NOTES.] Nehemiah 1:1. The words] (Heb. Divray). See 1 Kings 11:41, where the same word is rendered “acts.” Hachaliah] His ancestral home was Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:3). Hence he was probably of the tribe of Judah. Having amassed a fortune, and gained a position at Susa, he was unwilling to avail himself of the permission to return to his fatherland. By his influence he had probably opened a way for the advancement of his still more distinguished son. Ohisleu] The third month of the civil, and ninth of the ecclesiastical year, coinciding with parts of our November and December. In the twentieth year] That is, of the reign of Artaxerxes I., surnamed Longimanus (Long-handed), B. C. 446. Shushan] Sometimes called Susa or Suses, the capital of Persia, situated in the plains of the Tigris, was from the time of Cyrus the winter palace of the king, and residence of the Court. Xenophon, Plutarch, and others, mention both Babylon and Ecbatana as its seat during some part of the year. The province of Susiana is now called Kusistan. Shuster, its capital, contains 15,000 inhabitants. The Susian palace was a magnificent building, remarkable for its “pillars of marble, its pavement of blue, red, white, and black, and its hangings of white, green, and blue, which were fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to the pillars” (Esther 1:6). The palace was furnished with couches of gold and silver, on which the guests reclined when they banqueted. The drinking vessels were also of solid gold (Nehemiah 5:7). The present ruins of Susa cover a space a mile square, the portion of which near the river Shapur is probably “Shushan the palace.” Nehemiah 1:2. Hanani] Brother by blood relationship (Nehemiah 7:1), afterwards appointed one of the assistant governors of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 7:2). That had escaped] They had been allowed to return by the edict of Cyrus (Ezra 1). Came] The distance from Jerusalem to Susa is more than 1000 miles, and at the usual rate of travelling would occupy 45 days. In winter it would occupy at least 2 months. Ezra with his caravan was four months on his journey from Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezra 7:9). Nehemiah 1:3. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down] In ruins, not utterly razed, or it could not have been built in 52 days. Nebuchadnezzar had broken it down 142 years before (2 Kings 25:10), and the attempt to rebuild had been stopped by Smerdis 76 years before this date. Nehemiah 1:4. God of heaven] (Elohe-hash-shamayim), a phrase not confined to writers of Babylonish period (Genesis 24:3; Genesis 24:7; Jonah 1:9). It distinguished Jehovah from the gods of earth formed of material substances. The style is repeated in Revelation 11:13 (ὁθεὸτουοὐρανοῦ). Nehemiah 1:5. Terrible] Awe-inspiring (Heb. Norah). That keepeth covenant and mercy] Lit. “that kept the covenant of mercy.” “The great and terrible God,” is borrowed from Deuteronomy 7:21, and “that keepeth,” &c. from Deuteronomy 7:9. Nehemiah 1:6. Let thine ear be attentive, &c.] A phrase derived from Solomon’s prayer (1 Kings 8:29). Refers to the greater attention paid by the ear when the eyes are open towards the source of the sound. Nehemiah 1:8. The word which thou commandedst thy servant Moses] Not the words, but the spirit of the promise, is given (Leviticus 26:39-42). Nehemiah 1:11. The king’s cupbearer] (Heb. Mashkeh, one who gives to drink. Greek οἰνοχόος, wine-pourer). The office one of great honour and confidence, since it gave an opportunity of being near the king’s person. It gave Nehemiah an opportunity of increasing his fortune, a circumstance which afterwards very much facilitated his mission.—Hengstenberg. The chief butler or cupbearer to the king of Egypt was the means of raising Joseph to his high position. Rabshakeh, who was sent by Sennacherib to Hezekiah, appears from his name to have fulfilled a like office in the Assyrian court.—Gesenius. Cupbearers are also mentioned as amongst the attendants of Solomon (1 Kings 10:5; 2 Chronicles 9:4). OF CHAPTER 1 Neh 1:1-11. Characteristics of a True Reformer.Nehemiah 1:1. Goodness superior to Circumstances.Nehemiah 1:2. Aggressive Benevolence.Nehemiah 1:3. The baneful consequences of Sin.Nehemiah 1:4. Unselfish Sorrow.Nehemiah 1:4. Fasting.Nehemiah 1:5-11. Intercessory Prayer.Nehemiah 1:5-11. Prayer for Church Revival.Nehemiah 1:6. The Majesty and Mercy of God.Nehemiah 1:6. Importunity in Prayer.Nehemiah 1:7. Forgotten Sins remembered.Nehemiah 1:8. God’s Memory.Nehemiah 1:8-9. Punishment and Penitence.Nehemiah 1:10. Electing Grace.Nehemiah 1:10. Modest Goodness.Nehemiah 1:11. Unanswered Prayers.Nehemiah 1:11. Man’s Equality before God. OF A TRUE Nehemiah 1:1-11. The words of Nehemiah, the son of HachaliahNEHEMIAH the civilian, as contrasted with Ezra the ecclesiastic, is brought forward in this Book as the patriot deliverer of his people. His training had fully qualified him for the onerous position he was called to occupy. He may be regarded as a typical reformer. No blot can be found on his character, no guile in his spirit. Note concerning this typical reformer: I. His motives are pure. Personal ambition is sunk in desire for the public good. Selfish motives are abandoned for generous impulses. Reward is unthought of. Truth and freedom are sought for, oblivious of personal gain. 1. He accepts royal distinction that he may advance his people’s interests. He had risen from an exile captive to be a royal cupbearer by the force and moral worth of his character, in spite of jealousy and an alien creed. The title “Tirshatha,” or commander, had been given him, and he became one of the most powerful subjects of the Persian monarch. This honour, though won by personal merit, is not employed in the service of personal ambition, but in the interests of his oppressed kinsmen and fellow-citizens. Royal distinction may only be accepted by a true reformer conditionally, (1) That no vital principle is sacrificed. The Jew must not become a heathen either in morals or worship. The mandates of a monarch must not override the monitions of conscience. Truth must not bow to expediency. The knee must not bend to either Baal or Dagon. The “Golden Image” cannot be recognized, even though the fiery furnace be the alternative. Nehemiah sacrificed no vital principle in accepting royal favour. He remained true to his nation and loyal to his God. He was known as a sympathizer with the cause of the oppressed exiles. The deputation from Judea came to him openly at the royal palace, fearing no molestation. Openly he received and welcomed them. Conditionally, (2) That it is made subservient to his people’s good. Apart from this, Nehemiah’s exalted separation from his oppressed fellow-countrymen would have been unpatriotic and selfishly mercenary. At Shushan he was really serving them better than he could have done at Jerusalem. For (1) he was learning the principles of government at the very seat and centre of the most powerful government of the world. In the royal palace, and under a right royal sovereign, he was gaining a royal spirit. Thus had God prepared other great leaders for their life work. Joseph and Moses in the court of Pharaoh learned lessons which were invaluable to the chosen seed. (2) He had access to the monarch himself. Such a boon was no small privilege, and eventually led to events of the utmost importance. 2. He employs what influence he may possess for the benefit of his people’s cause. His position gave him considerable influence at Court, which he wielded, not, as most would have done, for his own personal aggrandizement, but for the benefit of his people’s cause. Thus, like Joseph and Esther, he was able to influence royal decrees in favour of the Hebrew exiles. Most of the Jews were unable to approach Artaxerxes’ person, but the office of Nehemiah gave him an introduction which he was not slow to use for his country and people. Some have opportunities of usefulness denied to others. They have the eye, the ear, the favour of the great. They should use these not for selfish purposes; but to mention truths which elevated persons seldom hear, to recommend religion which they generally misunderstand, to plead for those who are seldom represented in royal circles. Personal influence is one of the talents for which we are responsible to God. How are we using it? Jerome tells us that Nebridius, though a courtier and nephew to the empress, never made suit but for the relief of the poor afflicted. Terence, one of the generals of the emperor Valens, being bidden to ask what he would, asked nothing but that the Church might be delivered from her Arian foes. Thereupon, says Theodoret, the emperor tore into shreds his petition and bid him ask again, when he replied he would never ask anything for himself if he might not prevail for the Church. 3. He is always ready to relinquish personal luxury for the public good. If he enjoys honour and emolument on his brethren’s behalf, the moment their interests demand their surrender the sacrifice must be made. Herein consists difference between genuine and spurious patriotism. The one delights in self-sacrifice; the other feeds on ambition. Such self-denial is required (1) if the suffering can be the better served. Hitherto it had not been so. The time had now come when Nehemiah can only serve them by coming amongst them. Duty summoned him from the ease and luxury, to the privation and ceaseless toil of Jerusalem, and he “conferred not with flesh and blood,” but gave up all at once. Such self-denial is required (2) if personal honour be associated with the people’s oppression. The true patriot cannot serve two masters, or be loyal to two antagonistic principles. If the sovereign be a tyrant, his place is with the people. The side of the oppressed is alike the side of justice and of mercy. The bread of luxury is then mildewed with the tears of the slave, and the wine of the banquet mingled with the blood of the rack. Thus are all faithful servants of God called upon to lay down their goods, and their lives, if need be, in defence of the Church. For this cause Isaiah gave his body to be sawn asunder. For this cause Jeremiah was cast into a filthy dungeon, and Daniel into a den of lions. For this cause Paul pleaded his cause in chains at Jerusalem and Rome before Festus, Felix, and Agrippa; and Jesus before Annas, Caiaphas, Herod, and Pilate; and for this cause John the Baptist lost his head. He that will lose his life thus shall certainly find it. In this respect Nehemiah was a type of Christ, who “though he was rich, for our sakes became poor,” &c. (2 Corinthians 8:9). Illustration:—Turner, the greatest of English landscape painters, had a generous nature. He was one of the hanging committee of the Royal Academy. The walls were full, when Turner’s attention was attracted by a picture sent in by an unknown provincial artist. “A good picture,” he exclaimed, “it must be hung up and exhibited.” “Impossible,” responded the committee. “The arrangement cannot be disturbed; quite impossible.” “A good picture,” reiterated Turner, “it must be hung up;” and finding his colleagues as obstinate as himself, he took down one of his own pictures and hung up this in its place.II. His sympathies are generous. 1. His ear is open to the cry of distress. Though rich he listens attentively to the story of woe: though occupying a high position he gives heed to the wants of his poorer brethren. Communion and sympathy are the instincts of a true and genuine patriotism. Nehemiah was not a mere passive listener, for he “asked them concerning the Jews.” He entered into particulars, and was minute in his inquiries. The inquiry of an uninterested or half-interested person, would have been alike curt and cursory. Court life and duties had not deadened his human sympathy. “The good man heareth the cause of the poor,” says Solomon (Proverbs 29). The duty of every good man to consider his complaint, and pity and help him. 2. His heart is deeply affected by the tidings which he receives. “The remnant are in great affliction and reproach,” &c. The tidings were not entirely new, but probably sadder than he had anticipated. Hence his great distress. His patriotism not a mental deduction only, but a mighty passion of the soul. He is not only a human, but a humane being. A prince, a commander he may be; put pre-eminently a man and a brother. “The enthusiasm of humanity” was not unknown even in this remote age. Here is (1) a sudden outburst of generous sympathy and sorrow. “I sat down and wept.” Passionate grief usually the least enduring. Not so this. (2) Sorrow increasing rather than diminishing as time wears on. “I mourned certain days,” i. e. four months, from November to April. Here is another Rachel weeping, &c.; another Jeremiah exclaiming “Oh that my head were waters,” &c. (Jeremiah 9:1). (3) Sorrow accompanied by abstinence from food. “And fasted.” This another mark of the reality and pungency of his grief. Ahab may go to the mountain-top to eat and be merry. Elijah must go into solitude, and pour out his complaint to God. David finds “his heart is smitten and withered like grass, so that he forgets to eat his bread” (Psalms 102:4). A sorrow that rolls in luxury and revels in delightsome pleasure and appetizing food is but a poor counterfeit. 3. He resolves to identify himself with the cause of the oppressed. His sympathy does not effervesce in tears. His will is won, and he at once sets about planning their relief. A true reformer must not stand aloof. Isolation is the law of selfishness. Association is the secret of influence. The plans he forms may involve the sacrifice of all, a long and perilous journey, and even the monarch’s frown, but he shrinks from nothing that can advance his people’s cause. Illustrations:—At the siege of Mons, during the career of the great Marlborough, the Duke of Argyle joined an attacking corps when it was on the point of shrinking from the contest; and pushing them open-breasted he exclaimed, “You see, brothers, I have no concealed armour: I am equally exposed with you: I require none to go where I refuse to venture. Remember you fight for the liberties of Europe, which shall never suffer by my behaviour.” This spirit animated the soldiers. The assault was made, and the work was carried.—Percy. “Sympathy is a debt we owe to sufferers. It renders a doleful state more joyful. Alexander the Great refused water in a time of great scarcity, because there was not enough for his whole army. It should be amongst Christians, as amongst lute-strings, when one is touched the others tremble. Believers should be neither proud flesh, nor dead flesh.”—Seeker.III. His spirit is devout. Nehemiah no godless reformer seeking for his countrymen emancipation from an alien yoke and nothing more. He sought the moral, as well as the material welfare of the chosen seed. 1. He recognizes the existence and authority of the world’s Guardian and Governor. He who seeks to eliminate God from human affairs is no true patriot. This not a mere dogma, but a regulative principle with Nehemiah. Divine sovereignty not fiction, but solemn fact. He believed in a God of Providence. “To own God as fashioning every link in the complicated chain of our history; to discern his hand in the least as well as in the greatest; to realize a Providence which overrules what is evil, as well as orders what is good, a Providence which restrains the unwilling whilst it leads the obedient, a Providence so transcendent, that none and nothing can thwart it, so minute, that none and nothing can escape it, a Providence which directs the insect’s wing and the atom’s flutter, as well as the planet’s course and the archangel’s flight, to do this clearly, constantly, experimentally, is an attainment in the Divine life as rare as it is precious. We must interweave these assurances with the tissue and texture of our lives; they must enter as an essential element into the formation of our purposes, and into the conduct of our pursuits. It is thus that we must ‘walk with God.’ ”—Stowell. 