The Book of Nehemiah

Word Study

"contended," Hebrew va-ariva (וָאָרִיבָה) from riv, to strive, dispute, bring a charge. Nehemiah had gone back to Persia (v6), and during his absence the reforms unraveled. The Levites' portions had not been given, so they had left their temple service to work their fields (v10); the worship of God's house was collapsing. Nehemiah's response is a holy indignation: "Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken?" Nehemiah "contended" (riv), he confronted the leaders sharply, holding them accountable, and then he acted: "I gathered them together, and set them in their place", he restored the Levites to their service and re-established the neglected worship. It shows the need for continual vigilance and, at times, holy confrontation to keep the work of God from being forsaken.

"forsaken," neezav (נֶעֱזַב) from azav, abandoned, neglected. The word "forsaken" (azav) is exactly the word the people had used in their covenant: "we will not forsake the house of our God" (chapter 10:39). What they had solemnly vowed not to do, they had done, and so quickly. This chapter is a sobering picture of how quickly hard-won reforms can be lost, and how the human heart, even after solemn covenant, drifts back into neglect and sin. The very house they had wept over, rejoiced in, and vowed to support was already being neglected. Nehemiah's zeal, "why is the house of God forsaken?", is the cry of a heart that will not let God's worship be abandoned.

Explanation

While Nehemiah was away in Persia, the reforms fell apart. The Levites had not been given their support, so they abandoned the temple to farm for a living, and the worship of God's house was collapsing. Returning, Nehemiah confronted the leaders with holy indignation: "Why is the house of God forsaken?" The word "forsaken" is the very word the people had vowed in their covenant never to do. What they had solemnly promised, they had already broken. Nehemiah rebuked the leaders and restored the Levites to their posts. Hard-won reforms can be lost quickly, and the heart drifts back to neglect even after solemn covenant.

Gospel Focus

"Why is the house of God forsaken?" exposes the sobering truth of how quickly God's people can drift back into the very sins they had renounced. They had vowed, "we will not forsake the house of our God" (chapter 10:39), and within a short time they had forsaken it. This is the persistent problem of the human heart, "prone to wander," that even solemn covenants made in our own strength cannot cure. It reveals the need for a better remedy than reform: a new heart. "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts" (Jeremiah 31:33), the new covenant in Christ, in which God gives not only the command but the power. Nehemiah's continual reforming shows that outward reformation, however necessary, does not finally change the heart; only the Gospel does. And his zeal, "why is the house of God forsaken?", is a rebuke to all careless neglect of God's worship and work. The Lord Jesus showed the same zeal for His Father's house: "the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up" (John 2:17). Let us guard against the drift that forsakes God's house, staying vigilant, and let us thank God that where our covenant-keeping fails, His covenant-keeping in Christ does not, for He writes His law on the heart and will never forsake His own.

Word Study

"remember me," Hebrew zokhrah-li (זָכְרָה־לִּי). As he labors to restore the neglected worship, Nehemiah breathes one of his characteristic prayers: "Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God." This "remember me" prayer recurs through the chapter (v14, 22, 31) and is the keynote of Nehemiah's heart. He commits his faithful, often thankless, labor for God's house to God's own remembrance. Note the intimacy: "O my God", Nehemiah's relationship with God was personal and warm. He worked for God's house and looked to God alone to remember his labor of love.

"wipe not out," al-temach (אַל־תֶּמַח) from machah, to blot out, erase. Nehemiah asks God not to "wipe out" or forget these acts of devotion, but to remember them for good. When our service for God goes unnoticed or is undone by others, this prayer becomes our refuge: God remembers. "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name" (Hebrews 6:10).

"good deeds," chasadai (חֲסָדָי), my acts of covenant-love, kindnesses. The word for "good deeds" is chesed, acts of loyal love, deeds of devotion. This is not proud self-reliance on his works, but the confidence of a servant that God sees and does not forget faithful labor. Nehemiah did his work "for the house of my God," out of love for God, and he asked God to remember it.

Explanation

As Nehemiah worked to restore the neglected worship, he prayed, "Remember me, O my God... and wipe not out my good deeds." This "remember me" prayer recurs throughout the chapter and is the keynote of his heart. He committed his faithful, often thankless labor for God's house to God's own remembrance. This is not proud reliance on his works but the confidence of a servant that God sees and does not forget faithful, loving service. When our work for God is unnoticed or undone by others, we can rest, as Nehemiah did, in the assurance that God remembers our labor of love.

Gospel Focus

"Remember me, O my God... and wipe not out my good deeds" is the prayer of a faithful servant committing his labor to God's remembrance. It is not a claim of merit but a confidence that God sees and does not forget. "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister" (Hebrews 6:10). When our service goes unnoticed by people, or is even undone by others, as Nehemiah's reforms were, we can rest in the God who remembers. The Lord Jesus promised that even "a cup of cold water only" given in His name "shall in no wise lose his reward" (Matthew 10:42), and that the Father "which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly" (Matthew 6:4). Yet Nehemiah's prayer also, in its deepest sense, points beyond his own deeds. For our "good deeds," even at their best, are imperfect and cannot earn God's favor; our final hope is not that God remembers our works but that, in Christ, He remembers our sins no more, "their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 10:17). So we serve faithfully, trusting God to remember our labor of love, yet we rest our salvation not on our deeds but on the mercy of God in Christ, praying with Nehemiah, "remember me, O my God," and with the dying thief, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom" (Luke 23:42).

