The Righteous Leader

We're taking some time today to consider some of the values of leadership and how God desires that we function in this world as His followers, walking in righteousness. So, open with us to the book of Nehemiah as we consider that together.

Good morning! How are you guys doing? Good! Would you stand with me and take out your Bibles? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. We're going to be in the Old Testament this morning, in a book about a guy building a wall.

Nehemiah chapter 5 is where we'll be. Turn to about the middle of your Bible; you'll be in the Book of Psalms. Turn to the left, and you'll pass Job, then Esther, and then Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter 5, and we will pick it up at verse 1.

There, Nehemiah records, "And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against the Jewish brethren. For there were those that said, 'We are sons, and our daughters are many; therefore, let us get grain that we may eat and live.' There were also some who said, 'We have mortgaged our lands and our vineyards and our houses that we may buy grain because of this famine.' There were also those who said, 'We've borrowed money for the king's tax on our lands and our vineyards, and yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children. Indeed, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. Is it not in our power to redeem them? For other men have our lands and our vineyards.'"

Father, as we look at this portion of Scripture today, I pray that You would give us wisdom and insight by Your Spirit. Teach us that even though this passage was written nearly 2,500 years ago, You would help us to see the application to us in our day and that we would learn from this how You desire that we live. So, God, do work in us by the working of Your Word and by the power.

Of your Spirit, it is your desire that we would be transformed by the renewing of our minds and that we would, as a result, show your perfect will in this world this week. So, God, do it. Work in us, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those agreed said. Then you could be seated.

We finished our series last week, our summer series in the book of John, the Gospel of John, looking at the "I Am" statements of Jesus. We are going to be going into the book of 2nd Timothy in the fall, so we have kind of a little gap here. I was looking through and thinking about where we might go in the Scriptures today.

I had the privilege in July of teaching at a conference in Sweden, and the conference was on the book of Nehemiah. As we were in that passage of Scripture, specifically here in chapter 5, there were a number of things that really stood out to me that I felt perhaps the Lord would want to speak to us here as well.

A little bit of context on this book, as context is always really helpful and important. It's important anytime we come to a passage like this in the Scriptures that we recognize these are not just mere stories. These weren't written as novels that were just for entertainment value. These things are the recorded history of one specific people group. Most of the Old Testament focuses on a singular people group: the people of Israel, the descendants of this man named Abraham.

Abraham lived several thousand years ago, and he is still seen by many people in the world. The majority of the world recognizes Abraham as a central, important figure in all of history. Whether you are coming from a Jewish background, a Christian background, or those who identify as Muslim, they all look back to this individual, Abraham, who met and was called by God in the book of Genesis, chapter 12. There, God called him to come and follow by faith, and Abraham did that.

Then, in Genesis chapter 15, God established a covenant with Abraham, a relationship with Abraham. In that covenant, He promised that Abraham would be the father of a great nation. Not only that, He promised many descendants, but God promised to Abraham and his descendants that they would inherit this land that forever came to be known as the Promised Land. After that point, if you read through the book of Genesis, you know that at the end of the book of Genesis, the descendants of Abraham were not very big; it's only about 70 individuals that are listed.

At the end of the book of Genesis, the Israelites find themselves not in their promised land; they do not receive the promise that God had made to Abraham. However, Abraham's son Isaac has the covenant renewed with him, and then Isaac's son Jacob has the covenant reiterated and renewed with him. Jacob has twelve sons who become the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. Yet, at the end of the book of Genesis, they are still in Egypt, where they remain for some 430 years.

While in Egypt, the Israelites did not integrate into Egyptian society. They continued to speak their native language, Hebrew, and they worshiped the one true God with whom Abraham had established a covenant. As they grew and multiplied in the land of Egypt, the leadership, including the Pharaohs, became very concerned about this large people group within their nation. Consequently, they began to severely oppress them, as the Bible describes. Ultimately, after many generations, the Israelites became the labor force of Egypt and were held in bondage as slaves.

The story of their deliverance is told in the book of Exodus. The Israelites cried out to God for help, and God raised up a deliverer, a man named Moses. Moses was called by God to go to Pharaoh and demand that he let the people of Israel go. Pharaoh was not open to this idea, as the Israelites were his labor force, so he resisted Moses—essentially, he fought against God. If you've ever fought with God, you know that is a losing battle.