2. He acknowledges Divine aid to be superior to all other. (1) As the most powerful of all. If Omnipotence be on his side nothing can withstand. So reasoned Nehemiah. Hence he flies to the source and fountainhead of all power. He appeals to the throne of the universe before appealing to any lower tribunal. He who enlists the aid of the Lord of Sabaoth commands not only myriads of ministering spirits, but all the forces, destructive and benignant, of the universe. (2) As controlling all other aid. Nehemiah will presently approach the earthly monarch, whose spirit is in the hands of the King of kings. This he knows, hence seeks Divine assistance in making successful suit. He desires God’s aid that he may ask (a) for the right thing, (b) at the right time, (c) in the right manner. He who thus seeks human interposition through Divine agency will find the Divine will working in his favour through human instrumentality. No aid can be so effectual as that of Omnipotence. 3. He regards prayer as the appointed means by which Divine aid is to be secured. Does not make his belief in the omniscience of Divine Providence a ground for personal indolence, or restraining prayer. The true patriot no fatalist. By prayer and supplication he makes known his request unto God (Philippians 4:6). This prayer, recorded for our instruction, is one of the model prayers of the Bible. (1) Reverent in its attitude towards God (Nehemiah 1:5). (2) Persistent in pressing its suit (Nehemiah 1:6). (3) Penitent in tone and temper (Nehemiah 1:6-7). (4) Scriptural in argument (Nehemiah 1:8-9). (5) Child-like in spirit (Nehemiah 1:10-11). (6) Definite in aim (Nehemiah 1:11). Illustrations:—Augustus Cζsar possessed such an attachment to his country that he called it his own daughter, and refused to be called its master, because he would rule it not by fear, but by love. After his decease, his disconsolate people lamented over him, saying, “O would to God that be had never lived, or that he had never died.” A Lacζdemonian mother had five sons in a battle that was fought near Sparta, and seeing a soldier that had left the scene of action, eagerly inquired of him how affairs went on. “All your five sons are slain,” said he. “Unhappy wretch!” replied the woman: “I ask thee not of what concerns my children, but of what concerns my country.” “As to that all is well,” said the soldier. “Then,” said she, “let them mourn that are miserable. My country is prosperous, and I am happy.” (a) A great chasm opened in the Roman Forum, which the soothsayers said could not be filled but by that which was most valuable to the State. Marcus Curtius, an eminent soldier, mounted his war-horse, and full-armed rode into the gulf, a noble sacrifice for his country. TO Nehemiah 1:1. I was in Shushan the palaceI. High social positions are not generally favourable to eminent piety. 1. Because luxury and liberty tend to lust and licence. Court morals are proverbially corrupt. When wealth to purchase is united with authority to command, selfish ambition and sensual indulgence too often ensue. In high life the temptations to self-pleasing are generally too strong for unaided human nature. Long prosperity breeds a plague of dust, as does prolonged fair weather in the Italian valleys. Dust that blinds the eyes of the soul, and chokes the spirit with earthly cares. 2. Because the pride of human pomp is inimical to the spirit of true religion. Palaces are above most places theatres of human exaltation and proud display. Religion does not flourish amidst human pomp and pride. By the lowly birth of the Son of God, heaven has poured its contempt upon the mere accidentals of greatness. True religion is by the very humility of its nature antagonistic to the spirit of the world. Nebuchadnezzar could not withstand this spirit. In his prosperity and pride he exclaimed, “Is not this great Babylon that I have built,” &c. (Daniel 4:30). In his humiliation he regained that religion which he had lost in his exaltation. 3. Because affluence is apt to beget independence of God. When Jeshurun waxed fat he kicked (Deuteronomy 32:15). When God’s chosen people prospered they forgot God (Isaiah 51:13; Judges 3:7). A sense of need brings men near to God. When the lap is full, God is forgotten. Hence the words of Christ, “How hardly shall they that have riches,” &c. (Mark 10:23). Rich men have often to be made poor before they will acknowledge God. Merchant has most reason to watch and pray in the day of his prosperity. Easier to bear the ebb of disappointment than the flood-tide of success. Most reason to watch when we think ourselves most secure. A poor Christian remarked when receiving unexpected relief, “Oh! what a blessed thing it is to be poor, that one may see the hand of God so plain.” The hand of God often concealed from the rich in the very affluence of its gifts; whilst to the pious poor quite naked. Hezekiah was humbly grateful when he exclaimed after the slaughter of the hosts of Sennacherib, “The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day” (Isaiah 38:19); yet the sad record of his after days is, “But Hezekiah rendered not unto the Lord, according to the benefit done unto him: for his heart was lifted up” (2 Chronicles 32:25). “It was as much as we could do to keep our feet upon the splendid mosaic floor of the palace Giovanelli, at Venice; but we found no such difficulty in the cottage of the poor glass-blower in the rear. Observation shows that there is a fascination in wealth which renders it extremely difficult for the possessors of it to maintain their equilibrium; and this more especially where wealth has been suddenly acquired; then, unless grace prevent, pride, affectation, and other mean vices, stupefy the brain with their sickening fumes, and he who was respected in poverty becomes despised in prosperity. What man can help slipping when everybody is intent on greasing his ways, so that the smallest chance of standing is denied him. The world’s proverb is, “God help the poor, for the rich can help themselves;” but it is just the rich who have most need of Heaven’s help. Dives in scarlet is worse off than Lazarus in rags, unless Divine love shall uphold him.—Spurgeon. 4. Because the multiplication of cares tends to deaden spirituality. Increase of wealth means increase of anxiety. Milton has taught us by his picture of the man with the muck-rake that secular cares readily become all-engrossing, and turn the eyes away from the crown of life. The Hebrew word for riches signifies “heavy,” for riches are a burden, and they that will be rich do but load themselves with thick clay. “There is a burden of care in getting them, of fear in keeping them, of temptation in using them, of guilt in abusing them, of sorrow in losing them, and a burden of accounts at last to be given up concerning them.”—Henry. “As poison works more furiously in wine than in water, so corruptions betray themselves more in a state of plenty than in a state of poverty.”—Seeker. Mr. Cecil called to see a rich hearer, and said, “I understand you are very dangerously situated.” The man replied, “I am not aware of it.” “I thought it probable you were not, and therefore called upon you. I hear you are getting rich; take care, for it is the road by which the devil leads thousands to destruction.” 5. Because the commands of an earthly monarch are liable to clash with the mandates of Jehovah. The earthly king who has no fear of God before his eyes, will not be likely to respect the claims of a Higher Court. He will consequently have no conscience for sacred things, and will be likely to ignore such conscience in his subjects. But the servant of Jehovah has no choice. He must say with the noble three, “We will not serve thy god” (Daniel 3:18); and with Peter and John, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye” (Acts 4:19). With Daniel and John the Baptist he must obey God rather than man, though death be the consequence. Thus is the path of the just beset with perils in the high places of power and pomp. Illustration:—“Philip, Bishop of Heraclea, in the beginning of the fourth century was dragged by the feet through the streets, severely scourged, and then brought before the governor, who charged him with obstinate rashness in disobeying the imperial decrees; but he firmly Answered, ‘My present behaviour is not the result of rashness, but proceeds from my love and fear of God, who made the world, and whose commands I dare not transgress. I have hitherto done my duty to the emperors, and am always ready to comply with their just orders, according to the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ: but I am obliged to prefer heaven to earth, and to obey God rather than man.’ The governor on hearing this speech immediately passed sentence on him to be burnt, and the martyr expired, singing praises to God in the midst of the flames.”II. Piety is not impossible in any position of life. 1. Inward grace is stronger than outward circumstances. The temptations to slothful ease and self-indulgence may be fearfully strong, but not stronger than Divine grace. The seductions of luxury and the witchery of pleasure may charm with enticing subtlety, but cannot ensnare the man who is faithful to his God, and like Nehemiah recognizes “the good hand of his God.” “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). “In the world ye shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall have peace” (John 16:13). Illustrate by Bunyan’s picture, in the Interpreter’s house, of fire on which Satan poured water and Christ oil. “If a letter were to be addressed to that most influential word, circumstances, concluding thus:—‘I am, Sir, your very obedient, humble servant,’ the greater part of the world might subscribe it.”—Horace Smith. 2. The God of providence is also the God of grace. Where he places, there he can and will sustain. If God puts Nehemiah into the Persian palace, he will support him there. Nowhere are faithful witnesses more needed than in the high places of the earth. The nearer the fount of social influence, the greater the power for good or evil. Grace is adapted to providential circumstances. Illustration:—The trees are adapted to the demands of their position. The fir of the northern hills defies the wintry blast by reason of its strong roots which penetrate the crevices of the soil. The tall palms send their roots down three feet into the earth, and then spread out, securing a firm anchorage, and are able to stand the sweep of the desert winds. The roots of the pine are spread over the surface, but it grows in less exposed situations. The mangrove which fringes the estuaries and lagoons of the tropies, exposed to the tides, on a shifting soil, supports itself by sending roots from its trunk and lower branches down into the muddy ground, so that the whole has the appearance of a tree propped up by artificial stakes. We may infer that a like adjustment of strength to situation pervades the moral world.3. Many of the holiest characters in history have been found in the most unfavourable situations. Joseph in Pharaoh’s court with an adulterous queen; Moses in the same court; Obadiah under Jezebel and Ahab; David exposed to the evil influence of Saul; Daniel and Mardocheus in the court of Ahasuerus; all served God faithfully though exposed to the most trying ordeals. In the New Testament we find Christians in every station of life: Zenas the lawyer, Erastus the chamberlain, Paul the tent-maker, Luke the physician, Zaccheus the tax-gatherer, Peter the fisherman, and Joseph the carpenter. Learn from this fact, (1) not to condemn bodies and professions of men indiscriminately. (2) Not to make our business an excuse for ungodliness. Some lines of life are indeed much less favourable to morality and religion than others; they afford fewer helps and more hindrances than others; and this consideration should powerfully influence those who have the disposal of youth. But where the providence of God places us, the grace of God can keep us. “These,” says God, “had the same nature, were partakers of the same infirmities, and placed in the same circumstances with yourselves. But they escaped ‘the corruption that is in the world, through faith.’ They found time to serve me. ‘Go thou and do likewise.’ ”—Stowell. “Amidst the sternest trials, the most upright Christians are reared. The Divine life within them so triumphs over every difficulty as to render the men, above all others, true and exact. What a noble spectacle is a man whom nothing can warp, a firm, decided servant of God, defying hurricanes of temptation!”—Spurgeon. Grace makes itself equally at home in the palace and in the cottage. No condition necessitates its absence, no position precludes its flourishing. One may compare it in its power to live and blossom in all places, to the beautiful blue-bell of Scotland, of which the poetess sings:— “No rock is too high, no vale too low,For its fragile and tremulous form to grow:It crowns the mountain with azure bells,And decks the fountain in forest dells:It wreathes the ruins with clusters grey,Bowing and smiling the livelong day.”III. Positions perilous to piety should be avoided except at the special call of Providence. 1. Material prosperity should always be regarded as subordinate to spiritual vitality. (1) It really is so. It matters little what be our position in this world. It matters everything what is our position in the next. “What shall it profit,” &c. (Mark 8:36). Things which are seen are temporal, things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). What man thinks, of no consequence; what God thinks, everything. The life of earth, whatever be its character, soon terminates; the life of eternity never. (2) He who acts upon this principle gains in the end. Lot chose the fertile plain of Sodom, and preferring temporal gain lost all. Moses “chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God,” &c., and became their chosen leader (Hebrews 11:25). Solomon asked neither long life nor riches, but he lost neither in choosing religion (1 Kings 3:11). (3) Through neglecting to act upon this principle piety has often been lost. Many a worldly marriage has ruined a promising Christian. Many a hopeful life has been wrecked upon the rocks of uncurbed ambition. He who places the world first and heaven second will soon make ambition everything and religion nothing. “Caligula with the world at his feet longed for the moon, and could he have gained it, would have coveted the sun. It is in vain to feed a fire which is the more voracious the more it is supplied with fuel. He who seeks to satisfy his ambition has before him the labours of Sisyphus, who rolled up a hill an ever-rebounding stone, and the task of the daughters of Danaus, who are condemned for ever to fill a bottomless vessel with buckets full of holes. Could we know the secret heart-breaks of those who have forsaken religion for the sake of gratifying ambition, we should need no Wolsey’s voice crying, ‘Fling away ambition,’ but should flee from it as from the most accursed blood-sucking vampire which ever uprose from the caverns of hell.”—Spurgeon. Pope Adrian VI. had this inscription on his monument, “Here lies Adrian 6., who never was so unhappy in any period of his life as at that in which he was a prince.” 2. No one has a right to tempt God by unnecessarily exposing himself to temptation. This sin of presumption, against which Paul warned Corinthians (1 Corinthians 10:9). Christ met it in the wilderness in the form, “Cast thyself down.” God will not protect those who rashly presume upon his guardianship. Mockery to pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” if we run into it unbidden. When we needlessly expose ourselves we entice sin and court failure. “Temptations are enemies outside the castle, seeking entrance.” If there be no false retainer within who holds treacherous parley, there can scarcely be even an offer. No one would make overtures to a bolted door, or a dead wall. It is some face at the window that invites proffer. The violence of temptation addressed to us is only another way of expressing the violence of the desire within us. It costs nothing to reject that which we do not wish: and the struggle required to overcome temptation measures the strength in us of the temptable element. Men ought not to say, “How powerfully the devil tempts!” but, “How strongly I am tempted.”—Beecher. 