A Repentant Life (Nehemiah 9)

[Scripture reading – Neh. 9:5b-8]

Pray & Intro: Let me ask you a question to begin this morning. When was the last time you saw the error of your ways and changed direction? (Instead of: I’m not lost; I’m taking the scenic route.)

à Some of us are very reflective, others not. [Some of us need to cling to our identity in Christ and security in his unfailing love… Others of us need to listen intently when reading God’s word and pray Psalm 139:23-24.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

    Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

    and lead me in the way everlasting!

à Remember the lyrics to the hymn “Come Thou Fount”? #35 – Prone to wander… prone to leave the God I love… [then back] O to grace how great a debtor…

And even if it weren’t about my immense aptitude to forget and return again to self-centeredness, there always remains the clear goal of running this race of endurance with closer adherence to the heart of God and greater faithfulness to both his mission and his character. – The apostle Paul in Php. 3:12-14 “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

à The good news is you only have to repent to the degree that God is transforming you into the image of Christ. (Sometimes I can be sarcastic in my humor to make a point, so you’ll have to forgive me tongue-in-cheek tone.) You only need to repent as often as a clear understanding of God’s word reveals who God is and who you are (in light of who God is), that makes you cringe at your unfaithfulness and strain your face again upward toward the greatness and goodness of God.

à In our passage today from Nehemiah 9 we find a pattern to follow to live a repentant life:

• A pattern for corporate worship and confession – extolling God’s greatness; exercising faith in God’s goodness
• And within this great prayer of worship and confession we see the pattern of God’s faithfulness and mercy, & the pattern of our sin and rebellion [drawing attention to our need for repentance] – changing direction toward God’s will & experiencing God’s grace

Our aim for today is that in the experience of God’s covenant people you see yourself in recognizing God’s faithfulness and mercy, revealing your need (and opportunity) to keep on repenting. (And you’ll notice this isn’t flippant confession…)

Read & Discuss (as we go…): [see handwritten notes on printed copy of text]

A pattern of worship and confession in response to the pattern of God’s faithfulness, the pattern of our sin, the pattern of God’s mercy, and the pattern of our remorse over sin and need to change

(This passage comes at us wave after wave of this truth. BTW, if you’re taking notes, you’ll need to take notes in different places at different times; hence the odd layout.)

Application: Responding to God’s amazing grace!!! (v. 38) Not only as a pattern of corporate worship and confession but also as a pattern for our lives.

Keep agreeing with God about where you’ve gone wrong and your need to change.

Repentance results in change.

We repent and re-commit ourselves to your covenant love extended to us.

Lesson 10 – A Life of Repentance (Nehemiah 9)

Pattern your life as one in need of ongoing repentance before a faithful God.

A pattern for corporate                 worship                    &                     confession

God’s pattern of                   faithfulness                          &                     mercy

Our pattern of                      disobedience                        &                     rebellion

Experience God’s Grace! – In response to God’s Word and the prompting of His Spirit, write down for yourself an area where you know you need to agree with God and change direction.

Take It Home: (Discussion Questions)

• Go back through the passage and point out together all the places that mark God’s faithfulness, man’s disobedience and rebellion, and God’s mercy.
• Discuss why it is unhealthy for God’s people to think of repentance as a one-time thing.
• Why can't you rightly repent if you don't come face-to-face with the goodness and righteousness of God in his Word?
• Do like the Levites and recount together the faithfulness and mercy of God to a sin-drenched people when the Messiah came to earth.