Recap

So far in Ezra-Nehemiah, we've read as the people returned to Jerusalem, rebuilt the temple, and separated themselves from their foreign wives. King Cyrus of Persia defeats Babylon and is compelled by God to send some of the exiles back to Jerusalem. As the people left, they were given gifts of silver and gold by their Babylon neighbours, much like the Israelites when they left Egypt.

Zerubbabel rose up to lead the people. Along with Jeshua, he reestablished the offerings, feasts, and festivals of the people realigning the people with God. They appointed the Levites to work on the temple and started building the foundations of the temple. There was a massive celebration, but some of the older folk who knew what the old temple looked like wept. This new temple wasn't as good as the one they remembered, or the one that Ezekiel prophesied about.

As the people were rebuilding the temple, the locals, Israelites who weren't exiled, and others who had come to live in the land, came to offer their help. We got a sense of God reuniting his kingdom. But rather than accept their help, the exiles rejected it. This led to conflict, pausing the temple being rebuilt. Eventually the temple rebuild started again under king Darius. Upon its completion they celebrated with the Passover.

We then read as Ezra returned to Jerusalem with a second wave of Jews containing some priests. Ezra's goal was to teach the people the Torah and recommit them back to God. Our hope was raised again. This is it. The people are going to be committed to God in their land once again.

Upon returning to Jerusalem, leaders complained to Ezra that many of the people had married foreign women and had children with them. In the past, this had caused the Israelites to turn away from God so the people are scared the same will happen. Unfortunately, rather than encourage the people to lead their wives and children into true worship of God, Ezra agreed to demanding these men divorce these women and send them off with their children. 

Meanwhile, in Susa, the capital city of Persia, Nehemiah heard that the walls were still destroyed. He was sent to Jerusalem by king Artaxerxes. He assessed the walls and then encouraged the Jews to rebuild them. But we saw that these walls were less about protection and more about keeping unwanted people out. Jerusalem was not becoming the welcoming, open city that it seemed God spoke about. The place where all people could come and worship God.

Nehemiah 4-6

More men come to mock the Jews rebuilding the wall. They laugh and point out that even a fox could knock it down. Nehemiah doesn't respond, but instead prays that their mockery would fall on their own head. The people continue rebuilding the wall.

But the opposition continued. Jerusalem's enemies threatened to attack the people while they were busy building the wall. Meanwhile, the Jews are getting tired. All they could see was the rubble still to repair, and not the walls they had built so far.

So Nehemiah rearranged the people so that the Jews were rebuilding with other people in their clan. Men they knew and trusted. He also arranged for half to work while half stood ready with a sword in case of attack. He then spaced out trumpets along the wall. If an area of the wall was under attack, they would blow the trumpet and the rest of the Jews were to come and defend that area. And so the Jews continued in their work.

Meanwhile, it comes to Nehemiah's attention that some of the Jews are oppressing one another. Some of the Jews had been offering loans to those in need and then hitting them hard with interest. Some people had to sell their family land and even their children to keep up with their debts.

Nehemiah is furious, and he calls the people together to rebuke them for their wickedness. They had only just reclaimed their freedom from exile, and already they were willing to sell their fellow Jews into slavery to make a profit.

He tells the people to cancel the interest they had been expecting and to give the people back their land and children. Realising the error of their ways, the people did what Nehemiah said. Nehemiah makes sure to model the generosity he is asking of his people.

During this time, he has become governor over Judah, but he chooses not to tax them to fund his lifestyle. Instead, he daily had 150 men round his house and fed them out of his own pocket.

Turning back to Nehemiah's enemies, they are once again plotting against him. They start sending him letters to meet with them outside the city so they could kill him, but Nehemiah sees through their plot and ignores them. After the fifth letter, they change up their tactic. They hire a man to come alongside Nehemiah and encourage him to hide in the temple, because no one would kill him there.

Nehemiah sees through this as well. The only place in the temple Nehemiah would be safe is the Holy of Holies, and only the high priest is allowed in there. If Nehemiah tried hiding in the temple, his enemies would use it against him to discredit him.

Eventually, the people finish rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, much to the disappointment of the neighbouring nations. Maybe now their enemies would leave them alone and things would calm down.

Psalm 51

This psalm is attributed to king David, famously after the prophet Nathan challenged him on killing Uriah and sleeping with his with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12).

It falls into the category of lament, specifically personal repentance.

Psalm 51:1-2 - Prayer for forgiveness

Psalm 51:3-6 - Confession of sin

Psalm 51:7-12 - Prayer for renewal and restoration

Psalm 51:13-17 - Commitment to declare God’s praises

Psalm 51:18-19 - Prayer for Zion

The psalmist starts of turning to God and inviting him to have mercy. They remind God of who he is. He is a God of steadfast love and abundant mercy. The issue? The psalmist needs cleansing of their sin.

And so the psalmist takes a moment to acknowledge their sin. They recognise that at its core, all sin is against God, and therefore God is the one who determines what is sin. The psalmist has done what is evil in God’s sight. In the moment it might have seemed good in the psalmist's sight, but it was still sin.

The psalmist also recognises that there’s been a part of him that always be drawn to sin, ever since he was born. Because of this, they need to be taught from the inside out how to live right.

Next comes the request for cleansing and restoration. The psalmist specifically mentions cleansing with hyssop, which was what was used for cleansing diseases in Leviticus 14. Their sin is like a disease in them that will continue to corrupt and destroy if not dealt with. They need to be blotted out.

Again, the psalmist recognises they need a new heart, and the way they achieve that? Access to God’s presence and spirit. It’s these things that renew the psalmist from the inside out and so the psalmist asks that God not remove these things from them.

Having moved from confession to request, the psalmist now makes a commitment as long as God doesn’t abandon them. They we lead others to God. They will sing of God’s righteousness and declare God’s praise. In this, the psalmist recognises that God doesn’t want empty sacrifices. God wants a heart that is committed and faithful to him.

The psalm then takes a strange turn, praying for Zion. Jerusalem. It may be that these last two verses were added later, after Jerusalem was sacked and the people taken into exile.

In these verses, there’s an understanding that Jerusalem’s fall was caused by the same thing the psalmist is wrestling with. Corrupted hearts that led the people to sin, that couldn’t be fixed with sacrifices and offerings, but need the spirit of God to give them new, clean hearts.

If the people of Jerusalem can appeal to God just as the psalmist is doing, then God will do good to the city and restore it.