Return from Exile: Nehemiah 9.4-38 (5)

Pray Psalm 40.4, 5
Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust,
And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered.

Sing Psalm 40.4, 5.
(Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth)
Blessed are all who trust in You, turning both from lies and pride.
Countless wonders, Lord, You do, and Your thoughts with us abide.
LORD, Your worth who can declare? None with You can e’er compare.

Read Nehemiah 9.1-31; meditate on verses 26-31.

Preparation
1. How did God’s people respond to His many good works and His Law?

2. What did God do? And after that?

Meditation
The writer of the book of Hebrews reminds us that God loves us so much that, when necessary, He will discipline us to keep us in the path He has marked out for us (Heb. 12.3-11). And His discipline, when it comes, is never pleasant. However, it is always patient, loving, and just what we need.

The Levites in their prayer of praise reminded the people of their own history—a history of blessing followed by disobedience, discipline, and captivity. What kinds of things provoke God to discipline His children? Disobedience to and neglect of His Law (v. 26). Provocative sinful behavior (v. 26). A pattern of consistent wickedness (v. 28). Pride, disobedience, sin, rejection of God’s way of living, indifference to Him and His will, refusal to hear His Word (v. 29).

God knows how to bring us to see the folly of our wicked ways; but in His great mercy and grace (v. 31) He does not cast us off. He bears with us so that we will repent and return to Him. Any who refuse and will not turn to Him, cut themselves off from God and perish in the wilderness of their unbelief. But God has given us His Spirit to testify against our wickedness (v. 30); and He continues to open His Word to us—as we read it or by hearing faithful preachers and teachers (v. 26).

God is patient, but not infinitely so. Let us not take advantage of His patience but praise Him for His discipline and mercy and give ourselves entirely to Him according to His Word and by the power of His Spirit.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Into and from—counterintuitive, we think? But this is often how our sovereign God disciplines His own in love. “Therefore, You delivered them into the hand of their enemies” …. “And according to Your abundant mercies You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hand of their enemies” (Neh. 9.27).

A voice from heaven had some similar words for Nebuchadnezzar in preparation for the discipline he was about to receive from the hand of God for his outlandish hubris: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken; the kingdom has departed from you! And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses” (Dan. 4.31, 32).

But God’s discipline proved to be life-changing for him; and after his seven years of beastliness he said, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down” (Dan. 4.37).

Into discipline resulted in Nebuchadnezzar’s return to sanity, displaying correct worship of Almighty God and deliverance fromhis captivity to self.

Nebuchadnezzar’s change of heart is what God longs to see in all those who experience His discipline.

Jesus bemoaned the people’s hard hearts in His day and warned them that into and from discipline must result in changed behaviors: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” (Matt. 23.37-39)

Strong words meant to stir one to repentant action.

Thankfully God remembers that we are dust (Ps. 103.14).

But He also knows the intentions of our hearts, and no one is hidden from His sight (Heb. 4.12, 13).
Therefore, we must strive to be obedient in all things, or be ready for His loving discipline.
He will deliver us into discipline and then graciously deliver us from discipline—painful nonetheless. “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12.11). And changed by it.

God does not utterly consume or forsake us because:
“You are God, gracious and merciful” (Neh. 9.31).

For reflection
1. Can you think of a time when God delivered you into His discipline? Why did He do that?

2. When He delivered you from discipline, what had you learned?

3. What can you do to avoid coming under God’s discipline?

Let us recollect our advantages from childhood, and ask what were our first returns? Let us frequently do so, that we may be kept humble, thankful, and watchful. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Nehemiah 9.4-38

Pray Psalm 40.1-3, 6-10.
When has the Lord disciplined you in the past? Have you thanked and praised Him for His discipline? Renew your devotion to Him and your willingness to submit to His patient discipline when needed.

Sing Psalm 40.1-3, 6-10.
(Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth)
I waited patiently for God; He inclined and heard my cry,
lifted me up above the sod, set me on a Rock on high!
New songs in my mouth He gave; may He through me many save.

Off’rings You do not require—open now my ears, O LORD.
What from me do You desire? Firm delight to do Your Word.
Take my life in ev’ry part; write Your Law upon my heart.

LORD, Your truth will I proclaim to Your people gathered ‘round,
nor will I my lips restrain—let Your precious ways resound!
Of Your saving grace and Word I would speak, most loving Lord.

T. M. and Susie Moore

Two books can help us understand our own captivity and lead us to seek revival and renewal in the Lord. The Church Captive asks us to consider the ways the Church today has become captive to the world. And Revived! can help us find the way to renewal. Learn more and order your free copies by clicking here and here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter, available free by clicking here.