'His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark: sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.' Isaiah 56 v 10
This was one of 4 talks given at the Lochee Baptist Chapel Weekend Away at Glenshee in February 2024. You can listen to the talks here.
When my late father, the Rev John J Murray, published his little booklet 'The Dog that Does not Bark' in 2017, he subtitled it 'A Heart Cry for Leadership in the Church.' The booklet is based on the verse from Isaiah 56 v 10. If ever there was a verse that sums up the Scottish church today surely it is this verse. The guard dog of Biblical truth and robust confessionalism in Scotland is not so much whimpering as on life support. The pragmatists are in the ascendancy.
The greatest need for Scotland today is godly leaders with Biblical convictions. Leaders that will speak up when the enemy attacks. That is why Nehemiah is so relevant for us to study. Nehemiah is a book about one man’s love for his city, his people, the truth and most importantly his God. There are many themes running through this book:
• Prayer - Any great work of God starts with prayer.
• Providence - God’s timetable is often hidden from us.
• Revival - It is God who rebuilds, restores and revives.
• God’s calling- God raises up people for a particular task at a particular time and it is often the most unlikely people. Nehemiah was designed by God for a particular purpose. When design, purpose and passion come together in godly leaders, great things happen.
• Team ministry - Everyone of God's people has a part to play in the rebuilding of the kingdom.
• Leadership - Godly leadership is key. People rally behind godly vision.
• Corruption - When leadership becomes corrupted and compromised God will not bless the work.
• Worship - Worship is central to the life of the people of God.
But before the walls are rebuilt, before any vision is cast, we see Nehemiah in prayer. And what we see in this prayer is Nehemiah's view of God. It was very different view of God from the people of God exiled in Babylon.
But before we look more at Nehemiah's vision of God lets think a bit more about the background to the book.
Context
Nehemiah is a book about restoration, rebuilding and reformation. Nehemiah is set at time when everything was bleak.
Restoration
The background is that after Israel divided into the Northern and Southern kingdom, the ten tribes of Israel were taken into exile by the Assyrians. Later Judah was taken in to exile by the Babylonians. Jerusalem was destroyed. The loss was catastrophic spiritually, culturally and socially. The people were taken to a strange land where they were forced to sing the songs of Zion in exile.
Rebuilding
The Babylonians were eventually defeated by the Medes and the Persians and after 70 years, under King Cyrus, the Jews began to return in stages. While Nehemiah completes the rebuilding of the walls in 52 days, the restoration actually takes 90 years and covers the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Reformation
But the problems were not just structural or economic, there was a deep spiritual problem with the people of Judah. They had departed from God, They had forgotten the law and they had become idolaters. There was an urgent need for spiritual and moral renewal. That is what we see in chapters 8-10. A revival takes place as Ezra reads the law. They rediscover the Bible just like Scotland did in the reformation in the 16th century. The word of God helps us to rediscover the character of God.
But how does this final stage of restoration and rebuilding and reformation start? Well, God raises up a man and gives him a God shaped vision. Nehemiah is driven by purpose and passion to do God’s will. But it all starts with prayer. And through Nehemiah’s prayer, we see his deep reverence and love for God. Nehemiah is clearly a man of deep emotion. He hears the news of the state of Jerusalem from his brother. He weeps and he fasts, and he turns to God out of concern for his brethren.
What can we learn from this remarkable prayer? Nehemiah recaptures a true vision of God.
1. His Greatness
The Jews had forgotten who God was. Despite all that he had done for them, they had forgotten his mighty deeds, his redemptive work and his mighty power. But in this prayer, Nehemiah once again has a vision of who God is. He 'beseeched' the Lord in verse 5 – it is repeated in v 11. Nehemiah addresses God as ‘the God of heaven’ 1 v 4,5. The term ‘God of heaven’ is used numerous times throughout the Bible, emphasizing God’s supreme authority and transcendent nature. This title serves to remind them, and us, of God’s ultimate control and his ability to guide the destinies of nations and individuals alike. It underscores the belief that God’s authority is not confined to the earth but encompasses the entire universe.
