As we continue to look at the life of Nehemiah we notice that after becoming concerned about the problem and expressing his conviction about God’s character, Nehemiah is now moved to admit his sin and the sins of his people.
Nehemiah 1:6-7 (NKJV) “Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees, and laws you gave your servant Moses.”
It’s one thing to be concerned and to even have a firm conviction of who God is but it is another thing to actually confess the sin we see. Many of us never get this far. We might feel bad about our sins or be concerned about how things are going. We know things are bad and that God is good but we hesitate at this next step.
Nehemiah boldly asks God to hear his prayer, which literally means, “to hear intelligently with great attention.” I see at least three key ingredients in his confession of sin.
Intensity. Overwhelmed by concern about sin and in awe of God’s character, Nehemiah gave himself to prolonged petition and intercession. He prayed day and night, spending every moment of time in God’s presence.
Psalm 88:1 (NKJV) “O Lord, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you.”
Honesty. Nehemiah made no attempt to excuse the Israelites for their sin and actually owned his part in their culpability. He surveyed the grim record of Israel’s past and present failure, and he knew that he was not exempt from blame. Notice that he prays, “I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself…we have acted very wickedly…we have not obeyed…” This is remarkable to me. It would have been easy for Nehemiah to look back and blame his ancestors but instead he looked within and blamed himself. It’s so easy for us to blame others, isn’t it? We need to learn from Nehemiah and confess honestly, “Lord, I am wrong. I not only want to be part of the answer, I confess that I’m part of the problem.”
Urgency. Nehemiah recognized that sin is not merely a stubborn refusal to obey certain rules, but is also a defiant act of aggressive personal rebellion against a holy God. He knows that they “have acted very wickedly.” He didn’t try to candy-coat his sin. He owned it and called it what it was.
(MY Brother just retired from Boeing so I thought this story really funny…and no it was not my brother)
A couple Boeing employees decided to steal a life raft from one of the 747s they were working on. They were successful in getting it out of the plant but they forgot one thing. The raft comes with an emergency locator that is automatically activated when the raft is inflated. So, when they took the raft out on the Stillaguamish River, they were quite surprised by a Coast Guard helicopter homing in on the emergency locator.
Trying to hide our sins from God is impossible. He knows all about them.
Numbers 32:23 (NKJV) “…you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
Friends, we need to recognize that all sin, those things we have blatantly done or carelessly committed, or those things that we have left undone, must be identified and then confessed. Are you trying to hide anything today? It’s better to confess it now than to wait until your sin exposes you!
Nehemiah 1:6-7 (NKJV) “Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees, and laws you gave your servant Moses.”
It’s one thing to be concerned and to even have a firm conviction of who God is but it is another thing to actually confess the sin we see. Many of us never get this far. We might feel bad about our sins or be concerned about how things are going. We know things are bad and that God is good but we hesitate at this next step.
Nehemiah boldly asks God to hear his prayer, which literally means, “to hear intelligently with great attention.” I see at least three key ingredients in his confession of sin.
Intensity. Overwhelmed by concern about sin and in awe of God’s character, Nehemiah gave himself to prolonged petition and intercession. He prayed day and night, spending every moment of time in God’s presence.
Psalm 88:1 (NKJV) “O Lord, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you.”
Honesty. Nehemiah made no attempt to excuse the Israelites for their sin and actually owned his part in their culpability. He surveyed the grim record of Israel’s past and present failure, and he knew that he was not exempt from blame. Notice that he prays, “I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself…we have acted very wickedly…we have not obeyed…” This is remarkable to me. It would have been easy for Nehemiah to look back and blame his ancestors but instead he looked within and blamed himself. It’s so easy for us to blame others, isn’t it? We need to learn from Nehemiah and confess honestly, “Lord, I am wrong. I not only want to be part of the answer, I confess that I’m part of the problem.”
Urgency. Nehemiah recognized that sin is not merely a stubborn refusal to obey certain rules, but is also a defiant act of aggressive personal rebellion against a holy God. He knows that they “have acted very wickedly.” He didn’t try to candy-coat his sin. He owned it and called it what it was.
(MY Brother just retired from Boeing so I thought this story really funny…and no it was not my brother)
A couple Boeing employees decided to steal a life raft from one of the 747s they were working on. They were successful in getting it out of the plant but they forgot one thing. The raft comes with an emergency locator that is automatically activated when the raft is inflated. So, when they took the raft out on the Stillaguamish River, they were quite surprised by a Coast Guard helicopter homing in on the emergency locator.
Trying to hide our sins from God is impossible. He knows all about them.
Numbers 32:23 (NKJV) “…you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
Friends, we need to recognize that all sin, those things we have blatantly done or carelessly committed, or those things that we have left undone, must be identified and then confessed. Are you trying to hide anything today? It’s better to confess it now than to wait until your sin exposes you!
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