Great merciful God (Nehemiah 9:27-31)

 Great merciful God

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nehemiah 9:27-31]

 

 

What is depression?  Someone described depression as a one-way path to suicide without an exit.  This likely means that once you step onto that path, it's hard to get out without external help.  The causes of depression can be varied, but the most fundamental trigger often stems from feeling unloved or not knowing the purpose of one's existence.  Christian counselors suggest that realizing that Christians are recipients of God's deep love and discovering the purpose that God has set for our lives can serve as a remedy for the sickness of the heart (Internet).  How should depression be treated for believers?  Depression should not be hidden; instead, it should be actively diagnosed and treated.  If there are support groups within the church where people can open up about their inner struggles, it can prevent the condition from becoming severe.  The church should have a counseling system in place for believers to share their pain and not hesitate to seek help (Internet).  However, what is the problem?  The fundamental issue is that there is a lack of support groups or counseling systems within the church.  But even more fundamentally, individuals are not opening up about their struggles.  The reason for this is a lack of people who empathize together.  To put it in biblical terms, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15).

 

Around 600 years ago, a person named Julian, who lived in England, is said to have prayed to God for three wounds: (1) The first is the wound of repentance.  Julian prayed, ‘Oh God!  Let me be wounded with the pain of repentance.  Make me sorrowful for having sinned and let me live in that sorrow.’  (2) The second is the wound of longing for God.  Julian prayed, ‘God!  Grant Yourself to me.  With You alone, I am content.  If I were to seek anything other than God, I would always be thirsty, for to me, God is everything.’  Additionally, she said, ‘Oh, God!  Wound me with an incurable longing.  Since this world is not my true home, how can I settle here?  How can I not long for the homeland of heaven?’  (3) The third is the wound of mercy.  Julian desired to have compassion for the world like Jesus.  Pastor Tozer says that the greatest enemy of Christianity today is not materialism or liberalism, but rather 'un-Christlike Christians'.  They may believe in orthodox doctrines but do not understand what mercy is.  He spoke about the wound of mercy in this way: ‘I do not want to heal this wound.  Rather, I want to feel the pain with those who are suffering, to empathize with their wounds, and to share in their suffering’ (Tozer).

Today, I want to meditate on Nehemiah 9:27-31, with the title "Great merciful God."  In this meditation, I hope to receive the teachings that God grants us, as we consider how God, who is full of mercy, dealt with the Israelites.  Through this meditation, I earnestly pray that both you and I may receive the wound of mercy.

 

First, great merciful God is a God who warns us.

 

Look at Nehemiah 9:29a - " You warned them to return to your law, ...."  When the Israelites of the Exodus era were enjoying the great blessings from God, indulging themselves by putting God's law behind their backs (v. 26) and “ate to the full” (v. 25), God warned them to return to God’s law (v. 29).  This brings to mind hymn “Come Home!  Come Home!”, based on the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15.  Particularly, I think of the third verse and the chorus: " Come home! come home!  From the sorrow and blame, From the sin and the shame, And the tempter that smiled.  O prodigal child!  Come home! oh come home!  Come home! Come, oh come home!"  How did God warn the Israelites?  Look at Nehemiah 9:30: "...  By your Spirit you admonished them through your prophets. ….”  The Spirit of God warned the Israelites through the prophets.  God, giving His good Spirit (v. 20) not only to Moses but also to 70 elders, instructed them to teach the Israelites His good decrees and commands (v. 13).  However, the Israelites, in their pride, disregarded these good decrees and commands and wasted the great blessings God had given them, committing sins.  At that time, God, through the same Spirit of God, warned the Israelites through the prophets.  But how did the Israelites respond?  They acted stubbornly.  They not only refused to listen to God's commandments but also stiffened their necks and turned their backs on the Lord.  In short, the Israelites did not heed God's warning.  Look at Nehemiah 9:29-30: "...  but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands.  They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them.  Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen.  For many years you were patient with them.  By your Spirit you admonished them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, ….”

