Monthly Archives: June 2026

Nehemiah Prays (Neh. 1:5ff)

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Nehemiah Prays (Neh. 1:5ff)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, June 28, 2026

We have been talking about prayer.

In “Stay of Execution,” Stewart Alsop discussed what it was like to live with incurable leukemia. The disease was temporarily arrested. During this time, the not-too-active Episcopalian and noted journalist discussed a number of variables with his physician. Finally Alsop said, “There is one variable you keep leaving out.”

“What’s that?”

“God,” he said.

The doctor and patient smiled. Alsop continued, “I don’t really believe in God, or at least I don’t think I do, and I doubt if my doctor does; but I think we both had in the back of our minds the irrational notion that God might have something to do with what happened all the same.”[1]

We must never forget God.

Today, we are going to look at Nehemiah’s prayer.

My theme: Nehemiah seeks the Lord on behalf of Jerusalem.

My application: Don’t forget God, learn to pray like Nehemiah.

  1. Context
    1. Nehemiah is written around 430 BC. This chapter takes place around November-December 445 BC.
    2. NIV SB: Means “The Lord comforts.”[2]
    3. Nehemiah is written to the people of Judah who had returned from exile in Persia.
    4. God uses Nehemiah to lead his people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and to rebuild their distinctive identity as God’s people.[3]
    5. In Nehemiah 1:1-4, he hears of the news of the plight of Jerusalem.
    6. Nehemiah 1:4 (ESV)
    7. 4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
    8. Prayer is the theme of Nehemiah.
    9. Earlier, around 520 BC, Haggai was written, and around 515 BC, the temple was completed (for the second time).
    10. Nehemiah 1:11 says that he was a cupbearer to the king. According to the Greek historian Xenophon (Cyropaedia, 1.3.9), one of the cupbearer’s duties was to choose and taste the king’s wine to make certain that it was not poisoned. [4]
  2. Nehemiah prays about Israel’s situation.
    1. God’s people have disobeyed his laws and are suffering the penalty.[5]
    2. Nehemiah 1:5–7 (ESV)
    3. 5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.
    4. We saw in Nehemiah 1:4 that he was weeping, mourning, and fasting.
    5. Notice his worshipful prayer.
    6. The city of God, Jerusalem, was in disrepair. That grieved him.
    7. We don’t have a strong correlation for us. We don’t have a city in the United States that is God’s city. We are not God’s nation, at least not in the way of Old Testament Israel.
    8. However, does the state of the church break our hearts?
    9. When we hear of the church caught in sin, does it move us to prayer and fasting?
    10. Are we caught up in just saying a simple prayer, or will we fast from television, our phones, or food to seek the Lord more deeply? When we fast, we are dedicating the time we would be eating, watching television, or using technology to prayer. When we desire those items, we pray, “Lord, we need You more than this.”
    11. In Nehemiah 1:5, he prays in worship. He identified God as the awesome God.
    12. He appeals to God as the One Who keeps covenant and steadfast love…
    13. This is for those who keep His commandments.
    14. I like what the Christian Standard Study Bible writes: Nehemiah’s prayer, while shorter than Ezra’s (see note at Ezr 9:6–15), is also written in late biblical Hebrew style found in other penitential prayers of that era (Neh 9:5–37; Dn 9:4–19). Like them it reflects the language of Deuteronomy, acknowledging that Israel’s adversities had resulted from the nation’s covenant unfaithfulness and that their present survival was due solely to God’s abundant mercy.[6]
    15. In verse 6, Nehemiah 1:6, he confesses the sins of Israel.
    16. Notice this contrite prayer: 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.
    17. He is speaking to God with human language.
    18. “Let Your ear be attentive…” “let Your eyes be open…” That is anthropomorphic language. It ascribes to God human attributes.
    19. Nehemiah identifies himself as the Lord’s servant. He also identifies Israel as the Lord’s servants.
    20. He is praying to the Lord, day and night.
    21. He is praying for the people of Israel.
    22. He is confessing Israel’s sins.
    23. Notice how he says, “we have sinned…” Further, they sinned against the Lord (Ps. 51:4).
