Julie
Nehemiah listened to the people and understood that so much was being taken away from them that they had nothing for themselves. He decreed that all should be given back to the people and that they should not be taxed in the way that they had been in the past. The first chapter ends with Nehemiah praying to God to see the good deeds that he has done.
There is also a conspiracy to kills Nehemiah and those conspiring against him try to coax him into fear in order to get him to do what they want. He refuses and says that if he does that he would be going against God. In this chapter, Nehemiah prays for those that are conspiring against him.
This psalm was made into a song called Better is One Day. We are blessed when we trust in him and seeing that even one day in the court of God is better than any other day anywhere else.
Michelle
I am catching up today. I didn't realize it had been a week. A few things stood out to me in these chapters. First, Nehemiah recognizes how much the people are being taxed and tells those doing this to stop. He also shares that he is feeding a great number of people from his own table and not taking any of the governors portion from the people, which it sounds like he is supposedly entitled to do. But realizing the burden on the people he does not. Second is the conspiracy against him and those trying to instill fear and get him to go against God. Something Nehemiah says really stood out to me. He is replying to Sanballat and says, "Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your own head." Now how often do we do this. All day every day. Every person is guilty of this, assuming things instead of finding out what is really going on. Thinking that we know what people think of us or assuming that they have ulterior motives when that may not really be the case. So often we do this and it happens alot via social media. I know this is not the overall theme of this chapter but it really stood out to me. And lastly the fact that Nehemiah is constantly praying. He prays for his enemies, and for God to see what he is doing to help the people and for a great many things I am sure. This we should all be aware of. We should be in constant prayer for whatever we are facing.
I had not heard that song before. It is moving and does make you think that it is better to be with God than without.
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