3. Providence will protect those whom it calls to perilous duty. (1) The path of duty is sometimes a path of danger. Christian visitors at home endanger their lives amongst the poor, and Christian missionaries abroad amongst the heathen. Not only bodies, but souls are endangered through the prevalence of surrounding vice, which Christian workers must come into contact with. (2) Special guardianship is exercised over those whose providential path is one of danger. God will not leave them. Disciples in storm were not deserted because they had gone at Christ’s bidding. Nehemiah, Daniel, Joseph were untainted by court life because they were surrounded by Jehovah’s Shield. (3) We should be careful not to mistake presumption for providential guidance. Many have done so and fallen. Peter walking on the water an instance. Illustration:—A gentleman who wished to test the character of some men who had offered themselves for the situation of coachman, took them to a narrow road which bordered on a deep precipice, and inquired of them how near to the dangerous verge they could drive without fear. One named a few inches, another still fewer. The gentleman shook his head, and dismissed them. He could not risk his life with them. A third was asked, “How near this edge can you drive in safety?” He drew back replying, “I should drive as far from it as possible. The place is dangerous. I should avoid it altogether.” He was employed, because he could be trusted not to run into needless peril.Illustration:—A soldier named Miller felt a strong desire to be a minister though still unconverted. After his conversion he felt a renewal of this desire. In the battle of Wilderness he was badly wounded, and remained 24 hours on the field. The surgeon refused to operate upon him, because death was inevitable. He was removed to Fredericksburg, again examined, and his wounds pronounced fatal. To a friend he said, “The surgeon says I must die; but I do not feel that my work is done yet. When I gave myself up to God last winter I promised him that I would labour for his cause in the Gospel ministry. I feel that he has a work for me to do, and that man is immortal until his work is done.” A few days after a third consultation of doctors was held, whose decision was, “You will recover; but it is the most miraculous escape we have ever seen.” After many months’ confinement he was able to begin his preparation for the ministry. Nehemiah 1:2. I asked them concerning the Jews, &c. I. True Benevolence is an active principle. 1. It seeks that it may save the lost. Not content with remaining at home, it goes after the suffering. Nehemiah not altogether ignorant of state of Jews, nor accurately acquainted with it. He solicits particulars. Goes out of his way to discover need that he may assist it. The close cross-examination to which deputation were subjected proved the thorough earnestness of questioner. Christ great example of active benevolence, alike in the whole work of redemption, and the details of his mortal life. The Church works in same spirit. It comes “not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” The true Christian cries out, “The love of Christ doth me constrain, to seek the wretched sons of men.” 2. Its motive therefore is love rather than duty. Benevolence without love is cold as ashes. Uncharitable charity a ghastly mockery. Stern duty seldom prompts true charity. This must spring from love alone. Benevolence follows the example of him who “was rich, but for our sakes became poor,” &c. A child looking into the face of a lady who had relieved and nursed her in sickness artlessly asked, “Are you God’s wife?” God is love, and true benevolence is lovingly God-like. II. True Benevolence is not deterred from painful investigation through fear of possible sacrifices. 1. It seeks to know the worst. Nehemiah not satisfied with superficial knowledge. He probed the national sore. True benevolence acts in the same spirit. It fathoms the abyss that it seeks to close; it probes the wound it seeks to heal. (1) Philanthropy deals with the worst human ailments. It shrinks from no contagion, and shuns no patient however loathsome. Its home is the hospital and fever ward. (2) It grapples with the blackest facts of human history, and sheds light upon darkest, foulest blots in human nature. Nothing daunts, nothing drives it to despair. For the most hopeless there is hope; for the worst there is mercy. (3) It seeks to alleviate the direst sufferings of the Church. No breach too wide to be healed. No Church too dead to be revived. No persecutions too cruel to be endured. It seeks not to heal lightly or suddenly, but thoroughly. 2. It shrinks from no sacrifice. Nehemiah was aware that he could not relieve his brethren without great personal sacrifice. Not only wealth, but probably position, and perhaps even life, would have to be surrendered. This did not deter him. Self-sacrifice the mark of true benevolence. Hireling charity shuns this test. (1) Money, (2) Time, (3) Personal ambition all freely given up for the sake of the suffering Church. Illustration:—When a teacher was wanted by Dr. Mason of Burmah for the war-like Bghais, he asked his boatman, Shapon, if he would go; and reminded him that instead of the fifteen rupees a month which he now received, he could only have four rupees a month as teacher. After praying over the matter he came back; and Dr. Mason said, “Well, Shapon, what is your decision? Can you go to the Bghais for four rupees a month?” Shapon answered, “No, teacher: I could not go for four rupees a month; but I can do it for Christ.” And for Christ’s sake he went.III. True Benevolence is not easily discouraged. 1. It regards no case as absolutely hopeless. Jerusalem and its inhabitants were in a pitiable plight, yet Nehemiah did not sit down in despair. He wept, it is true, but he prayed, and for four months he continued to pray with an importunity that nothing could discourage. Humanity may be very corrupt, but not hopelessly so. The Church may be at a low ebb, but the lowest ebbing point is nearest the flowing point. The night was very dark, but ’tis ever darkest before the dawn. Benevolence knows that what is impossible with man, is possible with God. (1) It helps not only the needy, but the most needy. (2) It believes in the possible regeneration of human nature, however degraded. (3) It believes in the possible revival of the Church, however encrusted with superstition or formalism. 2. It recognizes the infinite resources of Jehovah. If looked earthward only, been discouraged. Would have exclaimed mournfully, “Who is sufficient,” &c. But looking heavenward its eye rests upon the unspeakable riches of God in Christ. Remembering the Divine omnipotence it has no fear. It remembers the infinite resources, (1) of Divine pity, (2) of Divine power, (3) of Divine pardon. None need despair, even when engaged in the most arduous work for such a master as God. (a) His wealth is boundless. The universe belongs to him. (b) This infinite wealth is treasured up for the benefit of his needy servants. (c) This boundless wealth is accessible to all who need it, and apply in faith. Illustrations:—(α) “It is said of the Lacedζmonians, who were a poor and homely people, that they offered lean sacrifices to their gods; and that the Athenians, who were a wise and wealthy people, offered fat and costly sacrifices; and yet in their wars the former always had the mastery over the latter, Whereupon they went to the oracle to know the reason why those should speed worst who gave most. The oracle returned this answer to them—That the Lacedζmonians were a people who gave their hearts to their gods, but that the Athenians only gave their gifts to their gods.” Thus a heart without a gift is better than a gift without a heart.—Secker.St. Theresa, when commencing her homes of mercy with only three half-pence in her pocket, said, “Theresa and three half-pence can do nothing, but God and three half-pence can do everything.” Dr. Judson laboured diligently for six years in Burmah without baptizing a convert. At the end of three years, he was asked what evidence he had of ultimate success. He replied, “As much as there is a God who will fulfil all his promises.” A hundred churches and thousands of converts already answer his faith. We will suppose that some opulent person makes the tour of Europe. If his money fall short he comforts himself with the reflection that he has a sufficient stock in the bank, which he can draw out at anytime by writing to his cashiers. This is just the case spiritually with God’s elect. They are travellers in a foreign land remote from home. Their treasure is in heaven, and God himself is their banker. When their graces seem to be almost exhausted, when the barrel of meal and cruse of oil appear to be failing, they need but draw upon God by prayer and faith and humble waiting. The Holy Spirit will honour their bill at first sight; and issue to them from time to time sufficient remittances to carry them to their journey’s end. “I have heard of a Spanish ambassador, who, coming to see the treasury of Saint Mark in Venice, fell a-groping at the bottom of the chests and trunks, to see whether they had any bottom; and being asked the reason why he did so, answered, “My Master’s treasure differs from yours, and excels yours in that his have no bottom, and yours have.” All men’s mints, bags, purses, and coffers may be quickly exhausted and drawn dry; but God is such an inexhaustible portion that he can never be drawn dry: all God’s treasures, and his mints and his bags, are bottomless. Thousands of millions in heaven and earth feed upon him every day, and yet he feels it not: he is still giving, and yet his purse is never empty: he is still filling all the court of heaven, and all the creatures on earth, and yet he is a fountain that still overflows. There are some who say, that it is most certainly true of the oil at Rheims, that though it be continually spent in the inauguration of the kings of France, yet it never wastes: but whatever truth is in this story, of this I am most sure, that though all the creatures in both worlds live and spend continually on Christ’s stock, yet it never wasteth.—Brooks.THE BANEFUL OF SIN Nehemiah 1:3. The remnant that are left … are in great affliction and reproach, &c. This state of things would never have come to pass, but for the disobedience and idolatry of the children of Israel. It was the natural and inevitable fruit of their own sin. Not mere unfortunate calamity, but punitive and penal discipline. From the text we learn,— I. That sin brings misery upon human souls. “In great affliction,” i. e. misery, want, privation. Suffering always follows sin in the nature of things. 1. Because sin is a violation of law. Sin transgresses the eternal law of righteousness, which cannot be broken with impunity. Its penalty is pain, and eventually death. Law-breakers everywhere must suffer. (1) See this in relation to laws of health. Violate those laws by unwholesome food, self-indulgent excesses, absorption of poison, and derangement or death will ensue. (2) See this in relation to the laws of society. Ill-manners provoke exclusion. None defy these rules without paying penalty. (3) See this in relation to national laws. “What mean our courts of justice, our prisons and penal settlements, but that law cannot be transgressed without suffering (β). 2. Because sin separates from God. Its very nature, essence, is antagonism to God. Wherever it reigns it produces tastes and dispositions contrary to the will of God. Now God is the author of all happiness. The opposite of happiness is misery. Man severed from God like branch cut from tree, or limb torn from body. The man who has not made peace with God cannot be happy, because the “wrath of God abideth on him.” No real peace when hostile to God. 3. Because sin creates discord. Where there is discord there is misery. Sin works discord— (1) In the individual. It stirs up evil passions against the reign of conscience. No internal peace until the Stronger has cast out the strong man armed who usurps his place in the heart. Christ alone can “say to our warring passions, peace.” (2) In the Church. It provokes enmity between man and man, and different sections of the one great body of Christ. (3) In the world. It lifts up the war sign, and mingles nations in the bloody embrace of strife. When sin comes to an end men shall learn war no more. Want of harmony always painful. Inharmonious colours pain the eye, and inharmonious sounds jar upon the ear. All discord is the enemy of peace and pleasure. II. Sin brings reproach upon the Church. “In great affliction and reproach.” The Jews were not only in a desolate condition, but were taunted by the Samaritans with being in that condition. “Sin a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34), especially to the Church—for, 1. It destroys her power, and paralyzes her efforts. Spirituality secret of Church’s power. Stripped of this, she is like Samson shorn of his locks. An unholy Church is a mournful spectacle, a miserable ruin. The Church at Jerusalem was now demoralized through her unspirituality and want of faith. 2. It provokes the taunts of blasphemy. Church’s enemies always vigilant. Did not hesitate to throw insinuation in her teeth. “Where is now their God?” “As it is a pitiful sight to see a prince or nobleman cast from his dignity, spoiled of his honour, lands, and goods, and forced to become a carter, and drive the plough, or lie in prison; so surely it must needs move any heathen man, to see the city where he and his elders were born and buried to be overthrown, lie open to all enemies, unfenced with walls or gates, and inhabited only by a few cottagers, and no better than the poorest ragged hamlet in the country.”—Pilkington. 3. It encourages the growth of infidelity. Sceptics, both intellectual and sensual, not slow to point to Church’s failure in support of their boastful pretensions. Perhaps the Church’s failures and discords have done more to strengthen atheism than any books or arguments levelled against religion. III. Sin removes national defences. “The walls are broken down.” This material dismantling only a type of the national demoralization which had taken place. 1. Unity is a national defence. (1) A nation divided against itself can no more stand than a city, whereas a thoroughly united people can resist almost any attack from without. (2) Sin undermines national unity by sowing discord and jealousy, and creating party feeling. It sets all the classes of society against each other (masters and servants, landowner and labourer), and seeks to stifle charity and forbearance. 2. Bodily vigour is a national defence. (1) It saves from poverty in time of peace. Strong manhood a security against penury if united with temperance and industry. (2) It enables resistance to become effectual in time of war. Sensuality under mines manhood, and unfits for arduous toil in peace or war. Refer to Franco-German war as instance. French people were socially demoralized by vice. Their manhood was undermined. Religion teaches the sanctity of the human body, and thus preserves it from premature corruption. 3. Domestic, purity is a national defence. What the family life is, the national life will soon become. Domestic fidelity begets a sense of re sponsibility. It promotes healthy moral tone. This, backbone of a nation’s vigour. Sin encourages lust and breaks down all social barriers, and thus robs a nation of one of its most powerful bulwarks. 4. Force of character is a national defence. This made England what she is, and America. It is this which gives weight to our words and actions in foreign courts and countries. Force impossible where sin reigns. Why? Because no true cohesion where no godliness. An unholy life is under no regulating principle, but at the mercy of passions and desires. Where there is internal anarchy, and no central principle of rectitude ruling the conduct, there can be no true decision or moral force in the life. (α) IV. Sin dishonours national government. “The gates thereof are burned with fire.” City gates not only for resistance, but also the seat of government. There the assembly of chiefs gathered; there criminals were tried; there justice was administered, and important subjects discussed. Compare “Ottoman Porte,” where word for gate is synonym for government; also, “on this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Here “gates” equivalent to kingdom. The demolition of the city gates suggests— 1. That the administration of justice was neglected. Crime ran riot. There was no security, no confidence, no defence, therefore none dare seek redress where none could be obtained. Bribery and terrorism the offspring of lax morality. The moral sense deadened, justice impossible. 