    24. He adds, “even I and my father’s house have sinned.”
    25. We all sin, he is confessing.
    26. How serious are we about confessing sin?
    27. Psalm 66:18 (ESV) If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
    28. Habakkuk 1:13 (ESV) You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong…
    29. Isaiah 59:2 (ESV) but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
    30. Numbers 32:23 (ESV) But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.
  3. God’s promise (Nehemiah 1:8–10):
    1. If the people repent, the Lord has promised to restore them.
    2. Nehemiah 1:8–10 (ESV)
    3. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
    4. Nehemiah asks the Lord to remember the word He told Moses.
    5. This may be Leviticus 26:33 and Deuteronomy 30:2-3.
    6. In vv. 8–9 Nehemiah explicitly quotes Dt 30:1–4 (also Lv 26:33), effectively Moses’ last words to Israel before Joshua’s conquest, and in so doing identifies with the promises of restoration to the land, which would partly take place under Nehemiah’s own leadership. The regular mention of the people You [God] redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand (v. 10) is the language of Passover and the exodus (Ex 12–14).[7]
    7. After 70 years of captivity in Babylon, God kept His promise to restore His people to the Promised Land. The promise appeared to be failing, and Nehemiah appealed to God’s character and covenant as the basis by which He must intervene and accomplish His pledges to His people.[8]
    8. Nehemiah recalled how God had said, “Though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.”
    9. The place God had chosen was Jerusalem.
    10. This is so very powerful. The people were scattered after Israel was conquered. They were in captivity in Babylon. Yet, Babylon was conquered by Persia, and Persia sent them back. But God was really the One sending them back to Jerusalem.
    11. Nehemiah is praying Scripture.
    12. Do we pray the promises of God?
    13. Do we pray Scripture?
    14. We can’t pray Scripture if we aren’t in the Word of God.
    15. Are we in the Word of God? Soak it up and then pray it back to the Lord.
    16. Nehemiah 1:10 (ESV) They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
    17. Nehemiah claims the people of Israel as the Lord’s people.
    18. God redeemed them.
    19. We again have anthropomorphic language. Nehemiah ascribes human attributes to the Lord.
    20. God redeemed them with His strong right hand.
  4. Nehemiah’s petition (Nehemiah 1:11): Nehemiah prays that the Lord will cause the king to grant his request to return to Jerusalem.[9]
    1. Nehemiah 1:11 (ESV)
    2. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.
    3. He repeats what he started with- “Let Your ear be attentive…”
    4. He prays for success.
    5. He says God’s servants- Nehemiah and Israel delight to fear the Lord’s Name.
    6. Fear would be holy reverence. This is deep, set apart respect.
    7. Do we have deep, set-apart respect for the Lord and His Name?
    8. Nehemiah asks for mercy.
    9. He was a cupbearer to the king.
    10. As the cupbearer, he had access to the king.
    11. The cupbearer in the ancient Near Eastern court held a very important position. He had direct access to the king and thus had great influence. Texts and reliefs describe cupbearers in Assyrian and Persian courts. The cupbearer was in close proximity to the king’s harem and thus was often a eunuch, although there is no evidence that this was the case with Nehemiah. Later sources identify the cupbearer as the wine taster. In addition he was the bearer of the signet ring and was chief financial officer.[10]
    12. Can we learn to pray like Nehemiah?
    13. Make our prayers worshipful.
    14. Repent as we pray. Take sin seriously.
    15. Take prayer seriously. Have a holy, set-apart reverence for the Lord.
    16. Ask for mercy.
    17. Add-in fasting.
    18. Pray spiritual prayers.
    19. He is not praying for good health or money. None of those requests are wrong, but they must be secondary to spiritual needs. He is praying for Israel’s spiritual condition, which leads to the needs of Jerusalem.
    20. Nehemiah’s intercession for the people prefigures Christ’s intercession for us before God the Father (Heb. 7:25).[11]

Pray

 

[1] G. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1986), 98.

[2] Kenneth L. Barker, ed., NIV Study Bible, Fully Revised Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020), 778.

