Skip to main content

Daily Devotion: Nehemiah 13:7-9

By

Nehemiah 13:7-9    "And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.  (8)  And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber.  (9)  Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers: and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat offering and the frankincense."

The priest who had the oversight of the chamber of the house of God was allied to Tobiah while Nehemiah had gone back to report to the king all the progress of the work. Remember Tobiah? He was a thorn in the flesh to Nehemiah from the very beginning of the work. He had done everything in his power to discourage and stop the work of rebuilding the wall. Through the power of God, Nehemiah had been able to withstand his deceitfulness. But now, Nehemiah was gone for a while and the enemy worked his way into the inner chamber. Yes, the priest had even made a little room for Tobiah in the innermost part of the temple and allowed him to live there. When Nehemiah came back to Jerusalem, he cast out everything that belonged to the enemy and cleansed it from any little part that could have brought contamination to the worship of God. He then sanctified it by making offerings unto the Lord.

Is there a lesson for us in this situation? I believe so. It seems that the most opportune time for Satan to attack God's people is on Sunday morning as we are preparing to go to church. He loves to be able to distract us by interjecting thoughts into our minds that are contrary to proper worship.  He plants seeds into our thoughts that detract from the true worship of God. He thinks himself to be successful if he can bring a situation to our remembrance that causes anger, jealousy, bitterness, or any other thought that is contrary to God.  You see, all of these things making their abode in the innermost part of our hearts (Tobiah in the chamber of the temple),makes it difficult to present ourselves as worshippers before the Almighty God.

What is the answer for us? Nehemiah felt the proper approach was to cast the negative out of the temple. How can we do that? Let's look at Scripture to find the answer. "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:  (24)  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24)  The power of the Holy Spirit is that which cleanses us from all unrighteousness and allows us to worship as we should.  "My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways." (Proverbs 23:26)  Let us present ourselves before the Lord in a manner that asks Him to make us proper subjects of worship and praise.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Daily Devotion: Psalm 88:1-4

By
Psalm 88:1-4  A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. "O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:  (2)  Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;  (3)  For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.  (4)  I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength" I've said this before and I will say it again (and probably more times before we get to the end of the Psalms) - I love the Psalms because I can surely identify with them. Most Psalms start in a low place and as the writer expresses his thoughts, the Lord begins to lift him up out of that dry place.  Though this entire Psalm is a fervent cry unto the Lord, the Psalmist tells us specifically in three verses that he cried daily unto the Lord. Just a few Psalms ago, we were reminded that God always hears our prayers. ...
Read more

Daily Devotion (Video): I Will Fear No Evil - Psalm 23:4

By
Read more

Daily Devotion: Knowing God By Bearing Fruit

By
Some will notice the title is not “Bearing fruit because we know God,” so to avoid getting sidetracked with that, we can start with the fact that we won’t bear any godly fruit unless our heart has been changed and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Also, to avoid confusion, I’ll be using the terms “bearing fruit,” “good works” and “service” interchangeably.  I took this article’s title from Part 7, of John Piper’s “Look at the Book” session on Colossians 1:9-12. I greatly encourage you to view that short video to get his excellent exposition on this subject.  When I saw the title of the video earlier this year, I got kind of excited because that’s the direction my thinking has gone in the past several years. My thinking was founded Biblically with verses on good works like Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father, who is in heaven.” But I couldn’t expand it to expla...
Read more