06.16.2015 Old Testament: Neh 2.1–3

To read the Bible in a year, read Nehemiah 1–3 on June 16, In the year of our Lord 2015

By Don Ruhl

If you are always sad, no one will notice when a truly sad event fills your life. However, if you are typically happy, then when you are sad, it will make a statement, people will notice, and you will find the help and resources that you need. Look at Nehemiah, and you will see what I mean,

And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.” So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?” (Nehemiah 2.1–3). 

The king did not want sad people around him all the time. Therefore, when Nehemiah was sad, he feared either for his life or for his job. However, the sadness filling his heart came out in words, and he revealed plainly to the king what had happened. That set the stage for the king to put the backing and the resources of the Persian Empire into helping Nehemiah rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem.