NEHEMIAH 7:73-9:21
1 CORINTHIANS 9:1-18
PSALM 33:12-22
PROVERBS 21:11-12
Nehemiah 8:2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
My first thought was some people can't listen to the Word of God for 30 min let alone hours. I see people looking at their watches in church when it gets close to an hour. And that is not just the reading of the word. Here we see people so desperate for God that they spend hours listening "attentively" just to the reading of the Word.
Nehemiah 8:6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Then after the reading of the word there was a time of praise. We see the response of the people lifting their hands and bowing down on their faces. (I still want to do a dive into all the different times that someone bowed down with their faces to the ground.) Praising God should move us to respond in some way. Raising hands in worship is biblical, bowing down with your face to the ground is biblical. Dancing and crying, biblical. Standing in reverence also biblical. Whatever you feel moved to do in response to praise don't hold it back. Your response is a form of worship as a response of obedience to the Spirit of God. So, praise God feely.
Nehemiah 8:7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.
Then teaching. The Levites did not just read the word of God, but they are teaching it in a way that people could understand. This is the sermon part. We should listen and expectantly learn to understand the word.
Nehemiah 8:12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
Then after they went to have a meal of celebration as well as took food to those who did not have it. All because they heard received and understood the word of God. I know a lot of people will go out or go home to have a meal after church because by then we are hungry or to have fellowship with family and friends. Maybe we should do it as a celebration for what we have just learned and be generous in it.
Lessons on worship from Nehemiah:
Listen attentively
Praise freely
Learn expecting to understand
Celebrate with food and drink and generosity
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