In his book, Worship is a Verb, Robert E. Webber writes these insightful words:
WORSHIP IS A VERB. It is not something done to us or for us, but by us.
We certainly saw that last week in Nehemiah chapter 8. As the people gathered and listened to Ezra read the Word of God, they were active participants in worship. They raised their hands, they bowed, the shouted “amen”, they discussed the Scriptures face-to-face in small groups. And then they immediately applied what they had learned.
We’re going to find the same thing in Nehemiah chapter 9 this morning. The people did not come to observe worship, they came to worship. In reading through this passage over the last couple weeks, I am convinced that this is a passage that requires participation a lot more than it requires explanation. It needs to be prayed more than it needs to be preached.
So our format of worship is going to be quite different this morning. I’m going to introduce our passage briefly in just a moment and make a few comments about the passage to set the stage for what we’ll be doing together for the rest of our gathering. And I’m going to be real honest right up front. As uncomfortable as some of you find it to raise your hands, or bow down or shout “amen”, what I’m going to ask all of us to do together this morning may very well be even more uncomfortable for many of us.
So go ahead and take you Bibles and open them to Nehemiah chapter 9. As always, you’re going to want to keep your Bibles handy this morning so you can follow along as we read and study the Scriptures together.
Let’s begin with an overview of the chapter:
• Verses 1-5 contain a narrative that describes what occurred when the people gathered for worship.
• Verses 6-38 record the prayer that was prayed that day. A number of commentators have concluded that this is the longest recorded prayer in the Bible and I sure haven’t been able to find any other prayer recorded in the Bible that is longer, so I believe that claim. This prayer can be divided into three sections:
o A look back in verses 6-31. This prayer takes a look back at how God has worked in the lives of His chosen people throughout history.
o A look at the present in verses 32-37. This portion of the prayer deals with the current condition of the people gathered for worship.
o A look ahead in verse 38. The people make a promise to God about how they are going to live from this point forward.
With that structure in mind, let’s spend a few minutes looking at the first five verses and then we’ll spend the rest of our time reading and praying the prayer we find in the rest of the chapter.
Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God. On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God. Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
(Nehemiah 9:1-5 ESV)
Hopefully you’ll remember from last week that when Ezra read God’s Word the people discovered that God had commanded them to observe the Feast of Booths, which began on the 15th day of the month of Tishri. So they immediately began to make preparations for the observation of the Feast and they began their observance on the 15th day of the month, just as God commanded. During the seven days of the Feast, Ezra continued to read the Scriptures each day. Then, just as God commanded, on the 8th day there was a solemn assembly, which would have been on the 22nd day of the month. The events in Nehemiah 9 occur two days later, on the 24th day of the month.
The celebration and rejoicing in Nehemiah 8 have given way to a time of confession and repentance in chapter 9. Undoubtedly as the people had been exposed to God’s Word over the seven days of the Feast of Booths, they realized that they had been disobedient to the commands of God and rebelled against Him. So they fasted and put on sackcloth and put earth on their heads. Most of us are pretty familiar with fasting. And we probably have at least some concept of sackcloth – a coarse material made of black goat’s hair and which was worn as a sign of grief and mourning.
But what about putting dirt on their heads? While we do see that a few times in the Old Testament, it is not nearly as common as fasting and putting on sackcloth. On Monday morning, one of the men suggested that we might bring in some buckets of dirt and do that ourselves this morning. But perhaps it would be better if we figured out another way to demonstrate what that act symbolized. That practice was just a way for the people to demonstrate their lowly position compared to God. It was a symbol of the fact that they were lower than dirt because of their sins.
We also see that this was a family affair. The Israelites separated themselves from any of the foreigners there in Jerusalem in order to engage in a time of confession and repentance. That means that as we also engage in a time of confession and repentance in just a few minutes, this is something we do as a family of Christ followers. So, if we have anyone with us here this morning that is not part of that spiritual family, you’re welcome to join us if you’re comfortable doing that but this time is primarily for those of us who have committed our lives to Jesus.
Once again the people read from the Book of the Law of the Lord, this time for three hours straight. Then for the next three hours they confessed their sins and worshiped God together, blessing God as the everlasting God and blessing His name. We’re not going to take six hours to do it, but for the rest of our time, we’re going to do exactly what the people did – we’re going to read God’s Word, we’re going to have a time of personal and corporate confession and we’re going to bless the everlasting God and bless His name as we sing together.
Before we do that, let me leave you with a word of encouragement. Acknowledging and confessing our sin is not always easy or pleasant. But it is certainly necessary. But, as we’re going to see in the passages we read this morning, we worship a God who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, a God who has not forsaken us and who is ready to forgive.
I love the words of Paul at the beginning of Ephesians 1:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
(Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV)
God has chosen us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him in Jesus Christ. So this morning, if you have placed your trust in Jesus then you can be assured that through Jesus your sins have been forgiven and you are positionally holy and blameless before God. As John reminds us:
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(1 John 1:8-9 ESV)
So remember that as we confess and repent this morning, God has promised to forgive us and cleanse us.
Corporate prayer of repentance after Nehemiah 9:16-21
Heavenly Father,
We thank you that you are gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. We thank you that even though we have forsaken You, You have never forsaken us and that You are ready to forgive.
We acknowledge that as individuals, as a body, and as a nation we have rebelled against you. We have acted presumptuously and stiffened our necks and disobeyed your commandments. We have turned away from you to follow and worship worthless idols. We have acted in ways that profane Your great name.
Though we are undeserving of Your mercy, we ask you in the name of Jesus to forgive our sins and cleanse us from our unrighteousness.
Amen.
Corporate prayer of repentance and offering prayer after Nehemiah 9:26-31
Heavenly Father,
Thank you that when we cry to You, You hear from heaven and deliver us according to Your mercies, which are new every morning.
Once again we acknowledge our sin as individuals, as a body and as a nation. We confess that we have rebelled against You and cast your law behind our back. We have ignored your warnings and been stubborn and disobedient. In spite of Your warnings and Your discipline we have often refused to turn back to You.
So we humble ourselves before You and ask You to forgive those sins. We ask that you would do as You promised in Your Word and remove our hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh that are tender toward You.
And now as we come to make this offering to You, we ask that You would accept it as an act of gratitude for Your love and forgiveness.
We pray these things in the name of Jesus,
Amen.
