Nehemiah 2:1-3

When Nehemiah heard the bad news from *Judah, he prayed. He asked God to help him so that he could say the right thing to the king. 4 months later he had his opportunity. He did not waste the 4 months. He continued to pray. In the end, he felt confident about what God wanted him to say.

Nehemiah’s face was sad when he served the wine to the king. He had not been sad before when he was with the king. In those days servants had to be happy when they were with the king (Esther 4:2). They must not make the king sad or angry. The king could kill servants who made him angry.

But Nehemiah was sad that day. And the king could see that Nehemiah was sad. The king might have been very angry and Nehemiah was afraid. But God was in control and so the king was kind to Nehemiah. The king asked Nehemiah why he was sad. So Nehemiah told the king the bad news about Jerusalem.

Nehemiah chose his words carefully. It seems that he did not actually name Jerusalem. In the past, the king had been worried about Jerusalem (Ezra 4:19). At that time, the king did not want the *Jews to rebuild the city. So Nehemiah simply spoke about the city where his *ancestors’ graves were. He mentioned the graves for another reason too. Often, people believe that they should take great care of graves, because of their religion. Nehemiah hoped that the king would feel sympathy for him.

v4 The king asked me, ‘What do you want?’

So I prayed to God in heaven. v5 Then I said to the king, ‘I am your servant. I shall do whatever you want. If your thoughts are favourable towards me, please send me to *Judah. Send me to the city where the graves of my *ancestors are. Then I can rebuild it.’

v6 The queen was sitting next to the king. And the king said to me, ‘How long will your journey take? And when will you return?’ So I told him when I would return. And my plan pleased the king, and he sent me.