 

We must receive God's warning like the Psalmist David.  Look at Psalms 19:11 -  “By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”  David confessed that by receiving God's law as warning and keeping them, there is a great reward.  What is this great reward that David speaks of?  It is the refinement of David's soul (v. 7), him becoming wiser (v. 7), and an increase of joy in his heart (v. 8).  Additionally, David's enlightenment shines brightly (v. 8), leading him to acknowledge his own transgressions and seek deliverance from hidden faults (v. 12).  In other words, David prays for God to prevent him from committing willful sins so that they may not rule over him (v. 13).  There is an analogy: The Central America ship was en route from New York to San Francisco.  However, in the middle of the sea, a hole was punctured in the bottom of the ship.  Seawater began to seep in slowly.  At that moment, a rescue ship approached and shouted, 'Passengers are in danger. Quickly transfer them to the rescue ship.'  The captain of the Central America showed little concern.  It was true that there was a hole in the bottom, but it could hold until tomorrow morning.  Don't worry too much.  However, the ship was gradually sinking.  The crew of the rescue ship repeatedly sent warning messages, 'Have all passengers come up to the deck.'  The situation was urgent, but the captain remained calm.  It is a dark night now.  There may be casualties during the process of transferring to the ship.  Just wait until tomorrow morning.  The next morning, the Central America sank into the sea without a trace.  It was a catastrophe caused by the captain's negligence.  Faith is the same.  The weapon that Satan likes to use is simple. 'You are still too young.  Believe slowly.'  We are like the crew members of the rescue ship in this story.  We have a responsibility to repeatedly send warning messages to souls in peril.  Look at 2 Corinthians 6:2b – “… I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.”  We must not succumb to Satan's temptation of 'believe slowly.'  We must now accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord to receive salvation."

 

Second, great merciful God allows distress to come upon us.

 

Look at Nehemiah 9:27a – “So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you.  ….”  What does it mean when it says, "handed them over to their enemies"?  It means that God allowed the Israelites, who did not heed the warnings, to be defeated and oppressed by their neighbors, who were their adversaries (v. 30).  Therefore, through neighboring nations, God caused the Israelites to experience distress and hardship (vv. 27, 28, 30).  In present terms, we can say that believers may be temporarily subject to unbelievers, experiencing tribulation and suffering.  Especially in the later period after King Solomon's reign, the nation of Israel split into two.  Northern Israel later fell to Assyria, and then Southern Judah fell to Babylon and was taken into captivity.  Ultimately, God sought to fulfill the promise He made to Abraham by bestowing the blessed land of Canaan upon the Israelites.  However, the Israelites, who misused this blessing, faced the consequence of their sin, being driven out of that land and taken captive by foreign nations.  Therefore, God spoke to the Israelites in this way: “My God will reject them because they have not obeyed him; they will be wanderers among the nations” (Hosea 9:17).  How fearful is God's discipline in this regard?  The great blessing that the Lord gave became a great curse for the disobedient and prideful Israelites (Cf.: Josh. 24:20).  The prideful Israelites, who did not humbly enjoy the blessing of the land of Canaan, now found themselves taken captive in the land of the Gentiles, living the very life they once sought.  So now, it was not God who governed the Israelites, but their adversaries, the Gentiles, who now ruled over them (Neh. 9:28).  This is akin to how we as Christians, when we do not humbly use the blessings God has given us for His glory, may have them taken away by the world, leading to our suffering.  We should fear the God who temporarily allows us to be abandoned to our adversaries (unbelievers).  We must come to realize how painful it is to reject God's rule and be governed by unbelievers.

 

Here we encounter a faithful God.  In other words, amidst the unfaithfulness of the Israelites who did not heed God's warnings, God's faithful light shone even brighter.  That is to say, when Israel obeyed the Lord, He, in His faithfulness, bestowed great blessings upon them.  However, when they disobeyed, God, in His faithfulness, disciplined the Israelites.  We seem to be more accustomed to God's faithful blessings than His faithful discipline.  Why is that so?  The reason is because discipline does not seem pleasant at the time, but painful (Heb. 12:11).  The writer of Hebrews speaks about discipline, saying: "For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives" (v. 6).  God, who regards us as true sons (vv. 7-8), disciplines us for our own benefit (v. 10).  Through this, He makes us partakers of His holiness and brings forth "the peaceable fruit of righteousness" in us (vv. 10-11).  We should confess and praise God for His faithful discipline, just as in Psalms 119:71, 75: " It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees" (v. 71), "...in faithfulness You have afflicted me" (v. 75).  We must bear in mind that while God delights in bestowing many privileges upon us, He never grants us the privilege to sin at our own discretion.  Therefore, when we use the blessings God has given us as we please, He, in His love for us, has no choice but to discipline us.  We should not take this discipline lightly.

