Nehemiah 2:8
And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I will occupy." And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.
Sermons
God's HandHomilistNehemiah 2:8
The Power of God in the Individual ChristianW. P. Lockhart.Nehemiah 2:8
The Recognition of GodW. P. Lockhart.Nehemiah 2:8
A True PatriotM. G. Pearse.Nehemiah 2:1-8
Divine InterpositionHomiletic CommentaryNehemiah 2:1-8
Effective Ejaculatory Prayer the Outcome of the Habit of PrayerW. P. Lockhart.Nehemiah 2:1-8
Ejaculatory PrayerJ. A. James.Nehemiah 2:1-8
Ejaculatory PrayerHomiletic CommentaryNehemiah 2:1-8
Ejaculatory PrayerSpurgeon, Charles HaddonNehemiah 2:1-8
Ejaculatory PrayerW. F. Adeney, M. A.Nehemiah 2:1-8
Ejaculatory PrayerCanon Titcomb, M. A.Nehemiah 2:1-8
Ejaculatory PrayerA. Fuller.Nehemiah 2:1-8
Ejaculatory Prayer in Critical JuncturesL. O. Thompson.Nehemiah 2:1-8
Ejaculatory Prayer Possible to Busy PeopleE. J. Hardy, M. A.Nehemiah 2:1-8
Gaining the CauseW. Clarkson Nehemiah 2:1-8
Prayer Before ChoosingHomilistNehemiah 2:1-8
Prayer Heard in HeavenWilliams of Wern.Nehemiah 2:1-8
Prayer in Few WordsSignal.Nehemiah 2:1-8
Prayer in PerplexityNehemiah 2:1-8
Religious Patriotism Exemplified in the History of NehemiahJ. G. Lorimer.Nehemiah 2:1-8
Royal Dislike of the Sight of SufferingW. Ritchie.Nehemiah 2:1-8
SadnessJ.S. Exell Nehemiah 2:1-8
Spiritual RecollectednessHomiletic CommentaryNehemiah 2:1-8
The Devotional SpiritHugh Stowell, M. A.Nehemiah 2:1-8
The Flame of Devotion ConstantHugh Stowell, M. A.Nehemiah 2:1-8
The Praying PatriotT. Rowson.Nehemiah 2:1-8
The Reward of Faith in the Answer to PrayerR.A. Redford Nehemiah 2:1-8
The Spiritual TelegraphJ. M. Randall.Nehemiah 2:1-8
The Swiftness of PrayerR. Scriver.Nehemiah 2:1-8














I. THAT IT WAS THE OUTCOME OF A TRUE PATRIOTISM (ver. 2). This sadness was not occasioned by temporal loss, by domestic bereavement, or by unfaithful friendship, but by the desolated condition of Jerusalem. The city was "waste." Many cities of our own country are laid waste by sin; the good man cannot be indifferent, he must sympathise with and help the work of moral restoration. If men are anxious about the walls, they ought to be much more so about the morals of a city; if for the tombs of the dead, much more for the welfare of the living. Sin consumes a city as by fire. The desolation wrought by sin, in commerce, in society, in the home, and especially amongst the young, cannot but awaken deep sorrow of heart.

II. THAT IT WAS EXPERIENCED IN THE COURSE OF HIS DAILY AVOCATIONS. "And I took up the wine, and gave it to the king "( ver. 1). How many men go to their daily toil with a heart sorrow which occupation and industry cannot make them forget. Nehemiah was wont to be cheerful before the king; business should be done in joyous mood; but there are times when sorrow will prevail.

III. THAT IT WAS MANIFESTED IN THE APPEARANCE OF THE PHYSICAL FRAME. "Why is thy countenance sad?" (ver. 2). How much of the world's sorrow is concealed. In a very true sense it is sorrow of heart; it is never vocal in explanation or complaint. But such sacred grief is not hidden from God. The face reflects the emotions of the soul; it revealed the sorrow of Nehemiah, the joy of Stephen. How many sorrowful faces do we meet in a day. A sad countenance should awaken tender inquiry, wise consideration, and willing aid. Let us not be heedless of the world's sorrow. Christ is only true consolation.

IV. THAT IT WAS AIDED BY SECRET COMMUNION WITH THE DIVINE. "So I prayed to the God of heaven" (ver. 4).

1. Sorrow often has great opportunities opened up to it. "For what dost thou make request?" Nehemiah's sorrow opened up the king's resources to him. Our sorrows often make heaven rich to us.

2. Sorrow needs guidance, so as to make good use of the opportunities presented to it.

3. Sorrow finds in prayer the guidance and culture it needs to use aright its opportunity.

(1) Memory is aided;

(2) difficulty is anticipated;

(3) preparation is accomplished (ver. 7);

(4) agencies are perfected (ver. 8).

V. THAT IT WAS EMPLOYED IN THE WONDROUS PROVIDENCE OF HEAVEN. "And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me" (ver. 8).

1. The sorrow of Nehemiah was allied to the welfare of his people. It led to the rebuilding of the broken wall of Jerusalem. Our trials are often the means of promoting the welfare of others. Christ's sufferings are allied to our best delights, and to our noblest achievements. It is indeed true that others build because we have suffered.