2. That the inroads of enemies were unchecked. No barriers to midnight marauders. Whole nation manifestly paralyzed and dispirited. National honour and independence trodden in the dust. “The walls are destroyed, and the gates burned,” when the rulers and ministers do not their duty, but care for other things. And as this wretched people had justly, for their disobedience, neither walls left to keep out the enemy, nor gates to let in their friends, but were all destroyed; so shall all godless people be left without godly magistrates to govern them, and live in slavery under tyrants that oppress them, and be led by blind guides that deceive them.—Pilkington. The Jews to this day when they build a house (say the Rabbins) leave one part of it unfinished in remembrance that Jerusalem and the temple are at present desolate; or they leave about a yard square unplastered on which they write the words of the Psalmist, “If I forget Jerusalem,” &c. (Psalms 137); or else the words, “Zechor Lechorbon,” “The memory of the desolation.” V. Sin brings a blight upon the whole land. When Adam sinned, the earth, which was before decked with fruits, brought forth weeds. The wickedness of Sodom punished not only by the destruction of its inhabitants, but by the desolation of the land, so that even the air is so pestilent that birds fall dead as they fly over it. The whole country of Palestine, “a land flowing with milk and honey,” for the sins of the Jews has become barren, as David said, “The Lord turneth a fruitful ground into a barren, for the wickedness of the dwellers in it” (Psalms 107). Jerusalem was not only destroyed now, but afterwards by Vespasian, whose general, Titus, left not “one stone standing on another” (Matthew 24:2). “Herein behold the vileness of sin, that not only man, but the earth, stones, cities, trees, corn, cattle, fish, fowl, and all fruits are perished, punished and turned into another nature, for the sin of man: yea, and not only worldly things, but his holy temple, law, the ark, the cherubims, mercy-seat, Aaron’s rod, and holy jewels, are given into the hands of a heathen king, because of the disobedience of his people.”—Pilkington. Illustrations:—(α) When Nicephorus Phocas had built a wall about his palace for his own security in the night-time, be heard a voice crying to him, “Oh! emperor, though thou build thy walls as high as the clouds, yet if sin be within it will overthrow all.”(β) “Suppose I were going along the street, and were to dash my hand through a large pane of glass, what harm should I receive? You would be punished for breaking the glass. Would that be all the harm that I should receive? No, you would cut your hand with the glass. So it is with sin. If you break God’s laws, you will be punished for breaking them; and your soul is hurt by the very act of breaking them.” SORROW Nehemiah 1:4. I sat down and wept, and mourned certain daysI. The occasion of his grief. “When I heard these words I sat,” &c. 1. Not personal loss. Men mourn when death enters the home and robs them of their loved ones; when privation comes and strips them of their luxuries; when disappointment blights their ambition; when disease or accident deprive them of vigorous health. Nehemiah’s grief not caused by any of these things. He was in no danger at present of losing either friend, or substance, or good name. Nor would he thus have mourned if he had. 2. Not spiritual despair. He certainly discovered imperfections in his life not before observed, but nothing to drive him to religious despair. Condemnation and shame follow the awakening of conscience. His not asleep. Religious declension had not estranged him from God. He had walked with God even in the palace. 3. But public calamity. “When I heard these words I sat down and wept.” What words? Those by which his brother had just described the “affliction and reproach” into which the Church at Jerusalem had fallen. (1) His brethren were in distress. His human sensibilities not blunted by the formalities of court life. Poor relations not to be forgotten when fortune favours us. (2) The Church was desolate. This as important to a good man as if his own home was burnt or wrecked. (3) The holy city was in ruins. Other cities had been razed to the ground, and he felt no grief like this. Babylon, a much greater city, had been taken by Cyrus not long before; Samaria, their neighbour, by Sennacherib and Shalmaneser. But this was “the holy city” (Matthew 4). Over its final destruction Christ wept (Luke 19). It had been beautified with temple, priests, and holy ordinances; and strengthened by many worthy princes and laws, and was a wonder to the world. Its fall was synonymous with the disgrace of true religion. (4) Sin was triumphant. The sin of unbelief and moral impotence within, and of blasphemy and boastful arrogance without. Persecution and poverty are the Church’s glory; but impotence and discord her eternal shame. “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” her enemies asked; and in bitter irony are ever ready to exclaim, “See how these Christians love one another!” When God’s cause languishes and his Church is dishonoured it is time for good men to weep. In time of common calamities “Should we then make mirth?” (Ezekiel 21:10). Illustrations:—“The Romans severely punished one that showed himself out of a window with a garland on his head in the time of the Punic war, when it went ill with the commonwealth. Justinus, the good emperor of Constantinople, took the downfall of the city of Antioch by an earthquake so much to heart that it caused him a grievous sickness, A. D. 527. When Pope Clement and his cardinals were imprisoned by the duke of Bourbon in St. Angelo Cζsar in Spain forbade all interludes to be played. In England the king was exceedingly sorry, and Cardinal Wolsey drained the land of twelvescore thousand pounds to relieve and ransom the distressed pope, for whom he wept grievously.”—Trapp.II. The characteristics of his grief. 1. It was intense. “I sat down and wept.” Probably he had stood to hear their story. Now his heart melts like wax. His grief is overwhelming. Falling into his seat he gives vent to a flood of weeping. Not the transitory ruffling of the emotions, nor mere sentimental sympathy elicited by a tale of woe. His brethren’s sorrows became his own. Jeremiah’s prayer answered, “Oh that my head were waters,” &c. (Jeremiah 9:1). With David, he “watered his couch with his tears.” The sins of his people became in some measure his own. In this see faint type of Christ, who “bore our griefs,” &c. Faint anticipation of that “man of sorrows,” who “offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears” (Hebrews 5:7) in the garden of Gethsemane. 2. It was enduring. “And mourned certain days.” Not the evanescent passion of superficial sorrow, but the deep soul-stirring grief of a noble and generous nature. Blind and violent sorrow generally dies away like the noisy crackling of thorns in the fire. Its very intenseness makes its brevity. Grief that has a deep and abiding provocation dies not thus. It contemplates the future as well as the present. The past it mourns, but seeks help for the future. Nor can it be appeased until the disgrace is wiped away, and deliverance found. Like Mary, it waits at the sepulchre until the angel appears to assure it of the resurrection of buried hopes. 3. It was self-denying. “And fasted.” Not the comfortable and self-indulgent grief that makes the very sorrow an excuse for sottish excess. All such grief bears a lie upon its face. The mind affects the body. Severe mental strain, whether of agony or rapture, weakens appetite and kills desire. Real heart-pain is always ascetic in its bodily aspect. The grief of the hypocrite or half-hearted is self-indulgent and short-lived because superficial. The grief of an earnest man of truth is terrible and irresistible because of its self-forgetfulness. Fasting is (1) Often associated with profound grief in Scripture (2 Samuel 1:12; 2 Samuel 12:16-21; Psalms 35:13; Psalms 69:10; Daniel 6:8; Jonah 3:5). (2) May be the natural attendant of grief, or the outward symbol of its presence. (3) Is recognized and commended in Scripture as a religious exercise (1 Samuel 7:6; Jeremiah 36:9; Matthew 6:17; Acts 10:30; 1 Corinthians 7:5). III. The issue of his grief. “And prayed before the God of heaven.” Herein consists difference between godly and selfish sorrow. The one ends in blank despair, the other finds relief in prayer. The passionate writhing of a rebellious heart dares not look up. It leads to suicide and madness. Note, 1. Grief is sanctified by prayer. Pain no inherently sanctifying or softening virtue. Only when borne in faith and godly resignation does it leave a blessing. It then becomes sacred, and softens the heart, like dew upon mown grass, or showers on the thirsty soil. Submissive and prayerful sorrow one of the most gracious experiences that can happen to man. 2. Grief is relieved by prayer. “Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication,” &c. (Philippians 4:6). In prayer the burden is cast upon One who is able and willing to bear it. If men find their burdens and anxieties lighter when they speak of them to their fellows, surely the relief must be greater when they unburden their mind to God, who is not only willing, but able to succour. Pent up mountain torrents are turbulent and furious; open streams are calmer, and more placid in their flow. 3. Grief is made fruitful by prayer. Sorrow without an outlet produces not good, but harm. It renders the spirit morose, and comforts no mourner. Only when grief is poured into the ear of God can it bear any good fruit. A saint’s tears are better than a sinner’s triumphs. Bernard saith: “Lachrymζ p�nitentium sunt vinum angelorum.” “The tears of penitents are the wine of angels.” St. Lawrence Justinian, Patriarch of Venice, says: “He cannot help sorrowing for other people’s sins, who sorrows truly for his own.” St. Augustine: “We mourn over the sins of others, we suffer violence, we are tormented in our minds.” St. Chrysostom: “Moses was raised above the people because he habitually deplored the sins of others. He who sorrows for other men’s sins, has the tenderness of an apostle, and is an imitator of that one who said: “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not!” (2 Corinthians 11:29). FASTING Nehemiah 1:4. And fastedI. Occasions of fasting. 1. Afflictions of the Church (Nehemiah). 2. National judgments (Joel). 3. Domestic bereavement (David). 4. Imminent danger (Esther). 5. Solemn ordinances (Paul and Barnabas set apart). II. The design of fasting. 1. To assist penitence. “To afflict the soul,” a phrase often employed in connection with abstinence (Leviticus 16:29; Isaiah 58:5). Without spiritual repentance bodily mortification worthless, and meaningless. 2. To mortify bodily lusts and promote heart purity. Fasting not end, but means. Not essential to holiness; only an accidental of our fallen state. No fasting in heaven, because no fleshly corruptions. Without falling into Manichean heresy, which makes sin necessarily inherent in the human body, we must regard the body as an enemy to spirituality. Paul did; hence, “I keep under my body,” &c. (1 Corinthians 9:27). 3. To humble and gire sympathy with the poor. Opulent classes sympathize too little with struggling poor, because do not understand meaning of want. If practise occasional abstinence, and really suffer hunger, can better understand what others suffer constantly. III. The duty of fasting. 1. Forms part of general principle of self-denial essential to true discipleship. “If any man will be my disciple let him take up his cross daily,” &c. (Luke 9:23). This duty not to he despised because some abuse it. Because some make it meritorious, no reason why we should neglect it altogether. Most sacred ordinances (Lord’s Supper) have been most grossly perverted, and most gracious privileges most grossly abused. Counterfeits only prove the value of true coin. 2. Implied, and therefore enjoined, by words of Christ. “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21). 3. Enforced by the example of Christ. In all things he our pattern. What Christ sanctioned by his own act cannot be considered as either superfluous, or superstitious. Point all objectors to him. 4. Associated in Scripture with the bestowal of great blessings. Nineveh spared when the inhabitants prayed, and mourned, fasting (Jonah 4:11). Ahab pardoned when he humbled himself with fasting (1 Kings 21:29). Christ promises heavenly reward to those whose fasting is sincere (Matthew 6:16). IV. The manner and degree of fasting. 1. Sometimes total abstinence from food for a time (Esther 4:16). 2. More often abstinence from superfluous food (Daniel 10:3). V. The spirit in which to fast. 1. With sincere humility. Ostentation condemned by Christ (Matthew 6:16). Uncharitableness or peevishness often accompany the exercise and deprive it of all sweetness and profit. It may become a source of pride and a cover for sin. 2. With true repentance. This the essential principle of all abstinence. The sacrifice of the will is the truth forthshadowed. This only one outward sign of the complete surrender of the will in all things. Nothing meritorious. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/phc/ NOTES.] Nehemiah 2:1. Nisan] Called Abib in Exodus 13:4, first month in Hebrew national year. Corresponds to parts of our March and April. Nehemiah 2:3. Let the king live for ever] (Heb. hammelek l’olam yihyeh.) (Comp. 1 Kings 1:31; Daniel 2:4; Daniel 6:6-21.) The mere formula of address, like our “God save the Queen.” Even Daniel used it without compunction. The place of my fathers’ sepulchres] The Persians regarded their burial-places as peculiarly sacred. Nehemiah 2:6. The queen also sitting by him] Some have thought this was Esther, but “Shegal” refers to the principal wife of the king. Damaspia was the name of the chief wife according to Ctesias. Nehemiah 2:7. The governors] (Heb. pahawoth, modern pacha.) Oriental name for viceroy. Beyond the river] i. e. Euphrates. Nehemiah 2:8. Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest] may have been a Jew. Name, Hebrew. Word translated “forest” is “pardes,” our “paradise.” It signifies a walled round place, a preserve of trees. Probably a royal park of which Asaph was keeper. The palace which appertained to the house] Probably Solomon’s palace, situated at the south-east corner of the temple-area, was next to the house; i. e., the temple as the house of God (2 Chronicles 23:12-15). The house that I shall enter into] Some think this refers also to the temple, which Nehemiah would enter into to inspect; more probably the house where be would dwell during his stay in Jerusalem. Nehemiah 2:10. Sanballat the Horonite] (Beth-horon, in full.) Two Horons in Palestine, a few miles north of Jerusalem; also Horonaim in. Moab. Sanballat, probably a native of the last mentioned, was a Moabite; and satrap of Samaria under the Persians. Tobiah, his vizier or chief adviser. Origin of name Sanballat uncertain. Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite] Tobiah, a Jewish name (Ezra 2:60; Zechariah 6:10). Probably a renegade Jew, who had become a slave, and had risen by his talents and cunning to be Sanballat’s chief officer, hence the epithet, “Tobiah, the slave.” Nehemiah 2:13. The gate of the valley] (Heb. Sha’or haggai.) Probably overlooking valley of Hinnom, called in Jeremiah 2:23 simply “the valley.” It was about 1200 feet south of the present Jaffa gate. The Septuagint calls it Portam Galilζ; the gate of dead men’s skulls, because that way they went to Golgotha. The dragon well] So called either because some venomous serpent had been found there, or because the waters ran out of the mouth of a brazen serpent. (Heb. Fountain of the sea-monster.) The dung port] (Rather, Rubbish-gate.) The gate near which the refuse of the city was cast, and burned. Directly before that part of Hinnom known as Tophet (Jeremiah 7:31-32; Jeremiah 19:6-14). Nehemiah 2:14. The gate of the fountain] A gate in front of the pool of Siloam (Nehemiah 3:15). The king’s pool] (Berechath hammelek.) The pool of Siloam, so called because it watered the king’s garden. There was no place for the beast that was under me to pass] The ruin was great, and the rubbish so accumulated, that Nehemiah could not pursue his course along the wall any further, but was obliged to go down into the valley of the brook Kidron (Nachal, the brook.) Nehemiah 2:15. And viewed the wall] That which was left of it. Nehemiah 2:16. The rulers] A Persian word (Seganim) signifying the executive officers of the colony. Nor to the nobles] (Heb. white ones.) Among the Jews great men robed in white, as among the Romans in scarlet or purple. Herod and Christ (Luke 23:11; Matthew 27:28). Nehemiah 2:19. Geshem the Arabian] Lieutenant of Arabia under the king of Persia, or chief of those Arabs whom Sargon had settled in Samaria (Rawlinson’s Anc. Mon., vol. ii. p. 146). OF CHAPTER 2 Neh 2:1-8. Divine Interposition.Nehemiah 2:1-8. Disinterested Love for a suffering Church.Nehemiah 2:1-2. Subject and Sovereign.Nehemiah 2:4. Spiritual Recollectedness.Nehemiah 2:5. Ejaculatory Prayer.Nehemiah 2:7-8. Religious Prudence.Nehemiah 2:8. The Hand of God.Nehemiah 2:9-20. The Incipient Stages of a great Reformation.Nehemiah 2:9. Secular Aid for Spiritual Work.Nehemiah 2:10. First Hindrance.