Dear Christian friends:

Because we can't see God, we may think that He is far away and not active or involved in the events of our life. But nothing happens in our life without God's knowledge and permission, no matter if it be good or bad He lets it happen to us. Often He lets terrible things happen to us and sometimes He lets good things happen to us and for us. God is always dealing with us in one way or another.

You may think God is not dealing with you but He is and if you don't know it you are very blind and very deaf, and very dumb.

In our text we see how God was dealing with His people Israel. Yes, the whole Old Testament shows God's dealings with His people Israel. This text shows Israel's answer to God when He dealt hard with them. God also deals hard and terrible with us today. What should we do about that?


We should be sorry about our sins and confess them. In our text we see how God's people long ago did that. God punished the Jews, His people, because they worshipped false gods and acted very wickedly. Assyrians came and conquered their nation and Jerusalem and scattered the people to many far away places. When Persia conquered Assyria, Cyrus their King let some of the Jews return from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild (build again) the city, the walls and the temple.

But they were not a free nation now. They had a puppet King and had to pay heavy taxes to the Persian king. They had little profit left for themselves and so were very poor. Under Ezra and Nehemiah these few Jews had finished building again their city and temple. They now intended to dedicate the temple and take up the true worship that God gave them through Moses one-thousand years before.

They intended to make a new covenant and promise to serve God faithfully. So they pray the prayer which is our text and confess the sins of their fathers and their own. They do not blame God for their troubles. They do not blame the Assyrians or the Persians for their troubles. They know that God used the Assyrians and the Persians as His tool to judge them and punish them for their sins. They confess in Nehemiah 9:33, "Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly."

So also must we answer to God today when He judges us and punishes us because of our sins and He is judging us today. He gives us war continually since 1939, almost thirty years including some cold and some hot war. Now we have Vietnam and we have daily many troubles and problems. Even church membership is going down; attendance is going down. Only one-fourth of our members attend on a Sunday. Only eight or ten will come to Bible Class. About twenty for Lenten Service.

Our members don't want to give much to support the Church and missions. Spend $7.00 and $5 for a banquet but little or nothing for World Relief etc. The Christian Church is dying in America and in the world. God is forsaking us. More and more ministers deny the true teaching of the Bible: Bishop Pike has many followers, some are Lutherans, too. Our church is in a mess; our country is in a mess. Our young people are going to the devil. One-fourth of all marriages end in divorce.

Yes, God is judging us and punishing us. Many of us are blind and can't see it. We should not blame God for our mess. We must not blame Russia or China or Ho Chi Minh or someone else. Let's not blame, Lyndon Baines Johnson or Hubert Humphrey. Lets say like Israel in our text, "God, you did right to punish us, but we have done wickedly."

So our answer to God's words and deeds is to confess our sins, accept the blame, and ask His mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus. Although God judges and gives us much trouble to make us wake up He has not forsaken us. So also He did not fully forsake His people Israel. In verse 31 they pray, "Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God."

God still let them keep a few priests and prophets. He let a few of them return from Babylon to rebuild the city and the temple and establish the worship again. This encourages them to pray to Him for more help. In verse 32, they don't tell God to help them. They only remind Him that they have much trouble: "Let not the trouble seem little before thee." They mean to tell Him: "God you have given us lots of trouble and You are right we deserved it and much more. But you are merciful. Pity us and help us! You can! You did it before when David was King and Solomon. Help us to believe and hope in You for salvation. Help us serve You."

So we should answer His deeds and words. He has not fully forsaken us here in America. We still have our churches. We still have His Word, Baptism and Lord's Supper. We still have a few pastors who preach forgiveness of sins and everlasting life through the blood of His cross. A few Americans and a few deaf still come to church. A few still come to Bible class and Lenten Services. A few still give much for His Work. A few still obey Him and serve Him at home and where they work.

While God has judged us and taken away much of our strength and glory of the past He has not fully forsaken us. That should encourage us to pray to Him and trust Him to help us and keep us in the true faith.

Let us remind Him that He is a kind and merciful God. He gave His Son to die for us. Let us trust in Him to carry us through every event in our life with hope of full and final salvation and victory. He has promised that to us in His Word.

Let us believe that He rules all things in the world for the victory of His church.

Amen.