The mercy of God Chin origin of the reward of good works
Learn--
I.
That to make provision for maintenance of God’s worship and the ministers thereof is a worthy work, and of high esteem and favour with God (1Ch_29:17-18; Deu_12:19; 2Ki_4:1-44.; Luk_7:3-5; Mat_10:41; Php_4:18; 2Ti_1:16-18).
II. That God rewardeth these and all our other good deeds and works not for any merit or worthiness that is in them, but of His free mercy and goodness.
1. The Scriptures encourage us to work in hope of reward (Psa_19:11; Pro_11:18; Mat_5:11-12; Mat_10:41-42; Luk_6:35; 2Jn_1:8).
2. Whence this reward cometh. “According to Thy great mercy” (Hos_10:12; Rom_6:23; Psa_62:12).
III. That it is lawful to do good works with respect to the recompense of reward. It is plain Nehemiah here did so. So did Moses Heb_11:25-26). (Joseph Mede, B. D.)
The law of reward
Nehemiah’s prayer occurs thrice in this chapter, at the close of each section recounting his reforming acts. In the first instance (verse 14) it is most full, and puts very plainly the merit of good deeds as a plea with God. The same thing is implied in its form in verse 22. But while, no doubt, the tone of the prayer is startling to us, and is not such as should be offered now by Christians, it but echoes the principle of retribution which underlies the law. “This do, and thou shalt live,” was the very foundation of Nehemiah’s form of God’s revelation. We do not plead our own merits, because we are not under the law, but under grace, and the principle underlying the gospel is life by impartation of unmerited mercy and Divine life. But the law of retribution still remains valid for Christians in so far as that God will never forget any of their works, and will give them full recompense for their work of faith and labour of love. Eternal life here and hereafter is wholly the gift of God; but that fact does not exclude the notion of “the recompense of reward” from the Christian conception of the future. It becomes not us to present our good deeds before the Judge, since they are stained and imperfect, and the goodness in them is His gift. But it becomes Him to crown them with His gracious approbation and to proportion the cities ruled in that future world to the talents faithfully used here. We need not be afraid of obscuring the truth that we are saved “not of works, lest any man should boast,” though we insist that a Christian man is rewarded according to his works. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Nehemiah’s sincerity
Paul assures the believing Hebrews that God will not forget “their work of faith and labour of love,” and this prayer of Nehemiah’s is nothing more than a petition that God will be pleased to fulfil Hie own promise regarding him. It was not the dictate of a self-righteous spirit. There is no self-righteousness in the humble prayer that God would look upon him in love; that He would deign to accept of his feeble services as proof and evidences of a religious spirit; that He would be pleased to verify His promise, that “it shall be well with them that fear the Lord,” and that “godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come.” Consider--
I. A sketch of Nehemiah’s history.
II. Nehemiah’s character.
1. His steady religious principle. Dwelling amid scenes very uncongenial to the progress of piety in the heart, he displayed a firmness of principle and an ardour of religious feeling truly admirable. Amidst the enticements of a splendid and licentious court he sought the glory of God and not the gratification of vanity, ambition, or worldly desire. Surrounded by the ensigns of a gross and impious superstition, he reared a standard for the true God, and stood forth as a witness for Him, in the midst of His enemies. Confidence in God kept him steady in the scene of danger; and the lofty aims of a devoted spirit raised him above the grovelling pursuits Of sense.
2. His self-denial. This is one of the best evidences of sound religious principle. When the will is subjugated to the will of God; when the mind feels itself completely satisfied with the wisdom and goodness of the Divine economy; when self is thrown into the background, and a noble disinterestedness gives its tone to the character, then we have some good proof that our religion is sincere. Nehemiah improved his advantages at the Persian court not for his individual good, but for the good of his countrymen. He lost sight of selfish considerations, and feeling for the humblest of the people, he gave them the full value of his labours, without the slightest remuneration. That which he asked not from man he knew God would bestow; hence the prayer of the text.
3. His zeal for the worship and ordinances of God. This is specially displayed in his anxiety to vindicate God’s ordinances from abuse, and to enforce their punctual observance. The public reading and expounding the law, for the edification of the people, testified his regard for God’s Holy Word. The exactness with which the appointed rites in the feasts of trumpets end tabernacles were gone about, under his superintendence, testified his reverence for the law, in all the minuteness of its requisitions. His zeal for the sanctification of the Sabbath proved the high sense he entertained of its value.
4. His enlightened and consistent perseverance in the discharge of personal and official duty. (Robert Burns, D. D.)
