Neh 6:9 | KingComments | STEP | But the open letter has no effect either. Without discussing it, Nehemiah rejects the accusations alluded to in the letter and resorts to God. A domineering attitude is strange to the true leader among God’s people. That the true servant of the Lord is accused of being domineering only says something of the accusers. From Nehemiah’s reaction we see a confirmation of what we already know about him: that such behavior is far from him. He does not fight the accusation, does not defend himself, but resolutely denies it. His conscience is free. His answer is as simple as it is radical. There is no hesitation. Such clarity is what the people of God need today. With proposals from an enemy, you must not continue to search for something in which you are in agreement with each other. Clear and powerful, the distance between the opposing interests is maintained. Nehemiah reacts here according to the example of the Lord Jesus. What false rumors have been spread about Him. But He kept entrusting everything “to Him who judges righteously” ( ). Nehemiah knows that the enemy is out to frighten them. The enemy knows well that fear of people paralyzes action. If there is fear, the work will stop and not be finished. But Nehemiah understands the intention of the enemy and does not walk into that trap. Instead of defending himself, he resorts to prayer to God. The enemy is out to make the hands powerless, so that they would forsake the work, but Nehemiah prays that the LORD will strengthen his hands. He speaks boldly, with confidence, to Him whom he knows as the One to Whom he can turn. He prays straight from his heart, without deviation nor wasting words, short and therefore telling: “But now, [O God], strengthen my hands.” It is the prayer of the dependent servant who knows that he himself has no strength. He knows that his hands are powerful only when they are strengthened “from the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob” ( ). No matter how much his hands have accomplished, no matter how much they must accomplish, nothing will ever be attributed to his own strength. All honor for any work of faith belongs to God.

‏ Nehemiah 6:9

Answer of Nehemiah

But the open letter has no effect either. Without discussing it, Nehemiah rejects the accusations alluded to in the letter and resorts to God. A domineering attitude is strange to the true leader among God’s people. That the true servant of the Lord is accused of being domineering only says something of the accusers.

From Nehemiah’s reaction we see a confirmation of what we already know about him: that such behavior is far from him. He does not fight the accusation, does not defend himself, but resolutely denies it. His conscience is free. His answer is as simple as it is radical. There is no hesitation. Such clarity is what the people of God need today. With proposals from an enemy, you must not continue to search for something in which you are in agreement with each other. Clear and powerful, the distance between the opposing interests is maintained.

Nehemiah reacts here according to the example of the Lord Jesus. What false rumors have been spread about Him. But He kept entrusting everything “to Him who judges righteously” (1Pet 2:23b).

Nehemiah knows that the enemy is out to frighten them. The enemy knows well that fear of people paralyzes action. If there is fear, the work will stop and not be finished. But Nehemiah understands the intention of the enemy and does not walk into that trap. Instead of defending himself, he resorts to prayer to God. The enemy is out to make the hands powerless, so that they would forsake the work, but Nehemiah prays that the LORD will strengthen his hands. He speaks boldly, with confidence, to Him whom he knows as the One to Whom he can turn. He prays straight from his heart, without deviation nor wasting words, short and therefore telling: “But now, [O God], strengthen my hands.”

It is the prayer of the dependent servant who knows that he himself has no strength. He knows that his hands are powerful only when they are strengthened “from the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob” (Gen 49:24). No matter how much his hands have accomplished, no matter how much they must accomplish, nothing will ever be attributed to his own strength. All honor for any work of faith belongs to God.