Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight . Let's sharpen up .
Alright , guys , I want to welcome you to one of my favorite books of the entire Old Testament , and that's Nehemiah . Welcome you to one of my favorite books of the entire Old Testament , and that's Nehemiah . Now , normally when I say that , people look at me a little funny , and I think that's because it is an often ignored part of Scripture .
But there really are some incredible nuggets from the early chapters of the book of Nehemiah , so that is where we will spend some time this week . So let's all read out of Nehemiah 1 , and I'll be reading from the English Standard Version Now .
It happened in the month of Kislev , in the twentieth year , as I was in Susa , the citadel , that Hanani , one of my brothers , came with certain men from Judah and I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped , who had survived the exile , and concerning Jerusalem .
And they said to me the remnant there in the province who had survived the exile , is in great trouble and shame . The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire .
As soon as I heard these words , I sat down and wept and mourned for days and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven and I said O Lord , god of heaven , the great and awesome God , who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments .
Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel , your servants , confessing the sins of the people of Israel which we have sinned against you . Even I and my father's house have sinned .
We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments , the statutes and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses .
Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses saying If you are unfaithful , I will scatter you among the peoples , but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them , though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven . From there , I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen to make my name dwell there .
They are your servants and your people , whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand . O Lord , let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name and give success to your servant today and grant him mercy in the sight of this man .
Now , I was cupbearer to the king . Now , guys , with any section of scripture , there is a lot that we could unpack , but this is a short form show , so we kind of have to get to the point . So I want to look at one specific phrase that you might miss if you're reading too fast . So let's actually go back to verse 11 .
Oh Lord , let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name , and give success to your servant today and grant him mercy in the sight of this man . So I want to key in on this your servants who delight to fear your name .
So this is a statement that Nehemiah makes towards the end of a prayer . But this isn't just any prayer . Okay , this prayer is a prayer that comes on the heels of days of weeping and mourning . Okay , he covers a lot of ground in that prayer , but the phrase your servants who delight to fear your name sticks out to me .
And it sticks out because we live in an era where any description of a you know , quote unquote scary God that we should fear is met with skepticism at best and condemnation at worst . Fear is met with skepticism at best and condemnation at worst . But we need to look at what kind of fear that is being discussed here .
Okay , it's not fear like you know a scary movie or that feeling you get when you walk into a classroom to take a test that you didn't study for .
The Hebrew root word used here for fear means be feared or , more specifically , be honored , and I just got to say I don't think we do a whole lot of either nowadays , and there are a lot of reasons for that . One reason that we don't fear or honor God is because our lives are actually pretty good , especially compared to the rest of the world .
Even poor people in America would be considered wealthy just about anywhere else on the globe . So when you're not having to pray the prayer to ask God for your daily bread , you kind of miss out on the power of a blessing from an all-holy and all-good God .
Also , I think churches , and specifically contemporary Christian music , have done us no favors either , so they do a pretty good job of helping you see Jesus as this , you know , cutesy-wootsy little add-on to your already pretty good life , and we just love referring to him as if he's boyfriend Jesus who wouldn't offend anyone , and not line of Judah Jesus that comes
back violently to capture his bride at the end of days . Right , you don't need to fear boyfriend Jesus . You don't need to honor wispy-haired , soft-featured Jesus either . But for us , for men of God , we must fear and revere the creator of the cosmos if we have any chance at all at worshiping him correctly . So today , chew on that .
Are you a servant that delights in fearing the name of God , or do you have a low view of our God ? Keep that in mind for tomorrow's episode as well .
Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go . If you want to help equip other men for the fight , share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review . Stay sharp .