The Heart Of God

“I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.” Ezekiel 22:30-31

Lamentations 5:1-22

1. God lifts up leadership to bring life.

• Ezra returned to Jerusalem in 457 BC to rekindle the ancient spiritual fire in Israel. He did this through the Word of God!
• Ezra took with him the treasures that had been in the Temple before captivity, and went to Jerusalem with 1,500 men at government expense.
• Perhaps Ezra owed his sending out to Queen Esther.

2. Nehemiah cupbearer to the king.

• Scripture is rooted and grounded in history. Vs 1
• God’s work is bigger than our situation.
• So often God’s work begins when someone is concerned.

3. Nehemiah’s concerns.

• Note that Nehemiah is not concerned for himself, but for God’s city and God’s people. God’s people are in trouble and disgrace, and God’s city has been broken down, both it’s walls and it’s gates. Vs 3
• Nehemiah’s heart is tender to the things that are dear to God.
• Nehemiah responds to the crisis with tears, spending some days before the God of heaven praying and fasting.
• In our day it feels like the walls of our church are breached and broken that we are dwindling and dying as vision and vitality slip through our doors. Let us give careful thought to Nehemiah’s example of a tender heart, tears for another’s pain, and time with the Savior that we might be transformed.