Ultimately, after ten plagues, the children of Israel, along with Moses, were released from their bondage. They began their journey toward the promised land, but they did not enter and possess it for another generation. Instead, they wandered in the wilderness for about 40 years under Moses' leadership. This wandering was not due to an inability to find their way; they knew exactly where the promised land was. Rather, it was a result of their stubborn disobedience to God.

They established the covenant with God in Exodus chapters 19 and 20, but they did not follow Him faithfully. After 40 years of wandering, that entire generation that had witnessed God's deliverance from Egypt had passed away. As the new generation prepared to enter the promised land, we come to the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy, Moses stands before the nation of Israel as they are at the brink of entering their promised land.

At the border of the Promised Land, the people were getting ready to go in and possess the possession that God had promised to them many generations before. It was Moses's last time standing before the people, and he declared his last message to them in the book of Deuteronomy. With over thirty chapters, it is all one message. If you think my messages are long-winded, Moses wins that battle with his thirty-one chapters.

In this book, he re-declares the Covenant and the law to the people of Israel standing at the border of the land. One of the most significant passages of Deuteronomy is Deuteronomy chapter 28. Here, Moses recounts to the people that if they adhere to the Covenant, follow God faithfully, and obey His commands, then they will be blessed. He lists all these blessings: they will be blessed in their lands, in their vineyards, and in their homes. All these great blessings will overwhelm them. Doesn't that sound like good news?

However, Moses also gives the counterpoint. If they disregard this Covenant and disobey God, then curses will come upon them, effectively undoing every single one of the blessings. The children of Israel responded, "All right, we're ready to go into the Promised Land." Moses dies, and Joshua takes the leadership, bringing the people into the Promised Land. They conquer this land, and for a time, they serve God faithfully and follow His commands.

The book of Joshua, the sixth book of the Bible, ends with Joshua's death. Then, we move into the book called Judges. In Judges chapter 2, verse 10, it says, "When this generation had passed, the generation that had seen all that God had done, there arose a new generation that did not know the glory nor the works that He had done for Israel." This new generation did evil in the sight of the Lord.

Thus begins a cycle that dominates most of the Old Testament. The people of Israel, called by God and given this Promised Land where they would serve Him, had a leader who led them in righteousness. However, as soon as that leader was gone, they would revert to idolatry, disobedience, and stubbornness towards God. They would fall into a pattern of sin, ending up under the bondage of their enemies. They would cry out to God, and in His mercy and grace, He would send another judge, another deliverer. They would serve God faithfully for a time until that judge or deliverer died, and then they would return to their old ways. This cycle happened for many hundreds of years.

For centuries, the nation of Israel continued in a cycle of disobedience. Eventually, it came to the point where God was true to His word. He had told them through Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 28 that if they disobeyed and turned away from the covenant, they would be removed from the land He had given to them as an inheritance.

In the eighth century BC, the nation of Israel had been divided into two different kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. During this time, the Assyrian army, led by King Sennacherib, one of the great conquerors of antiquity, came in and destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel. They took many captives, and a significant portion of the nation was removed from their land.

For a time, the Southern Kingdom of Judah reformed their ways. The destruction of their brothers to the north by the Assyrians shook them up. They turned to God and cried out to Him, and God protected them from the Assyrians. However, another century passed, and in the year 605 BC, due to their continued disobedience to God, the Babylonian Empire, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, came against the people of the Southern tribes of Israel. Over a period of years, he destroyed every one of the cities of Judah.

In 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the last stronghold, the city of Jerusalem. The temple, which was the center of all life in Israel, was also destroyed. The people were removed from their land and taken as captives back to Babylon because of their disobedience and stubbornness. They had turned away from God's covenant and His law. Just as God had warned, if they did this, they would be cursed and removed from the land. All of His word came to pass.

However, when you study through the Old Testament, you find that even in the midst of this, God is merciful. It may not seem like it, but He is gracious and merciful. While they were in Babylon, they turned away from their idolatry. This is reflected in Psalm 137: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; yes, we wept when we remembered Zion."

In captivity, the Israelites remembered their homeland, Jerusalem. They wept before God and called out to Him. In His mercy, God sent a deliverer, a very intriguing one—not from their own nation or from the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but a man who was the king of Persia. The Medo-Persian Empire destroyed the Babylonians in 539 BC at the Battle of Opis. Cyrus, king of Persia, took over the leadership of the Babylonian Empire.

The amazing thing about this is that more than 150 years before Cyrus was born, God had prophesied through the prophet Isaiah. This prophecy is recorded in Isaiah chapters 40 through 45, where God specifically names Cyrus as the deliverer. He declared that Cyrus from the east would be His chosen instrument to deliver the Israelites, 150 years before the man was even born.