Word Study

"spare me," Hebrew chusah alai (חוּסָה עָלַי) from chus, to have pity, spare. Having restored the sabbath by shutting the gates against sabbath commerce and setting Levites to guard them (v19-22), Nehemiah again prays "Remember me, O my God, concerning this also", but here he adds a crucial phrase: "and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy." This is deeply significant. Even Nehemiah, the zealous reformer who had labored so faithfully for God, does not finally rest on his own good deeds. He asks God to "spare" him, to have pity, according to the greatness of God's mercy (chesed). He knows that his best works are not enough; he needs mercy. This is not the prayer of a man who thinks his works have earned God's favor, but of one who, having served with all his heart, still pleads for mercy.

"the greatness of thy mercy," rov chasdekha (רֹב חַסְדֶּךָ), the abundance of Thy covenant-love. This balances the "remember my good deeds" of verse 14: Nehemiah asks God both to remember his labor and to spare him by mercy, for he knows that even his faithful service is imperfect and that his final hope is God's abundant covenant-love, not his own merit. This is the mark of true godliness: to serve God zealously and yet to rest wholly on His mercy. The most faithful servant is still a debtor to grace. Nehemiah's prayer holds together zeal for God's work and dependence on God's mercy, doing all he can, and yet casting himself on the "greatness of thy mercy."

Explanation

After restoring the sabbath, Nehemiah prayed again, "Remember me, O my God," but this time added, "and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy." This is significant: even this zealous, faithful reformer did not finally rest on his own good works. He asked God to spare him by mercy, knowing his best efforts were imperfect and that his true hope was God's abundant covenant-love, not his own merit. True godliness serves God zealously and yet depends wholly on His mercy. The most faithful servant is still a debtor to grace.

Gospel Focus

"Spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy" is one of the most important prayers in the book, for it shows that even the most faithful servant of God rests finally on mercy, not merit. Nehemiah labored zealously, yet he pleaded for God to spare him "according to the greatness of thy mercy," not according to his good deeds. This is the heart of the Gospel: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5); "by grace are ye saved through faith... not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Our best works are imperfect and cannot earn God's favor; "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). So even as we serve God with all our strength, we cast ourselves wholly on His mercy, which is great, abundant, "plenteous in mercy" (Psalm 86:5), "rich in mercy" (Ephesians 2:4). The prayer "spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy" is fulfilled at the cross, where God's great mercy meets us in Christ, who bore our sins so that God might spare us. Serve God zealously, do all the good you can, and yet never rest your hope on your works; rest on the greatness of God's mercy in Jesus Christ. The faithful reformer and the dying thief are saved the same way, by mercy alone.

Word Study

"Remember me, O my God, for good," Hebrew zokhrah-li Elohai le-tovah (זָכְרָה־לִּי אֱלֹהַי לְטוֹבָה), remember me, my God, for good. The entire book of Nehemiah, with all its prayer, courage, building, reform, and struggle, ends with these five humble words: "Remember me, O my God, for good." It is a fitting close. After all his labors, Nehemiah does not boast, does not point to his achievements, does not demand reward; he simply asks God to remember him "for good." The whole book, which began with Nehemiah on his knees in prayer (chapter 1), ends with him on his knees in prayer. The man of action was, first and last, a man of prayer, whose deepest desire was not the praise of men but the gracious remembrance of God. "For good" (le-tovah) is the plea of a heart that longs, above all, to be regarded favorably by God. This closing prayer sums up the posture of a godly life: having done all, to commit oneself humbly to the mercy and remembrance of God. It is a prayer any believer can pray. After our best efforts, our faithful service, our struggles for God's work, we can only say, "Remember me, O my God, for good." Nehemiah's whole life is gathered into this last, low, trusting word to God. And it is answered in Christ, in whom God does remember His people for good, blotting out their sins and receiving them in mercy. The last word of this great book of prayer and labor is a prayer, and it is the prayer of grace: not "reward my deeds," but "remember me... for good."

Explanation

The entire book ends with five humble words: "Remember me, O my God, for good." After all his prayer, courage, building, and reform, Nehemiah does not boast or demand reward; he simply asks God to remember him favorably. The book that opened with Nehemiah praying closes with him praying. The great man of action was, first and last, a man of prayer, whose deepest desire was not human praise but the gracious remembrance of God. This closing prayer sums up the posture of a godly life: having done all, to commit oneself humbly to the mercy and remembrance of God.

Gospel Focus

"Remember me, O my God, for good" is a fitting close to the book and a model prayer for every believer. After a life of faithful labor, Nehemiah rests not on his achievements but on God's gracious remembrance. It echoes the dying thief's cry, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom" (Luke 23:42), and the Lord's gracious answer, "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). To be remembered by God "for good" is the deepest longing and the surest hope of the redeemed. And the Gospel assures us that God does remember His people for good in Christ: He remembers His covenant, His mercy, and His own, and for His people He is "merciful to their unrighteousness" (Hebrews 8:12). Our confidence is not that our works are worthy of remembrance, but that God, for Christ's sake, remembers us in mercy. So the great book of Nehemiah, full of vigorous action, ends where all true religion ends: in humble dependence on the grace of God. Whatever you accomplish for God, let your final plea be his: not "reward my deeds," but "remember me, O my God, for good." And rest in the assurance that, through Jesus Christ, God has remembered you for good, and will never forget His own.