and the humiliation they had experienced. Even if he had a partial knowledge of events in the province of Judea, the reality apparently exceeded his greatest fears and caused him to weep.

Fasted. During the Captivity fasting became a common practice among the Jews (see Zech. 7:3-7). Solemn fasts had been introduced on the anniversaries of the taking of Jerusalem, the burning of the Temple, and the murder of Gedaliah (Zech. 8:19). Fasting had also been given a prominent place in personal devotions. Daniel (Dan. 9:3; 10:3), Esther (Esther 4:16), Ezra (Ezra 10:6), and Nehemiah are all mentioned as having fasted (see on Ezra 10:6).

By SdaBc