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#2.
Prayer, Providence and Provision.
pp. 212 - 215
The prayer of Nehemiah, consequent upon the sad report he had received concerning
his people and their city, occupies the remaining portion of the opening chapter of this
book. It has interesting parallels with the prayer of Daniel, recorded in Dan. 9: Both
prayers are concerned with the same subject, but whereas Nehemiah's prayer was
focused upon his interview with the king--which interview was to produce the
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem (Neh. 2: 7, 8 and Dan. 9: 25), the
commandment being given in the year B.C.454--Daniels' prayer led to the prophetic
vision of the seventy weeks, the date line of which was this self-same year, B.C.454,
"From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem", and which
looked, not to the immediate rebuilding of the street and the wall in troublous times, but
to the final and blessed restoration of the city and people at the time of the end.
Both men were moved to tears, fasting and prayer, the one by the report of Hanani, the
other by the prophecy of Jeremiah (Neh. 1: 4, 5; Dan. 9: 1, 2). Both addressed God as
"terrible" and "dreadful" (Neh. 1: 5; Dan. 9: 4), using the same Hebrew word. Both
speak of God keeping covenant and mercy, both call upon God either to let His ear be
attentive or to incline His ear. Both unite their personal confession with the confession of
their people, and both refer to Moses as the Lord's "Servant", attributing to him the law,
commandments, covenants, curses and promises, exactly as is found written in the
Pentateuch.
"Prosper I pray Thee, Thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this
man. For I was the King's cup-bearer" (Neh. 1: 1).
This prayer that he might "prosper" was no self-seeking on the part of Nehemiah. It
was not the prosperity of ease and plenty; it was rather the carrying forward of the
project he had in mind. The primary meaning of the Hebrew words, Tsaleach is "To go
over, or through, a river" and then it came to mean the surmounting of obstacles and
achieving success. The obstacle that was before Nehemiah's mind was the possible
attitude of the king. How would he react to the request of a captive to be released and
sent back to build the walls of a rebellious city? If with suspicion and disfavour, a man
so intimately attached to the royal person of the king might easily pay forfeit for such
temerity with his life. He was the King's cup-bearer, or "butler" as the Hebrew word is
translated in Gen. 40:, where it is made clear that such an official could offend his royal
master and suffer imprisonment. In an Eastern court, where poison was often resorted to,
Nehemiah's was a position of great trust, and the possible corruption of one so intimately
connected with the royal table, was therefore a constant course of anxiety to him who
wore the crown.
When Nehemiah addressed the king he used the conventional title of respect, "Let the
king live for ever!" and sought favour in his sight (Neh. 2: 3, 5), but in his prayer to the