Worship Opportunities

My daughter and I were recently talking about how much we love Psalms that recount Israel’s history. I struggle to remember historical events, so the repetition is helpful! Apparently, that’s nothing new, because the importance of rehearsed remembrance is woven throughout the Scriptures, and last week I landed on one of those places in the book of Nehemiah. (I know, I just wrote from my reading in Luke, but my reading plan this year generally has an OT Narrative or book of Prophecy, OT Poetry, NT Gospel, and NT epistle to read on each day.. I love the dot-connecting this reading plan has helped me make!)

So, in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, God’s people return in waves to the ruined city of Jerusalem after decades of Babylonian exile. Nehemiah is one of those who returns in a later wave of exiles, and he helps lead the people to rebuild the walls of their beloved city in spite of the opposition they faced. 

When the walls were completed, all the people gathered to hear Ezra read from the law of Moses (the Torah/ Pentateuch). For hours, they listen attentively and respond with varying postures of worship. Having been in Babylonian exile for so many years, imagine how significant it was for generations of God’s people to worship again in Jerusalem. 

Imagine how it would have been to collectively celebrate the Festival of Shelters again, a seven-day remembrance of how God led Israel in the wilderness. 

Their spiritual famine led to this feast. 

What really grabbed my attention, though, was how much God’s compassion is highlighted in Nehemiah 9 as they remember and respond with collective confession, recounting their tainted history and God’s never-ending faithfulness. 

People sometimes target God as a harsh judge, but I struggle to see that. I’ve read through the Bible in its entirety multiple times in the last several years, and His compassion and care are so loud. Are His judgments just? Yes, perfectly just, yet even in His discipline, He reflects His faithful and compassionate character. But harsh or cruel? No. He’s always for what’s best for His people and for His glory. God’s compassion is a major theme I see in the Old Testament and embodied in Jesus in the New Testament. 

Look at these highlights in Nehemiah 9. (I’m summarizing some portions). 

Nehemiah 9:16-17 God’s people were arrogant and wouldn’t listen. “…But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, and you did not abandon them…” God responds to His people’s sin with compassion

Nehemiah 9:18-19 God’s people attribute the golden calf with their Egyptian deliverance, but they acknowledge, “you did not abandon them in the wilderness because of your great compassion. During the day the pillar of cloud never turned away from them, guiding them on their journey…” God’s great compassion moves Him to not abandon and to faithfully guide.

Nehemiah 9:25-27 God’s people become complacent, disobedient, and rebellious, face the consequences, cry out to Him, “and you heard from heaven. In your abundant compassion you gave them deliverers who rescued them from the power of their enemies.” God’s compassion is abundant.

Nehemiah 9:28 They had relief, but again did evil, faced consequences again, but “you heard from heaven and rescued them many times in your compassion…” God’s compassion hears and rescues.

Nehemiah 9:31 In His abundant compassion, He did not destroy or abandon His people, “for you are a gracious and compassionate God.” Compassion is in God’s very nature.

Five times His compassion is noted in this chapter. It’s part of His character, He has it in abundance, and because of it, He heard their cries, sent deliverance, and would not abandon His people.

I dug a little deeper into the Hebrew word used for compassion in these verses and learned that it comes from a word family related to the word for “womb.” It carries a deep, protective affection, evoking the imagery of a mother’s instinctive tenderness towards her children. (I’m not a Hebrew scholar!! Credit to online sources here!)

Do you think of God in this way? Have you considered the implications of this for you and for those around you? His compassion is a tender invitation to draw near. Always ready, always welcoming, He never runs low in compassion! It makes me think of this imagery in Psalm 91:4: He will cover you with his feathers; you will take refuge under his wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield. 

Additionally, do we look at others with that same lens– as never beyond the reach of God’s compassion to tenderly draw them under the shelter of His wings? Do we extend that invitation to others in word and in deed? 

We can take such warnings and such comfort learning from Israel’s past. I’m following up this post in a few days (or weeks, depending on time!) with thoughts on the embodied compassion we see in Christ, especially some observations from the parables in Luke 15, but in the meantime, I hope you feel this warm invitation the compassionate Father is always calling us to.