mh_parser/vol_split/16 - Nehemiah/Chapter 9.xml

<div2 id="Neh.x" n="x" next="Neh.xi" prev="Neh.ix" progress="95.18%" title="Chapter IX">
<h2 id="Neh.x-p0.1">N E H E M I A H</h2>
<h3 id="Neh.x-p0.2">CHAP. IX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Neh.x-p1">The tenth day of the seventh month between the
feast of trumpets (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.8.2" parsed="|Neh|8|2|0|0" passage="Ne 8:2"><i>ch.</i> viii.
2</scripRef>) and the feast of tabernacles (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.14" parsed="|Neh|9|14|0|0" passage="Ne 9:14">ver. 14</scripRef>) was appointed to be the day of
atonement; we have no reason to think but that it was religiously
observed, though it is not mentioned. But here we have an account
of an occasional fast that was kept a fortnight after that, with
reference to the present posture of their affairs, and it was, as
that, a day of humiliation. There is a time to weep as well as a
time to laugh. We have here an account. I. How this fast was
observed, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.1-Neh.9.3" parsed="|Neh|9|1|9|3" passage="Ne 9:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II.
What were the heads of the prayer that was made to God on that
occasion, wherein they made a thankful acknowledgment of God's
mercies, a penitent confession of sin, and a humble submission to
the righteous hand of God in the judgments that were brought upon
them, concluding with a solemn resolution of new obedience,
<scripRef id="Neh.x-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.4-Neh.9.38" parsed="|Neh|9|4|9|38" passage="Ne 9:4-38">ver. 4-38</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Neh.x-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9" parsed="|Neh|9|0|0|0" passage="Ne 9" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Neh.x-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.1-Neh.9.3" parsed="|Neh|9|1|9|3" passage="Ne 9:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Neh.9.1-Neh.9.3">
<h4 id="Neh.x-p1.7">The Repentance of the
People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Neh.x-p1.8">b. c.</span> 444.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Neh.x-p2">1 Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month
the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with
sackclothes, and earth upon them.   2 And the seed of Israel
separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed
their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.   3 And they
stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Neh.x-p2.1">Lord</span> their God <i>one</i> fourth
part of the day; and <i>another</i> fourth part they confessed, and
worshipped the <span class="smallcaps" id="Neh.x-p2.2">Lord</span> their God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p3">We have here a general account of a public
fast which the children of Israel kept, probably by order from
Nehemiah, by and with the advice and consent of the chief of the
fathers. It was a fast that men appointed, but such <i>a fast as
God had chosen;</i> for, 1. It was a day <i>to afflict the
soul,</i> <scripRef id="Neh.x-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.5" parsed="|Isa|58|5|0|0" passage="Isa 58:5">Isa. lviii. 5</scripRef>.
Probably they assembled in the courts of the temple, and they there
appeared in sackcloth and in the posture of mourners, with earth on
their heads, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.1" parsed="|Neh|9|1|0|0" passage="Ne 9:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. By
these outward expressions of sorrow and humiliation they gave glory
to God, took shame to themselves, and stirred up one another to
repentance. They were restrained from <i>weeping,</i> <scripRef id="Neh.x-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.8.9" parsed="|Neh|8|9|0|0" passage="Ne 8:9"><i>ch.</i> viii. 9</scripRef>, but now they were
directed to weep. The joy of our holy feasts must give way to the
sorrow of our solemn fasts when they come. Every thing is beautiful
in its season. 2. It was a day <i>to loose the bands of
wickedness,</i> and that is the fast that God has chosen, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.6" parsed="|Isa|58|6|0|0" passage="Isa 58:6">Isa. lviii. 6</scripRef>. Without this,
spreading sackcloth and ashes under us is but a jest. The seed of
Israel, because they were a holy seed, appropriated to God and more
excellent than their neighbours, <i>separated themselves from all
strangers</i> with whom they had mingled and joined in affinity,
<scripRef id="Neh.x-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.2" parsed="|Neh|9|2|0|0" passage="Ne 9:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Ezra had
separated them from their strange wives some years before, but they
had relapsed into the same sin, and had either made marriages or at
least made friendships with them, and contracted such an intimacy
as was a snare to them. But now they separated themselves from the
strange children as well as from the strange wives. Those that
intend by prayers and covenants to join themselves to God must
separate themselves from sin and sinners; for <i>what communion
hath light with darkness?</i> 3. It was a day of communion with
God. <i>They fasted to him, even to him</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.5" parsed="|Zech|7|5|0|0" passage="Zec 7:5">Zech. vii. 5</scripRef>); for, (1.) They spoke to him in
prayer, offered their pious and devout affections to him in the
confession of sin and the adoration of him as the Lord and their
God. Fasting without prayer is a body without a soul, a worthless
carcase. (2.) They heard him speaking to them by his word; for they
read in the book of the law, which is very proper on fasting days,
that, in the glass of the law, we may see our deformities and
defilements, and know what to acknowledge and what to amend. The
word will direct and quicken prayer, for by it the Spirit helps our
praying infirmities. Observe how the time was equally divided
between these two. Three hours (for that is the fourth part of a
day) they spent in reading, expounding, and applying the
scriptures, and three hours in confessing sin and praying; so that
they staid together six hours, and spent all the time in the solemn
acts of religion, without saying, <i>Behold, what a weariness is
it!</i> The varying of the exercises made it the less tedious, and,
as the word they read would furnish them with matter for prayer, so
prayer would make the word the more profitable. Bishop Patrick
thinks that they spent the whole twelve hours of the day in
