Author's note: I wrote this for my preaching assignment today. Thought to post it up to encourage my fellow students during this highly stressful time of exams and assignments. Some of my fellow students mentioned to me that the sermon spoke to them. I post this up with the hope that this will be a blessing to those going through tough times. I write this from my meditation and reflection on the passage over the past few weeks. -------------------------------------------
1. Introduction
Many years ago, a friend from the ship Doulos gave me a bookmark with an interesting phrase. On it was written “Keep On Keeping On”. At the time, it was the motto of her and her friends on the ship. Life on the ship was uncertain and tough. This phrase reminded them to continually trust in the Lord and to keep on going no matter how difficult things got.
Today’s sermon is entitled Keep On Keeping On. As we come to chapter 4 of Nehemiah, we find that this phrase was also true of Nehemiah.
2. Problems faced by Nehemiah and the builders
2. 1 Opposition from the enemy
In Nehemiah chapter 3, we see how the building of the wall was distributed to different groups of people. In chapter 4, we begin to see the troubles faced by Nehemiah and the people in the building of the wall. What were some of these troubles? Let us turn to Nehemiah 4:1-3.
Nehemiah 4:1 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble-- burned as they are?" 3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, "What they are building-- if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!"
As we can see from the passage, the first problem faced by Nehemiah and the Jews who were building the wall was opposition by Sanballat and Tobiah. In a sermon I once heard, a preacher said this “Opposition is caused by success and not by failure.” Think about it - opposition is caused by success and not by failure. This statement seems to be true as we read this passage. As the building of the wall was underway, Sanballat saw this got angry and downright furious.
The enemy began their opposition by using verbal insults. Sanballat ridiculed the people by asking them 5 questions. Each question was designed to make them doubt if they could ever complete the building of the wall. Tobiah on the other hand, added salt to the wound by mocking the soundness of the structure of the wall that they had built so far.
Later on, when their verbal attacks failed, the enemy planned to combine forces to physically attack them. Vs 8: “They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.” Verse 11 reads: Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work." Vs 7 tells us that the enemy consisted of Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod. This is significant. Sanballat who was from Samaria, represented the enemy from the North; the Arabs, under the influence of Geshem were in the south; Tobiah and the Ammonites were in the east and the Ashdodites in the west.[1] Nehemiah and the people who were rebuilding the wall were surrounded by their enemies. More terrifying, the enemy was now threatening to fight and kill them.
2.2 Discouragement from within
In addition to the external opposition via verbal attack and the possibility of a physical attack, Nehemiah and the people of Judah were also faced with internal troubles.
As mentioned before, the people of Judah were surrounded by their enemies. The Jews who were staying near the enemy were afraid of the potential attack from the enemy. Vs 12: Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us." The Jews who were staying near the enemy reminded the people who were building the wall again and again of the potential attack. People around were saying they needed to escape – if they stayed in the city, they will be killed. They said it ‘again and again’. They were inadvertently spreading their fear to those who were building the wall. Imagine your greatest fear being repeated time and time again to you – especially by your family or your loved ones. Sooner or later, you too will definitely begin to feel terrified.
There is another internal trouble brewing. A song is being sung in vs 10 – a song in what is known as a ‘qinah’ metre - a funeral dirge.[2] It is a song of mourning and without hope. Vs 10: Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”
The people were not only afraid. They had finished building half the height of the wall because they had worked with all their heart as stated in vs 6. They were now tired. They were also discouraged by the rubble they saw around them. They were giving up hope.
If you ask anyone who has climb mountains anywhere in the world. They will tell you that the most difficult part of the climb is not at the beginning and neither is it the end. It is not difficult at the beginning because of the excitement of beginning a new adventure. You have a new challenge before you. It’s not at the end where you can see the summit because it’s there you get your second wind. It’s as if an invisible hand carries you to the top. The most difficult time in scaling a mountain is not at the beginning and it’s not in the end. It’s somewhere where the two meet – it’s right in the middle. It’s in the middle when you’re tempted to give up. Your muscles are aching and your lungs are burning. You look down and you are able to see how far you’ve come. You look down and you say – is that all the distance that we’ve come? Then you look for the top and the top is not in view and you think – am I going to make it? At the beginning of the climb there is a sense of exhilaration and near the completion you can push through to the end. It’s in the middle that is the most difficult. It is the most difficult part because mentally you realize that you have to go forward as much as you’ve already accomplished.