[3] Kenneth L. Barker, ed., NIV Study Bible, Fully Revised Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020), 775.

[4] Kenneth L. Barker, ed., NIV Study Bible, Fully Revised Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020), 779.

[5] H. L. Willmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), Ne 1:4–7.

[6] Carl R. Anderson, “Nehemiah,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 720.

  1. verses
  2. verse

[7] Bryan O’Neal, “Nehemiah,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 656.

[8] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ne 1:5.

[9] H. L. Willmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), Ne 1:8–11.

[10] Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), Ne 1:11.

[11] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 825.

Parable of the Sower- I urge you to pray for faith that has good soil. Pray this for yourself and your descendants.

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Father’s Day 2026

June 21, 2026

Matthew 13: Parable of the Sower- I urge you to pray for faith that has good soil. Pray this for yourself and your descendants.

Happy Father’s Day!

Timothy Keller writes:

Dr. Lloyd-Jones has this incredibly interesting illustration that really changed the way I thought about a lot of things when I heard it. Dr. Lloyd-Jones was himself a very powerful preacher, and one evening he was preaching a set of evening services. They were evangelistic evening services. One evening he was preaching, and he could feel the Spirit working through him, and he was preaching up a pretty good storm. He noticed a particular man in the balcony who seemed to be very emotionally affected. He was pretty obviously upset, pretty obviously weeping.

Dr. Lloyd-Jones finished the sermon, and at the door, the man came on through, and he said, “Hello.” It looked like the man was going to say something, but somebody else came on up and asked him something else, and on the man went. The next night as Dr. Lloyd-Jones was walking to church, the man was coming the other direction, not going to church at all. He said, “Hello, Reverend.” Dr. Lloyd-Jones said, “How do you do?” He remembered him. He said to Lloyd-Jones, “I’ll tell you something. You missed your chance last night.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I went to hear you preach. I’m not a religious man. I’m not a Christian. I went to hear you preach out of curiosity. And you know, gosh darn, you are pretty good. You really had me there for a while. If you had given some kind of invitation to respond to Jesus Christ last night, I probably would have done it. In fact, at the door, if you had just said, ‘Come with me, and let’s sit down and talk,’ I probably would have prayed some kind of prayer or something, but you didn’t.”

“Well, that doesn’t matter. I have time now. Everything is fine right now. This is matter of most urgent importance, so come with me right now. We’ll go and talk.”

“No, no, no. I’m sorry. You didn’t hear what I said. That was yesterday. I woke up this morning. I realized, “Gosh, I was just really upset yesterday, and I don’t know what came over me.” The fact is, if you had done something yesterday, you would have had me, but you missed your chance. I hope that teaches you a lesson, Dr. Lloyd-Jones.”

Dr. Lloyd-Jones looked at him and said, “My dear friend, I don’t know what happened to you last night, but if it didn’t last 24 hours, it was not the work of the Spirit of the living God. If you want to come with me right now, I’d be very happy to, but I didn’t miss anything, and you didn’t miss anything either.” Now you know what he is trying to say. It lasts. It works. You obeyed from the heart the form of teaching.

So, do we pray that our faith sticks?

Do we pray that our children and grandchildren will have faith that sticks?

What does this mean? Does our faith have deep roots? Is it in good soil?

We are in a year-long focus on prayer.

My theme: Today, I urge you to pray for faith that has good soil. Pray this for yourself and your descendants.

