Nehemiah 9:5 And the Levites —Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah —said: "Stand up and praise the LORD your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. " "Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.
There are some that would rather just sit down when singing praises to our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. Apparently, the Priest named in this verse from Nehemiah did not think that sitting was a proper position to be in while singing praises to God. Thus, they said in unison for the people to stand up while praising the Lord our God. If we look back to verses 2-3 in this chapter, we will see that they stood up when they confessed their sins and the sins of the ones that came before them. They also stood up for the reading of the Word of God for a quarter of the day and spent another quarter of a day confessing and worshipping. Since simple math tells us that 2 quarters make a half, they must have spent a half a day on their feet at this service.
Fast forward to this day and age. How many church services have you ever attended that the congregation stood for the entire one hour Worship Service, let alone for a half of a day? This is not to advocate that we should stand up during the entire Worship Service, but there are times that standing would be a sign of respect and honor to the creator of all in heaven and on earth, our creator, provider, and sustainer.
The 38 verses of this chapter are all praises to God and what he has done for the people. There is an old gospel song that says: “it is no secret what God can do; what He has done for others He will do for you.” The same God that the Children of Israel were praising that day that this chapter reflects, is the same God that has us in the palm of His hands today as well.
There are many today that come to church for a variety of reasons, some social reasons, some come to network with other people to further their careers, while others come to appease someone in their family, plus many more reasons that do not include worship and praise of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. Any one of these reasons for attending church would not promote a fire in our spirits and souls that would propel us to our feet to stand up and praise God.
When you think about the thousands of promises in His Holy Word that He is always faithful to keep, it is unimaginable that we could sit down and let our worship pass without standing and shouting praises to God. More importantly we should realize the greatest act of love that the world has ever known was shown when our Lord and Savior, with joy, went to the Cross of Calvary (Hebrews 12:2). When He took the punishment, the shame, and the pain that we should have had to endure in order to assure that we would have eternal life, that our sins would be forgiven and not held against us. When we really take all of that into our hearts, how could we sit through worship and praise to the one that made not only eternal life possible for us but a life here that is so full of a joy that cannot be described through human means (Psalm 94:19; James 1:2-3; Psalm 47:1; Isaiah 12:6; Proverbs 10:28; 1 Peter 1:8-9; Romans 15:13; Luke 15:7; Nehemiah 8:10; Psalm 27:6; Isaiah 35:10; Romans 14:17).
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