Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. Nehemiah 4:9
Every couple of weeks, I would run a program on my computer to check for the presence of any malware. Every time I opened the application, I would get a reminder that the database needs to be updated, and it would ask if I wanted to update it. Of course I did. After the update would finished, I would run the application, knowing that it was checking for all the bad things that could invade my computer and cause problems. Because of the update, the program would catch even the most recent viruses and worms and rootkits. Without the update, the program would not be much good, because it would not be on the alert against all problems. In the same way, Christians need to be on the alert for the enemies that seek to damage our testimonies.
Our text is part of the account of how the enemies of the Israelites living in Jerusalem were trying to disrupt the building of the wall. They schemed and gossiped and fought, and did all they could to hinder the work. The devil always has plenty of forces to throw into his fight to damage and destroy our testimonies, and to hinder those seeking to live for their Lord. The Israelites used a two-step approach, the same two-step approach that still works the best today. Step one was submitting everything to God in prayer. Step two was setting a round-the-clock watch.
We should never underestimate our enemies. In fact, we need to acknowledge that we are no match for our enemies. That is why we need to commit ourselves entirely to God in prayer, because no enemy is a match for God. Prayer is a weapon that is available to every Christian, and the more we practice, the more effective we become. The Israelites knew about the need for prayer, and they knew about the effectiveness of prayer. As the enemies lurked near to harass and to interrupt the wall reconstruction, the Israelites took their problem to God, knowing that God was as interested as they were in having the walls built. There was great comfort to them to know that the Almighty was on their side. Just like there is real comfort today for us to know that He is on our side. If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31) If step one is prayer, step two will be much more successful.
Step two involves setting a watch, and there are many ways in which we do this. We must set a watch for the flesh, to avoid being our own worst enemies. We need to be careful that our tongues don’t get out of control. We need to be careful that we don’t fall to temptations that appeal to our human weaknesses. Setting a watch also involves avoiding people, places, and things that would lead us astray or cause us to bring reproach to our Lord and His work.
Prayer and watchfulness will help us to remain safe from the enemy’s attacks. -Jim MacIntosh