I. The parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-8)

Matthew 13:1–9 (ESV)
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

a. A farmer sows grain, which falls upon four different kinds of soil, producing four different results.
b. Swindoll points out that Matthew 12 was a long day for Jesus. Now, He sits by the sea to rest but they won’t let Him.
c. Notice verse 1 says, “that same day…” This is the same day as His previous teaching.
d. The verse also says that He went out of the house… So, He was in a house.
e. In the previous chapter, Jesus had a confrontation with the Pharisees over plucking grain on the sabbath; healing a man with a withered hand, and casting out a demon. He was told that He casts out demons by the prince of the demons. Jesus had also been teaching in the previous chapter.
f. Jesus gets into a boat…
g. Jesus gets in the boat for the purpose of relieving the overcrowding, but this would also make him easier to hear; a speaker to a crowd on shore would produce an ideal acoustic situation.
h. Several other parables follow.
i. In church history, they would try to allegorize parables. Then they would try to give a single meaning, but sometimes Jesus gives more than one.
j. They cannot be allegorized.
k. Roadside soil (13:1–4): This seed is soon devoured by the birds.
l. Shallow, rocky soil (13:5–6): This seed springs up quickly but soon withers, being scorched by the sun.
m. Thorn-infested soil (13:7): This seed is quickly choked by the thorns.
n. Fertile soil (13:8): This seed produces a thirty, sixty, and even hundredfold crop!
o. A receptive heart will bear fruit –
p. good heart;
q. good soil;
r. good hearing; and a
s. good mind.
t. This is not about us, but God bearing fruit for the Gospel. We must be in the Word. We must be focused on spiritual disciplines to be more like Christ, not just for legalism…The soil cannot change itself… Pray the Holy Spirit would soften our hearts, provide us with roots, dig us deep…
u. Review:
v. The path: the birds ate it,
w. The rocky places: grew and then died;
x. The weeds or thorns grew and then is suffocated;
y. Good soil- grew and multiplied.
z. Robert Murray M’Cheyne said our hearts are like a smoking furnace. Nobody can really see more than a foot or two into them. The fact is, the Word of God can blow a lot of that away and help us really see what our hearts are made of.

II. The interpretation of the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:18-23).

Matthew 13:18–23 (ESV)
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

a. The seed (Matthew 13:18–19a): The seed represents the Good News about the Kingdom.
b. The roadside soil (Matthew 13:19b): The hard soil represents those who hear the message but do not understand it, thus allowing Satan to steal it from them.
c. The rocky soil (Matthew 13:20–21): The shallow, rocky soil represents those who have no depth and thus drop out upon encountering any trouble or persecution.
d. The thorn-infested soil (Matthew 13:22): The thorny ground represents those who allow the lure of wealth to snuff out the Good News.
e. Fertile soil (Matthew 13:23): The good soil represents those who truly accept God’s message, producing an abundant harvest.
f. It seems to me that the parable makes sense. It is easy to understand, but there are major applications.

III. Applications:

a. We want to have good soil in our hearts to grow spiritually. We talked about this earlier.
b. We must be active in the Spiritual Disciplines.
c. We partner with the Holy Spirit.
d. As we share the Gospel, we must pray that the Lord casts the seeds that we plant into good soil.
e. Are we praying for faith with deep roots?
f. Are we praying for faith in good soil?
g. Are we praying that our descendants walk with the Lord?
h. Are we praying that our descendants have faith with deep roots?
i. Are we striving to encourage and uplift our children and grandchildren?
j. Can we pray for them?
k. Can we love them?
l. Can we encourage them?
m. Can we always do that “in Christ”?

 

Ezra’s Prayer (Ezra 9:5ff)

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Ezra’s prayer (Ezra 9:5ff)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, June 14, 2026

Tony Evans shares:

It wasn’t too long ago that I was going down a one-way street, and I noticed somebody coming the other way. Obviously there was a problem. That car was going the wrong way. As I kept driving, I heard sounds all around me. After awhile it became clear that all these chorus of voices were trying to get my attention, trying to confront me with the reality that I was wrong. You see, I thought stuff was wrong with everybody else, when the problem was with me.

I suspected that there were two reasons for their concern. One is the damage that I could do to myself. The other is the damage I could do to others. They could have simply ignored it, and said, “That’s his business.” Or, they could do what they did, which is try to get my attention, because they understood that when you’re going the wrong way, somebody needs to confront you, so that you can reverse your direction.169,[1]

We are in a year-long series on prayer.

We are going to look at a passage in which Ezra prays and makes confessions for the people of Israel.

My theme today is:

Ezra prays for the people.