When King Cyrus came into Babylon, he was met by a very old Jewish prophet named Daniel. Daniel showed him what was written in their ancient documents from the prophets, revealing that Cyrus's name was there and that he would deliver them, allowing them to return to rebuild their temple and city. Cyrus responded, "Well, I guess if God said so, I better do it." He released the captives of Israel to return to the Promised Land.

Under the leadership of Ezra in 537 BC, they went back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. They laid the foundation and constructed the temple, though it was not as glorious as it had been in the past. The work was hard, and the opposition was great, with many people coming against them. They managed to complete the foundation and erect the temple, but after that, the work became so difficult that they could not continue. For the next 90 years, the project languished.

In the year 446 BC, a group of people came from Jerusalem back to the capital of the Persian Empire, the city called Shushan. In the palace of the king of Persia was a young Jewish man who served as an advisor to the king; he was the cupbearer.

To the king, what that meant was he was the food taster. One of the ways that they would often try to off a king in ancient times was by poisoning him, so he would have a food taster, a cupbearer. Everything that the king was going to eat, this guy had to take a bite of first, and then they would watch to see if he would keel over and die. It was not the best job, but this person would often become really trusted by the king, because he was putting his life on the line, like the Secret Service of the day.

There was this guy who was the cupbearer to the king. He was a Jewish man named Nehemiah. One of his brothers came from Jerusalem, and Nehemiah asked him, "Hey, what's going on with the work?" His brother replied that it was just not working out; it wasn't going very well. The city was filled with rubble and trash because of the broken-down walls, and everything was in chaos. There was opposition everywhere. Nehemiah broke down over this and began to pray for four to five months. He prayed and fasted until God opened a door with the king, giving him the opportunity to go back to Jerusalem to help rebuild the walls. He was going to build a wall so that they could rebuild the city and worship the one true God.

As is always the case, whenever the people of God stand up to do the work of God, you can expect opposition. Nehemiah went there and began this work with the people. He shared the vision with them, gathered the people together, and they said, "We're going to do this work." However, the enemy began to attack. Nehemiah chapter 4 tells the story of the attack of the enemy.

One of the things you begin to see, both in the Scriptures and as you step out to seek to serve God or to do what He has called you and me to do as His people, is that the enemy will always oppose first from the outside—external opposition, which is what we see in Nehemiah chapter 4. If the external opposition does not work, then he tries to come covertly from the inside, which is what we have in Nehemiah chapter 5. This is really the way that the enemy seems to work every time. We see it throughout the Scriptures, and it is very clear in the book of Acts in the New Testament. God's people are doing God's work in Acts, and the enemy opposes it in Acts chapter 3 and Acts chapter 4. It's all external.

Religious leaders came against them, saying, "You shall not preach in the name of Jesus." They preached in the name of Jesus anyway, and the leaders threatened to beat them. Despite this, they continued to preach the name of Jesus. The religious leaders followed through on their threats and beat them, warning that if they kept doing this, they would kill them. Yet, they persisted.

The external opposition in Acts chapters 3 and 4 did not work. So, what does the enemy do? He always goes covert. In Acts chapter 5, there is a story about corruption within the people of God's camp, involving a couple named Ananias and Sapphira. They had a real estate company and were not very ethical. However, the enemy's opposition in Acts chapter 5 did not succeed either. He then threatened them from the outside again, but that also failed.

In Acts chapter 6, there is a story about the breakdown of ministry. A group of people complained because they were not being taken care of within the church. This, too, did not work. Then, in Acts chapter 7, we see the killing of Stephen, who is the first martyr of the church. Following this, Acts chapter 8 describes the persecution against the church, but that did not succeed either. Afterward, there was another internal debate and problem, a cultural form of opposition.

This pattern is evident in the Scriptures: external opposition does not work, so the enemy resorts to internal opposition. Returning to Nehemiah, in Nehemiah chapter 4, we see external opposition that fails. Then, in Nehemiah chapter 5, verse 1, there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren. They said, "Our sons and our daughters are many; therefore, let us get grain that we may eat and live." Others complained, "We have mortgaged our lands, our vineyards, and our houses to buy grain because of this famine."

Here is the picture: Nehemiah goes back to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall, and news spreads throughout all the Jewish people in the Persian Kingdom. They are told, "Listen, come back to Jerusalem. We have the authority from the king, the decree from the king, to rebuild Jerusalem." As a result, there is an influx of people returning to the city. However, this influx creates a problem in the area of resources; they do not have enough food for all these people.

