We've just sung that psalm. I love particularly the last couple of verses of that psalm as we think about God being a father to the orphans. about the mercy that He shows to those who are without a home. He provides a home. And we think about that for ourselves, that we have been given a home, a true home, an everlasting home by our Heavenly Father. We also think about the practical instruction that that gives to us, that we are to be caring for those who are in need, that we are to be seeking to alleviate the oppression of those who are oppressed in this life, that we are to be seeking to care for the needs, the temporal needs, the earthly needs of those who are hungry, of those who are marginalized. And that relates well to our sermon from Nehemiah chapter 5. So I'd invite you to turn there, Nehemiah chapter 5, for our sermon text this evening. Up to this point, we have been reading a rather harrowing drama of Nehemiah and his leading this third wave of exiles back to the Promised Land, to Jerusalem. And he's leading them, and that he is working through opposition, very difficult opposition, threats from without. And we thought particularly about that in Nehemiah chapter 4, as there were enemies of God, Sanbalat and Tobiah, that were hating the fact that God was blessing God's people, that they were rebuilding the wall, and they sought to oppose them with whatever means necessary. It's almost as if we take a break from that theme of message, and we land here in Nehemiah chapter 5, and we read about a new threat, not really a new threat in any sense, but new to this story. a new threat that comes from within God's community, the community of God's people. And it's a threat because of the sinfulness of God's own people. So let's turn now to this text. Nehemiah 5. We'll read the chapter in its entirety. Please pay attention to the word of the Lord. It is an authority for our lives today. Now there arose a great outcry of the people. and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. For there were those who said, with our sons and our daughters we are many, so let us get grain that we may eat and keep alive. There were also those who said, we are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses to get grain because of the famine. And there were those who said, we have borrowed money for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards. Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, and our children are as their children, yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves. And some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards." I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. I took counsel with myself And I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. And I said to them, you are exacting interest, each from his brother. And I held a great assembly against them. And I said to them, we, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations. But you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us. They were silent and could not find a word to say. So I said, the thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations, our enemies? Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them." Then they said, "'We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say.' And I called the priests and made them swear to do as they had promised. I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied. And all the assembly said, Amen, and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised. And from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people, but I did not do so because of the fear of I also persevered in the work on this wall, and we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. Moreover, there were at my table a hundred and fifty men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine and abundance, yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor because the service was too heavy on this people. Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people." Thus ends the word of the Lord. Let's go before the author of these words and ask that he'd bless our time meditating upon them. Father in Heaven, we recognize that these words that we have just read come from You, that You have breathed them out, and therefore they are true, they are a light, they are precious. Father, I pray that You would help us to remember that this evening, that You would help us to focus on You, to focus on Your Word, give us diligence, that we may take these words to heart. And Father, we pray most of all, most importantly, that Your Spirit would work Your Spirit would work in us as we have just read and are thinking upon these words, that Your Spirit would guide my words, that You would direct our thoughts towards You, that we would bear fruit in our lives. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We pick up here in Nehemiah chapter 5, and though, as I mentioned, the theme is shifting a little bit from outward opposition to inward threat and conflict, we're still thinking about Nehemiah as a builder. Nehemiah is a builder. In our text here, we see that he's not just concerned with building up the wall. to keep opposition out, to preserve the sanctity of the ceremonial worship, but he is also concerned with building up the hearts of God's people. Nehemiah wants to see reform. He wants to see the gospel, the truth of God's covenant promises and who he is calling his people to be. He wants to see it bear fruit in the lives of God's people many years ago as this returned remnant, this exiled people. Nehemiah recognizes abuses. He recognizes failure. It's recorded for us in God's Word that we would have an accurate picture of what's happening. This is contrasted with the unity that we saw on display as they were building up the wall. In Nehemiah chapter 3, as we think about those list of names, the real theme of that chapter is unity, that they were working together to build up the wall. But we see the reality of man, the reality of sin before us. There is disunity among God's people. What had been happening here, and it's likely because of the