Michelle
This seems to be a prayer by Nehemiah asking God to remember all that he did in order to bring the people back to proper worship and commitment to God's commands. He does speak of when he went back to king Artexerxes and while he was away the people turned back to evil ways. Not all but it sounds like there were many. Again this has been the trend throughout the bible, if the people do not have a leader keeping them on track then they stray and allow themselves to be influenced by others. It also sounds like what I understood previously about converting others has been changed as at the beginning it says that they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent. Nehemiah says at the end that he got them back on track upon his return from the king.
This is the end of Nehemiah. This book sounded like we were hearing directly from him most of the time and it contained alot of prayers. It seems a reminder that we should be in constant prayer to God.
The psalm says it's a prayer of Moses. There is a part that says "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom". I am not sure why this is so prominent to me today. It goes on to ask for God to have compassion and give satisfaction with his unfailing love for us, and asking for God to show us favor thru the work of our hands. These are the parts that stand out but I am not getting a good interpretation of it today. I have read over these a couple of times and they continue to stand out but I am stuck with just that. I need to ask for an understanding.
Julie
Your synopsis of today seems accurate. I would add that one of the things that the explanation of the this book said was that Nehemiah was one of the most important people in the Bible. Based on all he did I can see why. He shows us how prayer works through his actions and helps everyone find their way back to God and understand the commandments that have been given.
So let's see if I can help with what stood out to you with the explanations in my Bible.
"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain heart of wisdom." They suggest that we should be making the most of each day since in reality they are few. Having a heart of wisdom would enable those that are faithful to live life by right priorities. We should be able to rejoice and be glad all of our days because of God's steadfast love for us. The final is asking for blessing on the work that we do in pursuit of our calling.
I am glad you actually picked those out, especially the first one. That really speaks to you when you see it in a context that makes sense.
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