Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night. Then Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall." And our adversaries said, "They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease." So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, "From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us." Therefore I stationed some people at the lowest places behind the wall, at the openings; and I stationed the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses."
Pray and Post a Guard
A team lead in Petaling Jaya learns in one week that a rival vendor, a procurement delay, and a regulator's query have landed together. Each one can be managed; together they feel coordinated. She's standing where Nehemiah stood in verses 7 and 8, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard the gaps in the wall were closing, and all of them conspired to attack and create confusion. Anger was gathering from every side.
Verse 9 answers in a single sentence with two verbs: we made our prayer to our God, and... we set a watch against them day and night. Prayer and the guard go up together.
She does both before lunch. She prays in her office with the door closed, and she calls a ten-minute check-in with her team every day.
Faith that prays also posts a guard.
Remember the Lord
Then the pressure moves inside. Judah says the strength of the laborers is failing and there's so much rubbish they can't build. The tiredness was real, and so was the rubble. Meanwhile the enemy talks of a surprise attack, and the Jews living near them pass along the warning ten times over. The Hebrew of verse 12 is hard and translations differ; every one of them carries the repeated warnings.
Nehemiah responds in three steps. He stations families at the lowest places with swords, spears, and bows; he looks over the people; he rises and says, Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
The team lead's own people tell her they're exhausted and the backlog has no end. She agrees out loud that it's heavy, puts her people side by side, reminds them who the work protects, and points them to the Lord who is larger than the backlog.
When the rubble looks larger than our strength, we look up before we look around.
Reflect
- Where has the rubble grown larger than your strength this month, and who beside you is saying so out loud?
- Who will you stand beside this week, and what post will you keep for their sake?
Pray
Lord, the pressure has come from outside and from inside, and some days I can't tell which is louder. Today I pray and I post a guard: I bring you the list, and I set the hours that protect the work. Remind me whenever the rubble grows that you are great and awesome. Put me beside the people I'm meant to stand with, and let me stand for them. Give honest words to the tired and ears to hear them. I trust that you see the wall better than I do. Amen.