—Secret Jealousy.Nehemiah 2:11. Preparatory Retirement.Nehemiah 2:12-16. The Walls inspected.Nehemiah 2:12. A Time for Silence.Nehemiah 2:17-18. An Appeal for Help.Nehemiah 2:18. The Strength of Unity.Nehemiah 2:19. Second Hindrance.—Open Derision.Nehemiah 2:20. Confidence in God, an Incentive to Work.Nehemiah 2:20. The miserable condition of the Church’s enemies.DIVINE Nehemiah 2:1-8. And it came to pass in the month Nisan, &c. THE first chapter occupied with account of state of Jerusalem and Nehemiah’s grief and prayer. This opens with the relation of those circumstances which led to the fulfilment of his desires, and the accomplishment of his purposes. We learn from text— I. That God’s interposition was opportune. “It came to pass in the month Nisan” (Nehemiah 2:1). The best month, because the one chosen by God. Chosen by God because the best. Note— 1. That God’s plans are worked out with the utmost precision. Trace this in Bible. Often find expressions such as—“In due time,” “Fulness of time,” “Appointed time,” “Mine hour is not yet come,” “A set time,” &c. God’s timepiece never gains or loses. All his plans carried out with unfailing accuracy. He is neither slack, “as some men count slackness,” in fulfilling his threats or his promises. Many details, apparently insignificant, combine to work out the most magnificent plans. A loop is a small thing, yet most gorgeous tapestry woven in single loops. A link a small thing, yet chain depends on support of every link. Trifles are links in the chain of God’s providential government, or rather there are no trifles. Illustrate by complex machinery of Lancashire cotton, or Coventry silk, or Kidderminster carpet machinery, which whilst wonderfully intricate, works out the appointed pattern with utmost precision and accuracy. Yet all human exactness fails in comparison with God’s perfect accuracy. 2. That God often interferes on his people’s behalf when they least expect it. Through not discerning God’s methods of working, they get discouraged, and think themselves overlooked. Whilst we look for him to appear in one way he comes in another, and whilst we mournfully strain our eyes down one path, lo, he comes by another. Our most unlikely times are God’s most favourable ones. 3. That God generally interferes on his people’s behalf in their most urgent extremity. It was so here. Nehemiah so distressed that his countenance was sad for first time. The case of the Jews was becoming desperate. God interferes in their extremity as he had done on the shores of the Red Sea— (1) To try their faith, (2) To elicit their gratitude, (3) To impress upon them their dependence upon him. The text suggests— II. That God’s interposition required human co-operation. God’s agents are of two kinds, willing and unwilling, allied and non-allied. Both of these found in this history. 1. Allied. As Esther came to the kingdom, so Nehemiah to his office, for such a time as this (Esther 4:14). Though he was a prisoner, a stranger, of an alien religion, yet is he God’s agent as well as the king’s servant. Note concerning him,— (1) That he was duly qualified for his appointed work. Mentally be possessed forethought (Nehemiah 2:5), tact (Nehemiah 5:5), and ingenuity (ch. 3). His address to Artaxerxes a marvel of clever pleading. Words carefully chosen, respect humbly paid to rank, superstitious reverence for burial-grounds introduced. No argument more powerful with an Eastern monarch. Spiritually, he was richly endowed with every grace required in so difficult a work. Courage, sympathy, generosity, and profound piety all combined to make him an eminently spiritual man. Such agents God chooses for important enterprises, utilizing great endowments for arduous tasks. Note, (2) That he was favourably situated. When God has work for his servants to do, he by his providence places them where they can do it. Nehemiah evidently a favourite with Artaxerxes, from fact of his having chosen him to this important office, over the heads of the Persian nobles. Had he been otherwise situated, or appointed to any other office, he would not so readily have found access to the king’s ear. God appoints our lot and circumstances, and requires us to make the best of them, and not seek to leave them, with the idea that we can best serve him elsewhere. Note, (3) That he was rightly actuated. No personal ambition inspired his petition, but pure, unalloyed, unselfish desire for the prosperity of God’s Church, and the holy City. No desire for gain, for he used his fortune in feeding the poor, and entertaining the returning exiles in his own house at Jerusalem. They who are engaged in God’s work must lay aside all thoughts of worldly gain or personal honour. Reward there is, but not usually of a worldly sort. 2. Un-allied. God employs unconscious agents as well as willing ones. “As he put small thoughts into the heart of Ahasuerus for great purposes” (Esther 6:1), so here he caused a heathen prince to favour a hostile religion, and to defend a people whom his subjects hated. God even employs his enemies (though not in the same sense in which he employs his friends), to carry out his purposes. Pharaoh, Philistines, Chaldeans, Romans, &c. III. That God’s interposition was accompanied by providential coincidences. All these known to Divine omniscience and taken into account. 1. Nehemiah was unusually sad. “I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.” No mourner might be seen in Ahasuerus’ court (Esther 4:4). Momus wished that men had windows in their breasts, that their thoughts might be seen. This not necessary, for “a merry heart maketh a glad countenance; but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken” (Proverbs 15:13). Nehemiah had been afflicting his soul for four months. No wonder he betrayed it in his countenance. The Hebrews say that a man’s inside is turned out, and discovered in oculis, in loculis, in poculis, in his eyes, purse, and cup. 2. The king was unusually friendly. Most Eastern monarchs would have condemned him at once either to banishment or death. Artaxerxes might have done so at another time. Sad looks were, in their eyes, bad looks, and savoured of assassination: but love thinketh no evil, and the king had confidence in his servant. 3. The queen also was present. Not Esther, the queen-mother, for Hebrew word signifies wife. “Because ‘the queen sat by,’ it is probable that there was some solemn feast that day; for the queens of Persia used not to come into the king’s presence, but when they were called by name, as it is written in the book of Esther.” This might be the cause of Nehemiah’s great fear: but would also be in his favour. The presence of a woman, even without her personal intercession, would temper any harshness the king might feel, and thus aid the suppliant’s suit. LOVE FOR A CHURCH Nehemiah 2:1-8. And it came to pass, &c. I. Its sorrow. “Why is thy countenance sad?” &c. (Nehemiah 2:2). 1. In spite of personal prosperity. This often hardens heart and deadens sympathies. So long as their own homes are flourishing many care little how God’s house fares. This cannot satisfy a truly good man who has the welfare of God’s cause at heart. No measure of personal prosperity will compensate for spiritual dearth and deadness in the Church. 2. In the very midst of social festivities. The revelry of the banquet could not repress the wretchedness of his heart, for whilst he was in the midst of rejoicing and mirth his spirit was not there. The inward grief was stronger than outward surroundings, and broke through all restraint. The wound of a broken heart cannot be healed by any outward gaiety of circumstance. II. Its confession. “Why should not my countenance be sad?” (Nehemiah 2:3). 1. It is not ashamed of the people of God. “The city the place of my father’s sepulchres.” Surrounded by Persian nobles not an easy matter to thus avow friendship for an alien and oppressed people. Many temptations to expedient silence would have to be overcome. Much was risked by this avowal. Much probably to be gained by ignoring them. True piety is courageous. It says, “Thy people shall be my people” (Ruth 1), for richer for poorer, for better for worse, at all hazards and in all times. “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Proverbs 17:17). “There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). 2. Not ashamed of poor relations. When men rise from a low estate into high circles they readily forget those who once were equals, unwilling to betray their humble origin. Such pride always despicable as useless. No disgrace to have poor relations. The disgrace is in disowning them. Nehemiah not guilty of such folly or cowardice. He not only acknowledges, but pleads for them. 3. Not afraid of personal danger. Royal displeasure no trifle under the sway of Oriental despots. Witness recent events in Turkey. Thrones overturned by plots and intrigues continually. The nearer the throne, the more likely to incur suspicion. Artaxerxes had come to the kingdom through intrigue and bloodshed. Would be naturally vigilant and wary on this account. Hence the danger incurred by one even so favoured as Nehemiah, when he dared to avow sympathy with a captive and recently conquered people inhabiting a neighbouring province. Fervent love always self-forgetful. It confers not with flesh and blood, but willingly incurs danger for sake of its object This, type of Christ’s love for his Church. III. Its petition. “And I said unto the king,” &c. (Nehemiah 2:5). 1. It seeks help from God. “I prayed unto the God of heaven” (Nehemiah 2:5). This, first step. God has more interest in his Church than any other, and can do more. If his aid be secured, it matters little who else fails. If his denied, none can do much. 2. It craves human assistance. “If it please the king, let letters be given me,” &c. (Nehemiah 2:7). Recognizes the principle that God always works by human agency, and helps man by man, to teach him lessons of mutual sympathy and mutual dependence. 3. It asks permission to give its own aid, and that with self-denial. Nehemiah not one who would only work at others’ expense. No bargain for costs or travelling expenses. He asks that he may be permitted to engage in an enterprise that will considerably diminish his private resources, and involve constant and heavy personal sacrifices. If we desire success in great reformations we must be prepared to make great sacrifices. Our gifts joined with God’s, will accomplish almost anything. We have no right to expect God to render his assistance where we withhold our own. IV. Its joy. “So it pleased the king to send me” (Nehemiah 2:6). 1. Its prayer is granted. Both Jehovah and Artaxerxes looked favourably upon his request. When prayer is thus graciously answered, men should rejoice and speak good of the name of the Lord. Thus did the royal Psalmist often extol Jehovah’s name. 2. Its way is providentially opened. And this more prosperously than he could have anticipated. Not only permission granted to leave Persia for a time, but also to take with him an escort; and full authority to build, and command supplies, when he arrived at Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:7-8). Thus does God cause our cup to overflow with mercy, giving us far more than we deserve, and more than we either asked or had reason to expect. Not only out of, but according to, his riches in glory, does he supply his children’s wants. A millionnaire might give a penny out of his abundance; but not if he gave according to (in proportion to) his riches. Then must he give what would be a fortune to a poor man. Even so, God gives not grudgingly, or stintedly, but royally. “It was but ask, and have; and so it is betwixt God and his people. When there was a discussion amongst some holy men as to which was the most profitable trade, one answered, beggary; it is the hardest, and the richest trade. Common beggary is the commonest and easiest, but he meant prayer. A courtier gets more by one suit often than a tradesman or merchant haply with twenty years’ labour; so doth a faithful prayer.”—Trapp. SUBJECT AND Nehemiah 2:1-2. And I took up wine, and gave it to the king, &c. I. He did not allow his duty to God to clash with his duty to his sovereign. His religion not diminish his civility. “If it please the king.” “Fear God, and honour the king,” both enjoined in apostolic precept. He had been taken from his native land and placed under another king, whom it was his duty to serve and obey, in all quietness and meekness, until God ordered his lot otherwise. So lived Pharaoh, Daniel, Mardocheus, Ezra, and others. Jeremiah and Baruch taught the Jews thus to pray for those under whose sway they were living as captives, “Pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, and Belshazzar his son; seek the peace of that country whither ye be carried away captives” (Jeremiah 29; Baruch 1). St. Peter taught the Christians that servants should not forsake their masters, though they did not believe (1 Peter 2). Both St. Peter and St. Paul command the faithful wife to abide by her unfaithful husband (1 Corinthians 7; 1 Peter 3). The Scriptures enjoin faithfulness, duty, and obedience toward all men, so far as we offend not God thereby. Duty to God and duty to man two aspects of same life. One requires the other. Each incomplete, being alone. The more efficiently we discharge one, the more perfectly do the other. Neither may be made a substitute for the other. “This ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” II. He did not allow spiritual exercises to interfere with the discharge of secular duties. He prayed incessantly, yet failed not in discharge of duties as cupbearer. The believer should be “diligent in business,” as well as “fervent in spirit,” lest he bring reproach upon religion. Spiritual activity no excuse for neglecting secular duty. To be slothful in business will quench devotion as fatally as to pursue business with inordinate affection. The hardiest devotion healthiest. The devotion of the cloister, for the most part, like the ghastly light that hovers over decomposition and decay; the devotion which characterizes the diligent, spiritually-minded man of business, resembles the star which shines on in the storm as in the calm, when the sky is clouded as when it is serene. III. He regarded the path of duty as the path of providential blessing. Not forsaking the common duties of his daily calling, he waited for the opening of his providential path. The faithful discharge of duty itself a blessing. This, the channel through which special grace most likely to flow. Men need not leave the world to find the secret of holiness; or their ordinary sphere of work to find the secret of blessing. The patient, conscientious discharge of life’s ordinary tasks, always the safest path to pursue. (α) IV. He found the favour of his sovereign of great service in carrying out the work of God. His civility and humble demeanour had won the confidence and esteem of his royal master. This friendship now stood him in good stead. Yet he presumes not upon this regard, but approaches the throne tremblingly, as a subject should, even the most favoured. Monarchs like not presumption even in their courtiers. Diogenes says, “A man should use his prince or peer, as he would do the fire. The fire if he stand too near it will burn him; and if he be too far off he will be cold. So to be over-bold, without blushing or reverence, bringeth into discredit of both sides; for the king will think him too saucy, and the subject will forget his duty.” Courteous and kindly behaviour has nothing to lose, and much to gain. Civility costs little, and is often worth much. Illustration:—(α) Mr. Carter, a pious minister, once coming softly behind a religious man of his own acquaintance, who was busily engaged in tanning a hide, and giving him a tap on the shoulder, the