Nehemiah 9:6

_THOU, EVEN THOU, ART LORD ALONE; THOU HAST MADE HEAVEN, THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS, WITH ALL THEIR HOST, THE EARTH, AND ALL THINGS THAT ARE THEREIN, THE SEAS, AND ALL THAT IS THEREIN, AND THOU PRESERVEST THEM ALL; AND THE HOST OF HEAVEN WORSHIPPETH THEE._ Thou, even thou, art Lord alone ... In this solemn and impressive prayer, in which they made public confession of their sins, and deprecated the judgments due to the transgressions of their fathers, they begin with a profound adoration of God, whose supreme majesty and omnipotence is acknowledged in the creation, preservation, and government of all, and then they proceed to enumerate His mercies and distinguished favours to them as a nation, from the period of the call of their great ancestor, and the gracious promise intimated to him in the divinely bestowed name of Abraham-a premise which implied that he was to be the Father of the faith...

4-38 The summary of their prayers we have here upon record. Much more, no doubt, was said. Whatever ability we have to do any thing in the way of duty, we are to serve and glorify God according to the utmost of it. When confessing our sins, it is good to notice the mercies of God, that we may be the more humbled and ashamed. The dealings of the Lord showed his goodness and long-suffering, and the hardness of their hearts. The testimony of the prophets was the testimony of the Spirit in the prophets, and it was the Spirit of Christ in them. They spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and what they said is to be received accordingly. The result was, wonder at the Lord's mercies, and the feeling that sin had brought them to their present state, from which nothing but unmerited love could rescue them. And is not their conduct a specimen of human nature? Let us study the history of our...

Verse Nehemiah 9:6. _THOU PRESERVEST THEM ALL_] ואתה מחיה את כלם _vettah mechaiyeh eth cullam_, and thou _givest life_ to them all: _and_ _the host of the heavens_, לך משתחוים lecha mishtachavim, prostrate _themselves unto thee_. How near is this to the opinion of _Kepler_, that all the heavenly host are _instinct_ with _life_, and navigate the great expanse on pinions adjusted to their situation in their respective orbits! But to _preserve in life_, or in _being_, is a very good meaning in the original, which does not necessarily imply _vitality_. We say a _tree_ is _alive_ when _flourishing_, a _plant_ is _dead_ when it _withers_, c....

THE HOST OF HEAVEN WORSHIPPETH THEE - i. e the angels. See 1 Kings 22:19; Psalms 103:21....

EXPOSITION SOLEMN FAST KEPT, WITH CONFESSION OF SINS; AND VOLUNTARY COVENANT WITH GOD ENTERED INTO BY THE PEOPLE, AND SEALED TO BY THE PRINCES, PRIESTS, AND LEVITES (Nehemiah 9:1.). When the law was first read to them on the opening day of the seventh month, the people had shown strong feelings of compunction, an earnest desire to return to God by the thorny way of repentance. In checking this feeling on that particular day, Ezra and Nehemia

CHAPTER 9 _ 1. The public humiliation and confession (Nehemiah 9:1)_ 2. The great confession and prayer (Nehemiah 9:6) Nehemiah 9:1. Two days after the feast of tabernacles had been concluded this humiliation and confession of sin took place. The assembled congregation fasted, with sackcloth and earth upon them. Separation was next. Evil confessed must mean evil put away. They separated themselves from all strangers, and after their confession they worshipped the Lord. Here again is the right order of a spiritual revival. Reading, hearing and believing the Word always comes first; humiliation, self-judgment, confession and true worship follow....

THE FAST AND A NATIONAL CONFESSION. All that took place, as described in this section, was the result of the reading of the Law. The command to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles having been observed, there followed a spontaneous outburst of self-condemnation on the part of the people, who were conscience-stricken on account of having hitherto neglected to observe the Law; they had clearly been desirous of expressing their sorrow before (see Nehemiah 8:9), but it would have been inappropriate during the feast. Fasting and prayerful confession were fitly followed (see next section) by a solemn act of resolution of amendment. Nehemiah 9:1. the twenty and fourth day: the second day after the celebration of the feast, _i.e._ in the seventh month (see...

THOU... THOU... THOU. Figure of speech _Epizeuxis_ (App-6), for emphasis. ART LORD. [art] He, Jehovah, HEAVEN. the heavens. HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. Figure of speech _Polyptoton_, for emphasis. AND. Note the Figure of speech _Polysyndeton_, throughout this confession....

_Thou_, even _thou_, art _Lord alone_ R.V. THOU ART THE LORD, EVEN THOU ALONE. The confession opens with a declaration of the unity of the God of Israel. Jehovah alone is: He alone made the worlds and led Israel. Cf. Psalms 83:18, -That they may know that thou alone, whose name is Jehovah (marg. thou whose name alone is Jehovah) art the Most High above all the earth," Isaiah 44:6. _made_ -fecisti" not -creasti," -âsah" not -bara;" no reference to Genesis 1:1; Genesis 2:1. _heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host_ For -the heaven" and -the heaven of heavens," cf....

2. God is praised for His power in creation. TEXT, NEHEMIAH 9:5 b - NEHEMIAH 9:6 5b O may Thy glorious name be blessed And exalted above all blessing and praise! 6 Thou alone art the LORD. Thou has made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. Thou dost give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before Thee. COMMENT Here begins the longest prayer recorded in the Bible: longer than either Jesus-' prayer in John 17 or Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple in 1 Kings 8. Its autho