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August – September 2026: The Book of Nehemiah
On Tuesday 18th August we begin a brand new series of Daily Inspirations – in the Book of Nehemiah. It’s a riveting tale of someone being called by God to do something amazing – and then doing it! Nehemiah is a wonderful character, full of faith, wisdom and practical common sense. Let’s journey with him over the next three weeks or so, and be inspired by his example.
- Saturday 5th September – Psalm 17 ‘The Apple’
‘Jesus loves you…. but I’m his favourite.’
I remember a Christian leader sharing in a talk that he would love to wear a T-shirt like that, with ‘Jesus loves you’ on the front, and ‘but I’m his favourite’ on the back! Whatever you think of that, from either a sartorial or an evangelistic point of view, the point he was making was quite profound. He was preaching on a passage from the gospel of John, which refers to ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’. Many people think this is John himself – but you can also read it as a way of us (or any reader) entering the story personally. You are the disciple Jesus loves. I am the disciple Jesus loves.
We are familiar with the idea that God loves us – but not all of us are comfortable with the idea that God actually likes us. We can imagine God’s love as the sort of stoic act of will often seen in previous generations: he loves us because he’s God, he has to – but like? Why would God like me?
This psalm contains many similar themes that we encounter in lots of David’s psalms. Troubles, enemies, pleas for vindication and judgement…. but there is one extraordinary verse in the middle: in fact the exact middle, verse 8 of 15 (a perfect 7 before and 7 after): ‘Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.’
The ‘apple of your eye’ appears as a phrase five times in the Old Testament: three times it refers to God’s view of the nation of Israel (i.e. his people as a whole), and once to how we should view God’s law. Only here do we find it applied to one individual. David is not praying as a ‘nation’ but as a person. Keep me, Lord, he prays, as the apple of your eye. (And note: David knows that he already is – he prays ‘keep me’, not ‘make me’.)
We may not always see eye to eye with the more vengeful bits of David’s psalms. But his relationship with the Lord has something amazing to teach us in this respect: his childlike confidence in God’s love – and that similarly childlike sense that his divine parent not only loves him conditionally, he actually likes him. God thinks he’s amazing, and when he’s in trouble, he comes back to that. He knows that, whatever is going on, God is not punishing him (apart from Psalm 51, but that’s for another time). It’s just life – and his divine parent, who sees him personally as the apple of his eye, will see him through.
I want that kind of relationship with the Lord. I want that assurance of knowing that I am the apple of God’s eye. Perhaps you do, too. So, today, why not spend a few moments with this verse? Pray for grace to believe that God doesn’t just love you, he likes you as well. And may you live from that place of unfailing love today, hidden in the shadow of his wings.
- Friday 4th September – Psalm 16 ‘The Portion’Read more...
We take another brief break from Nehemiah to enjoy a couple of Psalms (today and tomorrow):
‘Just a small portion for me.’ These are words I utter quite often at our family meals; I do love food, but I don’t have a particularly big appetite, so if there’s a pudding available, my desire to enjoy it is tempered ...
- Day 13, Thursday 3rd September – Nehemiah 7:4-73 ‘Each to their own town’Read more...
Before I was a minister, I was a market researcher. This was at a time when my kids were very young, and had no idea what sort of job their daddy had. So, when I came home from work and they asked me what I did, I said: ‘Counting. Daddy does counting for a living.’ Which was basically true, albeit I ...
- Day 12, Wednesday 2nd September – Nehemiah 6:15-7:3 ‘Completed! – and continuing…’Read more...
‘So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.’
What joy it must have been to write those words! Even better, to actually see the rebuilt wall; to walk around inside its perimeter, knowing that the city was secure; to celebrate with those who had put in so much hard work, had risked their lives and ...
- Day 11, Tuesday 1st September – Nehemiah 6:10-14 ‘Facing opposition (4): fear’Read more...
What is the opposite of faith? Most of us would instinctively say ‘doubt’ – but that’s not the biblical answer. In the bible, the opposite of faith is fear. It’s why Jesus prefaces his post-resurrection encounters repeatedly with the words, ‘Do not be afraid.’ It’s why St John tells us that there is no fear in love. Yes, there are healthy ...
- Day 10, Monday 31st August – Nehemiah 6:1-9 ‘Facing opposition (3): lies and gossip’Read more...
Followers of Jesus have often been treated as threats to the ‘established order.’ In many ways this is strange: a group committed to living peaceful, holy, servant-hearted lives ought to be the very last people to be considered subversive. On the other hand, we worship a different Lord, one to whom all the Powers That Be will one day give an ...