Nehemiah 1:1-11

I skipped a few things but we are now into week 4 and week 4 was teaching us about history and looking into what was going on at the time and so forth..
I'm jumping in here at the blog with Nehemiah 1

Nehemiah 1:1-11
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
11 O LORD, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

Nehemiah is at Sausa when Hanani comes from Juda. Nehemiah ask about the jews and and Jerusalem.. They tell him things are not good and about the wall. This hurts Nehemiah deeply he prays and fast and ask God to help.

VS 5-11 Nehemiah's prayer
1:5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
Vs 5 cross ref over to Neh 4:4 Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity:
Gen 15:2 And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
The footnote to this reads
"Lord" ( heb Ado, Adonai)
1) the primary meaning of Ado, Adonai is Master and it is applied in the OT Scriptures both to Deity and to man. in my Bible when talking about Deity it is capitalized Lord and with men it is not lord.
2) two principles inhere in the relation of master and servant a) The Master right to implicit obedience b) the servants right to direction is service(God direction while serving Him)
"Lord God"(Heb. Adonai Jehovah)
When used distinctively this compound name while gathering into one the special meaning of each.

1:8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
This vs cross ref. over to Deut 28:63-67 and Deut 30:1-5
Deut 28 - Continued disobedience to be punished by a world wide dispersion.
Deut 30 - is where God is telling them IF they return to God with there whole hearts He will have compassion and gather them together again.

1:10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
cross ref to Ex14:30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.

This was right after God parted the waters and Egyptians were dead
the phase "The Lord saved Israel" Has a foot note that reads
Redemption
Exodus is the book of Redemption and teaches
1)Redemption is wholly of God
2) redemption is through a person(Jesus)
3) redemption is by blood
4) redemption is by power
The blood of Christ redeems the believer from guilt and penalty of sin as the power of the Spirit delivers from the dominion of sin.

1:11 O LORD, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.
CR. Ps.19:9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
"The Fear of the Lord" A phrase of the OT. meaning reverential trust with hatred of evil.

What we can see in Nehemiahs prayer is:
1) He comes before God as a servant to his master and praises him for the God He is.
2)He confesses his sins the sins of his people to God ,and knows he is unworthy.
3) He claims a promise God made to his people.
God can not lie so we know Gods promises are true.
4) Then he makes his request known unto God.