Nehemiah goes on to confess that God is 'great and awesome'. The AV translates this as ‘the great and terrible God.’ Nationally and personally, we are to reverently fear God. Spiritual renewal begins with an apprehension of who God is.
The Israelites had forgotten so it is no surprise that Nehemiah uses the word ‘remember’ over and over again. In Ch 4 v 14 Nehemiah says: ‘Do not be afraid of them, remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.’ That is why we see the word ‘remember’ so often in the Bible: 232 times we are commanded to remember – 55 times in the Psalms. We are a forgetful people. The Psalms help us to remember the mighty acts of God towards his people in the past.
If we had a true understanding of who God is our churches, our ministers, our worship would be very different. We desperately need the broken and contrite spirit in our worship again.
2. His Nearness
But notice also in this prayer Nehemiah’s focus on God’s covenant faithfulness and mercy. Nehemiah starts with adoration, he focusses on God’s glory and majesty. But now Nehemiah turns to God’s nearness or his imminence. God is with his people, despite their backsliding and their unfaithfulness. He is a God of covenant faithfulness.
We often think of the God of the Old Testament as distant and far away. But that is wrong.
Moses says in Deut 4 v 7 ‘For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?’ We also see this in the Psalms: ‘The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit.’ Psalm 34 v 18. ‘We give thanks to you O God, we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds,’ Psalm 75 v 1.
God doesn’t desert his people. He is bound up in covenant with them. He judges and chastises them, but he loves them and restores them. Nehemiah appeals to God on the basis of his covenant promises. It is not an appeal on the basis of the people’s goodness and faithfulness. God’s covenant was a covenant of grace with obligations. Nehemiah is crying to God to remember his covenant faithfulness and mercy.
So we see in this prayer that Nehemiah is filled with worship and the greatness and yet the mercy of God.
3. His Holiness
Next, we see Nehemiah confesses his sin and the sin of the people because he has a true sense of the holiness of God.
The Spirit of Confession
Nehemiah’s confession isn’t reluctant, it isn’t forced, it is genuine. We are to see here in Nehemiah that we should take sin very seriously. We see in v 4 Nehemiah’s response to the situation: he weeps, he mourns, he fasts and prays. Nehemiah’s response to sin is like the Psalmist in Psalm 51: ‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.’ Like anyone who experiences grace, Nehemiah is broken, he is undone. As Christ says in Matthew ‘Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted’ Matt 23 v 12.
Nehemiah was exalted by God because he first humbled himself. This is the spirit in which we should pray, a spirit of deep humility. Sin is serious, God is holy and we must come to God in a spirit of brokenness and humility.
The Extent of Confession
Nehemiah doesn’t hesitate to confess sin. He doesn’t go through a priest, he doesn’t do penance, he doesn’t seek an indulgences, he humbly and sincerely confesses sin. But notice the extent of his confession in v 6. What have the sins of the people got to do with Nehemiah? He has been in Susa serving the king faithfully. But Nehemiah is part of God’s covenant community. They, as a people had departed from God and therefore Nehemiah confesses their sin. He doesn’t say ‘forgive those people over there.’ No, he says ‘…let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you.’ Nehemiah is interceding for the people.
Specific Confession
Notice also that Nehemiah is very specific in his confession. He doesn’t make a general confession, but he confesses the nature and types of sins they have committed as a nation. Nehemiah says we have acted very corruptly. This word means to destroy, spoil, to corrupt. Sometimes this word is translated ‘broken’. God has given them so many privileges, so many blessings but they have destroyed their heritage. They are like a child who is given an expensive toy at Christmas and breaks in within a few hours. The way we treat gifts reveals what we think about the gift giver. But what specifically has Israel done to deserve God’s wrath? Well they have not obeyed his commands, decrees and laws given by Moses.
