Nehemiah 5 · a question people ask
"Remember me, my God, for all the good that I have done for this people" (5:19). Is Nehemiah asking to be paid back?
The chapter doesn't say why he prays it, and these notes don't guess. What the text shows is where the prayer goes. Nehemiah had not taken from the people what the governors before him took: "I didn’t demand the governor’s pay, because the bondage was heavy on this people" (5:18). Then he speaks to God, not to them: "Remember me, my God" (5:19) (tap Remember). He prays the same way three more times near the end of the book: "Remember me, my God, concerning this, and don’t wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God" (13:14); "Remember me for this also, my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your loving kindness" (13:22); and the book's last words, "Remember me, my God, for good" (13:31) (tap good).
The verses
“Now that which was prepared for one day was one ox and six choice sheep. Also fowls were prepared for me, and once in ten days a store of all sorts of wine. Yet for all this, I didn’t demand the governor’s pay, because the bondage was heavy on this people. Remember me, my God, for all the good that I have done for this people.”
“Remember me, my God, concerning this, and don’t wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its observances.”
“I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember me for this also, my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your loving kindness.”
“and for the wood offering, at appointed times, and for the first fruits. Remember me, my God, for good.”