Desire To Fear Thy Name
“…who desire to fear thy name…” - Nehemiah 1.11
Is that a question?
Should it actually say “Who would desire to fear thy name?” Or, “Who in the world would ever want to fear God?” That doesn’t sound too “fun”.
So is it a question? Is it somehow a mistake in our Bible?
No. It is actually a prayer, it is a request. Here Nehemiah is praying for help as he was going to ask the Persian King about Jerusalem… “O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer. (Nehemiah 1:11)
And Nehemiah is letting us in on a little secret… he and his companions WANTED TO FEAR GOD!
I can’t say I’ve heard of anyone praying like that lately… but I’d be silly not to start that myself… “Lord, help me to fear thy name… I want to, I desire to fear You, to fear thy name!”
“…who desire to fear thy name…”
I wonder what might happen when my “want to” becomes that sort of thing…
a “desire to fear thy name…” What happened to Nehemiah? “the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper…”
Pastor