  1. Context:
    1. Who was Ezra?
    2. Ezra was a priest. Let me give you a little background now. In the Old Testament, Israel had their own land, kings, and government, but they didn’t follow God. Instead, they worshipped Baal. Baal was a fertility and nature god of the Phoenicians and many other cultures. Since Israel didn’t follow the True God, He gave them over to captivity. Around 586 BC, Israel was taken over by Babylon. The people were taken captive. Daniel was one of them. Then, eventually, Persia conquered Babylon, and God looked on Israel with favor, and the king of Persia decided to let the Israelites return to Judah and rebuild the Temple (Ezra 3). Ezra was a Jewish priest who led a group of people back to Judah.
    3. There was a time when Ezra had to go back to Persia. Then Ezra returned to Jerusalem a few months before this happened.
    4. According to the traditional view, Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the seventh year (Ezr 7:8) of Artaxerxes I (458 BC), followed by Nehemiah, who arrived in the king’s 20th year (444; Ne 2:1, 11).[2]
    5. In Ezra 9:1-4, he returns and realizes the people of Israel married foreign women. They were never supposed to marry outsiders.
    6. Intermarriage was forbidden in Deut. 7:3–4 because it led to idolatry (see Ezra 9:11–14). Separation prefigures the need for uncompromising allegiance to Christ (Matt. 10:34–39; Luke 14:26–33; 2 Cor. 6:14–7:1).[3]
    7. Prior to the Israelite exile, intermarriage with foreigners was one of the things that led them into idolatry.
    8. Once they intermarried, they began to follow foreign gods.
    9. In verses 1-2, there were two accusations:
    10. (1) They had not separated themselves. (2) They participated in the abominations of the foreign nations. The issue not only concerned intermarriage, but also communal purity and idolatry (Ex 34:11–16; Dt 7:3–4).[4]
    11. This brings us to our passage. 
    12. Ezra 9:3 (ESV)
    13. 3 As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.
    14. These were traditional signs of grief in Israel and other nations.
    15. Ezra 9:4–6 (ESV)
    16. 4 Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. 5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, 6 saying:
    17. “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.
    18. Ezra is sitting in grief.
    19. In 1 Kings 11:1-13, we see Solomon’s downfall. But in the first few verses it specifically says that his foreign wives led him astray.
    20. Think about this: Ezra is tasked with leading people back to Jerusalem and rebuilding the Temple. Yet, they are back in the same sins that brought them down.
    21. Ezra is in grief over the people’s sins.
  2. How much does sin bother us?
    1. Let’s go deeper:
    2. Are we bothered because of the sin?
    3. Or because, in our opinion, or preference, it bothers us? Many times, the lines get blurred.
    4. I knew a church that was discerning sanctuary seating. They were considering pews versus chairs. The pastor said he really didn’t care which was chosen. A man came in and got really angry. He yelled and pounded his fist on the table, “They must be pews.” That is a preference issue. It is not a biblical issue.
    5. On the other hand, there are biblical issues, but we may think of them as preferences. This can cause us: 1) not to be bothered. Or, 2) to be grieved because of our preferences and not because of the holiness of God.
    6. Sin is cosmic treason.
    7. Sin breaks God’s heart.
    8. Does sin break our hearts?
    9. What about sins of omission? These are not doing things we should do for the Kingdom of God.
    10. Psalm 66:18 (ESV) If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
    11. Habakkuk 1:13 (ESV) You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong…
    12. God is holy.
    13. How do we react to sin?
    14. Do we grieve? Do we go to the Lord?
  3. Ezra prays to the Lord, confessing the faithlessness of Judah and the faithfulness of the Lord.
    1. The faithlessness of the people of Judah (9:6–7, 10–15)
    2. Their past sins (9:6–7):
    3. Let’s re-read verse 6: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.
    4. Ezra is going before the Lord like a priest. He is confessing their sins to the Lord.
