Nehemiah 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.
Nehemiah closes a day-and-night prayer with a plea for God to hear him and those who reverence His name and to give him success and favor before the king so he can gain consent and supplies to rebuild Jerusalem's ruined walls. He prays as the king's cupbearer in Persia after learning that Jerusalem lies waste with its walls broken down and its returned people in affliction and reproach, confessing sin and clinging by faith to the promise that God who scattered Israel will gather the penitent again. While praying a settled purpose forms in him to undertake the rebuilding himself, and his asking for prosperity is joined to earnest effort rather than treated as the end of duty. His humbling of himself and refusal to be swayed from principle show why God could work through him, for God does not work through those who corrupt their ways but honors those true as steel who keep the line clear between obedience and disobedience. After waiting four months with hidden tears and a cheerful face before royalty, his prayer is heard as God moves upon heathen kings to help carry out His purpose despite opposing enemies.
Setting and Petition
Nehemiah's closing petition belongs to the time of Jerusalem's distress, when the returned exiles faced affliction and reproach and the work of restoration was hindered because much of the city wall still lay in ruins, leaving the people in constant alarm. At that time Nehemiah was the king's cupbearer in the Persian court, surrounded by attendants and rich surroundings, when in distress he received a messenger's report that Jerusalem lay waste with its buildings damaged and its walls ruined.
The petition closes a prayer he had poured out day and night for his people, following confession of his own sins and his people's sins and pleading for God to restore courage and rebuild Judah's ruined places. In that prayer he took fast hold by faith of the divine promise that God, who had been faithful to scatter Israel among the nations, would be equally faithful to gather them again even from the uttermost part of the earth now that they had returned in penitence and faith to keep His commandments. He urged holy arguments that God maintain the cause of His penitent people and not leave them in weakness and oppression to His own dishonor. While praying in this way, a holy purpose had formed in his mind to himself undertake the arduous task of rebuilding the ruined walls of Jerusalem and restoring the national strength.
He therefore asks God to let His ear be attentive to his prayer and to the prayer of His servants who desire to fear His name. He asks God to prosper him that day by granting him mercy and favor in the sight of this man, meaning favor with the king. That favor was sought so he could obtain the king's consent and the necessary help with implements, tools, and material to carry out his cherished plan.
Faithfulness and Answer
The petition lays bare the true condition of Israel when turning from God had separated the people from Him, so that He permitted heathen nations to control them and would not serve with their sins. It shows that God does not work through those who refuse to serve Him with singleness of purpose and who corrupt their ways before Him. He worked through Nehemiah because Nehemiah honored God and stood registered in the books of heaven as a man whom God could use to put down false principles and to restore the heaven-born principles that had been supplanted. God honored him because he was as true as steel to principle and would not be swayed by the sophistries of backsliders who had lost spiritual eyesight.
The prayer for success in rebuilding was joined with earnest, careful effort, for praying before God did not mean Nehemiah considered his duty finished. The verse shows Nehemiah humbling himself before God and giving Him the glory due His name, to be studied together with Daniel's prayer in Babylon. It teaches that God's people are to humble themselves before Him while never erasing the dividing line between those who keep God's commandments and those who have no respect for His law.
The prayer for prosperity and mercy in the sight of the king was followed by four months of waiting for a favorable opportunity to present the request. During that time Nehemiah kept praying in seasons of retirement with penitential confessions and tears of anguish that were witnessed by God and angels but concealed from human sight. Outwardly he endeavored to carry a cheerful and happy countenance, because the regulations of Eastern courts forbade any manifestation of sorrow and required all to appear gay and happy in halls of luxury and splendor, so that distress from without would not cast its shadow in the presence of royalty. God heard the prayer for help and for mercy in the sight of the king, in which Nehemiah also asked God to hear the prayers of those who reverence Him and to grant success and favor with the king. The Lord answered by moving upon heathen kings and working through kings to help Nehemiah, to carry out His purpose, and to answer the many prayers ascending to Him for the help so much needed, even while enemies zealously worked against him.