very effort, the sacrifices that were made to build up the wall, there were hard times for God's people. There was economic difficulty. And there were those in the community of God that took advantage of that economic difficulty and sought to do whatever they needed to do to survive. to maintain physical needs, even at the expense of those around them. So as we think tonight, I want us to think about, and it's repeated several times for us, that we are to fear God above all else. We're to fear God above hunger. We're to fear God above discomfort. We are to fear God above man. It's repeated for us. And as we think about that, the fear of God ought to lead us to build one another up. So fear God, and because of the fear of God, build one another up. We'll think about, in three points, how we are to build one another up. And at the root of that, the negative of that, is to not look to your own interests. And we see before us, we're not to look to our own interests in poverty, in difficult circumstances, and we're not to look to our own interests in wealth, or in blessing, in times of comfort. And we see both of those demonstrated to us, that there is never an excuse, whether you are rich or poor, whether you are in comfort or discomfort, to be concerned with your own interests. your own needs above the needs of those around you. That is not the Christian way. That is not what it looks like to be a child of God. And at the center of those two things, our second point, our middle point, will be that we are to be angry by injustice. That when we witness injustice, when we witness wrongdoing, the right response is to be angry. So we're going to think about those three points for us. Just first, very briefly, the first point, we see the shortcomings of God's people, we see the oppression, we see slavery, we see poverty in these first five verses of Nehemiah 5. And we are reminded here that we are not to look to our own interests, even in desperate times, even in poverty. The chapter begins with a great outcry of the people. What does that make you think of? There is a story, a famous story in the Bible that begins the same way, and it is the Exodus story. The events in Exodus, the slavery of God's people, that story begins with a great outcry. They couldn't handle the oppression any longer. It is sad to think about this second chance, in some ways, for God's people as they come out of exile. They're really no better off, in some ways, than when their ancestors were enslaved in Egypt. And we ought to think about that by the language there. It's making us think back. There was a great outcry. They needed help. As we think about these things, we can think about these stories, we can think about the exodus event, we can think about the exiles here, in this totally different circumstance than any of us, I am sure, know and live in. And yet, we all need help. There are different things, different problems, to varying degrees, to greater difficulty, that we need to cry out to the Lord. We need to cry out, call upon the Lord. So there arose this great outcry. It particularly mentions the wives. It's a whole community, a problem. Everyone recognizes it, everyone sees it, and they just can't handle it any longer, and everyone cries out. And they cry out against one another. They're not enslaved by pagan Egyptians. They are enslaved by brothers. And it even says that. Jewish brothers. We're reading here about conflict within God's people. That's a sobering reality that we all know too well. That there is conflict within God's people, within our own families, within our churches, in our communities. There is conflict. We are sinners. We are sinners. There are going to be problems. We need to cry out. God's people were in a difficult state. There was economic distress. They were worried. Would they have enough to meet their needs? And as you read the chapter, it doesn't ever say this explicitly, but you almost get the sense that they were excusing their behavior, that they were saying, Things are in such poor condition that I had to exact harsh interest from the one below me." And we see this trickle-down effect of economic distress and how those that are slightly above will abuse and oppress those below. And it trickles down. We see these things. There were some that said that they didn't have enough grain to keep alive. And there were those that had mortgaged their fields They no longer had a right to land. They no longer had their own means of income, of providing for themselves because of the threat they were under with the economic distress. And it led to slavery among God's people. We see the very community of God here threatened from within. They're not behaving as they should. It's out of desperation, out of poverty. There are those that are exploiting the weak. There is no excuse for looking to your own interests above the interests of others, even in times of distress. We know our own hearts that when our comforts are threatened, we want to retain what we think we need to be happy. Children, you know what it's like when you don't have what you want. And you know that sin, maybe when your brother has that toy that you want, when there's that special treat that just doesn't seem to be enough to share and the portions aren't just right, and you cry out. And you get angry with one another. And you direct that anger towards one another and you seek to have what you want. You want your own happiness above the happiness of your brother or sister. And we all know that feeling. We want to be comfortable. We want to make sure our needs are met. We wouldn't risk anything else. We wouldn't risk that. We wouldn't let that be threatened. And that leads, too often, to not being concerned with the needs of those around us. We need to be convicted here. And Nehemiah shows us a proper response to that, a proper response to injustice. In verse 6 we read, Nehemiah says, I was very angry when I heard their outcry. That wasn't, I don't believe, and there's no indication in the text. And as we think about the theme of anger in God's Word, this appears to be a righteous anger. I