4. His Love
Nehemiah ends his prayer with hope. He again interceded for the people and asks God to remember his past promises. What was it that God had promised? He had promised to scatter and to gather. Nehemiah is quoting from Leviticus 26 v 33. God told them that if they were disobedient, they would suffer all sorts of consequences, one of which was that they would be scattered. He warned them about the consequences of idolatry in Deut 4 v 25-27: ‘The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you.’
The people were clearly warned again and again. But yet God is merciful. He gathers, he saves, he redeems and he forgives. Nehemiah quotes Deuteronomy 30 v 3 '...then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.'
And where does God want to gather his people to? The place God has chosen to set his name. Jerusalem was where the temple was – God’s presence was there – that was why the restoration of Jerusalem was so important. Nehemiah is about the restoration and reformation of worship. God wants to gather his people again so they can worship him in the way that he has laid down in his law. Worship is about worshiping God in the way that he has laid down, not the way that makes us feel better.
God is a gathering God – he is still finding lost sheep through the gospel today. Even in the midst of great national sin, we are reminded of the wonder of redemption. God is faithful and loving towards his covenant people.
Conclusion
Nehemiah has a new vision of God: his greatness, his nearness, his holiness and his love. He seeks the Lord for 4 months. He prays for success in this great task. It seems overwhelming and yet the Lord uses Nehemiah to rebuild the walls in 52 days. Prayer is the powerhouse of the church. Cyril Barber says in his book on Nehemiah: ‘Nehemiah’s attitude is one of reverence and submission. He knows the self-sufficient do not pray, they merely talk to themselves. The self-satisfied will not pray; they have no knowledge of their need. The self-righteous cannot pray; they have no basis on which to approach God.’ True prayer comes from seeing God’s greatness and yet also being assured of his nearness and his love for those who come with broken and contrite hearts.
Great leaders lead us to see God more clearly. Nehemiah didn’t draw attention to himself – he directed it towards God. Nehemiah means ‘The Lord Comforts’. There is only one who can truly comfort you today. What you need, what Scotland needs is Christ. What Scotland needs is leaders who point to Christ, who preach the gospel and who sound the alarm as we sleepwalk in to moral and spiritual collapse. We need more Nehemiah’s, more watchmen, more barking dogs.
Let me leave you with the words of J.C Ryle written 150 years ago but as fresh as if they were written yesterday:
'There is a common complaint in these latter days that there is a want of power in modern Christianity, and that the true Church of Christ, the body of which He is the Head, does not shake the world in the twentieth century as it used to do in former years. Shall I tell you in plain words what is the reason? It is the low tone of life which is so sadly prevalent among professing believers. We want more men and women who walk with God and before God, like Enoch and Abraham. Though our numbers at this date far exceed those of our Evangelical forefathers, I believe we fall far short of them in our standard of Christian practice. Where is the self-denial, the redemption of time, the absence of luxury and self-indulgence, the unmistakable separation from earthly things, the manifest air of being always about our Master’s business, the singleness of eye, the simplicity of home life, the high tone of conversation in society, the patience, the humility, the universal courtesy which marked so many of our forerunners seventy or eighty years ago? Yes: where is it indeed? We have inherited their principles and we wear their armour, but I fear we have not inherited their practice. The Holy Ghost sees it, and is grieved; and the world sees it, and despises us. The world sees it, and cares little for our testimony. It is life, life—a heavenly, godly, Christ-like life—depend on it, which influences the world. Let us resolve, by God’s blessing, to shake off this reproach. Let us awake to a clear view of what the times require of us in this matter. Let us aim at a much higher standard of practice. Let the time past suffice us to have been content with a half-and-half holiness. For the time to come, let us endeavour to walk with God, to be “thorough” and unmistakable in our daily life, and to silence, if we cannot convert, a sneering world.'