Famine and economics have not changed in thousands of years. When demand is high and supply is low, what happens to the price? It goes up. This is what you have: all these people coming to the land, and the price for grain has just gone up. They can't afford to live, so they think, "I guess we should find a way to get money." They need to put up some collateral—our lands, our vineyards, and our houses—to get loans to pay for grain. They can't even live, so they have to take out loans just for mere sustenance.

As is often the case when you have these kinds of problems, there are people who are more than willing to give you money if you're willing to put up some collateral. However, when supply is low and demand is high, and people are giving loans, what happens to interest rates? They tend to climb. This is exactly what's happening. We seem to think that economic issues are new, but they are not. This has been the case throughout history, wherever you look.

There were people who couldn't afford to live, so they had mortgaged their lands, their vineyards, and their houses to buy grain because of this famine. There were also those who said, "We have borrowed money for the king's tax on our lands and vineyards." Here’s the picture: they can't afford to buy food, but they also can't afford to pay their taxes. Sound familiar?

Now, our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, and our children are as their children. Indeed, we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and our vineyards.

So, there were the haves and the have-nots. Those who didn't have much—those with lands, houses, and children—needed food and had to pay their taxes. They turned to their brothers, the Israelites, nobles with more money, and said, "Listen, we need some money. Can you give us a loan?" They responded, "Yes, but what do you have for collateral?" They said, "We already put our houses on the line. We already put our vineyards on the line. We already put our lands on the line." The nobles then replied, "Well, you have kids, right?" So, they had to put their kids up as collateral. Then the debt collectors would come and say, "Well, we have to collect the loan." And they would respond, "I don't have anything."

Daughter, you're going to have to take her. So now there's this group of people taken advantage of; they cry out. But here's the awesome thing: Nehemiah was a righteous leader. Whereas many times this kind of thing has happened throughout history, those who are in such a position often do not get the ear of those in power.

Point number one: the righteous leader hears the case of the lowly and the insignificant. Nehemiah was a righteous leader, and he was willing to hear the case of those who were lowly and insignificant—those who did not have any political power and those who did not have the resources. He heard the case of those who had very little. They had a major problem, an economic problem. This was a subprime mortgage-backed securities variable interest rate heist circa 445 BC. Taxes were high, inflation was high, wages were low, and credit was accessible but at exorbitant rates. It sounds like 2008, but it wasn't; this was 2,500 years ago.

In the midst of this, the leader, the guy who was given the position of governor, was willing to hear the case of those who were lowly and insignificant. Then look at the result: "I became very angry when I heard their cry."

Point number two: the righteous leader is angered by injustice and unrighteousness. He heard this and was angry at the unrighteous injustice that was taking place in his nation among his people. For some reason, we sometimes seem to think in Christian circles that it is more spiritually right to never be angry than to be angry. Yet, I think that this concept comes to many of us through misunderstanding or a misapplication of some of the words of the Apostle Paul in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 4 says...

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath. A lot of times, Christians read that and think it says not to be angry. No, that's not what it says. It actually commands anger. "Be angry" is in the imperative; it's a command.

Now, here's the deal: for a lot of you, you fulfill that command really well. You are angry. It's the other part of the command that we might have a problem with: "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath." We have a hard time with that. In fact, we struggle with it because, in many ways, we just don't understand what that means. What does it mean to be angry and not sin? What does it mean to not let the sun go down on your wrath?

I think it means that we need to be angry for the right reasons and respond in the right way. We need to be angry when there is injustice and unrighteousness, but we must respond with justice and righteousness. When it says, "Do not let the sun go down on your wrath," at the very least, it means that we should be angry about injustice and unrighteousness, and we should not sleep until it's dealt with. We have to deal with it.

Well, how do we deal with it? I think one of the ways we deal with it is by following the word of the prophet Micah. Inspired by God, he wrote in Micah chapter 6, "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk in humility."

Listen, if you make those three things the aim of your life for God, you could do that for the next ten or twenty years, and you would be in a good place. If you made it your aim to have as your ethic, your ruling guideline, to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk in humility, you would be fulfilling what God requires of us.

When we see injustice and unrighteousness, whether it's within the church or in our culture, we should be angry about it. We should seek to deal with it in a just and righteous way. This is what the righteous leader Nehemiah shows us here in this passage. He was one who heard the cry of the lowly and the insignificant, and he was angered by injustice and unrighteousness.

