Even 1,000 years after God had delivered the Jews from Egyptian bondage, that was still the pivotal event in all of their history, and Nehemiah rehearsed that deliverance in his long prayer to God in Nehemiah 9. God had “divided the sea before them,” “led them,” “spoke with them,” “gave them laws,” “gave them bread…and brought them water” (Neh. 9:9-15). “BUT they and our fathers acted proudly, hardened their necks, and…refused to obey” (9:16-17). “In their rebellion” against God, you might think He would just reject them. Read the next four words.
“But You are God” (9:17). Aren’t you glad that God is God!? He’s not like you or like me or like any fickle human! And how does Nehemiah summarize what it means to be “God”? “But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them.”
Go back and slowly read every one of those qualities. Wow! That’s not just “a God.” That’s your God! He was all of those things to Israel, and He is all of those things to YOU!
