SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/10/2011 12:23:43 PM
My Worship Time
Focus: “We Must Give Our
Praise to God”
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference:
Nehemiah
12:27-42
Message of the verses: “27 For
the dedication of the new wall of Jerusalem, the Levites throughout the land
were asked to come to Jerusalem to assist in the ceremonies. They were to take
part in the joyous occasion with their songs of thanksgiving and with the music
of cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28 The singers were brought together from the
region around Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites. 29 They
also came from Beth-gilgal and the rural areas near Geba and Azmaveth, for the
singers had built their own settlements around Jerusalem. 30 The priests and
Levites first purified themselves; then they purified the people, the gates,
and the wall. 31 I led the leaders of Judah to the top of the wall and
organized two large choirs to give thanks. One of the choirs proceeded southward
along the top of the wall to the Dung Gate. 32 Hoshaiah and half the leaders of
Judah followed them, 33 along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah,
Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah. 35
Then came some priests who played trumpets, including Zechariah son of
Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, a
descendant of Asaph. 36 And Zechariah’s colleagues were Shemaiah, Azarel,
Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani. They used the musical
instruments prescribed by David, the man of God. Ezra the scribe led this
procession. 37 At the Fountain Gate they went straight up the steps on the
ascent of the city wall toward the City of David. They passed the house of
David and then proceeded to the Water Gate on the east. 38 The second choir
giving thanks went northward around the other way to meet them. I followed
them, together with the other half of the people, along the top of the wall
past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, 39 then past the Ephraim Gate to
the Old City Gate, past the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel, and on to the
Tower of the Hundred. Then we continued on to the Sheep Gate and stopped at the
Guard Gate. 40 The two choirs that were giving thanks then proceeded to the
Temple of God, where they took their places. So did I, together with the group
of leaders who were with me. 41 We went together with the trumpet-playing
priests-Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and
Hananiah- 42 and the singers-Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan,
Malkijah, Elam, and Ezer. They played and sang loudly under the direction of
Jezrahiah the choir director.”
In
yesterday’s SD we learned that in this chapter from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on
Nehemiah that there were three sacrifices described in this eleventh and
twelfth chapters of Nehemiah that were to be followed by the church today. Here is a verse from Hebrews: “Through
Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is,
the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” (Heb. 13:15).
In
this section we will see the people dedicate the wall that they had just completed. In chapter 8-10 we saw that first of all the
people were dedicated and now the work that they had accomplished, and this is
the correct order, for why dedicate something that the people had done without
them being dedicated?
This
dedication service began with two groups of people on the walls of Jerusalem
that had just been completed and it looks like one went one way and the other
the other way and then they meet at the Temple of the Lord. This seemed proper for after all it was the
good hand of the Lord who gave the people the ability and the incentive to
build these was that were not being dedicated.
The people as they marched around the walls were given praise and glory
to the Lord for His goodness to them and they were also giving a witness to a
watching world. After all at the
beginning of his book we learned that one of the enemies had said that even if
a fox would walk on this wall it would fall down and now the Gentiles could see
that that statement was not true.
As
these Jews were marching around the newly built wall they were in a sense
saying that we have all worked on these walls but they belonged to the Lord and
not to the people who built them. This
is important to remember that if we take part in a church building project with
money or work it all belongs to the Lord and not to those who worked or gave to
the project.
Dr.
Wiersbe points out that it is important to believers today that are a part of a
church building plan, when it is over they should not lose their focus, but use
it as a spring board to continue to work for the Lord. He then goes on to give the most important
reason for this service. “It was the expression of joyful
praise that came from the choirs and the people.”
We
must remember that it was King David who had earlier organized the priests and
the Levites and written much of the music that was used at this service. He had also devised the musical instruments
that were used in this dedication service, instruments that were used to praise
the Lord. It also David who had captured
the city of Jerusalem some 500 years earlier and then God made the city of
Jerusalem the place where His temple was to be built.
We
see in this section that it was not just the Levites and Priests and the
musicians who were praising the Lord but the people too were praising the
Lord. (Neh. 12:43) We also see in verse 43 that the voices of
the people were heard afar off. This was
the shout of joy.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I suppose that this section of Scripture brings
up a point that I am still trying to understand in a better way, and that is
styles of worship. Because of travel to
different parts of the world, and believe me it has been somewhat limited, I
have seen different styles of worship and what I mean is mostly singing and
praising the Lord. I was at a church
where people took off their shoes and sang in the isles for three times longer
that the Word was preached. This is just
an example but it is there to make a point, and that point is that I want to be
in a church that I feel comfortable in so that I can praise the Lord. I suppose that this is one of the questions
that I still have and will continue to seek answers for it.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Begin how to effectively praise the Lord.
2.
Continue to learn contentment.
3.
Trust the Lord as I go through some type of illness
at this time.
9/10/2011 1:12:02 PM
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