Nehemiah and the people of Judah are here – they are no longer at the beginning, they are not near the end, they are now in the middle of the work. Not only they must clear the rubble that has there before the exile some 100 plus years ago, there are no bulldozers or modern equipment to help them. It is hard, back breaking work. It is little wonder that they are tired and discouraged. They are afraid. They are being mocked at. The enemy has verbally abused them and is now threatening to fight and kill them. They are in the middle of the mountain.
3. Nehemiah’s Solution
What would you have done if you were Nehemiah? If you were doing something that you believed God has called you to do and someone – your friend or even your family - begins to mock you, threaten to attack you and discourage you. You are already tired. What would you have done? Would you have given up? Would you have run away from the situation?
How many of us would have responded as Nehemiah did? He kept on keeping on. How did he persevere in the face of such troubles?
3.1 Perseverance through Prayer
Firstly, he ‘kept on keeping on’ by praying. In the face of verbal abuse and the threat of physical attack, Nehemiah did not react or yell back at the enemy. Vs 4-5 states that he turned to God and prayed. He brought his grievances before God. His response by praying even encouraged the people of Judah to the point of the wall being half built – a huge accomplishment. When the people of Judah were afraid in vs 14, he encouraged them to follow his example to ‘remember the Lord, who is great and awesome.’
How about us? How often do we involve God in our troubles? Do we take matters into our own hands and trust in our own feeble strength? Sarah Yap encouraged my pastoral group to trust in God and to seek Him before she left for the U.S. She said that it can be hard sometimes if you have many capabilities. However, if we want to keep on keeping on, we have to learn to pray more.
3.2 Perseverance through Action
Secondly, there are some situations that call us not just to pray, but to act at the same time. In the face of a physical attack from the enemy, Vs 9 says that the people of Judah not only prayed but posted a guard day and night to meet the threat.
When the people were getting discouraged and afraid, instead of being paralyzed with fear, running away from the situation or just merely praying, Nehemiah took action. Vs 13 says that Nehemiah stationed people behind the “lowest points of the wall at the exposed places by families, with swords, spears and bows.” In addition, Nehemiah encouraged the terrified people to fight for their families. Nehemiah could’ve said, “Let’s stop the work and wait for a better time to continue the building of the wall. Perhaps we’ll continue when we’re stronger.” Instead, he decided to “keep on keeping on” and take defensive measures.
There are times when we cannot just merely pray and sit around. There story of a man who went to the roof and prayed to God for help when the floods came. When rescuers by boat tried to help him, he declined their help said ‘It’s ok, go help the others. God will come rescue me.’ Eventually the man drowned. There are also times when we should not pray passively but act and pray just like Nehemiah. In the face of trouble, with discernment and wisdom from God, we should not only pray but act when the situation calls for it. Sometimes it is the way God answers our prayers.
Ending
In conclusion, I would like to show this short video clip from the movie “Facing the Giants”. The show is about a coach and his team struggling to win football matches. During one of the practices before a match which the team was expecting to lose, the coach decides to teach one of the students a lesson on “keep on keeping on”. This scene is one of my favourite parts of the show.
There are times when troubles come. Everything else around us seems tough. We think that we are only able to go a certain distance – our arms are aching, our lungs are burning - we feel that we cannot go any further. We are ready to give up. Just like the coach, God calls us to give our best. He calls us to not give up and to keep on going. Yes - the task before us may even be appointed by Him. However, He never promised us an easy path. He calls us to trust in Him. For it is only then that God can really work through us. He blindfolds us and tells us to keep on going. As we learn to do so, we’ll be amazed that we can keep on keeping on to the very end. As we do so, we learn to glorify Him....
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not flunk
