Nehemiah 1:4

sat down and wept.

This sad account of the condition of Jerusalem deeply moved Nehemiah. Though it was. hundred and fifty years since his fathers had been brought from Judea, and though he had. high position and great favor with the king, still he looked upon himself as an exile and Judea as his home. The intense affection for Jerusalem of the exiled Jews during this period is touching. It often finds expression in Psalms. "If. forget thee,. Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If. do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if. prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." Psalms 137:5-6. Nehemiah not only wept over the condition of Jerusalem, but went into. period of mourning, fasting and prayer, We next have. record of the prayer he offered.

The God of heaven.

This expression occurs often in Nehemiah and is unknown to the earlier Jewish writers. It is. Persian phrase, and natural to Nehemiah, who was born and bred at the Persian court.