The People Confess Their Sins
On October 31* the people assembled
again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and
sprinkled dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent
separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their
own sins and the sins of their ancestors. They remained standing in
place for three hours while the Book of the Law of the
Lord their God was
read aloud to them. Then for three more hours they confessed their
sins and worshiped the Lord their God. The
Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah,
Bani, and Kenani—stood on the stairway of the Levites and
cried out to the Lord
their God with loud voices.
Then the leaders of the Levites—Jeshua,
Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and
Pethahiah—called out to the people: “Stand up and
praise the Lord your
God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting!” Then they
prayed:
“May your glorious name be praised! May it
be exalted above all blessing and praise!"
NEHEMIAH 9:1-5 NLT
At this point in the amazing book of Nehemiah,
the wall has been built, the Israelites have been brought back
to Jerusalem and now they are as the subtitle in my NLT suggests,
confessing their sins. The picture that is painted is amazing.
Thousands of people bowing down before the Lord and led by my
count, eight Levites who pray aloud for.... a long time. If you
read past verse 5 (specifically verses 6 through 38) until the end
of chapter 9, you discover what they prayed. They recount the
history of the Israelites, how they had been disobedient to God,
how they did not believe Him. What is also recounted is God not
abandoning them, His great mercy and grace.
Verses 6 through 38 speak very much to our
relationship (at times) with God today. In times of trouble, down
on our knees, crying out, "What am I going to do!?" and then after
things improve or the storm passes the grumbling and the doubt
ensue and increase. The Israelites needed to be reminded of their
great and glorious God, needed to be reminded to give thanks. How
different is this from us today?
I am going to go out on a limb and say....not
very different.
K
Ministries 
