Nehemiah goes on to describe God’s dealings with a stiff-necked and rebellious people. But where he ends the tug of war is not with their sin but with God’s steadfast love rooted in His unchanging character. “Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; for You are God, gracious and merciful” (Neh. 9:31).

Prayer in Nehemiah (18)

“Even when they made a molded calf for themselves, and said, ‘This is your god that brought you up out of Egypt,’ and worked great provocations, yet in Your manifold mercies You did not forsake them in the wilderness.” (Nehemiah 9:18-19, NKJV)

Reading Nehemiah 9:16-31 is like watching a tug of war. The people would constantly pull away from God, rejecting His gracious warnings and returning to their folly with regularity. But instead of letting go of the rope to allow the people to go their own way, God would hold tight and pull them back to Himself.

Nehemiah describes the back and forth as part of his prayer. “But they and our fathers acted proudly, hardened their necks, and did not heed Your commandments. They refused to obey, and they were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to their bondage. But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them” (Neh. 9:16–17).

The picture that Nehemiah paints is of God’s grasp of the rope of His tenacious love that tethered His people to Him. God showered them with blessing and privilege yet they turned their backs on Him. Still, His love would not let them go.

In his prayer Nehemiah multiplies examples. By God’s hand of goodness, “they took strong cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all goods, cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance.

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