man started, looked up, and with a blushing countenance said, “Sir, I am ashamed that you should find me thus.” To whom Mr. Carter replied, “Let Christ, when he cometh, find me so doing.” “What!” said the man, “doing thus?” “Yes,” said Mr. Carter, “faithfully performing the duties of my calling.” Nehemiah 2:4. So I prayed to the God of heavenThis, a remarkable illustration of religious presence of mind. I. The outcome of a consecrated life. Unless he had been in the habit of making everything a matter of prayer, would not have been able thus to collect himself whilst trembling with excitement, fear, and suspense before the king. Having formed the habit of doing nothing without consulting God, had no difficulty in acting upon it. Agitated and affrighted, it would have been perfectly natural for him to have stammered forth his appeal in some incoherent manner. But here the irrepressible spirit of devotion, which permeated his whole life, revealed itself. If a man never prays anywhere save at stated times, and on public occasions, there is reason to fear that he never prays at all. If a man lives in the spirit of prayer, sudden emergency will spontaneously summon the familiar habit to his aid. Special prayer should be the outcome of constant prayerfulness. The way to have the heart in harmony with the worship of the sanctuary, is never to suffer its chords to be jarred. It was said of a distinguished Christian that he lived on the steps of the mercy-seat. It was said of a recent Bishop, who was sent to Western Africa, that “he lived upon his knees.” This is to live safely. This is to live in the porch of heaven. Hence it was said of a dying saint, “I am changing my place, but not my company.” Like Enoch, he had walked with God, and death was to him only like passing out of the vestibule into the inner sanctuary. II. The result of long habit. Holy recollectedness not come naturally, nor easily, even to good men. Repeated action becomes habit. Practice makes perfect in this, as in other things. III. A mark of self-distrusting humility. He dared not ask, without seeking wisdom higher than his own, in matter of such momentous issues. Self-diffidence impelled him to cast the burden of his responsibility upon one who was an unerring counsellor. “Travellers make mention of a bird so timid in disposition, and so liable to the assaults of unnumbered enemies, that she almost lives in the sky, scarcely ever venturing to rest her wings; and even when forced through very weariness to repose, she seeks the loftiest rock, and there still keeps her eyes only half shut, and her pinions only half folded, in readiness, on the first sign of danger, to spread her wings, and soar away to the heavens for safety.” True emblem of how the child of God should “pass the time of his sojourning here in fear.” Seldom should the wing of his devotion droop, or the eye of his watchfulness close; and even when he must repose it should ever be in an attitude of vigilance and prayerfulness.”—Stowell. IV. A source of incalculable blessing. 1. It imparts confidence. “He that believeth shall not make haste” (Isaiah 28:16). He shall not be afraid of evil tidings, whose heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon thee,” &c. The calmness which comes from reliance upon a wisdom that is superhuman; the consciousness of Divine support. 2. It preserves from missing the providential path. The God of providence will direct those who cast themselves upon his care. Such “shall not full direction need; nor miss their providential way.” 3. It conduces to the accomplishment of God’s will. When everything is submitted to that will, and the stumbling-blocks of self-will, pride, ambition, &c. are removed, nothing can hinder the fulfilment of the purposes of Jehovah. PRAYER Nehemiah 2:4. So I prayed to the God of heavenI. It was suddenly required. A question addressed to Nehemiah by the king, point-blank, upon which hung, possibly, not only issues of life and death, but the success or failure of his long-prayed-for object. Great emergency. Great benefit to be able to seek aid of Omnipotence. Long formula impossible. No audible petition could be offered. Quick as thought the silent prayer of the heart flew to the ear of God, and not in vain. “He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him” (Psalms 145:19). “The devout spirit, like the well-strung Eolian harp, not only gives out sweet sounds when woke by the gentler breathings that steal over its chords, but when vibrating under the ruder blasts that sweep across its strings.” “On many occasions the servant of God requires special assistance, care, and counsel. Men of business are frequently called upon to decide summarily on questions big with importance, to make up their judgment at once on measures the issues of which they can neither over-estimate nor foresee. How commonly is the physician forced to form his conclusions in a moment; yea, to form them on uncertain grounds, and indeterminate symptoms. Yet a mistaken conclusion may endanger the life of his patient. Now if in such circumstances the medical man, or the merchant, rely simply on his own skill, and confer simply with his own judgment, to the neglect of calling in the wisdom and blessing of the Almighty, what a fearful risk and burden does he bring upon himself! But let his heart breathe forth the aspiration to God—‘Lord, direct me.’ Will he not then, having cast his burden on the Lord, having invoked unerring skill, be able to act with faith, and nerve, and calmness? Call ye this fanaticism? The grossest fanaticism is that which leaves out God.”—Stowell. (α) II. It was silently offered. No opportunity for audible vocal prayer. This, good when alone, or in public assembly for worship, but not possible now. A sudden and secret desire darted up to heaven. Thus Moses cried unto God, yet said nothing (Exodus 14:15). Hannah was not heard, yet she prayed (1 Samuel 1). Austin reports it to be the custom of the Egyptian Churches to pray frequently and fervently, but briefly and by ejaculation, lest their fervour should abate. It is the praying and crying of the heart that God delights in. Let no man then excuse himself and say he cannot pray; for in all places he may lift up his heart to God, though in the market, or on the mountain. (β) III. It was suitably addressed. “To the God of heaven.” Ezra had previously used this expression. (See explanatory notes). It recognized the supremacy of Jehovah, and his power over human hearts and events. Thus calculated to impart confidence, and destroy the fear of man. The expression is similar in meaning to “Lord of Sabaoth,” or “Lord of Hosts.” “All power is given,” &c. IV. It was very brief. Yet quite long enough. Not time for much. A question had been asked and an answer was required. Yet, between question and answer, was ample time for sending prayer to heaven, and receiving a reply. Length no virtue in prayer. Faith and fervour the two principal elements of success. St. Augustine says, “He that carrieth his own temple about with him, may go to prayer when he pleaseth.” How quickly thought can fly many thousands of miles in a minute. Prayer can travel as rapidly as thought towards heaven. V. It was completely successful. 1. In that wisdom to ask aright was given. Nehemiah’s petition was marked by— (1) Becoming humility. “If it please the king.” (2) Tact. “The place of my fathers’ sepulchres.” (3) Forethought. “Let letters be given me.” 2. In that the king’s heart was favourably disposed towards him. “And the king granted me,” &c. This, God’s doing, in direct answer to prayer. Nehemiah confesses this when he adds, “according to the good hand of my God upon me.” Illustrations:—(α) “Sudden extremity is a notable trial of faith, or any other disposition of the soul. For as, in a sudden fear, the blood gathers suddenly to the heart, for guarding of that part which is principal; so the powers of the soul combine themselves in a hard exigent, that they may be easily judged of.”—Bp. Hall.(β) “As the tender dew that falls during the silent night makes the grass, and herbs, and flowers to flourish and grow more abundantly than great showers of rain that fall in the day, so secret prayer will more abundantly cause the sweet herbs of grace and holiness to flourish and grow in the soul, than all those more public and open duties of religion, which too often are mingled with the sun and wind of pride and hypocrisy.”—Brooks. Nehemiah 2:7. Moreover, I said unto the king, &c. Not satisfied with bare permission to go to the relief of his co-religionists at Jerusalem, he makes provision for all contingencies, and anticipates every difficulty that is likely to arise. From this learn:— I. That prudent forethought is essential to success in spiritual as in secular enterprises. For, 1. God has nowhere commended rashness. The reverse of this enjoined and approved in word of God. “He will guide his affairs with discretion” (Psalms 112:5). “The fool shall be servant to the wise of heart,” (Proverbs 11:29). “A prudent man,” &c. (Proverbs 12:23; Proverbs 14:15). “He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good” (Proverbs 16:20). “Give not that which is holy” (Matthew 7:6). “Which of you intending to build,” &c. (Luke 14:28). Examples.—Jacob (Genesis 32). Joseph (Genesis 41). Jethro (Exodus 18). David (1 Samuel 17). Abigail (1 Samuel 25). Paul (Acts 16). Town-clerk of Ephesus (Acts 19). 2. Pains-taking effort is at the foundation of all human success. “By the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread” (Genesis 3:19), is the curse pronounced upon all human labour. Even the curse turned into blessing, for labour is not necessarily an evil. “No gains without pains,” under present social laws. No reaping without sowing. No permanent and substantial success in business, or art, or literature, or religion, without earnest, patient, unremitting diligence (2 Peter 1:10). This inexorable law-reigns in the spiritual realm as in the secular, for— 3. Spiritual work as well as secular is amenable to natural law. Miracles wrought now in the moral rather than in the physical universe. Not obsolete in the latter, more frequent in the former. Natural law is no respecter of persons. It demands allegiance from the saint and sinner alike. Errors in spiritual work are as surely followed by penalties as in secular. Sloth and senility undermine the success of religious as certainly as profane enterprises. Here, as elsewhere, “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” II. That prudent forethought is not opposed, but helpful, to spiritual faith. 1. It furnishes a rational basis for expecting success. No right to expect success, merely because we hope for and earnestly desire it. “We are saved by hope;” but it must rest on a solid foundation. Hope without faith is dead. If there is a living, there is a dead, hope (1 Peter 1:3). The one stimulates, the other seduces. Faith must have a rational basis to distinguish it from credulity. The basis may appear irrational to men who do not acknowledge God or the supernatural. 2. It acts upon the supposition that mental powers were given to be employed in the service of God. The use of this faculty no more opposed to strong faith and intense spirituality, than the use of other mental powers, as memory, imagination, perception, &c. All powers are to be consecrated to holy purposes, and diligently employed in assisting faith. 3. It takes no step without seeking Divine guidance and approval. Nehemiah used every precaution to ensure success, and made every needful arrangement beforehand, but not without previous thought and earnest prayer. Even so must we take each step, in religious work especially, depending on the Holy Ghost for direction. He committed himself to God; yet petitions the king for a convoy; teaching that in all our enterprises God is so to be trusted as if we had used no means; and yet the means are so to be used as if we had no God to trust in. Illustrations:—As the hermits were communing together, there arose a question as to which of all the virtues was most necessary to perfection. One said, chastity; another, humility; a third, justice. St. Anthony remained silent until all had given their opinion: and then he spoke. “Ye have all said well, but none of you have said aright. The virtue most necessary to perfection is prudence; for the most virtuous actions of men, unless governed and directed by prudence, are neither pleasing to God, nor serviceable to others, nor profitable to ourselves.” Juvenal speaks to the same effect: “No other protection is wanting, provided you are under the guidance of prudence.” Bishop Hacket bears similar testimony:—“He that loves to walk dangerous ways shall perish in them. Even king Josiah, one of the most lovely darlings of God’s favour among all the kings of Judah, fell under the sword for pressing further against his enemies than the word of the Lord did permit him. The ancient Eliberitan Council enacted, that all those who plucked down the idols or temples of the heathen should not be accounted martyrs, though they died for the faith of Christ, because they plucked persecution upon themselves, and provoked their own martyrdom.”THE HAND OF GOD Nehemiah 2:8. According to the good hand of my God upon meThe hand sometimes used in an ill sense, for inflicting punishments (Rth 1:13; Jeremiah 15:17), for we strike with the hand. Sometimes in a good sense, for helping others, for we bestow favours with the hand. In Psalms 88:6, “Cut off from thy hand,” means fallen from thy favour. Pindar uses the expression, “θεῶσὺνπαλάμᾳ,” in the sense of “by the aid of God.” Thus Nehemiah is to be understood. By the Divine favour, which inclined the king to do what he desired, his suit had prevailed. I. The hand of God is with his people for protection. Nehemiah’s life was in jeopardy in God’s service. Hence God’s special protection. 1. He was protected from the wrath of the king. Had the king been in an angry mood Nehemiah might have paid for his temerity with his life. “The wrath of man” doth he restrain. David delivered from the outburst of Saul’s murderous anger. Nehemiah saved from the outbursting of Artaxerxes’. God will ever defend those who trust him and seek his glory, from the malice of evil oppressors. 2. He was protected from the hostility of his enemies. The Samaritans and surrounding heathen would have not only hindered his work, but probably taken his life, but for the military guard which the king granted, through God’s gracious influence. Thus will the Lord “make a hedge about his people” (Job 2), for “the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him” (Psalms 34). II. The hand of God is with his people for providential guidance. 1. The hand of God guided Nehemiah to the Persian court. 2. To the official position which brought him into the presence of the king. 3. The providence of God directed him when to speak, and 4. what to say. “If it please the king,” &c. “Silken words must be given to kings, as the mother of Darius said (ἤδισία, ἥἣκιστα); neither must they be rudely and roughly dealt with, as Joab dealt with David (2 Samuel 19:5), who therefore could never well brook him afterward, but set another in his place.”—Trapp. III. God’s servants should thankfully acknowledge the good which they receive from him. Nehemiah does not take any credit to himself, but gives all glory to God. This conduct requires— 1. Genuine humility. He might have boasted of his services to the king, of his place and authority in the Persian Court, and arrogated to himself the credit of success; but he was of another spirit, and ascribed all to the “good hand of his God.” Ingratitude is the child of pride; thankfulness the offspring of humility. A proud man will never be truly grateful; a humble man possesses the first element of gratitude. Benefit a vain man, and he will ascribe the service to his own desert, he will regard it as no more than a just tribute to his excellence; but serve a lowly man, and he will attribute the service to the kindness of his benefactor. A proud child thinks that he has laid his parents under obligation; a lowly child feels that he can never liquidate the debt of gratitude he owes to them. The same holds good in relation to God. We must be lowly to be grateful. The lark hides her nest in the grass, but her flight is far up in the heavens. This spirit continually exclaims, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed,” &c.; and, “I am less than the least of all his mercies” (Lamentations 3:22). Paul a striking illustration of it: “To me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given,” &c. David also exclaims when the splendid offerings had been collected for the erection of God’s house: “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness,” &c. (1 Chronicles 29:11). 