How deep is your Yearning?

I'm amazed at the depth of yearning, humbled and repentance of the people in Nehemiah. After the wall of Jerusalem was restored and as they were being read and taught from the Book of the Law, they realized how guilty they had been. Nehemiah 9:3 says, "While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God." My study notes say that a fourth of the day is about 3 hours. Thus these people stood before God for about 6 hours listening, worshiping and confessing. There was no clock watching, backside numbing, falling asleep. No, they were on fire with yearning.

Jumping ahead to the end of Nehemiah 9 after a lengthy history of the Israelites and what God did for them. Verse 38 says, "Now because of all this we are making an agreement in writing; and on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests." But this agreement did not stop with the leaders, Levites and priests for we see in Nehemiah 10:29 that everyone else was, "joining with their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God's law, which was given through Moses, God's servant, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of God our Lord and His ordinances and His statues." These people were serious enough to take on a curse from God in order to keep His commandments. They humbled themselves and brought themselves under the umbrella of God once more.

My devotional hit upon humility this morning. Ahh, yes Lord, I hear you!

"The dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Matt. 15:27

While Jesus was ministering in Tyre and Sidon a women came to Him asking that He heal her daughter. According to His wisdom He hesitated until her persistent pleading drew from Him these words; "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs."

"Both the humility and the quick, eager faith of this woman appear in her response. 'Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.' She was not offended by the figure our Lord had used. She was willing to be as a little dog under the Master's table. The children were first served, and then the pieces they let fall belonged to the dogs. All she asked was the portion that ordinarily went to the dogs. And even the crumbs from that table were enough fro her, more than the richest dainties from any other table.

"Thus both humility and faith were shown in her answer; and in both she is an example to us. We should come to Christ with a deep sense of our unworthiness, ready to take the lowest place. It is such a precious thing to be permitted to take even the crumbs from the Master's table, that we should exult in the privilege. The crumbs of His grace and love are better then the richest feasts of this world.

Not worthy, Lord, to gather up the crumbs
With trembling hand that from Thy table fall,
A weary, heave-laden sinner comes
To plead thy promise and obey thy call.

"Yet we are not fed with crumbs; we are seated at the full table, with the richest provisions before us. The prodigal, returning, asked only to be made a servant, as he felt unworthy to be restored to a son's place. But father-love knew no such half-way restoration as that. The white robe, the ring, the shoes, were given to him, insignia of sonship. God puts the lowliest and unworthiest at once into the children's place, and feeds them abundantly." - J. R. Miller (from Com Ye Apart) - Streams in the Desert Volume 2

Krista Jones
5.28.08