Thursday, March 4, 2010

Nehemiah

"NEHEMIAH was earnest in his prayer for the good of his sorrow-stricken nation, but he did not make the mistake of thinking that he was the only praying man in the world. He said, “Be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name.”... When he had presented his own personal supplication, he felt certain, that there were others who were also praying to the Lord... Do not you, my brother, claim to be the solitary prophet of God, and say, “I only am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” There are quite as good men as you are elsewhere in the world, and there are other people who are as earnest in prayer as you are. If you get supposing that you are the only man left who holds sound doctrine, you will become a bigot (intolerant); and if you think that you are the only praying man on the earth, you will most likely prove to be self-righteous. If you fancy you are the only man who has a deep spiritual experience, probably you will be doing a great wrong to others of your Lord’s servants, and speaking evil of those whom he has accepted. It is better far to believe, with Nehemiah, that your suppliant voice is not a solitary one; but that there are many who, like yourself, cry day and night unto God.
I think it would be better to go even a little further, and to be1ieve that, if you are earnest, there are others who are still more earnest; and that, if you possess a deep-toned piety, there are some who have even more than you have; so, instead of separating yourself from your brethren and sisters in Christ, as though you stood first and foremost, hope and believe that you are only one small star in a great constellation, one tiny speck in the milky way of divine light with which God still studs the evening sky of this world’s history. Take a hopeful view of things, and you will be more likely to be near the mark than if you judge others severely, and imagine yourself to be the only faithful servant of the Lord."
Excerpt from Spurgeon's commentary on Nehemiah 1:11
See the entire commentary here.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus".
 (Phil 2:3-7)

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