Neh 9:6 | KingComments | STEP | The awareness of the exaltation of God comes to the fore in the prayer of the Levites in three aspects: 1. They declare God in all His ways of discipline with His people. They also acknowledge Him in the omnipotence He has shown in the deliverance of the people from Egypt, in the support of the people in the wilderness and in the introduction of the people into the promised land. God has always acted with them in mercy and justice. 2. They confess their own sins and the sins of their fathers, and do not justify their actions. 3. Because of their great distress and submission to the nations they renew the old covenant of the law, and make it a firm covenant which they confirm with their seal. All living beings in heaven worship the LORD. They are constantly impressed by their Creator and Sustainer and worship Him without ceasing. For us it is even more appropriate to have an attitude of constant worship because we may also know our Creator as Savior ( ). The Levites show in their prayer – the longest in the Bible, also longer than Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple – that they have an eye for God’s grace and power 1. in creation ( ), 2. in Egypt and at the Red Sea ( ), 3. in the wilderness and at the Sinai ( ), 4. at the conquest of Canaan ( ), 5. by prophets and judges ( ), 6. by prophets ( ) and 7. in the situation they are in now ( ). Until there is firstly a list of all the blessings that the people have received as a result of God’s action in goodness to them. Each time there is talk of “You”, of the LORD, of what He has done. Everything shows His faithfulness, His grace, His blessing. May He expect anything but to thank and serve Him with all their hearts and lives? But in comes a turning point. Then it no longer only speaks of “You”, but also of “they”. From that verse God’s gracious acts are interwoven with their ingratitude, infidelity, unwillingness and rebellion. Here, in , first the LORD is honored and acknowledged as Who and what He is: He is LORD, He alone, unchanging, eternal. He is the Creator and the Sustainer. He is the source of all that exists ( ). That the LORD is the Creator means that the Lord Jesus is the Creator, for the LORD of the Old Testament is the same as the Lord Jesus in the New Testament. This is evident from John 12 where John quotes a word of Isaiah ( ; ). A comparison of both parts shows that while Isaiah speaks about the LORD of hosts, John says that Isaiah speaks about the Lord Jesus.

‏ Nehemiah 9:6

The LORD, the Creator

The awareness of the exaltation of God comes to the fore in the prayer of the Levites in three aspects:

1. They declare God in all His ways of discipline with His people. They also acknowledge Him in the omnipotence He has shown in the deliverance of the people from Egypt, in the support of the people in the wilderness and in the introduction of the people into the promised land. God has always acted with them in mercy and justice.

2. They confess their own sins and the sins of their fathers, and do not justify their actions.

3. Because of their great distress and submission to the nations they renew the old covenant of the law, and make it a firm covenant which they confirm with their seal.

All living beings in heaven worship the LORD. They are constantly impressed by their Creator and Sustainer and worship Him without ceasing. For us it is even more appropriate to have an attitude of constant worship because we may also know our Creator as Savior (Heb 2:14-16).

The Levites show in their prayer – the longest in the Bible, also longer than Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple – that they have an eye for God’s grace and power

1. in creation (Neh 9:6),

2. in Egypt and at the Red Sea (Neh 9:9-11),

3. in the wilderness and at the Sinai (Neh 9:12-21),

4. at the conquest of Canaan (Neh 9:22-25),

5. by prophets and judges (Neh 9:26-28),

6. by prophets (Neh 9:29-31) and

7. in the situation they are in now (Neh 9:32-37).

Until Neh 9:16 there is firstly a list of all the blessings that the people have received as a result of God’s action in goodness to them. Each time there is talk of “You”, of the LORD, of what He has done. Everything shows His faithfulness, His grace, His blessing. May He expect anything but to thank and serve Him with all their hearts and lives? But in Neh 9:16 comes a turning point. Then it no longer only speaks of “You”, but also of “they”. From that verse God’s gracious acts are interwoven with their ingratitude, infidelity, unwillingness and rebellion.

Here, in Neh 9:6, first the LORD is honored and acknowledged as Who and what He is: He is LORD, He alone, unchanging, eternal. He is the Creator and the Sustainer. He is the source of all that exists (Col 1:15-17). That the LORD is the Creator means that the Lord Jesus is the Creator, for the LORD of the Old Testament is the same as the Lord Jesus in the New Testament. This is evident from John 12 where John quotes a word of Isaiah (Jn 12:41; Isa 6:1-4). A comparison of both parts shows that while Isaiah speaks about the LORD of hosts, John says that Isaiah speaks about the Lord Jesus.