In verse 7 of Nehemiah chapter 5, it says, "After serious thought." I just want to point out that those three words are really important.

I think that a lot of the big problems we face as a culture and as a people today stem from our reluctance to spend time seriously thinking about them. Most big problems don't have easy answers; if they did, they would have been solved already. They wouldn't be big problems.

We live in a culture right now that wants to provide 240-character or less answers to every single issue we encounter. However, most significant problems require far more than that. Nehemiah sat down and put serious thought into how to deal with this major issue. We have a supply and demand problem, a mortgaging and loan problem, and many other challenges to figure out.

After serious contemplation, Nehemiah reached his conclusion: he rebuked the nobles and the rulers, saying to them, "Each of you is exacting usury, exorbitant interest from your brothers." He called a great assembly against them and asked, "According to our ability, we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren, or should they be sold to us?" They were silenced because they had nothing to say.

Nehemiah dealt with the situation by organizing a public hearing. He brought everyone into the open—the nobles, the haves, and the have-nots—and laid everything out on the table. He reminded them that they had been in bondage as slaves for the last 150 years and had managed to buy back their brothers from slavery. Now, the nobles in the land were putting them under bondage again.

He confronted them, stating, "What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in fear before our God, especially because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?" He emphasized that people are watching, but more importantly, God is watching.

Nehemiah continued, "I, along with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Please let us stop this usury. Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, as well as a hundredth of the money, the grain, the new wine, and the oil that you have charged them."

Number three: the righteous leader is not afraid to confront the powerful and is impartial in doing so. Nehemiah considered the plight of the people and the position of the rulers and nobles. He took into account all the things that were going on and then confronted the problem, addressing those in positions of power without partiality.

A lot of times, we like to think that we are very impartial in the way we deal with things, but the fact is we are all given to partiality. However, God has zero partiality; He is impartial, and He is the one we should seek to identify with and follow. There is no partiality with God. Romans chapter 2, verse 11, and Ephesians chapter 6, verse 9 reveal that we are not as impartial as we would like to think we are.

If we are going to walk as God walks and adhere to His principles of righteousness, then we need to seek to be impartial when we judge certain situations. The reality is that we live in a culture where this truth is evident. Often, people in positions of power or those with resources do not receive the same kind of justice as others. This is called unjust weights and unjust measures.

I think back to the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. Do you realize that all those who were implicated in pushing forward agendas and policies within their banking institutions, which ultimately led to significant issues, were not prosecuted? Not a single person faced consequences. Why are so many people still angered by it? Because there is an injustice there; there is no impartiality with God, yet there is plenty with us.

Nehemiah called a public meeting against these rulers. In the New Testament, in 1 Timothy, we studied this recently. Paul says, "Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. But those that are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest might fear." I wonder if the Apostle Paul learned that principle.

From Nehemiah chapter 5, Nehemiah says, "I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Please let us stop this usury." He emphasizes that he is trying to take care of the immediate problem, but they must also deal with the underlying issue. In verse 12, they respond, "We will restore it and will require nothing from them. We will do as you say."

Then, Nehemiah called the priests—not just the nobles and rulers—and required an oath from them that they would adhere to this promise. He shook out the fold of his garment and declared, "So may God shake each one of you out from his house and from his property who does not perform this promise. Even thus may he be shaken out and emptied." All the assembly said, "Amen," and they praised the Lord. The people then acted according to this promise.

Moreover, in verse 14, Nehemiah states that from that time, he was appointed to be their governor, their leader in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes—twelve years. Neither he nor his brothers ate the governor's provisions. The former governors who were before him laid burdens on the people; they took from them bread and wine, in addition to the forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but Nehemiah did not do so.

Point number four: the righteous leader leads by example. What we learn in verses 14 and 15 is that Nehemiah did not take what he could have taken. There was a precedent set by the previous leaders, the former governors, who had an established wage of forty shekels of silver to live off. Yet, they took more than that from the people.

Why was there injustice in the nation? The nobles and rulers were exacting usury from their brothers who had less than them because that was the example set before them by their leaders. However, Nehemiah was a righteous leader. He led by example, stating, "I'm not going to take what others have taken; I'm only going to take as I need." This is not to say that a worker is not worthy of his wages, as both Jesus and Paul say in the New Testament, "Do not muzzle the ox as he treads out the grain." But Nehemiah insists, "I'm not taking any more than that."

