SPEAKER_00: Good morning, First Baptist Wimberly.
SPEAKER_00: This is Mike Gippens.
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Friday.
SPEAKER_00: Last Sunday, the Israelites were celebrating the Feast of Booths.
SPEAKER_00: As we enter chapter 9 this Sunday, we see that the feast has ended, but they were assembling again.
SPEAKER_00: And we saw in chapter 8 the importance of the Word of God, and Nehemiah emphasizes that in this chapter as well.
SPEAKER_00: So the people of Israel in this chapter confess their sin and repent of their wrongdoing.
SPEAKER_00: But I think it's really important to notice that it was the reading and exposition of God's word that started that confession.
SPEAKER_00: Let me read verse 3 of chapter 9.
SPEAKER_00: And they stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day.
SPEAKER_00: For another quarter of it, they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.
SPEAKER_00: God's word reminded them of the goodness of God and the depth of their sin and the history of Israel's sin through the generations.
SPEAKER_00: It is only as we see God in His greatness, His love, and His mercy that we truly see what we are.
SPEAKER_00: We will never see our sin properly without the revelation of God's character and grace.
SPEAKER_00: This assembly consisted of a quarter day of reading, understanding, and taking to heart the Word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And it was followed by a quarter day of confession and worship.
SPEAKER_00: Now, again, there is no expectation that a half day be spent in this as they did.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a prescriptive passage, but rather a descriptive passage.
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean that there isn't a pattern here that we would be wise to take note of.
SPEAKER_00: It's only as we see God in His Word and all His grace, goodness, and power that we truly see ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: And praise wells up in our hearts, which then expresses itself in a surrendered life to the Creator who loves us.
SPEAKER_00: Martin Lloyd Jones has said that the ultimate test of our spirituality is the measure of our amazement at the grace of God.
SPEAKER_00: And the measure of our spirituality is the amount of praise and thanksgiving in our prayers.
SPEAKER_00: I am praying today that your awe of God and his character from the word drives you to your knees in thankfulness and submission.
SPEAKER_00: This is Mike Gibbons, and I love being your pastor.