Indescribable Grace

Nehemiah 9:22-38

22 "Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations,
And divided them into districts.
So they took possession of the land of Sihon,
The land of the king of Heshbon,
And the land of Og king of Bashan.

23 You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven,
And brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers
To go in and possess.

24 So the people went in
And possessed the land;
You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land,
The Canaanites,
And gave them into their hands,
With their kings
And the people of the land,
That they might do with them as they wished.

25 And they took strong cities and a rich land,
And possessed houses full of all goods,
Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves,
And fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled and grew fat,
And delighted themselves in Your great goodness.

26 "Nevertheless they were disobedient
And rebelled against You,
Cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your prophets, who testified against them
To turn them to Yourself;
And they worked great provocations.

27 Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies,
Who oppressed them;
And in the time of their trouble,
When they cried to You,
You heard from heaven;
And according to Your abundant mercies
You gave them deliverers who saved them
From the hand of their enemies.

28 "But after they had rest,
They again did evil before You.
Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies,
So that they had dominion over them;
Yet when they returned and cried out to You,
You heard from heaven;
And many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,

29 And testified against them,
That You might bring them back to Your law.
Yet they acted proudly,
And did not heed Your commandments,
But sinned against Your judgments,

Which if a man does, he shall live by them.'

And they shrugged their shoulders,
Stiffened their necks,
And would not hear.

30 Yet for many years You had patience with them,
And testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets.
Yet they would not listen;
Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

31 Nevertheless in Your great mercy
You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them;
For You are God, gracious and merciful.

32 "Now therefore, our God,
The great, the mighty, and awesome God,
Who keeps covenant and mercy:
Do not let all the trouble seem small before You
That has come upon us,
Our kings and our princes,
Our priests and our prophets,
Our fathers and on all Your people,
From the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.

33 However You are just in all that has befallen us;
For You have dealt faithfully,
But we have done wickedly.

34 Neither our kings nor our princes,
Our priests nor our fathers,
Have kept Your law,
Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies,
With which You testified against them.

35 For they have not served You in their kingdom,
Or in the many good things that You gave them,
Or in the large and rich land which You set before them;
Nor did they turn from their wicked works.

36 "Here we are, servants today!
And the land that You gave to our fathers,
To eat its fruit and its bounty,
Here we are, servants in it!

37 And it yields much increase to the kings
You have set over us,
Because of our sins;
Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle
At their pleasure;
And we are in great distress.

38 "And because of all this,
We make a sure covenant and write it;
Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it."

God is not to blame for consequences or adverse circumstances.  His people reap what we sow.  We see this in the second half of this prayer as the remnant back to Jerusalem from the dispersion in Persia and Babylon read the Book of God with penitent hearts.  They acknowledged God’s grace in providing entrance to a promised land out of bondage symbolic of sin, yet wandered right back in on their journey, to it and when settled in it.  Don’t we remember being delivered out of sin as well in Christ, yet falling back into old patterns off and on?  We do well not to judge, but be thankful in all humility, knowing it is Christ’s righteousness alone in merciful grace in which we stand that makes us acceptable to God, in His beloved (Ephesians 1:6).  These delighted in His great goodness, then disobeyed and rebelled in sin, rejecting His word and those sent to deliver it to deliver them.  Therefore, the children of promise were delivered to their enemies until they cried out in prayer and were delivered, time and again.  With their sins exposed, they were meant to turn back to His word, but instead despised the grace and mercy, returning as a sow to wallow in sin’s mud as we read in 2 Peter 2:22.  They knew that if a man lived in obedience to the Law of God, he would live.  Of course, though we are called in Christ to follow His word as well, yet it is by faith, not obedience by which we are saved out of sin’s punishment in the final judgment (Galatians 3:12, 14, Romans 10:5, 13).  Nonetheless, here is the schoolmaster of the Law teaching God’s people to obey or face the consequences; this was to stop all mouths of pride when we see that nobody can be righteous in himself, for it is impossible to be wholly obedient and righteous by our own works.  We need God’s works done by Him, by Christ, for perfect obedience to the Law unto deliverance from sin and judgment.  This is the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We see further in this passage in a prayer of remembrance and reflection with confession of sin and repentance how they acknowledged God’s undeserved good mercy, His grace, to them over and over.  They petitioned He who is the great, the mighty, and awesome God, Who keeps covenant and mercy, to forgive and deliver from the new opposition of adversaries all around the rebuilt Jerusalem.  They were ready to serve despite the past failures of their people, and made a certain covenant agreement as a seal to their commitment and devotion to commit to follow Him according to His word.  May we commit likewise to following Christ together as a people, redeemed by grace to to those good works of obedience as Ephesians 2:10 reminds us we have been called to by faith and grace in His undeserved mercy.  Our new covenant in Christ’s blood is the seal, foe He has made the covenant with us, not we with Him.  This is the liberty we have now, not to fall back into sin, nor to excuse it away to gain more grace, but to follow and obey in the freedom of His love and the knowledge that consequences for disobedience remain apart from repentance and restoring grace.  Yet the consequences are not eternal, but bring great loss of our reward and honor to Him.  Thanks be to God for His indescribable grace!  Amen.