2. The sorrow of Nehemiah was allied to the beneficence of the king. It awakened the monarch's sympathy and help. The sorrows of men awaken loving ministries.

3. The sorrow of Nehemiah was allied to the providence of God. By its means Heaven opened the heart of the heathen king in sympathy and his hand in help. The pain of the world is made to achieve high moral ends; a wise providence employs it in the building of broken walls. - E.

And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon us.
The secret of success is to have God with us, and what we want in our day is not more machinery or new methods of work, but more of the power of God in individual Christians. Nehemiah, in his prolonged prayerfulness, shows us how this power is to be obtained, for it is when we know God in His fulness and have enlightened communion with the Lord, that we are fitted to become "workers together with Him."

(W. P. Lockhart.)

Homilist.
I. A SPIRIT OF DEPENDENCE. There breathes forth a feeling of insignificance. The speaker feels scarcely able to trust himself.

1. Man's technical skill. Having arrived at so high a standard in design, construction, and art, we are very apt to think very highly of ourselves. We gaze on the railway, the steam-engine, the ocean-steamer, the tunnel under the hills, and the canal through the land, and fancy we can do anything.

2. Man's natural conceit. There is a great tendency to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. Satan employs this tendency to induce man to lift up his hand against God.

II. A SPIRIT OF TRUST. This spirit of reliance will save us from many trials. It will prevent —

1. Anxious care. If we leave our concerns in God's hand, we shall not be careful and cumbered about many things. It will prevent —

2. Worldly-mindedness of disposition. The spirit that leaves its cares in God's hand will leave its joys there also.

3. All bitterness of sorrow.

(Homilist.)

He recognised God in all. Not to his favourable circumstances, nor to the opportunity of presenting his petition, nor to the good mood the monarch was in, nor to all of these combined, did he ascribe his success. Secondary causes would not explain the result; it must be traced to its true source — God and God alone must have all the glory.

(W. P. Lockhart.)

People
Artaxerxes, Asaph, Geshem, Israelites, Sanballat, Tobiah, Tobijah
Places
Beyond the River, Dragon Spring, Dung Gate, Fountain Gate, Jerusalem, King's Pool, Valley Gate
Topics
Appertained, Appertaineth, Appertains, Asaph, Beams, Boards, Castle, Citadel, Doors, Enter, Forest, Fortress, Gates, Giveth, Gracious, Granted, Keeper, King's, Letter, Occupy, Palace, Paradise, Park, Requests, Residence, Temple, Timber, Tower, Town, Trees, Wall, Wood
Outline
1. Artaxerxes, understanding the cause of Nehemiah's sadness,
6. sends him with letters and commission to Jerusalem
9. Nehemiah, to the grief of the enemies, comes to Jerusalem
12. He views secretly the ruins of the walls
17. He incites the Jews to build

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Nehemiah 2:8

     1265   hand of God
     4448   forests
     5254   citadel
     5315   fortifications
     5323   gate
     6667   grace, in OT
     7372   hands, laying on

Nehemiah 2:7-8

     8421   equipping, physical

Nehemiah 2:7-9

     5391   letters

Library
A Reformer's Schooling
'The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, 2. That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

In the Last, the Great Day of the Feast'
IT was the last, the great day of the Feast,' and Jesus was once more in the Temple. We can scarcely doubt that it was the concluding day of the Feast, and not, as most modern writers suppose, its Octave, which, in Rabbinic language, was regarded as a festival by itself.' [3987] [3988] But such solemn interest attaches to the Feast, and this occurrence on its last day, that we must try to realise the scene. We have here the only Old Testament type yet unfilfilled; the only Jewish festival which has
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

General Account of Jesus' Teaching.
^A Matt. IV. 17; ^B Mark I. 14, 15; ^C Luke IV. 14, 15. ^a 17 From that time Jesus began to preach [The time here indicated is that of John the Baptist's imprisonment and Jesus' return to Galilee. This time marked a new period in the public ministry of Jesus. Hitherto he had taught, but he now began to preach. When the voice of his messenger, John, was silenced, the King became his own herald. Paul quoted the Greeks as saying that preaching was "foolishness," but following the example here set by
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jesus Sets Out from Judæa for Galilee.
Subdivision B. At Jacob's Well, and at Sychar. ^D John IV. 5-42. ^d 5 So he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 and Jacob's well was there. [Commentators long made the mistake of supposing that Shechem, now called Nablous, was the town here called Sychar. Sheckem lies a mile and a half west of Jacob's well, while the real Sychar, now called 'Askar, lies scarcely half a mile north of the well. It was a small town, loosely called
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Ezra-Nehemiah
Some of the most complicated problems in Hebrew history as well as in the literary criticism of the Old Testament gather about the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Apart from these books, all that we know of the origin and early history of Judaism is inferential. They are our only historical sources for that period; and if in them we have, as we seem to have, authentic memoirs, fragmentary though they be, written by the two men who, more than any other, gave permanent shape and direction to Judaism, then
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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