    5. Ezra’s priestly prayer of intercession and confession is like Daniel’s (Da 9:1–20) and Nehemiah’s (Ne 1:4–11), in that he used plural pronouns that identified himself with the people’s sin, even though he did not participate in it. The use of “we,” “our” and “us” demonstrates Ezra’s understanding that the sin of the few is sufficient to contaminate the many.[5]
    6. He is ashamed.
    7. He didn’t commit the sins, but he owns them.
    8. I like what one sources shares:
    9. The train of thought in this prayer is as follows: I scarcely dare to lift up my face to God, through shame for the greatness of our misdeeds (v. 6)…[6]
    10. Ezra was sitting and contemplating the sin for hours. Now, he confesses.
    11. He makes no excuses. He is humble.
    12. Ezra 9:7 (ESV)
    13. 7 From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today.
    14. He is now speaking to the Lord about the past. He understands they were taken into captivity because of these sins.
    15. The faithfulness of the Lord (9:8–9):
    16. Ezra 9:8–9 (ESV)
    17. 8 But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. 9 For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem.
    18. Ezra is grateful that the Lord has shown favor.
    19. God has left them a remnant.
    20. What is he referring to?
    21. Though they were conquered, the Lord left them a remnant. Israel didn’t cease to exist.
    22. God gave them a “secure hold” with His holy place. What does that mean?
    23. Literally, Heb “a peg” or “tent peg.” The imagery behind this word is drawn from the experience of nomads who put down pegs as they pitched their tents and made camp after times of travel.[7]
    24. God is letting them come back and rebuild.
    25. In verse 9, the Lord continues to share that they are slaves, but the Lord has given steadfast love before the king of Persia…
    26. Notice, Ezra gives all credit to the Lord.
    27. Even though the Jews were still subject to the Persian Empire, Ezra recognized that God had blessed them and given them new life as a religious community. The word for “wall of protection,” gādēr, is generally used of a fence or a wall around a vineyard. Ezra here was not talking about the Jerusalem wall but about God’s protection for the Jewish community.[8]
  4. Their present sins (9:10–15)[9]
    1. Ezra 9:10–15 (ESV)
    2. 10 “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, 11 which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. 12 Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ 13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, 14 shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? 15 O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”
    3. He ends this prayer as he began.
    4. He is talking about the sins of the people.
    5. He still uses the plural, “we.”
    6. “We” have…
    7. They have forsaken God’s commandments.
    8. NAC: He mentioned some of these commands in vv. 11–12 and referred to various passages (Lev 18:25ff.; 2 Kgs 16:3; Deut 7:1–3; 11:8; 23:6; 2 Kgs 21:16; Isa 1:19), thus testifying to the unity of Scripture. We must know God’s Word so we can heed the warnings that are applicable to the present dangers. We need to remember that God has given specific ethical commands that should be followed in order to do his will.[10]
    9. They intermarried, but they were told not to do this.
    10. We spoke about this.
    11. They weren’t to make treaties with the people of the land.
    12. In verse 13, he shares that God punished them less than their sins deserved.
    13. God gave them a remnant.
    14. In verse 14, he asks, “Shall we break Your commandment again…? That seems like a shocking question, one that anticipates a positive answer. It seems as if he is really saying, “How could we!!!”
    15. He fears that God will not allow the remnant to continue.
    16. God is not capricious like human beings; his anger is his just reaction to disobedience and evil.[11]
    17. Notice how he ends-
    18. 15 O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”
    19. He is appealing to the Lord as just.
    20. If we read on, in Ezra 10:1, the people join him in confession.
    21. The confession was contagious.
  2.  Applications
    1. Do we pray in humility?
    2. Does sin break our hearts?
    3. Do we give all credit to the Lord?