believe that that was the right response of Nehemiah. And that is to be our own response. As we think tonight about injustice that surrounds us, we know this world is flawed. We know there are problems, that there is corruption, that there are those who are oppressed. Do you get angry? Are you rightly angry? We are to be bothered. We are to respond to these things as the people of God, to recognize sin as sin, to recognize injustice. And as those who are new creations in Christ, we are to not align ourselves with oppression. We are not to tout the theme, it's a dog-eat-dog world. These things are far from us. We are to be angry when we see injustice. Nehemiah had the right response. Whenever human worth, whenever the dignity of human life is threatened, we should be angry. That should be our response. It's easy for us to get angry and to get sinfully angry when we are personally wronged, when there is personal injustice. And you can work through that. You can work through what it means to have right anger and personal injustice. And there's a time for right anger and you need to be wise with how you deal with your anger. But I think we're far too often of not being angry when we should be, when we see injustice around us. When it's not directly impacting us, we're too apathetic. We need to get angry when we see injustice. The thing that's helpful about this text is Nehemiah's example to us. Notice what he does with his anger. His anger doesn't lead to foolishness. It doesn't lead to personal vendettas. It doesn't lead to a quick response, a harsh response, an unduly harsh response. His anger is controlled and it is constructive. Nehemiah is a builder. He is building up. He is not tearing down. And his anger fuels that building up. You'll notice He takes counsel with Himself. So get angry, but don't let your anger lead you to sin. When you see injustice, take counsel with yourself. Take a moment. Think it through. Be wise. Be slow to react. And then call for justice. And you see what Nehemiah does. He calls people out. He brings charges. He brings charges against sin. and he calls for repentance. He does so boldly. He does so clearly. He does so as a means to build up, because he recognizes the threat that oppression is within God's people. Do you get angry when you witness wrongdoing? Children, if you witness a friend who is mistreated, Maybe something was said that tore down, unkind words. Someone was wrong. It's right to get angry when you witness that. And there are good things to do when you get angry. When you're young, it's usually best to go to your parents and be angry and say, this was wrong. Please enact justice. That is good for you to do as children. And for all of us, we should be angry. when we witness wrongdoing. And we should think, what is a wise, proactive, up-building response? What we see here in Nehemiah chapter 5 is really systemic injustice. There was a problem with the way that things were allowing to go on in the land. There was a system that was not fair. People were being abused. And we ought to be angry by systemic injustice as well. When we think about abortion, we should be angry. When we think about the systemic oppression of a different race, of a different class, when we think about generational poverty, those things should make us angry. It shouldn't be an angry that leads to foolishness. It shouldn't be an angry that results in wrong blame, in personal gain. It should be an angry that is directed by God, that takes counsel, that brings charges through the proper channels, that seeks to act in a wise and up-building way. May your anger be constructive. Don't be apathetic in response to injustice. Be angry but let your anger be constructive." And the way that we do that, really what needs to be at the heart of that, is fearing the Lord. And it's so clear here in Nehemiah's example, out of a fear of God. And he calls the people to it. He says, Don't you fear the Lord? How can you enslave your brothers and sisters? How can you oppress? Fear the Lord. Fear the Lord above your own need to get your your food for that week. Fear the Lord above all else. Fear the Lord so that when you're angry, your anger is controlled by God's Word. So that is the right response. As new creations, don't be apathetic towards injustice. Be angry. But be angry in an up-building way. Lastly, we see this example from Nehemiah. where He Himself recognized what true leadership looks like, what we ought to do with the blessing towards us. Nehemiah, so he responds, he gives direction for how they can undo the oppression, and he himself has lived rightly. He has recognized that he as governor, he was allowed to have a tax placed upon the people where he himself could be paid. You think about corrupt governors and Nehemiah himself alludes to it. When people, when there's economic distress, If you're at the top, that's economic opportunity. And sinful men take advantage of economic distress. But Nehemiah models for us that he would not do that. And so we are reminded not to look to our own interests, not just in poverty, but also in wealth. Nehemiah had great temporal blessing. King Artaxerxes had blessed him. He had been established as governor. He had all that he needed. But he knew he could not look to his own interests. Even in a time of wealth, he needed to be sacrificial. He needed to care for those in need. He needed to look to the interests of others. As we think about that, we think about these two themes, we think about Proverbs 30. What amazing wisdom that is in Proverbs 30. I'll read it again. Verses 8-9. