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od had used Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple. Through the
ministry of Ezra He had improved the condition of the temple (as well as the
condition of the hearts of His people). Evidently step 3 in the rejuvenation of
Jerusalem was the rebuilding of its walls. So, Jehovah began to move in that
direction by burdening the heart of Artaxerxes' personal cupbearer, Nehemiah.
News came to Nehemiah from the holy land about how dangerously unprotected
Jerusalem was. That news broke his heart.
Nehemiah was a praying man. He fasted and
prayed. He wept and prayed. He quoted God's words back to Him... and
prayed. He confessed his own sins and the sins of others while he prayed. He
was a royal servant living far from his homeland. Nevertheless, he knew how to
pray. Maybe I should say, he knew TO pray, AND he knew HOW to pray too.
In this introductory chapter
of Nehemiah, my favorite phrase
is found in verse 11. Nehemiah described himself as one among many who
desired to fear the name of God (Nehemiah 1:11). He didn't think enough of himself to claim that he did actually have a full and properly
developed fear for Jehovah, but he did desire to attain unto it.
The author of the old
Hymn "Come Thou Fount" realized
very well how that the hearts of God's devout
children are deeply lacking
and need God's intervening adjustments for us to do the right things. "Tune my
heart,” he wrote. We who are His children already, still need this. We need God to tune our heart to the right frequency.
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