Nehemiah 9:31 Nevertheless for thy great mercies sake thou dids’t not utterly consume them, nor forsake them, for thou art a gracious and merciful God.
Nehemiah’s doing a bit of sucking up here. He admitted that the Lord had blessed the Israelites on numerous occasions, only for them to reject and turn away from Him once they became prosperous. However, they were once more in distress; returning from captivity in Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem, but without as much physical and monetary help as they needed, though they were surrounded by enough strong naysayers and people who wanted to curtail and/or sabotage their efforts. But Nehemiah had an ace up his sleeve. He knew there was yet hope, because the Heavenly Father had not thoroughly forsaken or destroyed his people, although He had very good reason to, and it was certainly within His power to wipe them of the face of the earth, if He so desired. Instead, after every spell of disobedience, when the times became real hard and they came running back to Him, He never ignored them, but in His merciful and loving kindness, He pardoned them and caused them to be bountiful again…until the next time. That’s why Nehemiah was confident enough to ask for help. He knew that the Most High was a gracious and merciful God. Yes Friends, that’s the kind of God we worship; a God with a largesse of heart that’s unmatched; a God so full of mercy and forgiveness that it’s beyond our simple human comprehension. Which other Being is there that keeps on pardoning and forgiving in spite of all our disobedience eh? None! We just have to come to Him with a sincere heart, a heart that’s truly repentant, and He will forgive us, and set us back on the straight and narrow path again. Friends, if we happen to stray, don’t be afraid. We can’t expect to always disobey and not be punished, but the good news is that His punishment is always clothed in mercy, and as many times as we ask Him, respectfully and repentantly, He’ll forgive us, cause He’s a gracious and merciful God. What a wonderful Father! Praise His Name people! Much LOVE!…just take your troubles to Him in prayer…He’ll never turn you away.
Nehemiah’s doing a bit of sucking up here. He admitted that the Lord had blessed the Israelites on numerous occasions, only for them to reject and turn away from Him once they became prosperous. However, they were once more in distress; returning from captivity in Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem, but without as much physical and monetary help as they needed, though they were surrounded by enough strong naysayers and people who wanted to curtail and/or sabotage their efforts. But Nehemiah had an ace up his sleeve. He knew there was yet hope, because the Heavenly Father had not thoroughly forsaken or destroyed his people, although He had very good reason to, and it was certainly within His power to wipe them of the face of the earth, if He so desired. Instead, after every spell of disobedience, when the times became real hard and they came running back to Him, He never ignored them, but in His merciful and loving kindness, He pardoned them and caused them to be bountiful again…until the next time. That’s why Nehemiah was confident enough to ask for help. He knew that the Most High was a gracious and merciful God. Yes Friends, that’s the kind of God we worship; a God with a largesse of heart that’s unmatched; a God so full of mercy and forgiveness that it’s beyond our simple human comprehension. Which other Being is there that keeps on pardoning and forgiving in spite of all our disobedience eh? None! We just have to come to Him with a sincere heart, a heart that’s truly repentant, and He will forgive us, and set us back on the straight and narrow path again. Friends, if we happen to stray, don’t be afraid. We can’t expect to always disobey and not be punished, but the good news is that His punishment is always clothed in mercy, and as many times as we ask Him, respectfully and repentantly, He’ll forgive us, cause He’s a gracious and merciful God. What a wonderful Father! Praise His Name people! Much LOVE!…just take your troubles to Him in prayer…He’ll never turn you away.
SCRIP-BITS 