Nehemiah 1:7
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. 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.
Nehemiah confessed that Israel had acted very corruptly by refusing to serve God with singleness of purpose and by dishonoring Him through failure to stand firmly for the truth and keep the commandments, statutes and judgments given through Moses. He included himself with his father's house and family and the whole people in shared guilt, acknowledging that their transgression had separated them from God and brought ruin, weakness and captivity under heathen control. With deep humiliation, weeping and fasting in private prayer, he unburdened his heart before the God of heaven and asked pardon and renewal of divine favor. He joined the confession to God's own word as a holy argument that as scattering had followed disobedience, so turning and keeping His commandments would bring gathering again, trusting the great and terrible God who keeps covenant and mercy toward those who love Him. God heard the prayer for help and worked through heathen kings to aid the rebuilding of Judah's ruined places, using Nehemiah to put down false principles and restore heaven-born principles.
Setting and Confession
Nehemiah spoke these words while serving in the Persian court with the cup before him among attendants, when he learned with distress by messengers from Judea that the place of his fathers' sepulchers lay waste. Days of trial had come, and the returned exiles were suffering affliction and reproach, for although the temple and portions of the city had been rebuilt, the work of restoration was hindered. The temple services were disturbed, the people lived in constant alarm, and the walls and buildings remained largely in ruins with the gates burned with fire.
To have dealt very corruptly and not to have kept the commandments, statutes, and judgments commanded through Moses means Israel had refused to serve God with singleness of purpose and had corrupted their ways before Him. It was to dishonor Him by failing to stand firmly for the truth. The confession embraces Nehemiah himself and his family and his father's house as well as the whole people, acknowledging a shared part in the sin. He understood that the ruin and affliction had come because of Israel's transgression. These sins had separated the people from God, and because God would not serve with their sins He permitted them to become powerless and confused and to be brought under the control of heathen nations and into captivity.
With deep humiliation he turned to God as the sure Helper and unburdened his heart before the God of heaven. After the first outburst of grief in which he wept and mourned and fasted and could not eat or drink, he asked for pardon of sin and renewal of the divine favor. The confession was offered in sorrowful prayers with tears of anguish in seasons of private retirement witnessed by God and angels but concealed from human sight. It was repeated during four months of waiting for a favorable opportunity to present his request to the king for Jerusalem. While his heart was oppressed with grief he endeavored to carry a cheerful and happy countenance in public, because the regulations of Eastern courts forbade any manifestation of sorrow in the presence of royalty. By this confession he humbled himself before God and gave Him the glory due to His name, showing humility before God while never obliterating the line of demarcation between God's commandment-keeping people and those who have no respect for His law.
Covenant Plea and Answer
The confession is laid before God as a holy argument, joined to remembrance of His own word that transgression would bring scattering among the nations and that turning to Him and keeping His commandments would bring gathering again to the place He chose to set His name, even from the uttermost part of heaven. It pleads that He not leave His redeemed servants and people in weakness and oppression now that they have returned in penitence and faith to keep His commandments, resting on the certainty that as He was faithful to His threatenings to scatter, He will be equally faithful to His promise to gather and cause the light of His countenance to shine, for His word given more than a thousand years before stands unchanged and cannot fail. The prayer appeals to God as great and terrible, shown in fearful judgments upon Israel, yet keeping covenant and mercy for those who love Him and keep His commandments, so that for repentant and believing Israel there is still mercy. In the confession is the plea for God to restore courage and strength and to help rebuild Judah's ruined places.
God did not work through those who corrupted their ways, but worked through Nehemiah as a man He could use to put down false principles and restore heaven-born principles. The prayer was a prayer for help when help was greatly needed, and God heard it and moved upon heathen kings to come to his help, working through kings to carry out His purpose and to answer the many prayers ascending for needed help, even while enemies worked zealously against him.
Read with humble hearts touched by the Holy Spirit, this prayer corrects false ideas and unwise and incorrect zeal, shows correct principles concerning religious liberty and dealing with earthly and civil powers, and changes the present order of things. So read, it gives right light on dealing with civil powers over matters such as paying taxes on sanitarium and meetinghouse property. So read, it brings the grace and gentleness of Christ and the healing balm of Gilead to a sickening cause.