The events of this & the next chapter follow on from the feast in ch.8 and is the heart of the great covenant renewal between God and his people. It is clearly not an everyday occurrence but rather arose out of the trauma of the exile and the people's need to be reconciled to God and to have their relationship with him reaffirmed.
Because of that very specific historical context, we need to be careful how we apply it to our own, quite different, situation. Yet there are many real lessons in a chapter like this for us to grasp. In their history we see ourselves and are humbled but we also see our unchanging God and so are encouraged.
1. Approach to God (vv.1-5a)
The first thing we should notice about this great prayer is the way they approached God. It is quite clear that they want to focus on him and keep him central. That is why his word is so central again. They have come to praise him and to seek him, confessing their sins. Both are appropriate in the presence of the God "who is from everlasting to everlasting" (v.5a).
There is tremendous seriousness about them as they humble themselves before him. They fast and don sackcloth & ashes, not just going through the motions but with genuine, heartfelt grief and contrition (cf. ch.8). Sackcloth and ashes witnessed to their very real sense of humility and mortality. And, in a concern for purity before God, they separated themselves from foreigners, not by way of a 'holier than thou' attitude but a recognition that God is holy and demands purity in his people.
When that was done, "they stood in their places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers" (v.2). This will be elaborated on in the following verses but notice here how they allow the character of former generations to reflect on theirs.
There is no distancing themselves from the problem here, no suggestion that they were somehow different. It is all too easy to see the problem of the church as being down to someone else. They refuse to do that. Instead, they align themselves with the sin of the past, not saying they were responsible for it but acknowledging their own culpability.
We can look back and stand apart; we can look around and stand apart, assuming all to be well with us. As one writer has said, "How much better to try to see with God's eye the failures of the Church in all ages, to admit that we are made of similar stuff, and to admire far more his graciousness".
We are not personally responsible for the doctrinal and moral decline in the church in our own day but don't we share some of the blame? Have our own lives been spotless? Is our own commitment to truth unwavering? Is our love for each other truly sacrificial? Have we not much cause to be humble before God?
There is a lot for us to learn from this serious, reverent and humble approach to God, even where the context is different.
2. Confession to God (vv.5b - 31)
The greater part of this chapter is taken up with a report of their prayer to God, led by the Levites. And the bulk of that prayer is concerned with the history of the nations relationship with the Lord. As we've seen before in this book, history has a lot to teach us, not simply in terms of lessons to draw from the example of the past but because of our solidarity with it. So it is here. There are 3 aspects to their confession here:
i) The Initiative of God - In vv.7-15 there is a clear affirmation of the fact that they were God's people only because of his initiative, not because of their merit. He is recognised for who he is ("You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens...") and for what he did in choosing, blessing & rescuing Abraham's family.
In vv.13-15 his covenant with the people of Israel comes into focus and again it is quite clear that it was the LORD who took the initiative, the terms were his and so was the responsibility to care for them as his people (v.15).
They were saved because of the free grace of God. They knew it and they declared it. They were not coming to him now to seek his blessing on the basis of their own merits but rather because by grace they were his people.
Here is the true posture of all believers and every church. We are what we are by the grace of God. Every instance of renewal, both personal and corporate, will know this and rejoice in it.
ii) The Persistent Rebellion of the People - But how did they respond to such amazing grace? Vv.16-31 admit with great candour that the "every act of love on God's part was met and matched by one of disloyalty on the part of his people". They were treacherous toward him.
The covenant came with laws for life but they cheapened God's grace by refusing to obey him. And this passage makes it quite clear that in doing so they were no different to the people of Egypt - cf. vv.10,29 - arrogance. As we've said, the people of Nehemiah's day in rehearsing their history were acknowledging that they were no different from their fathers.
And if we're honest today, we would have to say the same too. God has taken the initiative to save us but we so often fail him and rebel against his law.
iii) The Unfailing Mercy of God - But the account of the past is not done yet. God was gracious is rescuing them; they were sinful in failing him. Yet through it all, God's love and mercy toward his people never failed.
This is what makes their history so amazing. Time and again here we read of God's persevering mercy to his people - see vv.17,19,27,31.
What does all this history mean for them? Just as they shared in the guilt of the past, so too they could know in their own lives the continuing and unfailing goodness and mercy of God. And because their story is our story, because their God is our God in Jesus Christ, we too can know that same mercy.
3. Petition to God (vv.32-37)
It is precisely this which leads them from confession to petition in the last verses of the chapter. They have come to God in need ("We are in great distress"). They know why times are hard; it's in part because of their sinful rebellion. So they're coming for mercy and grace to help in time of need.
But they aren't coming casually nor are they presuming upon the blessing of God. They're coming to him in full recognition of their sin but also in full recognition of the character of God. They stand upon the history they have just recounted. Here is their hope for their own day.
And every time we come to the Lord's table we are reminded that this is the history on which we stand, the amazing grace of God that did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all and will freely give us all things with him.
One writer has said that "The balance of the prayer is intended... both to point to the open-ended possibilities of future blessing from God, and to call the people to set their house in order so that it might be realised".
There lies both our hope and the challenge to embrace it, both personally and as a church. May the Lord help us to grasp the whole truth, the truth of our sin and his grace and his unfailing purposes and so to respond with the obedience of faith. Amen.