devotion, that from six o'clock in the morning till nine they read,
and then from nine to twelve they prayed, from twelve to three they
read again, and from three till six at night they prayed again. The
word of a fast day is good work, and therefore we should endeavour
to make a day's work, a good day's work, of it.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Neh.x-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.4-Neh.9.38" parsed="|Neh|9|4|9|38" passage="Ne 9:4-38" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Neh.9.4-Neh.9.38">
<h4 id="Neh.x-p3.8">The Prayer of the Levites. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Neh.x-p3.9">b. c.</span> 444.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Neh.x-p4">4 Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites,
Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani,
<i>and</i> Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Neh.x-p4.1">Lord</span> their God.   5 Then the Levites,
Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah,
Shebaniah, <i>and</i> Pethahiah, said, Stand up <i>and</i> bless
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Neh.x-p4.2">Lord</span> your God for ever and ever:
and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all
blessing and praise.   6 Thou, <i>even</i> thou, <i>art</i>
<span class="smallcaps" id="Neh.x-p4.3">Lord</span> alone; thou hast made heaven,
the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all
<i>things</i> that <i>are</i> therein, the seas, and all that
<i>is</i> therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of
heaven worshippeth thee.   7 Thou <i>art</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Neh.x-p4.4">Lord</span> the God, who didst choose Abram, and
broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the
name of Abraham;   8 And foundest his heart faithful before
thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the
Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the
Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give <i>it, I say,</i> to his
seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou <i>art</i> righteous:
  9 And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and
heardest their cry by the Red sea;   10 And showedst signs and
wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the
people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly
against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as <i>it is</i> this
day.   11 And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that
they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their
persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the
mighty waters.   12 Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a
cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them
light in the way wherein they should go.   13 Thou camest down
also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and
gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and
commandments:   14 And madest known unto them thy holy
sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the
hand of Moses thy servant:   15 And gavest them bread from
heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of
the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go
in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.  
16 But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their
necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,   17 And refused
to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among
them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a
captain to return to their bondage: but thou <i>art</i> a God ready
to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
kindness, and forsookest them not.   18 Yea, when they had
made them a molten calf, and said, This <i>is</i> thy God that
brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;
  19 Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in
the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by
day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night,
to show them light, and the way wherein they should go.   20
Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest
not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their
thirst.   21 Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the
wilderness, <i>so that</i> they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed
not old, and their feet swelled not.   22 Moreover thou gavest
them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so
they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of
Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.   23 Their
children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and
broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised
to their fathers, that they should go in to possess <i>it.</i>
  24 So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou
subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people
of the land, that they might do with them as they would.   25
And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses
full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and
fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and
became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.  
26 Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee,
and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which
testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great
provocations.   27 Therefore thou deliveredst them into the
hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their
trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest <i>them</i> from
heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them
saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.  
28 But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee:
therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that
they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried
unto thee, thou heardest <i>them</i> from heaven; and many times
didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;   29 And
testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto
thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy
commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do,
he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened
their neck, and would not hear.   30 Yet many years didst thou
forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy
prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them
into the hand of the people of the lands.   31 Nevertheless
for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them,
nor forsake them; for thou <i>art</i> a gracious and merciful God.