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you, and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God." That proverb is instructing us that we should ask God. That was a prayer to God. Let me not be poor, that I would steal and profane your name. Let me not be rich, that I would forget you. Give us just what we need, Father. Is that your prayer? It's so hard. I think particularly in our day, in our place, in this country, where we have so much, where really our society is built on personal gain and consumerism, it is so hard not to be consumed with wanting more than we need. But our prayer, the wisdom of Proverbs, the wisdom of Nehemiah 5, is that we ought to say, let me not be poor, let me not be rich. Let me have all that I need so that I can properly fear you. It's a way of saying, lead me not into temptation. Let me not be tempted in times of poverty to steal or to profane your name, to say that you're cursing me. Let me not be tempted in times of comfort and wealth to forget you, to forget my need for you. We need to remember not to look to our own interests, but to fear the Lord. May that be our prayer. And we can make that our prayer. And as Nehemiah responds to the injustice, his response really is reminiscent of the laws that we see in the Pentateuch. And we think about the wisdom of God in giving the nation of Israel before they entered the Promised Land, He laid out laws to protect them from oppressing the weak. He laid out laws to protect them from placing too much trust in earthly comfort and earthly grain. And we can think about really the year of Jubilee and that year of Jubilee theology is what Nehemiah demonstrates here in Nehemiah 5. In Leviticus 25, we see this idea that there's to be a practice among God's people where they return property to those who are the rightful heirs. The year of Jubilee happened every 50 years. So for 49 years, Scots people could loan land. They could take out interest. They could have debt. They could buy and sell. If the harvests were bad, if there were poor choices caused by a landowner, you dealt with that for 49 years depending on where you're at in that cycle. You suffer economically. But then, until the year of Jubilee, all debt was cancelled, everything was returned. That's a pretty dramatic response to oppression, to injustice, and Nehemiah demonstrates really a same response. What he's doing, that doesn't mean that we always are to have that posture. That doesn't mean that we necessarily are bound to that law, that civic law that was in place for God's people. But there's wisdom to it. And at the core, the general equity of that law, the core of what we are to apply to ourselves today, is that nothing in this life is more important than your brothers and sisters. that you can return what is needed to them, that you can forgive debt, that your own gain, your own sense of justice, your own desire for right and wrong, those things, that there is a time for compassion, that there's nothing more important than the needs of those around you. That is what Nehemiah suggests. He says, forgive the debt. What angered him was that they were enslaving God's people. That things were at such a bad state that it was clear that what wasn't needed was more loaning land. Don't mortgage more. Don't take out more. You need to forgive. We're not going to be able to thrive this way. And he asked them to have a spirit of compassion, of mercy. Most of all, it is wrong for God's people to be enslaved. He could not believe that they were enslaving one another. That system is counter-cultural. To forgive debt, to not be concerned with your own gain, this is counter-fallen human nature. It's a different way of living, and it doesn't work apart from faith. apart from a faithful community, a desire to love God above all things. It doesn't work if you're not fearing the Lord. If the people that you're returning their land to, if they do not fear God, they will abuse the system. They will abuse the compassion of others. If you yourself do not fear God, you will manipulate. You'll be concerned for your own gain. But if you fear the Lord, If you fear the Lord, you value work, you value faithfulness, you value returning what you owe, and these things can work, this system of forgiving and compassion. This really is to be the posture of the church, where we are identified as those that care more for the needs of one another than for our own gain. at the root of our cause, at the root of who we are, we are to be identified as those who fear God, as those who fear God above all else, that we are not to have allegiance or to be bound to anything else, to not be bound to the comforts of this life, to be bound in slavery to another. God's people are not to be enslaved to anything. except in some sense to God Himself, to be His servants, our lives in service wholly to Him. This is to be our posture. As we think about these things, as we maybe are convicted, hopefully we are convicted as I was in thinking about this text, We think about Ezra and Nehemiah. They're books that revolve around the sanctity of worshiping God, of worshiping God rightly, of removing idols. And it's fitting for this narrative, for this text to be here in the center, where we see the danger of the idols of our own hearts. We see our own desires for gain, for manipulating things for our own comfort. We need to be on guard. We need to recognize, as James says, that true religion includes compassion and its concern for justice. It cares for the oppressed, cares for the widow and the orphan, the marginalized in society. May we be a church. May we be a body that puts the needs of others above our own. May we be a community that seeks justice, that cares for the oppressed, that is willing to repent when we have done wrong, to have compassion even when it costs. Out of the fear of the Lord, may we build one another up. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word and we thank you for the reminder that it gives to us We thank you for your mercy towards us. We know that we can do none of this in ourselves. We know that this kind of dramatic compassion does not come from ourselves, so we ask that you would work it in our hearts. Father, help us to open our eyes to the needs of those around us. Help us to respond rightly. Forgive us for our apathy and our complacency. Forgive us for our doubt. Forgive us for our unbelief. Father, we pray that you would work in our hearts, that by the power of your Spirit you would bear fruit in our lives, that we would be a compassionate people that are concerned for justice. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.