In 2023, Asbury University had another revival. In the 1970’s, there were revivals at Asbury. Sometimes revivals are contagious. Sometimes confession is contagious. That happened in 2023 during the Asbury Revival. That also happened in Ezra 10:1. The people joined in repentance.

Let’s pray for revival here.

Prayer

 

[1] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 66.

[2] Kenneth L. Barker, ed., NIV Study Bible, Fully Revised Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020), 752.

[3] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 818.

[4] J. Brian Tucker, “Ezra,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 650.

[5] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ezr 9:5–15.

[6] Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 4 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 74.

[7] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Ezr 9:8.

[8] Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, electronic ed., vol. 10, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 153–154.

[9] H. L. Willmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), Ezr 9:5–9.

[10] Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, electronic ed., vol. 10, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 154.

[11] Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, electronic ed., vol. 10, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 155.

Jehoshaphat’s Prayer of Faith in Crisis (2 Chronicles 20:6–12)

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Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, June 7, 2026

Jehoshaphat’s Prayer of Faith in Crisis (2 Chronicles 20:6–12)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, June 7, 2026

When I was sixteen, I was out with people from the church youth group. I had recently received my driver’s license, but I didn’t have my own car yet. Instead, I drove my mom’s Astro minivan. My dad told me to be home at 11:30 pm. We were having a bonfire at the back of the church. I was with good people. It wasn’t a church event, but the pastor’s son and a few college students from the church were there. They were responsible young adults studying for the mission field. In just a few years, at least one of them would be on the mission field in Africa. Still, I was to be home at 11:30 pm. I got home about 11:40 pm. I thought my dad wouldn’t notice, but he was sitting on the steps, waiting for me. This was a different day; we didn’t have cell phones. My dad couldn’t track my location, nor could he call me. He had to trust that I was safe. I don’t think I was punished beyond a lecture, which I deserved. But you know why my dad was there? He was waiting because he cared. Many of you have been in that position. We wait, we watch, we discipline, we instruct, and so much more because we care. 

When I walked through the door, I was afraid to see my dad on the steps. There were other times when I felt safe seeing my dad on the steps. There were countless times I felt safe seeing my dad. That is the way it should be. For example, when I was in preschool, I once saw my dad walk into the building. Having just come from work, he was walking quickly, wearing a suit and tie. I was excited to see my dad coming to pick me up from school. When I was that age, there was a sense of safety in seeing my dad. There was also a sense of safety in seeing my mom, though it was different. 

We are going to look at a passage in which the leader of Judah prays for God’s protection. He appeals to the Lord. He can do that because Judah was God’s people.

My theme: Learn to pray like Jehoshaphat.

My application: Be encouraged, if you are in Christ, God is your dad.