2. True faith. The believer in chance who ascribes everything to fortune, or fatality, cannot own a Divine hand. Faith, discerning the Almighty hand within the machinery of second causes, actuating, controlling, determining all, is the parent of sincere gratitude. Men of business, from the very nature of their occupations, specially liable to lose the lively exercise of this practical faith. “Hard by the altar of incense in the ancient temple, stood the altar of burnt-offering. As the one signified the atonement to be made by Christ, and the other the fragrant merits of that atonement; so did the latter represent also the offering of prayer to God through Christ’s mediation by his faithful people, and the former the oblation of praise, presented through the same intercession, as a sweet-smelling savour to God. Prayer and praise are twin services. They should always go hand in hand. Praise is the fragrance breathed from the flower of joy. He is happiest who is thankfullest. This lesson taught by the brute creation. Morose and unkindly animals express as little of enjoyment as they do of gratefulness by their snarling and growling sounds. The beasts and birds of night are rarely gladsome. But the lambs which sport and gambol in their green pastures, and the birds which in the early morning wake the echoes of the woodland with their songs, all tell most unmistakeably that they are happy. How much more then must it be the blessedness of man ‘to look through nature, up to nature’s God,’ and glorify the giver in all his varied gifts.”—Stowell. (See Addenda.) Illustrations:—“Your father had a battle with Apollyon,” said Great-heart to Samuel, “at a place yonder before us, in a narrow passage, just beyond Forgetful Green. And indeed the place is the most dreadful place in all these parts; for if at any time pilgrims meet with any brunt, it is when they forget what favours they have received, and how unworthy they are of them. This is the place, also, where others have been hard put to it.”—Bunyan.Luther said when he heard a little bird sing, when he was out in the fields one morning, “The bird had no storehouse or barn, and did not know of any provision for the future, and yet it seemed to sing, ‘Mortal, cease from toil and sorrow, God provideth for the morrow.’ We do not find any sparrows with large storehouses, or any swallows with a great quantity of grain laid by for the morrow; yet never find a sparrow starved to death, or a swallow that has perished from cold. God ‘careth for them, and are ye not much better than they?’ ”THE INITIAL STAGES OF A GREAT Nehemiah 2:9-20. Then I came to the governors, &c. I. Great reformations often have an insignificant commencement, and are slow in developing their true proportions. Who would have expected such great things to spring from that interview in the palace, and now from the visit of this one man to Jerusalem? Yet who dare “despise the day of small things”? How slight the first streak of dawn! How minute the grain of mustard-seed! Some of the noblest exploits of the Church have had the feeblest beginnings. A few Christian men met together in the vestry of a plain chapel; they pondered and prayed over the state of the heathen world; they conceived and planned the glorious enterprise of evangelizing all pagan lands. They arose and built. The Church Missionary Society is the result. Not only small at beginning but slow in developing. May travel rapidly on land or by sea, but in morals must be content to proceed gradually. Deep-rooted evils, profligate and abandoned habits, not to be eradicated in a moment; nor are excellent characters manufactured in a moment, as a piece of work from the loom. The restoration of God’s image rather resembles the growing likeness to its beautiful original in the canvas of the artist. At first the outline, and slowly the form and features, of the human face appear; gradually they assume more distinctness and expression, and the likeness stands confessed. So does the Holy Ghost restore the waste places of Christ’s Church, and the moral deformities of his children. II. Reformation work requires a vigorous leader. Nehemiah eminently qualified for the post, for— 1. He occupied a commanding social position. The office of cupbearer a very honourable one with the Persians. A son of Prexaspes, a distinguished person, was made cupbearer to Cambyses. The poets make Ganymedes to be cupbearer to Jupiter, and even Vulcan himself is put into this office. It gave him influence with king and court, and status amongst even Persian nobles. 2. He was inspired with intense enthusiasm. Without this fire no hearts melt, no great work accomplished. It burns up all evil sordid desires, and kindles all goodness. Jeremiah was influenced by it. Kept silence for a time, but was constrained to break out again, saying the word within him was like burning fire (Jeremiah 20). To the same effect Elijah cries out: “I am very zealous for the Lord of Hosts” (1 Kings 19). Moses prayed to be blotted out of God’s book, rather than his people should be destroyed (Exodus 32). St. Paul “counted not his life dear unto him,” &c. (Acts 20). Phineas, when none else would take the sword to vindicate the outraged laws of Jehovah, himself slew the offenders (Numbers 25). Our Lord himself, moved with indignation, drove out the profaners of his sanctuary (John 2). Such holy enthusiasm glowed in Nehemiah’s heart, and urged him to undertake this difficult and dangerous work. 3. He possessed unwearied energy and perseverance. His enthusiasm not fitful, but patient. He had calculated the difficulties of his undertaking, and was prepared to carry it through. No great work will succeed without plodding. A great statesman once answered a friend who inquired to what he attributed his great success in life, thus—“I know how to plod.” Without this virtue Nehemiah must have succumbed to the almost overwhelming difficulties that beset his path. III. Reformation work should not be undertaken without a deliberate estimate of its magnitude and difficulty. Blind courage that counts no costs always short-lived. This stood the tests which it had to endure because founded upon intelligent and mature conviction. 1. Nehemiah forestalled opposition. An escort had been asked for and granted (Nehemiah 2:10). Forewarned is forearmed. Thus did he fortify himself against failure from this quarter. Christian soldiers “must put on the whole armour of God” (Ephesians 6:11), and expect to be assailed. No mistake greater than presumption. To despise or ignore an enemy sure sign of weakness. 2. He carefully examined the work to be done. “And I arose in the night,” &c. (Nehemiah 2:12). Wise proceeding before engaging in a work that might prove to be impracticable. Accurate knowledge helps the judgment and stimulates courage. 3. He weighed the matter before proceeding to action. “So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days” (Nehemiah 2:11). Days spent in seclusion not spent in vain, if time be occupied in thought and prayer. (See outline on “Preparatory Retirement.”) IV. Reformation work in its initial stages is almost certain to provoke opposition. “When Sanballat the Horonite,” &c. (Nehemiah 2:10). 1. This often proceeds from a misconstruction of the nature of the work. “Will ye rebel?” (Nehemiah 2:19). Bad men always ready to attribute evil motives. Sometimes springs from ignorance, more often from wilful malice. Charges of treason more frequently brought against reformation work than any other. Insinuation often more deadly in its operation than open calumny. 2. This often springs from aversion to self-sacrifice. For this reason the men of Jabesh-Gilead stood aloof when Benjamin was to be punished; and were afterwards destroyed for their neutrality (Judges 21). Work that requires self-denial and hard toil cannot be good in the eyes of those who have no love for any but themselves. V. Reformation work cannot be carried on without mutual co-operation. “So they strengthened their hands for this good work” (Nehemiah 2:18). Necessary as a security against discouragement. Individual workers labouring in isolation always liable to discouragement. “Not good for man to be alone.” Christ recognized this principle in religious work, when he sent his disciples by twos. Mutual sympathy and counsel will often cheer faltering courage, and strengthen failing hope. 2. Necessary as a safeguard against combined opposition. Good men must combine, and present a united front to the combined forces of wickedness and opposition. Unity is strength in all work, and in all conflict. VI. Reformation work cannot succeed without the Divine blessing. “The God of heaven, he will prosper us” (Nehemiah 2:20). When every precaution has been taken, and all available human aid enlisted, still all depends on God for success. 1. Because the forces of evil are too strong for the unaided powers of man. Melancthon found this by experience, when he thought to convert the world to Christianity in a very short time. “Without me ye can do nothing.” “Not by might, nor by power,” &c. 2. The blessing of God will compensate for any amount of opposition. “If God be for us,” &c. “Greater is he that is in you,” &c. Illustrations:—(α) The artist Correggio, when young, saw a painting by Raphael. Long and ardently did the thoughtful boy gaze on that picture. His soul drank in its beauty as flowers drink moisture from the mist. He waked to the consciousness of artistic power. Burning with the enthusiasm of enkindled genius, the blood rushing to his brow, and the fire flashing from his eyes, he cried out, “I also am a painter!” That conviction carried him through his initial studies; it blended the colours on his palette; it guided his pencil; it shone on his canvas, until the glorious Titian, on witnessing his productions, exclaimed, “Were I not Titian, I would wish to be Correggio.”(β) In the museum at Rotterdam is the first piece painted by the renowned Rembrandt. It is rough, without marks of genius or skill, and uninteresting, except to show that he began as low down as the lowest. In the same gallery is the masterpiece of the artist, counted of immense value. What years of patient study and practice intervene between the two pieces! If all have not genius, all have the power to work; and this is greater than genius.(γ) Coleridge, one day when some one was enlarging on the tendency of some good scheme to regenerate the world, threw a little thistle-down into the air, which he happened to see by the roadside, and said, “The tendency of this thistle-down is towards China! but I know, with assured certainty, it will never get there; nay, it is more than probable, that after sundry eddyings and gyrations up and down, backwards and forwards, it will be found somewhere near the place where it grew.” Such is the history of grand schemes of reformation apart from Divine power and benediction.(δ) William Rufus, having seen the coast of Ireland from some rocks in North Wales, is reported to have said, “I will summon hither all the ships of my realm, and with them make bridge to attack that country.” This threat being reported to Murchard, Prince of Leinster, he paused a moment, and then said, “Did the king add to this mighty threat, if God please?” and being assured he made no mention of God in his speech, he replied, rejoicing in such a prognostic, “Sure, that man puts his trust in human, not in Divine power, I fear not his coming.”SECULAR AID FOR WORK Nehemiah 2:9. Now the king had sent captains of the army, &c. This martial escort granted to Nehemiah in response to his own request. As an official dignitary, had right to public honour and body-guard. Learn— I. That the Church may employ secular power for purposes of protection. When one has suitable means at hand for avoiding danger, he must not despise them (Joshua 2:15; 2 Corinthians 11:33). 1. Every law-abiding subject has a right to claim the law’s protection. This holds good except in the case of conduct which is likely to provoke a breach of the peace. 2. It is a good man’s duty to seek the protection of secular power rather than rashly to expose himself to danger. Paul sought the shield of the law when certain men had taken an oath to kill him (Acts 23). 3. When secular aid is denied, or granted only on terms inconsistent with righteousness, the believer may confidently cast himself upon the protection, of Jehovah. “When my father and mother forsake me,” &c. Under such circumstances the three Hebrews and Daniel committed their case to God. “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him” (Psalms 34). II. That the Church may not employ secular power in matters of faith. Ezra’s work had been more purely spiritual than Nehemiah’s now was, hence he sought no such aid as this. Both sought the religious reformation of the people, but Nehemiah’s chief mission was to restore the city of Jerusalem and rebuild the walls. 1. God has never authorized the use of any but moral means in spiritual work. All coercion inadmissible. “My kingdom is not of this world.” “Go ye into all the world,” is the commission which follows upon the proclamation of Divine sovereignty. “All power,” &c. “He that winneth souls is wise.” The fire and the rack may command submission, but will never win the heart, or convince the conscience. (β) 2. The employment of secular power in matters of faith has always been productive of disastrous results. This method predominated over all others in the dark or mediζval ages. Hence the war and bloodshed, strife and controversy, hatred and heresy that prevailed. A notable exception was Stephen, king of Poland, who when urged by some of his subjects to constrain certain who were of a different religion to embrace his creed, nobly answered, “I am king of men, and not of conscience. The dominion of conscience belongs exclusively to God.” Illustrations:—(α) An old lady taking a long railway journey, prayed almost all the time that God would protect her from harm. When she reached the last platform, and was but a few minutes walk from her home, she felt that now she could take care of herself; but just here she fell, and received an injury from which she was a long time recovering. We must trust in God at all times.(β) The missionaries to the Fiji islands were threatened with destruction by the enraged natives, and had no means of defence except prayer. Their enemies heard them praying, became fearful, and fled. The reason was given by one of themselves. “They found you were praying to your God, and they know your God is a strong God; and they are gone.” St. Augustine was saved from death by a mistake of his guide, who lost the usual road, in which the Donatists had laid wait to murder him.FIRST .—SECRET Nehemiah 2:10. When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah, &c. The name Sanballat signifies a pure enemy; for he belonged to a spiteful people who had always been troublesome to the children of Israel, and did constantly vex and provoke them to evil (Numbers 22:3-4). I. Here is jealousy tyrannical in its spirit. The Hebrews in Palestine had been hitherto poor and helpless. They were anxious to improve their condition, but these enemies were eager to keep them poor that they might be able to oppress and plunder them. Jealousy naturally cruel, inasmuch as it feeds upon the poverty and destitution of others, and fears their prosperity, lest it should lose its food. They probably heard of this new enterprise through their wives, who might be Jewesses. Among the Turks every vizier used to keep a Jew as private counsellor, whose malice was thought to have had much to do with the Turks’ bitter persecution of Christianity. II. Here is jealousy anti-religious in its attitude. Grieved that any should “seek the welfare of the children of Israel” (Nehemiah 2:10). Their opposition doubled by the fact that this was God’s work, and these were his people. They hated the name and worship of Jehovah. The malice of unbelievers and scoffers against the kingdom of God can never be satisfied. If envy had not blinded these men, they might have seen that they meant them no harm. As the building of this Jerusalem had many enemies, so the repairing of the spiritual Jerusalem (the Church) by the preaching of the gospel hath many more.