  32 Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the
terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the
trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our
kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and
on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings
of Assyria unto this day.   33 Howbeit thou <i>art</i> just in
all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have
done wickedly:   34 Neither have our kings, our princes, our
priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy
commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify
against them.   35 For they have not served thee in their
kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in
the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither
turned they from their wicked works.   36 Behold, we
<i>are</i> servants this day, and <i>for</i> the land that thou
gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good
thereof, behold, we <i>are</i> servants in it:   37 And it
yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us
because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and
over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we <i>are</i> in great
distress.   38 And because of all this we make a sure
<i>covenant,</i> and write <i>it;</i> and our princes, Levites,
<i>and</i> priests, seal <i>unto it.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p5">We have here an account how the work of
this fast-day was carried on. 1. The names of the ministers that
were employed. They are twice named (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.4-Neh.9.5" parsed="|Neh|9|4|9|5" passage="Ne 9:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4, 5</scripRef>), only with some variation of
the names. Either they prayed successively, according to that rule
which the apostle gives (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.14.31" parsed="|1Cor|14|31|0|0" passage="1Co 14:31">1 Cor. xiv.
31</scripRef>, <i>You may all prophesy one by one</i>), or, as some
think, there were eight several congregations at some distance from
each other, and each had a Levite to preside in it. 2. The work
itself in which they employed themselves. (1.) They prayed to God,
cried to him with a loud voice (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.4" parsed="|Neh|9|4|0|0" passage="Ne 9:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), for the pardon of the sins of
Israel and God's favour to them. They cried aloud, not that God
might the better hear them, as Baal's worshippers, but that the
people might, and to excite their fervency. (2.) They praised God;
for the work of praise is not unseasonable on a fast-day; in all
acts of devotion we must aim at this, to <i>give unto God the glory
due to his name.</i> The summary of their prayers we have here upon
record; whether drawn up before, as a directory to the Levites what
to enlarge on, or recollected after, as the heads of what they had
in prayer enlarged upon, is uncertain. Much more no doubt was said
than is here recorded, else confessing and worshipping God would
not have taken up a fourth part of the day, much less
two-fourths.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p6">In this solemn address to God we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p7">I. An awful adoration of God, as a perfect
and glorious Being, and the fountain of all beings, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.5-Neh.9.6" parsed="|Neh|9|5|9|6" passage="Ne 9:5,6"><i>v.</i> 5, 6</scripRef>. The congregation is
called upon to signify their concurrence herewith by standing up;
and so the minister directs himself to God, <i>Blessed be thy
glorious name.</i> God is here adored, 1. As the only living and
true God: <i>Thou art Jehovah alone,</i> self-existent and
independent; there is no God besides thee. 2. As the Creator of all
things: <i>Thou hast made heaven, earth, and seas,</i> and all that
is in them. The first article of our creed is fitly made the first
article of our praises. 3. As the great Protector of the whole
creation: "Thou preservest in being all the creatures thou hast
given being to." God's providence extends itself to the highest
beings, for they need it, and to the meanest, for they are not
slighted by it. What God has made he will preserve; what he does is
done effectually, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.14" parsed="|Eccl|3|14|0|0" passage="Ec 3:14">Eccl. iii.
14</scripRef>. 4. As the object of the creatures' praises: "<i>The
host of heaven,</i> the world of holy angels, <i>worshippeth
thee,</i> <scripRef id="Neh.x-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.6" parsed="|Neh|9|6|0|0" passage="Ne 9:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. But
thy <i>name is exalted above all blessing and praise;</i> it needs
not the praises of the creatures, nor is any addition made to its
glory by those praises." The best performances in the praising of
God's name, even those of the angels themselves, fall infinitely
short of what it deserves. It is not only exalted above our
blessing, but above all blessing. Put all the praises of heaven and
earth together, and the thousandth part is not said of what might
and should be said of the glory of God. <i>Our goodness extendeth
not to him.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p8">II. A thankful acknowledgment of God's
favours to Israel.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p9">1. Many of these are here reckoned up in
order before him, and very much to the purpose, for, (1.) We must
take all occasions to mention the loving kindness of the Lord, and
<i>in every prayer give thanks.</i> (2.) When we are confessing our
sins it is good to take notice of the mercies of God as the
aggravations of our sins, that we may be the more humbled and
ashamed, and call ourselves by the scandalous name of ungrateful.
(3.) When we are seeking to God for mercy and relief in the time of
distress it is an encouragement to our faith and hope to look back
upon our own and our fathers' experiences: "Lord, thou hast done
well for us formerly; shall it be all undone again? Art not thou
the same God still?"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p10">2. Let us briefly observe the particular
instances of God's goodness to Israel here recounted. (1.) The call
of Abraham, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.7" parsed="|Neh|9|7|0|0" passage="Ne 9:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>.
