05/28/2025 – Day 332 – Nehemiah – Chapters 1 – 4 / “Nehemiah Prays for His people”
In our first cycle of the Semikkah7 read through the Bible, we have a post dated 04/14/2021 that provides a summary introduction to the Book of Nehemiah, along with commentary in chapters #1 and #2. You can pull it up by search on : “Day 332” or “04/14/2021”.
I would like to share this morning two verses early on in the book with verse commentary from “The Evidence Study Bible”:
“So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” (Nehemiah 1:4)
“1:4. In this book, Nehemiah seeks God in prayer eleven times. John of Antioch, also called Chrysostom (‘golden mouthed’), extolled the benefits of prayer: ‘The potency of prayer has subdued the strength of fire, it has bridled the rage of lions, hushed anarchy to rest, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, expanded the fates of heaven, assuaged diseases, repelled frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt. Prayer is an all-sufficient panoply, a treasure undiminished, a mine which is never exhausted, a sky obscured by clouds, a heaven unruffled by the storm. It is the root, the fountain, the mother of a thousand blessings.’
_________________
“O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.’ For I was the king’s cupbearer.” (Nehemiah 1:11)
“1:11. The key to being heard by God is to a servant who delights in the fear of the Lord. Jesus was heard in that He feared: ‘who in the days of His flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of his godly fear. (Hebrews 5:7)”
Soli Deo Gloria!
FYI – To be completed by the end of the day….