~ Did You Get It Right? ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~ bible
answer ~~~~
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question
21: What is
the longest prayer in the Bible?
answer: Probably Nehemiah 9:5b-38.
“Stand
up and bless the Lord your God
forever and ever!
“Blessed
be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise! You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all
their host, the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them,
and You preserve them all. The host of
heaven worships You.
‘You
are the Lord God, Who chose Abram,
and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,
and
gave him the name Abraham; You found his heart faithful before You, and made a
covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the
Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites — to give it to
his descendants. You have performed Your
words, for You are righteous.
“You
saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red
Sea. You showed signs and wonders
against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his
land. For You knew that they acted
proudly against them. So You made a name
for Yourself, as it is this day. And You
divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on
the dry land; and their persecutors You threw into the deep, as a stone into
the mighty waters. Moreover You led them
by day with a cloudy pillar, and by night with a pillar of fire, to give them
light on the road which they should travel.
“You
came down also on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them
just ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments. You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, and
commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, by the hand of Moses Your
servant. You gave them bread from heaven
for their hunger,
and
brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, and told them to go in to
possess the land which You had sworn to give them.
“But
they and our fathers acted proudly, hardened their necks, and did not heed Your
commandments. They refused to obey, and
they were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them. But they hardened their necks, and in their
rebellion they appointed a leader to
return to their bondage. But You are
God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in
kindness, and did not forsake them.
“Even
when they made a molded calf for themselves, and said, ‘This is your god that
brought you up out of Egypt,’ and worked great provocations, yet in Your
manifold mercies You did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud did not depart from
them by day, to lead them on the road; nor the pillar of fire by night, to show
them light, and the way they should go.
You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold
Your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst. Forty years You sustained them in the
wilderness; they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
“Moreover
You gave them kingdoms and nations, and divided them into districts. So they took possession of the land of Sihon,
the land of the king of Heshbon, and
the land of Og king of Bashan. You also
multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and brought them into the
land which You had told their fathers to go in and possess. So the people went in and possessed the land;
You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave
them into their hands, with their kings and the people of the land, that they
might do with them as they wished. And
they took strong cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all
goods, cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in
abundance. So they ate and were filled
and grew fat, and delighted themselves in Your great goodness.
“Nevertheless
they were disobedient and rebelled against You, cast Your law behind their
backs and killed Your prophets, who testified against them to turn them to
Yourself; and they worked great provocations.
Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies, who
oppressed them; and in the time of their trouble, when they cried to You, You
heard from heaven; and according to Your abundant mercies You gave them
deliverers who saved them from the hand of their enemies.
“But
after they had rest, they again did evil before You. Therefore You left them in the hand of their
enemies, so that they had dominion over them; yet when they returned and cried
out to You, You heard from heaven; and many times You delivered them according
to Your mercies, and testified against them, that You might bring them back to
Your law. Yet they acted proudly, and
did not heed Your commandments, but sinned against Your judgments, ‘Which if a
man does, he shall live by them.’ And
they shrugged their shoulders, stiffened their necks, and would not hear. Yet for many years You had patience with them,
and testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; therefore You gave
them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor
forsake them; for You are God, gracious and merciful.
“Now
therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and awesome God, Who keeps covenant
and mercy: do not let all the trouble seem small before You that has come upon
us, our kings and our princes, our priests and our prophets, our fathers and on
all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day. However You are just in all that has befallen
us; for You have dealt faithfully, but we have done wickedly. Neither our kings nor our princes, our
priests nor our fathers, have kept Your law, nor heeded Your commandments and
Your testimonies, with which You testified against them. For they have not served You in their kingdom,
or in the many good things that You gave them, or in the large and rich land
which You set before them; nor did they turn from their wicked works.
“Here
we are, servants today! And the land
that You gave to our fathers, to eat its fruit and its bounty, here we are,
servants in it! And it yields much
increase to the kings
You
have set over us, because of our sins; also they have dominion over our bodies
and our cattle at their pleasure; and we are in great distress.
“And
because of all this, we make a sure covenant and write it; our leaders, our
Levites, and our priests seal it." (Nehemiah 9:5b-38).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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