God's favour to him was distinguishing: "Thou didst choose him."
His grace in him was powerful to bring him out of Ur of the
Chaldees, and, in giving him the name of Abraham, he put honour
upon him as his own and assured him that he should be the <i>father
of many nations. Look unto Abraham your father</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.2" parsed="|Isa|51|2|0|0" passage="Isa 51:2">Isa. li. 2</scripRef>) and see free grace
glorified in him. (2.) The covenant God made with him to give the
land of Canaan to him and his seed, a type of the better country,
<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.8" parsed="|Neh|9|8|0|0" passage="Ne 9:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. And this
covenant was sure, for God found Abraham's heart faithful before
God, and found it so because he made it so (for faith is not of
ourselves, it is the gift of God), and therefore performed his
words; <i>for with the upright he will show himself upright,</i>
and wherever he finds a faithful heart he will be found a faithful
God. (3.) The deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.9-Neh.9.11" parsed="|Neh|9|9|9|11" passage="Ne 9:9-11"><i>v.</i> 9-11</scripRef>. It was seasonable to
remember this now that they were interceding for the perfecting of
their deliverance out of Babylon. They were then delivered, in
compassion to their affliction, in answer to their cry, and in
resistance of the pride and insolence of their persecutors. Wherein
they dealt proudly, God showed himself <i>above them</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Exod.18.11" parsed="|Exod|18|11|0|0" passage="Ex 18:11">Exod. xviii. 11</scripRef>), and so got himself
<i>a name;</i> for he said, <i>I will get me honour upon
Pharaoh.</i> Even to this day the name of God is glorified for that
wonderful work. It was done miraculously: signs and wonders were
shown for the effecting of it; their deliverance was the
destruction of their enemies; they were <i>thrown into the
deeps,</i> as irrecoverably <i>as a stone into the mighty
waters.</i> (4.) The conducting of them through the wilderness, by
the pillar of cloud and fire, which showed them which way they
should go, when they should remove, and when and where they should
rest, directed all their stages and all their steps, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.12" parsed="|Neh|9|12|0|0" passage="Ne 9:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. It was also a visible
token of God's presence with them, to guide and guard them. They
mention this again (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.7" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.19" parsed="|Neh|9|19|0|0" passage="Ne 9:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>), observing that though they had by their sins
provoked God to withdraw from them, and leave them to wander and
perish in the by-paths of the wilderness, yet in his manifold mercy
he continued to lead them, and took not away the <i>pillar of cloud
and fire,</i> <scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.8" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.19" parsed="|Neh|9|19|0|0" passage="Ne 9:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>.
When mercies, though forfeited, are continued, we are bound to be
doubly thankful. (5.) The plentiful provision made for them in the
wilderness, that they might not perish for hunger: Thou <i>gavest
them bread from heaven,</i> and <i>water out of the rock</i>
(<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.9" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.15" parsed="|Neh|9|15|0|0" passage="Ne 9:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), and, to hold
up their hearts, a promise that they should go in and possess the
land of Canaan. They had meat and drink, food convenient in the
way, and the good land at their journey's end; what would they
more? This also is repeated (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.10" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.20" parsed="|Neh|9|20|0|0" passage="Ne 9:20"><i>v.</i>
20, 21</scripRef>) as that which was continued, notwithstanding
their provocations: <i>Forty years didst thou sustain them.</i>
Never was people so long nursed and so tenderly; they were
wonderfully provided for, and, in so long a time, <i>their clothes
waxed not old,</i> and, though the way was rough and tedious,
<i>their feet swelled not;</i> for they were <i>carried as upon
eagles' wings.</i> (6.) The giving of the law upon Mount Sinai.
This was the greatest favour of all that was done them and the
greatest honour that was put upon them. The Lawgiver was very
glorious, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.11" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.13" parsed="|Neh|9|13|0|0" passage="Ne 9:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>.
"Thou didst not only send, but camest down thyself, and <i>didst
speak with them,</i>" <scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.12" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.33" parsed="|Deut|4|33|0|0" passage="De 4:33">Deut. iv.
33</scripRef>. The law given was very good. No nation under the sun
had such <i>right judgments, true laws,</i> and <i>good
statutes,</i> <scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.13" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.8" parsed="|Deut|4|8|0|0" passage="De 4:8">Deut. iv. 8</scripRef>.
