You have undoubtedly begun a project and then found yourself facing challenges or opposition.

That was the case for Nehemiah in the Old Testament and today on Truth for Life, we begin a study in the book of Nehemiah.

Alistair Begg shows us that like you and me, Nehemiah was just an ordinary person going about his ordinary life when God called him.

We'll see today what we can learn from the challenges he faced.

What is the immediate context that lies behind the opening phrase of the book of Nehemiah?

Now what I'd like to do for you is to take a kind of panoramic view of the history of the people of God.

Let's start, we're going to start somewhere, let's start with the shepherd boy David.

Why? Because he was going to beef Goliath. Nobody was prepared to do it, he was sent up from the family home by his dad, go up and see your brothers, take them some bread, take them some cheese.

He shows up on the back of the front and they say, what are you doing here, you young whippersnapper?

He says that the kind of welcome that I get for bringing your bread and cheese, they essentially say buzz off.

He says, somebody better deal with Goliath. They said, we know that, clear off. He said, I'll deal with Goliath.

So said, if you're going to deal with Goliath, wear this.

He said, there's just no good to me, I can't hurry up.

So he took it all off and he did what he knew what to do.

Five stones, one sling, use one, keep four, ban. The guy's down, he chops his head off and the Philistines of Gath run.

Samuel anoints him king and the history of the people of God flourishes.

Despite all the aberrations of David's life, he was a man who followed after God, a reminder to us that even in following after God, we're not free from sin, we're not free from our own moral perversity

and God exalts his kingdom and at the end of his 40-year reign, the nation of Israel is strong financially and militarily, it is immensely powerful and it is into the care of his son Solomon that he entrusts this unbelievable empire.

Solomon, you remember, was a bright guy, bright to start with because when he was asked what he would like, he was smart enough to ask for wisdom rather than stuff.

Whether he figured that he would get stuff because he asked for wisdom, we don't know, but he sure did.

Plus, he was really smart.

And verse 24 tells us that the whole world saw an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.

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