SCRIPTURE: Nehemiah 9

This week, we take a good, hard look at another worship service from Nehemiah 9. Last week’s sermon on Nehemiah 8 described an atypical ideal for corporate worship: Ezra reads from the Law, leaders preach among the people, the people respond, and Nehemiah shepherds the people out with the call to rejoice. Nehemiah 9 records another corporate gathering occurring later that same month. However, this time, the chapter contains the content preached by the Levites. For six hours, the people listen to the Law. For an additional six hours, the people heard it applied. That application is essentially a retelling of redemptive history. It is a long chapter because it is a long story of redemption. First, we’ll read all of Nehemiah 9 to hear how this story of redemption is really a confession of sin coupled with a confession of God’s grace. As one commentator puts it, "it is a chapter of corporate confession pulsating between God’s grace and the people's ingratitude." It is yet another challenging chapter that helps us grow in the awareness of our own depravity, but likewise in our grasp of the grandness of God’s amazing grace.

What a God we serve! He puts up with so much, and yet He still provided His Son to atone for all our sin. Praise be to God!