August 14 – Begging to hear the Word of God all morning?

August 14
Nehemiah 7:73-9:21
1 Corinthians 9:1-18
Psalm 33:12-22
Proverbs 21:11-12

Nehemiah 8:3 – Imagine – all the people gathered, begging Ezra to bring the book of the law, and Ezra reads it to the standing room only congregation from morning till noon!

Nehemiah 8:5 – Wondered where our modern church architecture comes from? The preacher is above the people, standing in a pulpit (Nehemiah 8:4). The preacher reads the book, and then causes understanding (Nehemiah 8:8).

Nehemiah 8:14 – Watching people obey the law is exciting! Especially when it was the most exciting Feast of Booths since Joshua almost a thousand years earlier!

Nehemiah 9:3 – What does revival look like? Reading the Word, confessing sins, worshiping God!

Nehemiah 9:5 – James Montgomery was inspired by this verse to write the song, “Stand Up and Bless the LORD.” Hear it recorded by the Herbster Trio

Nehemiah 9:6 – Notice how in the Psalms and in Nehemiah – the worship of God starts with the recognition of Him as Creator! They continue to recount the history of how God worked with their people.

1 Corinthians 9:11 – Paul outlines his case for the reasonableness of being paid for ministry, but then he surprises us by saying – in v.12 – “we have not used this power.” Voluntarily giving up his rights, to not hinder the gospel. Sounds like Paul is imitating his LORD – who gave up his rights to give us the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 9:16 – We need more preachers who can declare this! Matt Black recorded a song based on this verse:

Psalm 33:12 – A musical was composed based on this verse:

Psalm 33:16-17 – These are the verses that Ezra claimed – we will not trust in horses or mighty men but in the LORD! He can deliver our souls from death (Psalm 33:19).

Proverbs 21:11 – Like Zig Ziglar said, God has a plan for everyone – even the worst of you can serve as bad examples!