Nehemiah 5:19 Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people
Haven’t we all known little people who had big responsibility, or more specifically, big authority. Here is someone with not much character, no regard for other people, not much of a work ethic, and no honesty, but for whatever reason they have a lot of authority and it all goes to their head. Woe to those who are governed by little people with big heads and authority.
In Nehemiah 5 you find a better way. Nehemiah was the governor of the people who had returned to Jerusalem. He governed them. He himself was a servant of Artaxerxes, the king of the known world, who had allowed Nehemiah to go back to repair the fallen wall of Jerusalem.
That is exactly what he did, and when he got back to Jerusalem, he was discouraged, not by the enemies from without, but by the corruption from within God’s own people. Nehemiah 5:1 says, “And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.” They said, “We bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants.” This was because of their debt; other men had their lands and vineyards.
Nehemiah’s response in verse 6 was, “I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.” After consulting himself and praying, he said to those who were taking advantage of their countrymen and their financial plight, “It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?” In other words, when you are riding roughshod over people who are not as powerful as you, it is obvious that you do not realize there is someone over you, that is God, and you are not fearing God the way you should.
Nehemiah, on the other hand, did what he could to help those who were oppressed. He had compassion on them and he instructed that the debt holders do the same thing. This text is not about debt or borrowing, but it is about the way you treat other people. Nehemiah did all that he did because of the fear of God. He realized that although he had authority over people, God had authority over him.
Always consider your master when you deal with your servant. I don’t mean you literally have a bunch of servants to clean your house and prepare your meals, but I do mean that most of us have authority of some kind, whether at school or work, in the home or church. How you use your authority reveals who you think gave it to you in the first place.
Colossians 4:1 says, “Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.” You may have some authority over someone in your world, but God has authority over you and, for that matter, other people have authority over you as well. Think about the way you treat those under you and consider those who have authority over you. It is interesting that when Nehemiah was a servant before the king, he prayed. When Nehemiah was governor over other people, he prayed. The reason was because his fundamental identity in relationship never changed. Whether he was a servant in the palace or a governor in the land, he was a servant of God. That is your fundamental identity too.
For that reason, Nehemiah, in his particular case, would not take money from his subjects. Verse 14 tells us that because he had compassion on them. He had taken money from the king, but even that was an act of God’s working through the king because the king served at God’s pleasure. As to your position, you are more like other servants than you are like the master who is over all.
So, regardless of your position, be like your Lord in your disposition. Jesus said, “I am not come to be ministered unto, but to minister.” This is your consistent unchanging position. I think about Joseph, the man with the coat of many colors. He was thrown in the pit, served as a slave in Potiphar’s house, was thrown into prison, and ruled in the palace, but fundamentally his unchanging position was servant of God.
You and I may expect to get what we give. In Nehemiah 5:19, Nehemiah prayed very candidly and openly, saying, “Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.” He had governed them in light of God’s governance over him. Who prays so directly as Nehemiah did except those who see themselves as servants? He wasn’t imposing upon God, as if he were the lone authority in the universe. He was appealing to God because he was a servant. He was governor and also a servant of Artaxerxes, but in both positions, he was a servant of God.
Today, maybe you feel like you have no authority. Well, be a servant to those in authority over you in light of your serving God. Maybe you have authority. Govern those who look to you just like you are going to take governance from the God who rules over everything. Let me tell you, what goes around comes around. That is why I should be honoring those under authority and compassionate to those who may be affected by decisions I make. That is what Nehemiah did. He said, “Think upon me God for the good I have done to those who are under me.”
Most of us are in authority in some setting and all of us are under authority, not just of God but under the delegated authority He has entrusted to other people. Wherever you find yourself, always consider your master when you deal with your servant because that is what will bless you today.