Thoughts for the Day

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. Then those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth part of the day, and for another fourth they made confession and worshipped the Lord their God. Then they stood on the stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God, and said, ‘Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.’

And Ezra said: ‘You are the Lord, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. To all of them you give life, and the host of heaven worships you. You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham; and you found his heart faithful before you, and made with him a covenant to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanite.... and you have fulfilled your promise, for you are righteous.

‘But our ancestors acted presumptuously and stiffened their necks and did not obey your commandments; they refused to obey, and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them ........ But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and you did not forsake them.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

At the end of all this building, the people heard the word of God from Ezra, then the community came together as a repentant nation before God. Their actions showed their lowly and humble state before God. They fasted, putting worship of God before their desire for food. They wore rough sack-like clothes as though saying the comfort of clothes is not important. They poured dirt on their heads to show their lowly status. All of this reflected a humble attitude before God and before other people.

Nehemiah says the nation came to confess their sins to God. The word "sin" comes from archery, meaning to "miss one's mark". At a tournament if you missed the target you were said to have "sinned", whether you missed the target by a few centimetres, or by a metre. We sin when we do not obey God's word, either failing to do something or doing something that is patently against His word. Having heard the word of God expounded to them the people realise how they have fallen short of what God expects of them.

When we draw closer to God; when we learn more about Him; then we begin to see how we have failed. The natural response is to confess when we have 'missed the target' and ask God's forgiveness.

Lord God,
help us to acknowledge the times
we have failed to hit the mark
and broken Your laws,
in thought, word, or deed.
May we be honest with ourselves
and with You,
and come before You in humility,
as we see the gulf that lies between us.
Amen.