The moral and judicial precepts were true and right, founded upon
natural equity and the eternal reasons of good and evil; and even
the ceremonial institutions were good, tokens of God's goodness to
them and types of gospel grace. Particular notice is taken of the
law of the fourth commandment as a great favour to them: <i>Thou
madest known unto them thy holy sabbath,</i> which was a token of
God's particular favour to them, distinguishing them from the
nations who had revolted from God and quite lost that ancient part
of revealed religion, and was likewise a means of keeping up their
communion with him. And, with <i>the law</i> and <i>the
sabbath,</i> he <i>gave his good Spirit to instruct them,</i>
<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.14" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.20" parsed="|Neh|9|20|0|0" passage="Ne 9:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. Besides the
law given on Mount Sinai, the five books of Moses, which he wrote
<i>as he was moved by the Holy Ghost,</i> were constant
instructions to them, particularly the book of Deuteronomy, in
which God's Spirit by Moses instructed them fully. Bezaleel was
filled <i>with the Spirit of God</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.15" osisRef="Bible:Exod.31.3" parsed="|Exod|31|3|0|0" passage="Ex 31:3">Exod. xxxi. 3</scripRef>), so was Joshua (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.16" osisRef="Bible:Num.27.18" parsed="|Num|27|18|0|0" passage="Nu 27:18">Num. xxvii. 18</scripRef>), and Caleb had
another spirit. (7.) The putting of them in possession of Canaan,
that good land, <i>kingdoms and nations,</i> <scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.17" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.22" parsed="|Neh|9|22|0|0" passage="Ne 9:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. They were made so numerous as to
replenish it (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.18" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.23" parsed="|Neh|9|23|0|0" passage="Ne 9:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>)
and so victorious as to be masters of it (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.19" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.24" parsed="|Neh|9|24|0|0" passage="Ne 9:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>); the natives were given into
their hands, <i>that they might do with them as they would,</i> set
their feet, if they pleased, on the necks of their kings. Thus they
gained a happy <i>settlement,</i> <scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.20" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.25" parsed="|Neh|9|25|0|0" passage="Ne 9:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. Look upon their cities, and you
see them strong and well fortified. Look into their houses, and you
find them fine and well furnished, filled with all sorts of rich
goods. Take a view of the country, and you will say that you never
saw such a fat land, so well stored with <i>vineyards and
oliveyards.</i> All these they found made ready to their hands; so
they delighted themselves in the gifts of God's great goodness.
They could not wish to be more easy or happy than they were, or
might have been, in Canaan, had it not been their own fault. (8.)
God's great readiness to pardon their sins, and work deliverance
for them, when they had by their provocations brought his judgments
upon themselves. When they were in the wilderness they found him
<i>a God ready to pardon</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.21" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.17" parsed="|Neh|9|17|0|0" passage="Ne 9:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>), a <i>God of pardons</i> (so the margin reads it),
who had proclaimed his name as a God <i>forgiving iniquity,
transgression, and sin,</i> who has power to forgive sin, is
willing to forgive, and glories in forgiving. Though they forsook
him, he did not forsake them, as justly he might have done, but
continued his care of them and favour to them. Afterwards, when
they were settled in Canaan and sold themselves by their sins into
the hands of their enemies, upon their submission and humble
request he <i>gave them saviours</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.22" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.27" parsed="|Neh|9|27|0|0" passage="Ne 9:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>), the judges, by whom God wrought
many a great deliverance for them when they were on the brink of
ruin. This he did, not for any merit of theirs, for their deserved
nothing but ill, but according to his mercies, his manifold
mercies. (9.) The admonitions and fair warnings he gave them by his
servants the prophets. When he delivered them from their troubles
he <i>testified against their sins</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.23" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.28-Neh.9.29" parsed="|Neh|9|28|9|29" passage="Ne 9:28,29"><i>v.</i> 28, 29</scripRef>), that they might not
misconstrue their deliverances as connivances at their wickedness.
That which was designed in all the testimonies which the prophets
bore against them was to bring them again to God's law, to lay
their necks under its yoke, and walk by its rule. The end of our
ministry is to bring people to God by bringing them to his law, not
to bring them to ourselves by bringing them under any law of ours.
This we have again (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.24" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.30" parsed="|Neh|9|30|0|0" passage="Ne 9:30"><i>v.</i>
30</scripRef>): <i>Thou testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in
thy prophets.</i> The testimony of the prophets was the testimony
of the Spirit in the prophets, and it was the Spirit of Christ in
them, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.25" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.10-1Pet.1.11" parsed="|1Pet|1|10|1|11" passage="1Pe 1:10,11">1 Pet. i. 10, 11</scripRef>.
