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By Nancy (Brokaw) [then Turner] [now Jernigan]**
Inspired by Marilyn Hickey, circa 1976
Destruction filled my city,
The walls were burned and charred.
And when I heard the news of it
It's as if my heart were scarred.
Being a man of God,
I prayed daily for his direction-
For God alone could guide me,
Even when I needed correction.
Being the positive sort of guy I was,
The King noticed my lack of luster.
I prepared my speech with God's help
(and all the courage I could muster).
The good hand of my God was on me;
That's obvious in the story I tell;
And the King gave me not only permission to go
But letters, and lumber as well!
Such a great work needed workers
And I recruited some great volunteers.
"Let us arise and rebuild the city;
Let us unite and rebuild with our peers!"
We knew that the God of heaven
Would give us our needed success:
We thought little then of our opposers,
For God's strength would be greatest in stress.
We found that the evil opposers
Would mock us with angry frowns:
"If a fox should jump on it," they'd say,
"He would break their stone wall down!"
Even when Sanballet and friends
Said they'd kill us so we would not win,
We knew our God would fight for us,
So we armed ourselves with HIM.
For the people had a mind to work,
And backed me when I spoke true:
"Why, Sanballet, should I stop good work
And come down to talk to YOU?
So these enemies lost their confidence
When they saw how hard work and faith had won.
They couldn't help but be impressed
When they saw the good work we had done!
The physical rebuilding of the city
Was by no means the end of my task.
The spiritual rebuilding of the people
Was the thing I tackled last.
We read the laws of Moses
And attempted to duplicate
The behavior of our forefathers
As the laws and readings seemed to dictate.
The people wept with sorry
That they'd strayed so far away.
But the leaders said, "Rejoice Today!
"For God has heard you pray!
"Go eat of the fat," we told them;
Drink of the sweet and then,
Send portions to him who has nothing;
We can now rejoice again!"
God had given us victory
And though the people strayed now and then,
I, Nehemiah, corrected them,
As Governor of Jeruselem.
* The cupbearer to the King was a very trusted individual. The King trusted him to make sure the food and drink were not poisoned. The fact that this King trusted a man of the Jewish faith speaks very well of Nehemiah. He really was an incredible and courageous man, and his story will touch your life. Read about him at:
New American Standard Bible Online
and at
World Wide Study Bible: Nehemiah
There's a link to an interesting commentary there by Ray C. Stedman. Among other things, Stedman says " This is the picture of the way the walls of any life, of any local
church, of any community, of any nation, can be rebuilt into strength
and power and purpose again"
Bee's Quotation Collection at switchboard
email nancybeee: nancybeee@fcmail.com
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See some of my other pages: Bee's Quotation Collection
Bee's Quotation Collection at switchboard
More BeeLines: Keys To Happiness
email nancybeee: nancybeee@fcmail.com
This is a link to Marilyn Hickey Ministries Home Page (One of her telecasts inspired this poem)
**Yes, I've buzzed around a bit.