Nehemiah 13:14
Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my deeds of loving devotion for the house of my God and for its services.
Remember me for this, O my God,

Nehemiah appeals to the Lord after removing Tobiah from a temple chamber and restoring provision for the Levites. He seeks God’s approval rather than human praise, trusting the righteous Judge to see faithful service that others may ignore.

Psa 106:4 Remember me, O LORD, in Your favor to Your people;…
Psa 25:7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my rebellious acts…
Mal 3:16 At that time those who feared the LORD spoke…

and do not blot out my deeds of loving devotion

Nehemiah does not claim sinlessness or demand reward, but asks God to preserve the record of work done for His honor. His prayer resembles Hezekiah’s plea that the Lord remember how he had walked before Him in faithfulness. God’s people serve knowing that He remembers every act of obedience performed in faith.

Heb 6:10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work…
Rev 3:5 Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white.…
2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,…

for the house of my God

The temple was the appointed center of Israel’s worship and the visible sign of God’s dwelling among His covenant people. Nehemiah’s zeal protected its holiness after Eliashib had misused a room belonging to the temple for Tobiah, an enemy of Judah.

Psa 84:10 For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand…
Psa 122:1 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go…
Jhn 2:16 To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here!…

and for its services.

Nehemiah restored the storerooms, gathered the Levites back to Jerusalem, and ensured that the offerings needed for temple ministry were supplied. Order in worship mattered because God had commanded these services through Moses. The temple ultimately pointed beyond itself to Christ, in whom God dwells with His people and through whom true worship is offered.

Ezr 6:18 They also appointed the priests by their divisions…
1Ch 23:28 but their duty was to assist the descendants of Aaron…
Num 18:5 And you shall attend to the duties of the sanctuary…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Nehemiah
The central figure in this passage, Nehemiah was a Jewish leader and cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes. He played a crucial role in rebuilding Jerusalem's walls and reforming the community.

2. Jerusalem
The city where Nehemiah's reforms took place. It was the center of Jewish worship and identity, and its restoration was vital for the Jewish people.

3. The House of God
Refers to the Temple in Jerusalem, which was the focal point of Jewish worship and religious life.

4. Reforms
Nehemiah's efforts to restore proper worship and adherence to the Law, including the purification of the Temple and the reestablishment of the Sabbath.

5. God
The ultimate authority to whom Nehemiah appeals, seeking divine remembrance and favor for his faithful service.
Teaching Points
Faithful Service
Nehemiah's dedication to God's house serves as a model for believers to commit themselves to the service of God and His church.

Divine Remembrance
Just as Nehemiah sought God's remembrance, Christians can trust that God sees and values their efforts and devotion.

Prioritizing Worship
Nehemiah's reforms emphasize the importance of maintaining the purity and priority of worship in our lives.

Perseverance in Leadership
Nehemiah's leadership amidst challenges encourages believers to persevere in their God-given roles, trusting in God's support.

Seeking God's Approval
Nehemiah's plea for divine remembrance reminds us to seek God's approval above human recognition.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Nehemiah's plea for remembrance reflect his relationship with God, and how can we apply this in our own prayer life?

2. In what ways does Nehemiah's dedication to the Temple challenge us to prioritize our own places of worship and community?

3. How do Nehemiah's actions in this chapter demonstrate the importance of godly leadership, and what qualities can we emulate in our own leadership roles?

4. How does the concept of divine remembrance in Nehemiah 13:14 connect with other biblical assurances of God's faithfulness, such as in Hebrews 6:10?

5. What practical steps can we take to ensure that our service to God is motivated by love and devotion, rather than seeking human recognition?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Ezra 6:14-15
This passage highlights the rebuilding of the Temple, which parallels Nehemiah's efforts to restore Jerusalem and its religious practices.

Psalm 25:7
This verse speaks of God remembering His mercy and love, similar to Nehemiah's plea for God to remember his devotion.