 

Third and last, great merciful God is the one who rescues us.

 

Look at Nehemiah 9:28b - "...  When they cried again to You, You heard from heaven, And many times You rescued them according to Your compassion."  The stiff-necked Israelites, who ignored God's warnings and did not heed His commandments (v. 29), and the Israelites who defiantly killed the prophets who urged them to turn back to the Lord (to return to His word) and caused great outrage (v. 26), ultimately found themselves handed over by God to the hands of their enemies out of His love for them, causing them to suffer distress.  It was during this hardship that the Israelites cried out to the Lord (v. 27).  Here, the original Arabic meaning of the Hebrew word for 'cried out' is "sound as thunder."  It conveys a loud cry for help in times of great trouble.  The Israelites cried out together in their distress, seeking God's help and deliverance.  At that time, the Lord heard their thunderous cries from heaven and in His abundant mercies, gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies (v. 27).  However, after attaining peace, the Israelites once again committed evil before the Lord (v. 28).  Therefore, the Lord allowed them to be abandoned to the hands of their enemies, giving their adversaries control over them (v. 28).  Then, when the Israelites turned and cried out to the Lord, He heard from heaven and many times, in His abundant mercies, delivered them (v. 28).  He also warned them to obey His commandments again (v. 29).  However, the Israelites once again defiantly sinned against God (v. 28).  This pattern is reminiscent of the behavior of the Israelites described in the Book of Judges: Israel's sinfulness - God's discipline - Israel's cry for help (supplication) - God raising up judges to rescue the Israelites.

 

In today's passage, Nehemiah 9:28-30, we must pay attention to two words: "again" (vv. 28, 29) and "many" (vv. 28, 30).  Just like the Israelites who, after obtaining peace, "again" committed evil before the Lord (vv. 27-28), we, as God's people, are often obstinate and unyielding, repeatedly falling into sin.  Despite this, God, in His abundant mercy, saved them (delivered them) when they cried out in distress (v. 28).  Furthermore, God forgave them for "many years" (v. 30).  The God of Israel is a long-suffering God who endures for many years.  Our God, once again, not only forgave them for their repeated sins but also extended His abundant mercy to save them. He forgave the sinners, the Israelites, and He did so with great patience, for our God is a God of great mercy (vv. 27, 28, 31).  Therefore, God did not utterly destroy or forsake the Israelites (v. 31).

 

Our great merciful God is a God who is deeply troubled in His heart.  Look at Judges 10:16 - "...  And he could bear Israel's misery no longer."  God, who is troubled in His heart, why is His heart troubled?  The reason is the "misery" of His children, us.  Just as a father cannot bear to see his children in pain and suffering, our Heavenly Father is troubled in His heart when He sees our misery.  He is a God who cannot endure seeing us in pain any longer due to our misery.  What's truly remarkable is that He endures and endures, even as He sees our repeated sins.  Why does God endure and bear witness to our children's sins?  The reason is because He desires His kindness to lead us to repentance (Rom. 2:4).

 

Yet, our God did not hesitate to be troubled in His heart by allowing His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to bear the weight of all our sins, yours and mine.  He did not hesitate when He saw the "misery" of the cross of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  He did not delay but rather, He allowed Jesus Christ to be crucified.  Why did He do this?  It was because He was troubled in His heart over the misery of hell, the place we deserved to go.  He could bear it no longer, so He caused His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to descend into hell for three days (as stated in the Apostles' Creed, "He descended into hell").  In doing so, He made Jesus Christ experience the misery of hell on our behalf.  Can you see Jesus with these wounds of great mercy?