Nehemiah 9:32-38
We Are Making a Firm Covenant
Read the passage
32So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.
33You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.
34Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers did not obey Your law or listen to Your commandments and warnings that You gave them.
35For even while they were in their kingdom, with the abundant goodness that You had given them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You had set before them, they would not serve You or turn from their wicked ways.
36So here we are today as slaves in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness—here we are as slaves!
37Its abundant harvest goes to the kings You have set over us because of our sins. And they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please. We are in great distress.
38In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The long prayer arrives at the present. The people ask God not to view lightly the hardship that has come upon kings, leaders, priests, ancestors, and all the people. They do not call God unfair.
You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.
They are still slaves in the land God gave their fathers. The harvest goes to foreign kings, and they are in great distress. Their confession does not turn the consequences into somebody else's fault.
Then they make a binding agreement, write it down, and seal it with the names of their leaders, Levites, and priests. A community response becomes a visible commitment. They are still in distress as they make it. Their appeal is to the great God who keeps his gracious covenant: admitting that his judgment is just does not stop them asking him to take their suffering seriously.
Questions
1 What did the people say about God's actions?
AnswerThey said God was just in all that had happened to them. He had acted faithfully, while they had acted wickedly.
2 How did they describe their present condition?
AnswerThey said they were slaves in the land God had given their fathers. Its abundant produce went to the kings because of their sins, and they were in great distress.
3 What did they confess about their own actions?
AnswerThey confessed that they and their kings, leaders, priests, and ancestors had not kept God's law. They had not paid attention to His commandments or warnings, even though God had acted faithfully.
4 What did they do at the end?
AnswerThey made a firm covenant in writing, with their leaders, Levites, and priests sealing it. Confession moved toward a public commitment with named responsibility.
What This Means for Us
Let confession become a clear commitment. Write down one change your household needs to make, name who will help carry it, and choose a way to revisit it. A promise becomes more useful when it can be remembered and practiced.
Prayer
Righteous God, we admit where we have acted wickedly and where consequences have followed. Give us grace to make honest commitments and strength to keep them. Amen.