Unleashed: As You Go – Pray
“…. Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.” Nehemiah 9:5
Looking out across the faces of those gathered for his inauguration, George Washington realized that he and this fledgling nation faced an uncertain future. He had no precedent on which to lead nor traditions on which to draw; his would be the responsibility to lead this new nation into existence. Once he took the oath of office and gave his inaugural speech, President Washington walked with other leaders of the new nation to St. Paul’s Chapel to pray. A quote attributed to Washington is that “it is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible”.
President Washington understood that without God, this new nation faced a perilous future for “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” Our nation was birthed with imperfect leaders. It would take decades to address wrongs that would ultimately allow freedom for all to be weaved into the fabric of the nation. The work continues for our nation and its people to be “One Nation Under God”.
Nehemiah understood the challenges of leading and rebuilding a nation in shambles. The once powerful and proud nation of Israel had been left in ruin because of their sin and rebellion against God. Nehemiah’s deep passion for the survivors had broken his heart and he “sat down and wept, and mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” Out of his passion for the people, Nehemiah sought to return to Jerusalem to undertake the rebuilding of the city.
Nehemiah faced hostile opposition, oppression of the poor and vulnerable, and political intrigue, yet through it all he completely relied upon God to strengthen his hands until “the wall was finished”. The day finally came when the wall was completed and the gates set in place “and when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem; for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.” (Neh 6:15-16)
The time arrived for Nehemiah and the people to celebrate the completion of the wall. It was a time of worship and of finding a restored hope as the people of God. Unlike our typical July 4th celebration of fireworks, parades and cookouts, the people of Jerusalem “assembled with fasting and in sack cloth, and with earth on their heads”. (9:1) Those gathered recognized their need for God as they moved into a time of national confession.
They “stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth part of the day, and for another fourth they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God.” (9:2-3)
As we celebrate July 4th, maybe the words spoken by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909 are as relevant for Americans today as they were then. “I believe that the next half century will determine if we will advance the cause of Christian civilization or revert to the horrors of brutal paganism…the choice between the two is upon us.”
The people of Israel assembled to hear a word from God and to worship. Out of this sacred assembly the people sought to renew themselves through confession of their sins and those of their ancestors.
Today could mark the transformation of our nation and a renewed Independence Day “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
God is great,
Pastor Lynn