They were back. Again. Maybe they never left. They seemed always to be lurking. Usually whispering. Regularly note-taking. Frequently nattering on about nothing in particular and everything in general. Their voices pitched just loud enough to be heard by the builders. Their words were chosen to incite, annoy, aggravate, and distract. Disruption appeared to be their sole purpose in life. From the moment Nehemiah’s plans for the wall had leaked to the public, Sanballat and Tobiah had made it their business to derail the effort.
Confronting Nehemiah at the beginning of the project, they asked if he was stirring up a rebellion against the king. That would be the icing on their cake. If there was any proof Nehemiah was looking to start an uprising, stage a coup, or support a rebellion, it would be easy to shut him down. No king wanted that. No authority would stand for it. If there was something untoward going on, Sanballat and Tobiah were the guys who would find it. They wanted this project stopped. Immediately. That’s why they were there. Again. It’s why they never left. Ever. Constantly hovering just beyond the work area. Watching the progress. Making notes. Eavesdropping on conversations. Daily growing angrier and angrier.
As the gates were rebuilt, repaired, and replaced, they stewed. But they were just gates. As long as the wall itself was still in ruins, the gates didn’t matter. One could always climb over the broken remains to enter the city. Except the wall didn’t stay in rubble heaps. Slowly but surely, the wall was also being repaired, rebuilt, and replaced. Not by a travelling group of workmen, but by the men living nearest those sections. Each household appeared to be rebuilding its own piece of the wall. As if they were doing general fencing upkeep, the men of the house would come out and repair the wall across from their home as if they personally owned it and were responsible for its integrity. It was a frustrating dimension to Sanballat and Tobiah’s problem. It made keeping tabs on the progress more difficult. They could hardly be near every part of the wall at once. And the work wasn’t stopping. It was going much more quickly than they thought. And their anger, motivated by anxiety and fear of losing rank and authority, was multiplying.
Sanballat was incandescent. Ranting to a group of friends and Samarian army officers, he berated the Israelites. Mocked them. Derided them. Called them names. He called their work worthless, useless. With no urging, Tobiah joined him. He had words to say, too. The work being done on the wall of Jerusalem was shoddy. He’d never pay to have those people work for him. Their wall would collapse under the weight of the tiniest fox, so poorly was it done. It was no wonder they didn’t already have their own city. Laughter ensued. Hope for the demise of the wall and an end to its restoration saturated the moment. But the words weren’t said in private. Those kinds of things never are. Sanballot and Tobiah weren’t privately meeting with their friends to discuss their grievances. No. It was a public meeting. Close enough for the workers to hear their words. Near enough for the jibes to fall on Nehemiah’s ears. A verbal attack with no physical engagement. It was meant to destroy the confidence Israel had in their project. It was meant to deter them from making more progress. It was designed to discourage their hearts and make them think twice about spending their valuable time rebuilding the wall of their city.
Nehemiah heard the words they spoke. He couldn’t help it. They intentionally spoke loudly and in proximity to his workspace. He felt those words deep in his soul. Felt the attempt to sow defeat and despair. Felt his anger burgeoning toward Sanballat and Tobiah. Words thundered in his brain, sprang to his lips, tried to force their way out. He didn’t let them. Didn’t stop working. Didn’t react. Didn’t respond. Not a glance in their direction. Not a whispered rebuttal. Not a thundering indictment of their obvious insanity against God. Nehemiah didn’t engage them at all. He did what he had always done. What he had been doing since word came to him in the king’s palace that things were in bad shape back home. Nehemiah prayed. (Nehemiah 2:10, 19; 4:1-4)
Hearing from Hanani and his men that the people who had returned to Judah were in trouble and disgrace, and the wall of Jerusalem was in shambles, Nehemiah sat down and wept. Mourned. Fasted. Prayed. A lot. Night and day. He didn’t try to whitewash their sin or excuse their disobedience. He owned every second of their turning away from God. He also asked God to be with him. Guide him. Grant him the opportunity to speak to the king. Nehemiah couldn’t just march into the room and spill his request. Not even if he bowed low. Not if he sobbed. There was no instance in which the cupbearer would be allowed a sudden audience with the king. Unless God intervened. This is what Nehemiah was asking for: God to do His thing. Do His work. Go before him and soften Artaxerxes’ heart. Make it malleable. Fill it with compassion. Allow Nehemiah to speak words that would move the king to action on his behalf. He wasn’t about to try it on his own. Nehemiah simply brought his concerns and worries to God, placed them before Him, and stepped back so He could work. (Nehemiah 1:1-11)
It was exactly what he was doing this time, too. As the hate-laced words of Sanballat and Tobiah spewed venomously against them. Nehemiah prayed. Not because he was speechless. Not because he had no rebuttal. Not because his mind was too wounded to come up with snarling words to throw back. No. Nehemiah prayed because he had trained himself to pray first. In every situation. Before speaking. Before writing. Before responding. Nehemiah trained himself to bring the issue, the struggle, the pain, the aggravation to God. Turn it over to Him. Let it go. Leave it there. Let God be God. Trust Him to handle the situation, the people, the problem. Because Nehemiah knew, from personal experience, that fear, anxiety, and ill-advised words are never the answer. Prayer is.
