Nehemiah 9
After celebrating the Feast of Booths, later that month, Israel gathered again. This time they fasted, mourned, and confessed their sin to God as a nation. They spent twelve hours each day before the Lord. Israel spent six hours hearing the book of the law read to them, and another six hours in confession and worship. This chapter contains a portion of a prayer that was prayed. The prayer recounts Israel’s history of disobedience, all while the Lord continued to show them grace. They acknowledged their sin and the sin of their ancestors being the reason for their current state of slavery.
We can learn a lot from Israel’s prayer of confession. First, we learn the importance of being reminded of our history and where God has brought us from. When we do this, we see God’s faithfulness and unchanging character. It reminds us that we are the ones who stray, while he beckons us back to himself. We also see the blessings we walk away from when we choose disobedience and that God is right to discipline us. But, we also see his faithfulness to forgive and restore when we do return. We must always remember that God is faithful, even when we are faithless (2 Tim. 2:13).
Is prayer & confession a regular part of your Christian life?
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