Covenant Reformed News – January 2024 • Volume XIX, Issue 21
This article examines Nehemiah's example of leadership in the church through the lens of his prayer before King Artaxerxes and his subsequent request to rebuild Jerusalem's walls. The author argues that faithful church leadership requires personal sacrifice, hard work, and self-denial modeled after Christ's example, rather than merely directing others from a distance. The piece emphasizes that office-bearers in the church must be willing to labor alongside those they serve.
The Answer to Nehemiah’s Ejaculatory Prayer After the question of Artaxerxes, “For what dost thou make request?” Nehemiah famously makes his ejaculatory prayer in the royal palace: “So I prayed to the God of heaven” (Neh. 2:4). Then, and only then, does the cupbearer present his humble request to the Medo-Persian emperor: “If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build...