Nehemiah 1:10
““Now these are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power, and by your strong hand.”
What does Nehemiah 1:10 mean?
Nehemiah is praying, reminding God of who his people are and what God has already done for them. He's drawing on the memory of the exodus, when God dramatically freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and he's essentially saying, "We belong to you, Lord, and you've proven you can save us before." This kind of prayer, where we remind ourselves and God of his faithfulness in our past, can be deeply steadying when we're facing something difficult or uncertain. Nehemiah needed courage to approach the Persian king about rebuilding Jerusalem's walls, and he grounded himself first in remembering that his people were God's people, already redeemed and cared for.