  1. Context:
    1. At this point, Israel is a divided kingdom.
    2. We have the kingdom of Israel in the north and Judah in the south.
    3. Jehoshaphat is the fourth king of Judah, and son of Asa. His mother was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. He was thirty-five years of age at his accession, and reigned twenty-five years, ca 873–849 b.c.[1]
    4. Verse 1 (of 2 Chronicles 20) shares that three people groups are coming to battle against Jehoshaphat.
    5. This invasion followed religious reforms that were made in 2 Chronicles 20.
    6. The people that invaded were the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites.
    7. The Moabites and Ammonites lived east of the Dead Sea. The Meunites are equated with the people of Mount Seir (20:10, 22, 23), on the southern border of Judah (see Deut. 2:1; 2 Chron. 26:7). Engedi lies on the midpoint of the Dead Sea’s western shore.[2]
    8. Verse 3 (of 2 Chronicles 20) shares that Jehoshaphat was afraid.
    9. What did he do? He set his face to seek the Lord.
    10. 2 Chronicles 20:3 shares that Jehoshaphat proclaims a fast throughout all of Judah.
    11. 2 Chronicles 20:4 shares that all the people of Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord.
    12. 2 Chronicles 20:5 shares that Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord and said…
    13. We will begin his prayer in a minute.
    14. First, let’s notice what they did.
    15. They all came together.
    16. They were willing to fast for this need.
    17. Generally, this means they would abstain from food for a period of time.
    18. What do we do when we have a need?
    19. Do we go to the Lord?
    20. CSB:
    21. With the northern kingdom of Israel occupied in war against the Arameans, the countries east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea decided to invade Judah. The Meunites were also referred to as the Edomites.[3]
    22. By the time the word of this invasion got to Jehoshaphat, the army had come as far as En-gedi, about fifty miles from Jerusalem on the west shore of the Dead Sea.[4]
  2. Jehoshaphat reviews the Lord’s faithfulness (2 Chronicles 20:5-9).
    1. 2 Chronicles 20:5–9 (ESV)
    2. 5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, 6 and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. 7 Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8 And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, 9 ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’
    3. In verse 6, he begins acknowledging Who the Lord is.
    4. He begins with this.
    5. He says, “God of our fathers.” He is saying the Lord is the covenant-keeping God of Israel.
    6. He is saying that they are the Lord’s people.
    7. He is the God of Abraham, Moses, and all those of Israel’s past.
    8. He says, “Are You not God in heaven?” Of course, we know that He is God. He is God in heaven.
    9. He says, “You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations…”
    10. He is saying that the Lord is the ruler. These nations invading Judah are not really a threat.
    11. The Lord is the ruler.
    12. The Lord is ruling behind the scenes.
    13. He says, “In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.”
    14. In other words, he is appealing to the Lord’s sovereignty.
    15. The Lord is in control.
    16. Then in verses 7-8, he begins to review God’s protection over Israel’s past.
    17. God drove out the inhabitants of the land and gave the land to the Israelites.
    18. At the end of verse 8 and throughout verse 9, he says that the Israelites have said that if disaster comes, they will stand before the Lord because His Name is connected with them.
    19. He says the Lord will hear and save.
    20. He is saying that they represent the Lord; therefore, they will stand their ground.
  3. Jehoshaphat requests the Lord to protect His people again (2 Chronicles 20:10-12).
    1. 2 Chronicles 20:10–12 (ESV)
    2. 10 And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy— 11 behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. 12 O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
    3. In verse 10, he names the threats.
    4. He is still writing about history.
    5. When they left Egypt, the Lord did not let them invade Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir.
    6. He says they did not destroy these people groups.
    7. Why does this matter? When they left Egypt, there were certain peoples whom they were supposed to destroy.
    8. Why? This is because the Lord knew that if these groups of people remained, they would corrupt Israel. These people groups practiced temple prostitution, child sacrifice, and other deplorable practices.
    9. Jehoshaphat continues, saying that they reward them by trying to drive them out of their inheritance.
    10. In verse 12, he says that they are powerless. Why? This is because multiple groups are coming at them at once.
    11. Jehoshaphat says that their eyes are on the Lord.
    12. Later, starting in 2 Chronicles 20:24, we see that the Lord delivered them.
    13. Regarding this passage, one source shares:
    14. Jehoshaphat’s response was nearly as surprising as the invasion itself—but it showed him as an ideal Davidic King, a man of committed faith, and an exemplary leader of the nation whose God is the Lord.[5]
  4.  Applications:
    1. Let’s make some applications.
    2. This was great humility on Jehoshaphat’s part. Do we humbly go before the Lord?
    3. When we pray, do we worship?
    4. When we pray, do we acknowledge that the Lord is in control?
    5. When we pray, do we pray as needy people?
    6. When we pray, do we remember the Lord’s faithfulness?
    7. When we pray, do we recognize that we are one of His (1 John 3:1)? Jehoshaphat recognized that they were the Lord’s people. If we are in Christ, we are one of His. We are the Lord’s people.

I began this sermon by talking about my dad waiting up for me when I got home late. Some 14 years later, I became a dad. Since then, there hasn’t been a night I haven’t checked on my daughters before bed. Even when I am away, I do my best to call home. Why does this matter? If we love our children, we protect them. We protect them physically. This starts before they are born. We protect them emotionally. We protect them spiritually. We do that because we love them.

I love my daughters. I will always do what I can to protect them. I expect they can come to me as a loving father, and I will do what I can to support them.

God loves you. His expectations are because He loves you. The people of Judah went to Him in prayer as their God. They were God’s people. If you are in Christ, so are you.

You can go to him in prayer like a dad.

Prayer

 

ca circa, about

[1] S. K. Mosiman and D. F. Payne, “Jehoshaphat,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised, ed. Geoffrey W Bromiley (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 978.

[2] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 767–768.

[3] Winfried Corduan, “2 Chronicles,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 670.

[4] Winfried Corduan, “2 Chronicles,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 670.

[5] Kevin D. Zuber, “2 Chronicles,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 612.