They <i>spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,</i> and what
they said is to be received accordingly. God gave them <i>his
Spirit to instruct them</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.26" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.20" parsed="|Neh|9|20|0|0" passage="Ne 9:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>), but, they not receiving that instruction, he did by
his Spirit testify against them. If we will not suffer God's word
to teach and rule us, it will accuse and judge us. God sends
prophets, in compassion to his people (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.27" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.36.15" parsed="|2Chr|36|15|0|0" passage="2Ch 36:15">2 Chron. xxxvi. 15</scripRef>), that he may not send
judgments. (10.) The lengthening out of his patience and the
moderating of his rebukes: <i>Many years did he forbear them</i>
(<scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.28" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.30" parsed="|Neh|9|30|0|0" passage="Ne 9:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>), as loth to
punish them, and waiting to see if they would repent; and, when he
did punish them, he did not <i>utterly consume them nor forsake
them,</i> <scripRef id="Neh.x-p10.29" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.31" parsed="|Neh|9|31|0|0" passage="Ne 9:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>. Had
he forsaken them they would have been utterly consumed; but he did
not stir up all his wrath, for he designed their reformation, not
their destruction. Thus do they multiply, thus do they magnify, the
instances of God's goodness to Israel, and we should do in like
manner, that the goodness of God, duly considered by us, may lead
us to repentance, and overcome our badness. The more thankful we
are for God's mercies the more humbled we shall be for our own
sins.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p11">III. Here is a penitent confession of sin,
their own sins, and the sins of their fathers. The mention of these
is interwoven with the memorials of God's favours, that God's
goodness, notwithstanding their provocations, might appear the more
illustrious, and their sins, notwithstanding his favours, might
appear the more heinous. Many passages in this acknowledgment of
sins and mercies are taken from <scripRef id="Neh.x-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.5-Ezek.20.26 Bible:Neh.9.4-Neh.9.38" parsed="|Ezek|20|5|20|26;|Neh|9|4|9|38" passage="Eze 20:5-26,Ne 9:4-38">Ezek. xx. 5-26</scripRef>, as will appear
by comparing those verses with these; for the word of God is of use
to direct us in prayer, and by what he says to us we may learn what
to say to him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p12">1. They begin with the sins of Israel in
the wilderness: <i>They, even our fathers</i> (so it might better
be read), <i>dealt proudly</i> (though, considering what they were,
and how lately they had come out of slavery, they had no reason to
be proud), <i>and hardened their necks,</i> <scripRef id="Neh.x-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.16" parsed="|Neh|9|16|0|0" passage="Ne 9:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. Pride is at the bottom of men's
obstinacy and disobedience; they think it below them to bow their
necks to God's yoke, and a piece of state to set up their own will
in opposition to the will of God himself. (1.) There were two
things which they did not duly give heed to, else they would not
have done as they did:—The word of God they heard, but they did
not hearken to God's commandments; and the works of God they saw,
but they were not mindful of his wonders: had they duly considered
them as miracles, they would have obeyed from a principle of faith
and holy fear; had they duly considered them as mercies, they would
have obeyed from a principle of gratitude and holy love. But, when
men make no right use either of God's ordinances or of his
providences, what can be expected from them? (2.) Two great sins
are here specified; which they were guilty of in the
wilderness—meditating a return, [1.] To Egyptian slavery, which,
for the sake of the garlick and onions, they preferred before the
glorious liberty of the Israel of God attended with some difficulty
and inconvenience. <i>In their rebellion they appointed a captain
to return to their bondage,</i> in distrust of God's power and
contempt of his holy promise, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.17" parsed="|Neh|9|17|0|0" passage="Ne 9:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>. [2.] To Egyptian idolatry: <i>They made a molten
calf,</i> and were so sottish as to say, <i>This is thy
God.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p13">2. They next bewail the provocations of
their fathers after they were put in possession of Canaan. Though
they were <i>delighted themselves in God's great goodness,</i> yet
that would not prevail to keep them closely to him; for,
<i>nevertheless, they were disobedient</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.26" parsed="|Neh|9|26|0|0" passage="Ne 9:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>) <i>and wrought great
provocations.</i> For, (1.) They abused God's prophets, <i>slew
them</i> because they <i>testified against them to turn them to
God</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.26" parsed="|Neh|9|26|0|0" passage="Ne 9:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>), so
returning the greatest injury for the greatest kindness. (2.) They
abused his favours: <i>After they had rest,</i> they <i>did evil
again,</i> <scripRef id="Neh.x-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.28" parsed="|Neh|9|28|0|0" passage="Ne 9:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>.
