Neville Goddard on Nehemiah 1:4-11 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Nehemiah 1 in context

Scripture Focus

4And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

5And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:

6Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.

7We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.

8Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:

9But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

10Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.

11O LORD, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

Nehemiah 1:4-11

Biblical Context

Nehemiah hears troubling words, fasts, weeps, and prays before the God of heaven, confessing Israel's sins and petitioning for mercy and restoration in accord with covenant promises. He acknowledges God's faithfulness and asks for attentive hearing so that he might prosper as he serves the king.

Neville's Inner Vision

To the reader of the inner life, this chapter reveals a man who turns away from mere words and into the quiet recalibration of consciousness. The 'God of heaven' is not distant ledger but the I AM within, the awareness by which every circumstance is seen. When Nehemiah 'sat down and wept' and 'fasted and prayed,' he is teaching you to withdraw attention from outward events and to attend to the inner state that creates them. The 'great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy' is the standard the mind raises to itself; the moment you align with that inner standard, you confess the 'sins' of misalignment between your actions and your divine purpose. Remembering the word—the promise that turning would gather you—becomes the revision applied to your thought now: if you turn inward and keep the inner commandments, you will be gathered to the form and place your mind has chosen to set its name there. The eyes and ears of the inner God attend to you as you align, and the outward effects—help from others, favorable conditions—follow as your inner reality is made explicit. The final appeal, speaking of mercy toward the servant, becomes your own declaration: I am mercy in the sight of the world because I fear the inward law.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes, assume the state 'I am heard by God now.' Feel the inner mercy and your mind gathered into the place it has chosen; revise any sense of separation by living from that fulfilled reality.