You are a gracious and merciful God
Nehemiah 9:31 - As in the days of Nehemiah, the Lord still shows His people faithfulness, mercy, compassion and grace… despite our very human tendency to sin.
This image was created using DALL·E, OpenAI’s legacy image generation model.
“But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.”
Nehemiah 9:31 NIV
Writing devotionals for Heaven On Wheels for over three years now has turned me into a bit of a Bible nerd, and I have to admit to being thrilled with God choosing a verse today from a book that neither Barb nor myself have studied in detail — the Book of Nehemiah.
There is a lot known about Nehemiah, who oddly enough isn’t known as either a major or minor prophet. In fact, some Biblical scholars do not consider him a prophet at all, instead lauding his work as the Jewish leader who returned from Babylon (where he served as cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes I of Persia) to Jerusalem to rebuild the city. Artaxerxes ruled in the years 465 - 424 BC, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem was accomplished in 444 BC.
Upon learning that the walls of Jerusalem were in ruin and the remnant population was in great distress, Nehemiah asked the king for permission to return to the city. Artaxerxes made Nehemiah the governor of Persian Judea with the mission to rebuild Jerusalem, gave him letters explaining his support of the rebuilding, and even provided timber for the work from the king’s forest.
God was definitely working through both the king and Nehemiah! Despite having tremendous opposition from Judea’s enemies (the Samaritans, Ammonites, Arabs, and Philistines), the walls of the city were rebuilt in just 52 days. The image at the top of this devotional depicts what the rebuilding might have looked like…
Today’s verse comes at the end of a long section — Nehemiah 9:22-31 — where the Levites (named as “Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani”) are recounting the sad cycle of the relationship between God and His chosen people. Those people have repeatedly disobeyed God and broken their part of the Covenant with Him.
God, however, is all merciful and loving. The start of the verse points out God’s “great mercy”, which He always shows toward Israel despite their continual disobedience. In Exodus 34:6-7, God describes Himself to Moses at “compassionate and gracious”. We can learn more about the depth of God’s love for His people by looking at the ancient Hebrew word for compassionate — רַחוּם or raḥûm — which is often associated with a deep and tender love, like a mother’s love for her child.
God’s compassion and love is shown in his patience with Israel. His people repeatedly sinned and worshipped idols, yet He held back from what He could have done - “put an end to them”. God had made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He kept those promises so that their lineage would continue, resulting in the eventual coming of the Messiah.
So God didn’t destroy Israel, nor did He “abandon them”. He promised (see Deuteronomy 31:6) to never “leave you or forsake you”, and God is always faithful. In closing this verse, the Levites declare to God that “you are a gracious and merciful God.” This is the character of the unchanging God, the same now as He was then. We are the recipients of His unmerited favor (His grace), and His empathy and love for us defines His compassion and mercy.
Those attributes were fulfilled and perfected in Jesus. His ministry was filled with acts of grace and compassion, healing the sick, comforting the poor and lonely, and forgiving sin. The prophecies of the Messiah found throughout the Old Testament, including those in the Book of Nehemiah, provided a hope that was fulfilled — that Jesus would be a shepherd to His people, overflowing with truth and grace.
As in the days of Nehemiah, the Lord still shows His people faithfulness, mercy, compassion and grace… despite our very human tendency to sin.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Heavenly Father, even when we fall short, You remain full of mercy and compassion. Thank You for not abandoning us, but holding us close with Your great faithfulness. Help us to remember Your enduring grace, and to live each day in humble gratitude for Your never-ending love. Strengthen us to walk in Your ways and to trust in Your goodness, just as You showed mercy to Your people long ago. We pray this in Jesus’ name, AMEN.
We were doing a study of Nehemiah in the RVICS Village. It's remarkable how much he has in common with Trump and what he's experiencing in his efforts to make America great again.