They were not wrought upon either by their troubles or their
deliverances out of trouble. Neither fear nor love would hold them
to their duty.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p14">3. They at length come nearer to their own
day, and lament the sins which had brought those judgments upon
them which they had long been groaning under and were now but in
part delivered from: <i>We have done wickedly</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.33" parsed="|Neh|9|33|0|0" passage="Ne 9:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>): <i>our kings, our
princes, our priests, and our fathers,</i> have all been guilty,
and we in them, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.34" parsed="|Neh|9|34|0|0" passage="Ne 9:34"><i>v.</i>
34</scripRef>. Two things they charge upon themselves and their
fathers, as the cause of their troubles:—(1.) A contempt of the
good law God had given them: They <i>sinned against thy
judgments,</i> the dictates of divine wisdom, and the demands of
divine sovereignty. Though they were told how much it would be for
their own advantage to govern themselves by them, for, <i>if a man
do them, he shall live in them</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.29" parsed="|Neh|9|29|0|0" passage="Ne 9:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>), yet they would not do them, and
so, in effect, said that they <i>would not live.</i> They
<i>forsook their own mercies.</i> This abridgment of the covenant,
<i>Do this and live,</i> is taken from <scripRef id="Neh.x-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.13" parsed="|Ezek|20|13|0|0" passage="Eze 20:13">Ezek. xx. 13</scripRef>, and is quoted, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.12" parsed="|Gal|3|12|0|0" passage="Ga 3:12">Gal. iii. 12</scripRef>, to prove that <i>the law
is not of faith;</i> it was not them as it is now, <i>Believe and
live,</i> yet <i>they gave a withdrawing shoulder,</i> so it is in
the margin. They pretended to lay their shoulders under the burden
of God's law, and put their shoulders to the work, but they proved
withdrawing shoulders; they soon flew off, would not keep to it,
would not abide by it. When it came, as we say, to the setting to,
they shrunk back, and would not hear. They had a backsliding heart;
and, though God by his prophets called them to return, they
<i>would not give ear,</i> <scripRef id="Neh.x-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.30" parsed="|Neh|9|30|0|0" passage="Ne 9:30"><i>v.</i>
30</scripRef>. He <i>stretched out his hands, but no man
regarded.</i> (2.) A contempt of the good land God had given them
(<scripRef id="Neh.x-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.35" parsed="|Neh|9|35|0|0" passage="Ne 9:35"><i>v.</i> 35</scripRef>): "Our kings
have <i>not served thee in their kingdom,</i> have not used their
power for the support of religion; our people have not served thee
in the use of the gifts of thy great goodness, and in that large
and fat land which thou not only gavest them by thy grant, but
gavest before them by the expulsion of the natives and the complete
victories they obtained over them." Those that would not serve God
in their own land were made to serve their enemies in a strange
land, as was threatened, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.47-Deut.28.48" parsed="|Deut|28|47|28|48" passage="De 28:47,48">Deut.