Hebrews 6:10
This New Testament verse reassures believers that God does not forget their work and love shown in His name, echoing Nehemiah's request for remembrance.
The Blessing of God on an Active Life Founded Upon His WordR.A. Redford Nehemiah 13:1-31
Personal Purification of the BelieverW. P. Lockhart.Nehemiah 13:7-31
The Devoted PatriotM. G. Pearse.Nehemiah 13:7-31
The Religious ReformerW. Ritchie.Nehemiah 13:7-31
Practical Christian WisdomW. Clarkson Nehemiah 13:10-14
Nehemiah's SincerityRobert Burns, D. D.Nehemiah 13:14-22
The Law of RewardA. Maclaren, D. D.Nehemiah 13:14-22
The Mercy of God Chin Origin of the Reward of Good WorksJoseph Mede, B. D.Nehemiah 13:14-22
People
Artaxerxes, Balaam, Eliashib, Hanan, Israelites, Joiada, Levites, Mattaniah, Pedaiah, Sanballat, Shelemiah, Solomon, Tobiah, Tobijah, Tyrians, Zaccur
Places
Ammon, Ashdod, Babylon, Jerusalem, Moab
Topics
Acts, Blot, Charges, Completely, Connection, Deeds, Faithfully, Kind, Loyal, Memory, Mind, Mindful, O, Observances, Offices, Performed, Remember, Service, Services, Thereof, Wards, Wipe, Worship
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Nehemiah 13:14

     7382   house of God
     8208   commitment, to God

Nehemiah 13:13-14

     8253   faithfulness, examples

Library
Sabbath Observance
'In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. 16. There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 17. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The True Manner of Keeping Holy the Lord's Day.
Now the sanctifying of the Sabbath consists in two things--First, In resting from all servile and common business pertaining to our natural life; Secondly, In consecrating that rest wholly to the service of God, and the use of those holy means which belong to our spiritual life. For the First. 1. The servile and common works from which we are to cease are, generally, all civil works, from the least to the greatest (Exod. xxxi. 12, 13, 15, &c.) More particularly-- First, From all the works of our
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Two Famous Versions of the Scriptures
[Illustration: (drop cap B) Samaritan Book of the Law] By the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea, on the coast of Egypt, lies Alexandria, a busy and prosperous city of to-day. You remember the great conqueror, Alexander, and how nation after nation had been forced to submit to him, until all the then-known world owned him for its emperor? He built this city, and called it after his own name. About a hundred years before the days of Antiochus (of whom we read in our last chapter) a company of Jews
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

The Last Days of the Old Eastern World
The Median wars--The last native dynasties of Egypt--The Eastern world on the eve of the Macedonian conquest. [Drawn by Boudier, from one of the sarcophagi of Sidon, now in the Museum of St. Irene. The vignette, which is by Faucher-Gudin, represents the sitting cyno-cephalus of Nectanebo I., now in the Egyptian Museum at the Vatican.] Darius appears to have formed this project of conquest immediately after his first victories, when his initial attempts to institute satrapies had taught him not
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 9

The Formation of the Old Testament Canon
[Sidenote: Israel's literature at the beginning of the fourth century before Christ] Could we have studied the scriptures of the Israelitish race about 400 B.C., we should have classified them under four great divisions: (1) The prophetic writings, represented by the combined early Judean, Ephraimite, and late prophetic or Deuteronomic narratives, and their continuation in Samuel and Kings, together with the earlier and exilic prophecies; (2) the legal, represented by the majority of the Old Testament
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

Questions About the Nature and Perpetuity of the Seventh-Day Sabbath.
AND PROOF, THAT THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK IS THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'The Son of man is lord also of the Sabbath day.' London: Printed for Nath, Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1685. EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. All our inquiries into divine commands are required to be made personally, solemnly, prayerful. To 'prove all things,' and 'hold fast' and obey 'that which is good,' is a precept, equally binding upon the clown, as it is upon the philosopher. Satisfied from our observations
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath Day and Defends his Act.
(at Feast-Time at Jerusalem, Probably the Passover.) ^D John V. 1-47. ^d 1 After these things there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. [Though every feast in the Jewish calendar has found some one to advocate its claim to be this unnamed feast, yet the vast majority of commentators choose either the feast of Purim, which came in March, or the Passover, which came in April. Older commentators pretty unanimously regarded it as the Passover, while the later school favor the feast
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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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