WHEN WE CONFESS OUR SINS. NEHEMIAH 9     

In the preceding chapter 8, the scribe Ezra had read the Law of God from morning until midday, when the people wept, hearing the words of the law. Day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days. We do not devote days of bible teaching like Ezra in our ultra-busy lifestyles.  To do so would surely deepen our walk with the Lord and enrich us. 

Chapter 9 told how ‘The children of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dust on their heads.’ (9:1) Humility! Admission of their sins brought an immediate (though costly) separation from all foreigners, for many had married pagan partners, ‘They stood, confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.’
The bible reading prominently directed them for they read (intelligently) for three hours, and for another three hours they (broken-heartedly) confessed and worshipped the Lord their God.’ Worship of the Lord is linked with owning up to our falling short. Would this deepen the worship of our risen Lord?

The Levites, standing on the stairs, directed the music, crying with a loud voice to the Lord their God that the Lord’s people respond. ‘Stand up and bless the Lord your God for ever and ever?’  Acknowledging deep need, they exalted the Lord; ‘Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise! You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with their entire host, the earth and all things on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all.  The host of heaven worships You.’ (v6)  Revering God on earth tallies with exalting Him in heaven.  The Levites majored on Creation; a lesson for us.

Full disclosure of our failing recognises our Lord- and our spiritual heritage. ‘You are the Lord God, who chose Abram, and brought him out of the Ur of the Chaldea’s, and gave him the name Abraham; You found his heart faithful before you, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites (and others) to give it to his descendants. You have performed your words, for You are righteous.’ (v8) Admitting our sin exposes us to God’s pure, holy history.

Acceptance of our sins sensitizes us to the responsive Lord. ‘You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea, You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of the land. You knew they acted proudly against them. So you made a name for Yourself.’
The confessor acknowledges that his Lord observed, listened to them, and worked miracles. ‘You divided the sea before them, so they went through the midst of the sea on dry land.  He is also a just God, ‘You threw their persecutors in the deep, as a stone into the mighty waters.’  They recalled the achievement of the Lord, ‘You led them by day with a cloudy pillar and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them light on the road which they should travel.’  We hide nothing when we confess all.

The confessor recognizes that God’s law is strong, ‘You came down also on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them just ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments. You made known to them your holy Sabbath, and commanded those precepts, statutes and laws, by the hand of Moses, Your servant. Then the miracle of daily manna. You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, and brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, and told them to go in and possess the land, which you had sworn to give them.’  Franklyn Graham returned to the truth of Sinai, often quoting the Ten Commandments whenever he preached the gospel at our football stadium. God’s Spirit convicted of sin, confession followed, faith stirred, when many were born again of the Lord.

We must admit our rebellious heart, just as the Levites did before Nehemiah.
‘They and our fathers acted proudly, hardened their necks, and did not heed your commandments.’ (v16) In their stubbornness, ‘They refused to obey, and they were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them.  But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion, they appointed a leader to return to their bondage.’ We acknowledge our pride, stiff neck, flouting your commands, disobedience and disregard for your mighty acts.  Supremely, in our guilt we have chosen another leader, Satan as a rebel prince, to which we must own up. And choose Christ.

In opening their hearts to the Lord, He gave them a deep appreciation of Him-self.  They cried, ‘But You are God. Ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them.’ (v17) When God removed their blindness, He revealed His attributes to them: Forgiveness, grace, mercy , a restrained anger, overflowing kindness and guarding them. We are surprised how the Lord tenderly cared for the children of Israel, evoking deep confession.  

Their idol worship grieved their God, ‘Even when they moulded a calf for themselves, and said, ‘This is your god, that brought you up out of Egypt and worked great provocations.’  The enemy had deceived them. They vindicated their Lord, ‘In your manifold mercies You did not forsake them in the wilderness.  The pillar of cloud (displaying the Shekinah glory of God) did not depart from them by day, to lead them on the road; nor the pillar of fire by night to show them light, and the way they should go.’ The Lord remained faithful during those 40 years.

They owned up that ‘You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them.’ (He is the Parakletos of the New Testament, that is, He is called alongside to help. ‘You did not withhold your manna from their mouth (a heavenly, daily breakfast for 2 ½ million); and gave them water (from the rock, each a type of our Lord Jesus; forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing.’  Confession released a eulogy of the marvellous providence of our God.  They recalled, ‘Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell. (a medical wonder where oedema of the ankles is associated with cardiac and renal conditions or beriberi.  

When we confess our failings and our shortcomings, we should praise the Lord HE is waiting to forgive our sins and cleanse from all unrighteousness.