xxviii. 47, 48</scripRef>. It is a pity that a good land should
have bad inhabitants, but so it was with Sodom. Fatness and fulness
often make men proud and sensual.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p15">IV. Here is a humble representation of the
judgments of God, which they had been and were now under.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p16">1. Former judgments are remembered as
aggravations of their sins, that they had not taken warning. In the
days of the judges their <i>enemies vexed them</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.27" parsed="|Neh|9|27|0|0" passage="Ne 9:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>); and, when they did evil
again, God did again <i>leave them in the hand of their
enemies,</i> who could not have touched them if God had not given
them up; but, when God left them, they got and kept dominion over
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p17">2. Their present calamitous state is laid
before the Lord (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.36-Neh.9.37" parsed="|Neh|9|36|9|37" passage="Ne 9:36,37"><i>v.</i> 36,
37</scripRef>): <i>We are servants this day.</i> Free-born
Israelites are enslaved, and the land which they had long held by a
much more honourable tenure than grand sergeantry itself, even by
immediate grant from the crown of heaven to them as a peculiar
people above all people on the earth, they now held by as base a
tenure as villenage itself, by, from, and under, the kings of
Persia, whose vassals they were. A sad change! But see what work
sin makes! They were bound to personal service: They have
<i>dominion over our bodies;</i> they held all they had
precariously, were tenants at will, and the land-tax that they paid
was so great that it amounted even to a rack-rent; so that all the
rents, issues, and profits, of their land did in effect accrue to
the king, and it was as much as they could do to get a bare
subsistence for themselves and their families out of it. This, they
honestly own, was for their sins. Poverty and slavery are the
fruits of sin; it is sin that brings us into all our
distresses.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p18">V. Here is their address to God under these
calamities. 1. By way of request, that their trouble might not
<i>seem little,</i> <scripRef id="Neh.x-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.32" parsed="|Neh|9|32|0|0" passage="Ne 9:32"><i>v.</i>
32</scripRef>. It is the only petition in all this prayer. The
trouble was universal; it had come on their <i>kings, princes,
priests, prophets, fathers, and all their people;</i> they had all
shared in the sin (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.34" parsed="|Neh|9|34|0|0" passage="Ne 9:34"><i>v.</i>
34</scripRef>), and now all shared in the judgment. It was of long
continuance: <i>From the time of the kings of Assyria,</i> who
carried the ten tribes captive, <i>unto this day.</i> "Lord, let it
not all seem little and not worthy to be regarded, or not needing
to be relieved." They do not prescribe to God what he shall do for
them, but leave it to him, only desiring he would please to take
cognizance of it, remembering that when he saw the affliction of
his people in Egypt to be great he came down to deliver them,
<scripRef id="Neh.x-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.3.7-Exod.3.8" parsed="|Exod|3|7|3|8" passage="Ex 3:7,8">Exod. iii. 7, 8</scripRef>. In this
request they have an eye to God as one that is to be feared (for he
is <i>the great, the mighty, and the terrible, God</i>), and as one
that is to be trusted, for he is <i>our God</i> in covenant, and a
God that <i>keeps covenant and mercy.</i> 2. By way of
acknowledgment, notwithstanding, that really it was less than they
deserved, <scripRef id="Neh.x-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Neh.9.33" parsed="|Neh|9|33|0|0" passage="Ne 9:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>. They
own the justice of God in all their troubles, that he had done them
no wrong. "We have done wickedly in breaking thy laws, and
therefore thou hast done right in bringing all these miseries upon
us." Note, It becomes us, when we are under the rebukes of divine
Providence, though ever so sharp and ever so long, to justify God
and to judge ourselves; for he will be <i>clear when he
judgeth.</i> <scripRef id="Neh.x-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.51.4" parsed="|Ps|51|4|0|0" passage="Ps 51:4">Ps. li. 4</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Neh.x-p19">VI. Here is the result and conclusion of
this whole matter. After this long remonstrance of their case was
made they came at last to this resolution, that they would return
to God and to their duty, and oblige themselves never to forsake
God, but always to continue in their duty. "Because of all this, we
make a sure covenant with God; in consideration of our frequent
departures from God, we will now more firmly than ever bind
ourselves to him. Because we have smarted so much for sin, we will
now stedfastly resolve against it, that we may not any more
withdraw the shoulder." Observe, 1. This covenant was made with
serious consideration. It is the result of a chain of suitable
thoughts, and so is a reasonable service. 2. With great solemnity.
It was written, <i>in perpetuam rei memoriam—that it might remain
a memorial for all ages;</i> it was sealed and left upon record,
that it might be a witness against them if they dealt deceitfully.
3. With joint consent: "<i>We make</i> it; we are all agreed in
making it, and do it unanimously, that we may strengthen the hands
one of another." 4. With fixed resolution: "It is <i>a sure
covenant,</i> without reserving a power of revocation. It is what
we will live and die by, and never go back from." A certain number
of the princes, priests, and Levites, were chosen as the
representatives of the congregation, to subscribe and seal it for
and in the name of the rest. Now was fulfilled that promise
concerning the Jews, that, when they returned out of captivity,
they should <i>join themselves to the Lord in a perpetual
covenant</i> (<scripRef id="Neh.x-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.50.5" parsed="|Jer|50|5|0|0" passage="Jer 50:5">Jer. l. 5</scripRef>),
and that in <scripRef id="Neh.x-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.44.5" parsed="|Isa|44|5|0|0" passage="Isa 44:5">Isa. xliv. 5</scripRef>,
that they should <i>subscribe with their hand unto the Lord.</i> He
that bears an honest mind will not startle at assurances; nor will
those that know the deceitfulness of their own hearts think them
needless.</p>
</div></div2>