“O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man.” Now I was the cupbearer to the king. (Nehemiah 1:11)
I’ve been there, bought the T-shirt. Back in my corporate days, there were more than a few requests for my presence from executives or very important customers. Since I studied Nehemiah early in my Christian journey, I was aware of the leader’s request of the Lord, and the seemingly idle comment, “oh, by the way, I was cupbearer to the king.”
The word “beseech” means basically to plead for something to “come to pass.” Nehemiah desperately needed the Lord to be attentive to his prayer, and, for that matter, the prayers of others in the same vein. I would venture to say that in most cases we are not the only one to isolate and focus on the critical issues of the day. Nehemiah strengthened his prayer by folding in the likeminded petitions of others who “delight to revere Your name.” This is good counsel for those of us who pray for our nation, family, church, etc.
We all covet success before men, but not all want it in the context of God’s unpredictable will. Our concept of success in most cases is delusional. When we ask for success as God would forge it, it may look quite differently, and its revelation may not be immediate. Because of this uncertainty, when you place yourself in God’s hands, you desire compassion, especially when he, in turn, requires you to place your future in the hands of a dispassionate “king.”
A cupbearer was more than meets the eye. He was handpicked, typically handsome, a confidant, impeccable, trustworthy to a fault, and blindly loyal. The last thing you wanted to be was “sad” in the king’s eyes. I can be slightly preoccupied with a perplexing thought and my wife will ask, “what’s wrong.” Nehemiah certainly didn’t want to let on to his predicament, but his pain was written all over his face. Best to be prayed up in these situations!
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