Nehemiah Is Disturbed Due To The Welfare Of His People In Jerusalem

Trusting in G-d, Nehemiah prays and takes action to tell the king of the situation.

Prayer at all times must be on the top of the list before your action; in both little and big things. Unless on routines that may not be applicable.

“Nehemiah Finds Favor And His Request Was Granted”

“The Enemies Of The Jews”

I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be downcast, when the city of my ancestors’ graves is in ruin, and its gates are consumed by fire?”
2:3
… The king said to me, “What is it that you request?” I then prayed to the God of Heaven;
:4
And I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant is worthy before you, then send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”
:5
… The king granted me [this], by the hand of my God which was benevolent to me.
:8
Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah, the Ammonite slave, heard and they were extremely disturbed that someone had come to seek the welfare of the Children of Israel.
:10
Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite slave, and Geshem the Arab heard; they ridiculed us and were contemptuous of us and said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
:19
I answered them a word; I said to them, “The God of Heaven will grant us success, and we, His servants, will arise and build — but you have no portion nor merit nor remembrance in Jerusalem!”
:20

1 Now it came to pass in the month of Nissan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, [that they brought] wine before him, and I carried the wine and gave [it] to the king. And I had never been sad in his presence.
2 And the king said to me, “Why do you have a sad countenance? You are not ill. This is nothing but wickedness of heart.” And I became very frightened.
3 And I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my countenance not be sad when the city, the place of my forefathers’ graves, is laid waste, and its gates are consumed by fire?”
4 And the king said to me, “For what do you make request?” And I prayed to the God of heaven.
5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant is pleasing before you, that you send me to Judea, to the city of the graves of my forefathers, and I shall build it.”
6 And the king said to me- and the queen was sitting beside him-“How long will your trip take, and when will you return?” And it pleased the king, and he sent me, and I gave him a time.
7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, may letters be given to me to the governors of the land beyond the river, that they escort me through until I come to Judea.
8 And a letter to Asaph, the guardian of the king’s orchard, that he give me wood to make beams for the gates of the castle that belongs to the Temple and for the wall of the city and for the house to which I shall go,” and the king gave me according to the good hand of my God upon me.
9 And I came to the governors of the land beyond the river, and I gave them the king’s letters, and the king sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.
10 Now Sanbalat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite slave heard, and it displeased them greatly, that a man had come to request good for the Children of Israel.
11 And I came to Jerusalem, and I was there for three days.
12 And I and a few men with me arose at night, and I did not tell anyone what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem, and there were no animals with me except the animal upon which I was riding.
13 And I went out through the Gate of the Valley at night and toward En Hattannin and to the Dung Gate, and I was breaking the walls of Jerusalem, which were breached, and its gates [which were] consumed by fire.
14 And I passed to the Fountain Gate and to the king’s pool, and there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.
15 And I ascended by the valley at night, and I broke into the wall, and I returned and came into the gate of the valley, and I returned.
16 And the prefects did not know where I went and what I was doing, and the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the prefects, and the remaining performers of the work I had not yet told.
17 And I said to them, “You see the sad state we are in, that Jerusalem is laid waste, and its gates have been burned with fire; come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, and we shall no longer be a reproach.”
18 And I told them of the hand of my God, which was good upon me, and also the words of the king that he said to me. And they said, “Let us get up and build,” and they strengthened their hands for good.
19 Then Sanbalat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite slave, and Geshem the Arab heard, and they mocked us and despised us, and they said, “What is this thing that your are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
20 And I answered them a word, and I said to them, “The God of heaven-He will make us succeed, and we, His servants, will get up and build, but you have no share, charity, or remembrance in Jerusalem.”