Not looking up from his work or engaging in the confrontation his enemy so clearly intended, Nehemiah prayed. Silently. Fervently. Poured out his heart to God. They were being mocked. Not just God’s people. God Himself. Nehemiah hated that. It put his back up. He wanted to stand up to them. Tell them just how much trouble they were in. Pronounce punishment on their heads. He didn’t. He prayed. “I know you hear them mocking us, Lord; You know what they are trying to do. You know they are doing everything they can to discourage Your people from doing Your work. I am upset by their words. Angry at their actions. They deserve punishment, and I would love to pronounce it over them. I want justice done. Now. But. That’s not my job. So, here’s the situation, the words, the people. This mess is yours. You handle it. I trust you.” And with that prayer, Nehemiah surrendered to God. The problem. The people. The solution. Himself. His work. His men. Then he continued working, living out the truth he knew. Prayer is always the answer. (Nehemiah 4:4-5)
It always has been. Throughout the Bible, you will find people who knew this truth. Stuck in circumstances beyond their control, terrified, anxious, persecuted, rejected, falsely accused, and outright lied about, they prayed. Moses prayed as he led recalcitrant people through the wilderness. Esther prayed as she faced possible death when approaching the king on behalf of her people. Daniel prayed in the face of imminent danger. Stephen prayed as he was stoned for preaching the gospel. Paul and Silas prayed while locked in prison for no crime at all. Jesus prayed. Over and over again. For Himself. For His disciples, then. For us now. Why? Because prayer is always the answer. No matter your circumstances, your situations, or your emotions about those things. Regardless of the things others say to or about you. No matter the opinions you hear. Prayer is always the answer. It is the proper response. The only response for a child of God. Pray. Silently. Fervently. For yourself. For your enemies. For those around you who are being influenced one way or the other. Pray. It is always the answer. (Acts 7:59-60; 16:25-34; Esther 4:1-17; Daniel 6:1-18; Exodus 15:24-25; 17:4; Numbers 14:13-19; Matthew 5:44; 26:36-46; Luke 23:34)
Wherever you are today, whatever has you fearful, anxious, angry, worried, or just plain scared, may it cause you to pray. Whatever the evil one is using to distract, discourage, or draw you away from God, may it pull you closer to Him instead, because you chose to pray. Whatever circumstance or situation has you fretting, whatever words have you fuming, whatever pundit has you mentally or emotionally flailing, may you find yourself fleeing to the safety of prayer. The place where you can pour out your worries, voice your fears, and speak all the words built up in your brain. The place where you can lay it all down–your predicament, your pain, your persecution. The place where you can leave all your dismay, distress, and disquiet. The place you can find peace from the issues of the world and the upsets of life. Prayer. Pray first. Pray last. Pray always. Because prayer is always the answer. (I Thessalonians 5:17; Philippians 4;6-7; Colossians 4:2; Jeremiah 33:3; Psalm 34:17; 145:18; Luke 18:1; Hebrews 4:16; I Peter 3:12; 5:7; Proverbs 15:29; Matthew 6:5-14)