There is an old saying, “You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.” What you had, who you knew, where you lived are things that remain close to your heart and vivid in your memories.
It must have been like this for Nehemiah. Driven out of his homeland by the Babylonian invasion. He has to build for himself a new life.
Interesting to use the word build here.
When we move to a new town, or even a new country, we find somewhere to live, and we settle down, and we start to build ourselves a life. And yet, there is always an ache, isn’t there? For the longest time, we have that sense of not really belonging.
The Psalmist laments “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?”
How indeed.
It’s the question that rings in the opening verses of the book of Nehemiah.
We can feel the deep ache in his heart when he hears of the condition of Jerusalem and those people, his countrymen, his kin, who were left behind. His sense of place and country are clearly manifest in his reaction to the news brought to him.
He sits down and weeps. He mourns for days, and he fasts and he prays.
As we read further we discover that it is about more than just the bricks and mortar, stone and wood that have been broken and splintered, but Israel’s relationship with God.
Nehemiah feels this has been lost, otherwise the Lord would have been there to protect what had been built to honour Him. Nehemiah sees this as nothing less than a separation from the steadfast love refered to in verse 5.
It is important to note that Nehemiah relies on two things, the fact that God is faithful to the covenant, and that God is still there to pour out His steadfast love to those who return to Him after periods in exile.
We feel the pain that Nehemiah expresses in admitting to his sin and the sins of his father. Their house has not kept the “commandments, the statutes and the rules.” In short, he and his father’s house had not stayed true to their walk with God.
Surely, Nehemiah is aware of the words found in Deuteronomy 30:2 “…return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Nehemiah reaches out to the Lord and prays. More than anything he wants to return to the Lord’s embrace.
Let us do the same:
O Lord, so many things try
to stand in the way of our walk with you, at every turn it seems as if we are blocked, distracted, focused elsewhere. We give our loyalty to the things of this world. But your love is strong and steadfast, you remain faithful, waiting for us to admit our fault and return to you. Help us O Lord to turn back to you, to pray as Nehemiah did, seeking you out in our hearts, and lifting our lives up to you so that we may be restored.
Amen.
This is a transcript of the Breaking Bread: Fast food for the soul podcast.
It must have been like this for Nehemiah. Driven out of his homeland by the Babylonian invasion. He has to build for himself a new life.
Interesting to use the word build here.
When we move to a new town, or even a new country, we find somewhere to live, and we settle down, and we start to build ourselves a life. And yet, there is always an ache, isn’t there? For the longest time, we have that sense of not really belonging.
The Psalmist laments “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?”
How indeed.
It’s the question that rings in the opening verses of the book of Nehemiah.
We can feel the deep ache in his heart when he hears of the condition of Jerusalem and those people, his countrymen, his kin, who were left behind. His sense of place and country are clearly manifest in his reaction to the news brought to him.
He sits down and weeps. He mourns for days, and he fasts and he prays.
As we read further we discover that it is about more than just the bricks and mortar, stone and wood that have been broken and splintered, but Israel’s relationship with God.
Nehemiah feels this has been lost, otherwise the Lord would have been there to protect what had been built to honour Him. Nehemiah sees this as nothing less than a separation from the steadfast love refered to in verse 5.
It is important to note that Nehemiah relies on two things, the fact that God is faithful to the covenant, and that God is still there to pour out His steadfast love to those who return to Him after periods in exile.
We feel the pain that Nehemiah expresses in admitting to his sin and the sins of his father. Their house has not kept the “commandments, the statutes and the rules.” In short, he and his father’s house had not stayed true to their walk with God.
Surely, Nehemiah is aware of the words found in Deuteronomy 30:2 “…return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Nehemiah reaches out to the Lord and prays. More than anything he wants to return to the Lord’s embrace.
Let us do the same:
O Lord, so many things try
to stand in the way of our walk with you, at every turn it seems as if we are blocked, distracted, focused elsewhere. We give our loyalty to the things of this world. But your love is strong and steadfast, you remain faithful, waiting for us to admit our fault and return to you. Help us O Lord to turn back to you, to pray as Nehemiah did, seeking you out in our hearts, and lifting our lives up to you so that we may be restored.
Amen.
This is a transcript of the Breaking Bread: Fast food for the soul podcast.