Our Only Claim

After a time of celebrating their return and the rebuilt wall, it was time for the Israelites to remember the cause of their predicament. 

They were home in the city of David. But they were far from the era of David, when Israel was together in their land, united as one nation, fortified by a mighty army, and guarded under a covenant of peace.

They were no longer exiles, but they were slaves, forfeiting the fruit of their land to a foreign king (Nehemiah 9:36-37).

The Levites’ prayer, stretching from verse 6 to 31, recounted Israel’s history from the time that God called their father Abram out to the promised land (Genesis 12:1-2). Their entire course, from Egypt to exile and everything between, could be summarized in one sentence: 

God was faithful, and the people were not.

The Levites knew they lost all their leveraging power by the end of their prayer. God owed them nothing:

“Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully, and we have acted wickedly.” (Nehemiah 9:33)

Looking at the history of their people, they couldn’t come up with a good reason why God should bless them. So they looked instead to the character of God:

“Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you …” (Nehemiah 9:32)

After hundreds of years of sin and rebellion and exile and defeat, Israel’s only claim was the unchanging character of God. With the foundation of their righteousness crumbled, they placed both feet on the solid rock.

We are small, but God is great. 

We are weak, but God is mighty. 

We are shameful, but God is awesome. 

We break the covenant, but God keeps it. 

We are shaky, but God is steadfast. 

We rebel, but God loves. 

We forget God, but God never forgets us.

Finally, Israel learned to place all their confidence in who God is rather than who they are.

Have you learned?

Pray through your own history. Recount the consistent faithfulness of God through your weakness, shame, shakiness, rebellion, and forgetfulness.

And once you’ve seen that you’ve lost the leveraging power of your righteousness, all you will claim before God is his own character (2 Timothy 2:13).

In all your stumbling, God is teaching you to step off the cracked foundation of your righteousness, onto the solid rock of his faithfulness.