Thursday - From “They” to “Us”

Nehemiah 9:32-33 – Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day. 33 Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:”

For thirty-one verses, the prayer is about "they." Our fathers dealt proudly. They made a calf. They slew the prophets. Then at verse 32 the pronoun changes. It's not "they" anymore. It's "us." "Let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us."

That's the moment the prayer stops being a history lesson and becomes a confession. It's easy to see everybody else's sin. What our country is doing. What another church is doing. What somebody else is doing. Revival becomes real when we finally say, "Lord, this has come upon us. I am guilty too."

Then comes maybe the most honest sentence in the whole prayer. "Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly" (v. 33). No blaming God. No blaming circumstances. No excuses.

Real confession drops every "but" of self-defense. Not "I know I sinned, but I was angry." Not "but they hurt me first." Not "but everybody does it." The moment we add our "but," we've turned confession into an excuse. And here's the beautiful thing. The moment they dropped their "but," God was free to write in His. They said, "We have done wickedly," and heaven answered, "But thou art a God ready to pardon." Confession doesn't drive God away. It opens the floodgates of His mercy. "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy"(Proverbs 28:13).

Think about it: Is there a "but" of self-defense you've been holding onto? What would it sound like to pray verse 33 in your own words?