The closing chapter of Nehemiah ends on an odd note where Nehemiah, the governor of the land, engages in the ministry of confrontation all for God and the good of the people.

Nehemiah encounters three difficult situations as a leader where he needed to respond by either cleaning house, establishing right practices, or engaging in the ministry of confrontation through increased, progressive discipline.

However, the end of the chapter closes as it began with a prayer of Nehemiah to be remembered by God for good. Yet it seems that no matter how much Nehemiah worked and tried, he was unable to secure the people's obedience before Holy God.

But even here, Nehemiah's apparent leadership failure in securing the people's obedience points us not backwards, but forwards to the 'Greater Nehemiah' who was yet to come, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

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Nehemiah Chapter 12 is all about the 'Dedication Celebration' of not only the completed Jerusalem wall, but of all that God had done for His people. The whole point of this special day was to celebrate what God had done and to dedicate themselves anew to the LORD to live not for themselves, but for the future generations.

Not every day can be a special 'Dedication Celebration' day in our life or ministry. It's not every year when we complete a major project or hit a major milestone in our life. But every day is to be a 'Dedication Celebration' as we celebrate what God has done in our life, including this day, and also dedicate ourselves anew each day to live not for ourselves, but for the LORD and the future generations.

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Psalm 121 is an "Ascent Psalm" that reminds us that we all have hills and mountains that we need to climb or that come at us in life. Hills come in all different sizes and shapes. But no matter the hill we are facing right now, we can be comforted and encouraged to lift up our eyes from off of our hill and instead, focus on the LORD.

Psalm 121 reminds us our pathway up the hill can be made more sure as we remember with every step that we take that the LORD is our helper, our keeper, and our preserver, not only for all of our days now, but forevermore!

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