The former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people. They took from them bread and wine, besides the forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so. Why note this? Because of the fear of God. Indeed, I also continued the work on this wall, and we did not buy any land. All my servants were gathered there for their work. At my table were 150 Jews and rulers, besides those who came to us from the nations around us.

Now, that which was prepared daily was an ox and six choice sheep, and fowl prepared for me. Once every ten days, there was an abundance of all kinds of wine. Yet, in spite of this, I did not demand the governor's provisions because the bondage was heavy on this people. Verses 17 and 18 are basically like Nehemiah's Excel spreadsheet out in the open for everybody to see. He says, "We're going to have some transparency here. I want you to see what I'm taking. This is only for me and the people who are working with me."

Then, why does he do this? Why does he put this before the people? Look at verse 19: "Remember me, my God." He's trying to get a nice public opinion poll with the people of Jerusalem. He knows that he's doing this before God because he feared the Lord. Verse 15 said, "Remember me, my God, for good according to all that I have done for this people."

Point number five: the righteous leader lives with integrity before God and men. I think you probably would agree that the art of integrity is an art that is severely lacking in 21st-century Western culture. You've probably seen the news. Senator John McCain passed away yesterday. Most news agencies and publications are writing eulogies about Senator John McCain today, and they'll continue to do so this week.

It's interesting the things that people are saying about John McCain. Whether you agree with him or disagree with him on his politics, whatever your stance may be, the vast majority of people saying whatever they may say—from the left, the right, and everything in between—will say he had integrity. Forbes this morning wrote, "Many disagreed with his politics, but few ever doubted his values or questioned his integrity."

A good eulogy. The article went on to say there is a steep hidden tax that is paid when integrity is compromised. Boy, isn't that the truth? Integrity is the quality of being honest or having strong moral principles; it is moral uprightness. It's the art of doing the right thing when nobody else is watching, and that primarily comes from this understanding: the fear of God.

You see, integrity is birthed in the person who understands, "I'm doing the right thing because, though nobody else is watching, God is watching." God, in His watching, is watching for a purpose. This is what Nehemiah had the hope of when he said in verse 19, "Remember me, my God, for good according to all that I have done for this people."

In those words, Nehemiah 5:19 expresses the expectation that this life is not only about this life; it has implications for the next life. I am convinced that one of the reasons we see integrity lacking in our culture is that, for the last hundred and eighty to two hundred and fifty years in Western culture, there has been a diminishing of this reality: God sees. A lot of people say there is no God, so if there is no God, there is no moral accountability.

If no one is watching, you can take from here, take from there; nobody knows, no big deal. But God sees. The righteous leader hears the case of the lowly and the insignificant, is angered by injustice, and righteousness confronts the powerful. An impartial leader leads by example and lives with integrity before God and men.

I believe, by God's grace, that is what He desires for you and me. I wonder how different our nation would be if our leaders at the highest level lived according to this value and worldview. But here's the challenging reality: those leaders are in positions of leadership because we have not held them to that standard.

Ourselves to that is like holding up the mirror and realizing, "Oh, that's not good." Perhaps there needs to be, in our hearts, a bit of confession and repentance, asking God to help us live in this way. Amen.

Would you stand for the closing prayer? Father, I thank You for this story that, even though it is 2,500 years old, has very pertinent application for us today. As we move into a new season, the fall season, with kids going back to school and getting back into a routine, Lord, I pray that You would impress upon us, by Your grace and through the empowering of Your Holy Spirit, to live with this kind of integrity.

I pray that the principles of Scripture would be on our minds this week. Every single one of us will be given the opportunity, the temptation, the moment to make decisions that may go against Your covenant, that skirt into a gray area where we might think, "Oh, well, there’s nothing in the Bible that specifically says it." Lord, help us to live according to the principle that You see and keep an accounting. God, enable us as Your people to live according to Your grace and power, with integrity, self-control, honesty, and kindness.

May the fruit of the Spirit be evident in our lives. As we prepare in the next couple of months to cast votes for leaders in our country, I pray, God, that we would measure them against the principles of Scripture and not just the values of a political party. Lord, may You raise up from this church and other churches in our area people—men and women—who are seeking to live with integrity.

To even fill some of those offices and see a transformation, Lord, we know that there is blessing in obedience. However, sin is a reproach to any people. We see that played out over and over again in the Old Testament, and we have experienced it in our own culture.

So, God, do a work in us, Your church, to live according to these kinds of principles: to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk in humility by Your power.