Nehemiah 4:1-5: a reflection

1But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and was very indignant, and mocked the Jews. 2He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?” 3Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.” 4“Hear, our God, for we are despised. Turn back their reproach on their own head. Give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity. 5Don’t cover their iniquity. Don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders.”

As Nehemiah and the people rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, their enemies resort to ridicule. Sanballat sneers, what are these feeble Jews doing? Will they finish in a day? Will they bring these burned stones back to life? His companion Tobiah adds his own mockery: even a fox climbing on their wall would knock it down. The scorn is meant to discourage the builders, to make the work seem laughable and hopeless before it is even finished.

Notice what Nehemiah does with the ridicule. He does not fire back insults or abandon the work in discouragement; he takes it straight to God in prayer. Hear, O God, for we are despised, he prays, laying the mockery before the Lord and asking him to deal with it. Whatever we make of the harshness of his words, the key move is that he brings his hurt and anger to God rather than acting on them himself, and then keeps building. The next verse simply says, so we built the wall.

When you are doing something good and meet with ridicule, the temptation is either to strike back or to give up. Nehemiah models a third way: take the scorn to God, and keep working. Lay the mockery honestly before the Lord, let him carry your hurt and handle your enemies, and refuse to let ridicule stop the work he has given you. The scoffers said the wall would never stand; it was finished in fifty-two days. Do not let mockery discourage you. Pray, and keep building.

Lord, when Nehemiah's work was mocked, he brought the scorn to you in prayer and kept building. When I face ridicule for doing good, keep me from striking back or giving up. Help me to lay the mockery honestly before you, to let you carry my hurt and handle my opposition, and to keep at the work you have given me. Do not let scorn stop me. I pray, and I keep building. Amen.