—Pilkington. III. Here is jealousy covetously selfish in its motives. Samaria had become the leading state west of Jordan, and any restoration of Jerusalem might interfere with this predominance. The fear of losing their gains had much to do with the acrimony of their opposition. Hippocrates in his epistle to Crateva gives him this good counsel; that if it were possible, amongst other herbs, he cut up that weed covetousness by the roots, that there be no remainder left; and then know certainly that together with the bodies, he would be able to cure the diseases of the mind. IV. Here is jealousy self-torturing in its effects. “It grieved them exceedingly” (Nehemiah 2:10). The expression a very strong one. (Compare Psalms 112) “The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth.” Keen mental torture implied. Envy compared to a poisonous serpent. Because it cannot feed upon other men’s hearts it feedeth upon its own, drinking up the most part of its own venom, and is therefore like the serpent Porphyrius, which was full of poison, but wanting teeth, hurt none but itself. Austin describes it as a “madness of the soul;” Gregory, as “a torture;” Chrysostom, “an insatiableness;” Cyprian, “blindness, a plague subverting kingdoms and families, an incurable disease.” A disease that neither Esculapius nor Plutus could cure; a continual plague and vexation of spirit, an earthly hell. Illustrations:—The poets imagined that Envy dwelt in a dark cave; being pale and lean, looking asquint, abounding with gall, her teeth black, never rejoicing but in the misfortunes of others, ever unquiet and careful, and continually tormenting herself. (See Addenda.)“The Bible abounds with instances of this sin. We find it in Cain, the proto-murderer, who slew his brother in a fit of jealousy. We find it in the dark and gloomy and revengeful spirit of Saul, who under the influence of jealousy plotted for years the slaughter of David. We find it in the king of Israel when he pined for the vineyard of Naboth, and shed his blood to gain it. Yea, it was envy that perpetrated that most atrocious crime ever planned in hell or executed on earth, on which the sun refused to look, and at which nature gave signs of abhorrence by rending the rocks; I mean the crucifixion of Christ; for the Evangelist tells us, that for envy the Jews delivered our Lord.”—J. A. James.The infatuated Caligula slew his brother, because he was a beautiful young man. Mutius, a citizen of Rome, was reputed to be of such an envious and malevolent disposition, that Publius, one day observing him to be very sad, said, “Either some great evil hath happened to Mutius, or some great good to another.” “Dionysius the Tyrant,” says Plutarch, “out of envy punished Philoxenius the musician, because he could sing; and Plato, the philosopher, because he could dispute better than himself.” Cambyses killed his brother Smerdis, because he could draw a stronger bow than himself or any of his party. Nehemiah 2:11. So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three daysGod’s servants frequently thus retired for deliberation before entering upon arduous tasks. Moses had a forty-years half-involuntary preparation for his life work, in the wilderness of Midian. Paul spent three years in Arabia before commencing his career as a missionary. The disciples were commanded “to tarry at Jerusalem until,” &c. Our Lord himself, at the commencement of his public ministry, was “led of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted.” And here we see Nehemiah spending three days in retirement, before entering upon a work that would tax all his powers and graces to the very utmost. Consider the reason of this— I. It gave him time to look round. Jerusalem altogether strange to him. Unacquainted with the exact state of affairs or parties in the city. To have rushed headlong without premeditation into so gigantic an enterprise would have been madness. Probably made secret inquiries as to vigilance of foes, and spirit of people, as well as their numbers, character, and wealth. Knowledge always source of power to workers and leaders. Knowledge of human nature, human history, and character, of great service in Christian work. II. It gave him time to look forward. Evidently a man of wise foresight. Could see both difficulties and the way to meet and overcome them. Careful, yet not over-anxious, because made God his counsellor and guide. Neither optimist nor pessimist. By anticipating difficulties we may obviate them, and so make them comparatively harmless when they do come. Guard against other extreme, of making them when there are none, and magnifying them when they are insignificant. Such pre-vision not inspiriting, but disheartening. III. It gave him time to look within. Now was the time for self-examination. Motives tested, heart probed. Trying moment to faith. Looking at self alone drives to despair. “Who is sufficient for these things?” the cry of one burdened with such tremendous responsibility. Luther spent the night before the Diet of Worms on the floor of his little chamber, humbling himself before God, and laying hold on Divine strength. No wonder he triumphed. IV. It gave him time to look upward. The contemplation of his own faults and frailty alone would have completely unnerved him for the work he had come to accomplish. His eye would turn from personal demerit to infinite perfection; from personal impotence to infinite strength. From penitence to prayer a single step, thence to confidence and hope. Such preparation necessary for all who would achieve great works for God. Careless self-confidence as sure to meet with failure as humble and contrite faith to be crowned with success. (See Addenda.) Illustrations:—“Domitian, about the beginning of his reign, usually sequestered himself from company an hour every day; but did nothing the while but catch flies, and kill then with a penknife. God’s people can better employ their solitariness, and do never want company, as having God and themselves to talk with. And these secret meals are those that make the soul fat. It was a wise speech of Bernard, that “Christ, the soul’s spouse, is bashful, neither willingly cometh to his bride in the presence of a multitude.”—Trapp.The noblest works, like the temple of Solomon, are brought to perfection in silence.—Sir A. Helps.Solitude hath been the custom not only of holy men, but of heathen men. Thus did Tully, and Anthony, and Crassus, make way to that honour and renown which they afterwards obtained by their eloquence; thus did they pass a solitudine in scholas, a scholis in forum, “from their secret retirement into the schools, and from the schools into the pleading place.”—Farindon.THE WALLS Nehemiah 2:12. And I arose in the night, &c. I. A work involving considerable danger. 1. From the rained state of the walls (Nehemiah 2:13-15). No safe path. Stones scattered along road made travelling dangerous. God’s servants often required to traverse perilous roads. Missionaries often wonderfully preserved when journeying. 2. From the enmity of the Samaritans. Had they known would probably have waylaid so small and defenceless a company. Exposed to the midnight marauders who lurked about the city, taking advantage of its open condition. This danger did not deter. God often protected his servants from malice and bloodthirstiness of hostile nations. Missionary annals of Church furnish many instances of sublimest heroism and hair-breadth escapes from threatened destruction. II. A work requiring personal sacrifice. 1. He gave up his much-needed rest. The physician will watch by his patient all night. The captain will not think of sleep if his vessel be in danger. So should the Christian forego his rest in times of danger, that he may call upon God in faithful prayer. David “rose at midnight to give praise” unto the name of the Lord (Psalms 119). Our mortal enemy, Satan, sleepeth not night or day, but continually “goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour;” and had we not an equally vigilant watchman we should be destroyed. “Behold, he neither slumbereth nor sleepeth, that is the watchman of Israel” (Psalms 121). Christ himself set us an example of self-denying vigilance; prayed the whole night before sending forth his disciples (Luke 6). Joshua marched all night to conquer the Amorites (Joshua 10). Gideon arose in the night to pull down the altar of Baal (Judges 6). 2. He laid aside his official dignity. Might have sent a deputy, or gone attended by strong escort, or numerous retinue; but preferred to go himself, to teach us that nothing should be painful or degrading to any man, however exalted his station, which concerns the prosperity of God’s City and Church David, when the ark was brought out of Abinadab’s house, played on instruments, and after casting off his kingly apparel, danced before the ark in his ephod. Michal mocked, and was punished; but David declared that he would yet “more lowly cast himself down,” and was blessed of the Lord (2 Samuel 6). Moses forsook the dignity and pleasure of Pharaoh’s court to become a tender of sheep, that he might serve the cause of God (Hebrews 11). Christ washed the disciples’ feet, and humbled himself to the death of the cross, that he might effect our redemption. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/phc/ NOTES.] Nehemiah 3:1. Eliashib] The grandson of Jeshua, and the first high priest after the return from Babylon. No reason to doubt that the same Eliashib is referred to in Ezra 10:6. The sheep gate] In regard to the gates of ancient Jerusalem much uncertainty prevails. The sheep gate probably the προβατικὴ of John 5:2, translated in E. V. “sheep market.” Modern topographers seek it near the present St. Stephen’s gate, through which the Bedouins to this day drive sheep into the town for sale. Near the temple area. Sanctified] Consecrated it by special ceremonies. “It was the first-fruits, and therefore, in the sanctification of it, the whole lump and building was sanctified.”—Poole. The tower of Meah, the tower of Hananeel] Meah is the Hebrew word for “a hundred.” Fuerst translates it the giant tower. Whence the names of these towers were derived is unknown. Nehemiah 3:2. And next unto him] Lit. And at his hand. The wall was divided into portions, one of which was assigned to each of the great families. Nehemiah 3:3. The sons of Hassenaah] Rather, the sons of Senaah (see Ezra 2:35). Senaah was a city or perhaps a district. Nehemiah 3:6. The old gate] Keil reads, “gate of the old wall,” as referring to the old wall in distinction from “the broad wall,” which was newer. Nehemiah 3:8. The broad wall] “or double wall, formerly broken down by Joash, afterwards rebuilt by Uzziah, who made it so strong Chaldeans left it standing.”—Jamieson. Nehemiah 3:9. The ruler of the half part] A half district; the district being divided into two that it might be managed more easily (comp. Nehemiah 3:12; Nehemiah 3:14-18). Nehemiah 3:13. Zanoah] The name of two towns in the territory of Judah. Nehemiah 3:14. Beth-haccerem] From Jeremiah 6:1 we find that it was used as a beacon-station, and that it was near Tekoa. Supposed to be now occupied by Bethulia on the hill called by Europeans “The Frank Mountain.” Nehemiah 3:16. The sepulchres of David, &c.] i. e. along the precipitous cliffs of Zion.—Barclay. Nehemiah 3:19. At the turning of the wall] i. e. the wall across the Tyropζon being a continuation of the first wall, connecting Mount Zion with the temple wall.—Barclay. Nehemiah 3:25. The tower which lieth out from the king’s high house] Solomon’s palace doubtless occupied the south-east corner of the present Haram. Nehemiah 3:26. The Nethinims] The Nethinim were a servile and subject caste. “Not only the priests and the Levites, but the meanest persons that belonged to the house of God contributed to the work.”—Bishop Patrick. OF CHAPTER 3 Neh 3:1-32. The Moral Significance of Names.Nehemiah 3:1-32. Life’s Masonry.Nehemiah 3:1-32. A Suggestive Church Record.Nehemiah 3:1. Priesthood.Nehemiah 3:1. Ministerial Adaptability.Nehemiah 3:2-3. System and Detail in Work.Nehemiah 3:5. Rival Classes.Nehemiah 3:6. The Old Gate.Nehemiah 3:8. The Broad Wall.Nehemiah 3:12. Family Zeal.Nehemiah 3:13-19. High Men at Lowly Tasks.Nehemiah 3:15-16. David, the National Hero.Nehemiah 3:20-32. The Workmen’s Day-Book.THE MORAL OF NAMES A CHAPTER of names. To be passed over by the bulk of Bible readers. But the names are biblical. The chapters of names are a noticeable part of the Book of Nehemiah, as they are of the Bible. I. The meaning of individual names. The origin of language is mysterious. But in earliest times amongst all nations—our own not excepted—names meant things. Specially true of the Jewish nation. Names were not given from caprice or because others bore them. They shadowed forth the character, or commemorated a circumstance, or prophesied a future. Abel signified breath, vapour—a sign of the transitoriness of his life. David meant dearly-beloved. Enoch, disciplined. Elijah, God the Lord, or the strong Lord. Elisha, “to whom God is salvation.” Abraham, “the father of a multitude,” and Moses, “drawn out of the water,” were commemorative. Sometimes the name was a protest. Amittai, a veracious man living in a time of laxity. Eliashib’s name (Nehemiah 3:1) perpetually reminded him that “God was in heaven, and governed the world he created.” Nehemiah could not have borne a name better adapted for a work so arduous as his. Nehemiah means, “whom God comforts.” Meremoth (Nehemiah 3:4), if true to his name, should be a firm man. Jehoiada (Nehemiah 3:6) needed no priest to remind him that he was known of God. Uzziel (Nehemiah 3:8) might work fearlessly, for, said his name, “God is my strength.” Malchijah (Nehemiah 3:11) would hardly be afraid of Sanballatʼ ?s anger or Tobiah’s scorn. “Am not I Malchijah,” he would say, “and does not that tell me that God is my king?” The Nethinims (Nehemiah 3:26) were the dedicated ones. In other languages the same law prevailed. A man bearing the name of Andrew was courageous, and an Augusta majestic. Arthur was a strong man. She who was honoured with the name Agnes was chaste. An Alice was noble, and a Louisa modest. In more artificial times names lost their meaning. When the mother of John Baptist declared that he should be called John, her friends said, “There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.” Names were losing their meaning. Here was a man born into the world filled with the grace of God—what shall his name be? “Zacharias,” they say; “that is his father’s name.” They ask the dumb father, and he writes “John.” Now-a-days a man may have the name of John and be graceless enough. We have no proof that Charles will be noble. We give our children fancy names. Family names are reasonable; fancy names are foolish. Except that they are given thoughtlessly, their morality would be doubtful. Our true name is our Christian name. II. The solemn significance of names. A name is a key to the nature or history of the thing which bears it. In the history of the creation we read that “God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.” And so it has been well said by Carlyle that not only all common speech, but science, poetry itself, is no other than a right naming. Some languages have the same expression for WORD and THING. Jesus Christ said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34). “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). “Lie not one to another”—not because you will not be trusted, but because—“ye have put off the old man with his deeds” (Coloss. Nehemiah 3:9). Wise men say that you can tell the character of any nation by its language. “There was a time in the history of Europe when the controversy about what a name represents involved issues so grave that men were burnt for taking what was considered the heretical side of this controversy.”—R. W. Dale. “Our general terms, man, tree, insect, flower, are the names of particular or single specimens extended, on the ground of a perceived similarity, to kinds or species. They come in this manner to stand for millions of particular men, trees, insects, flowers that we do not and never can know. They are, to just this extent, WORDS OF ; only we are able, in the use, to hold right judgments of innumerable particulars we do not know, and have the words so far as WORDS OF WISDOM.”—Horace Bushnell. Reality is a cardinal virtue. Speech is not given us to hide our thoughts. What is truth but the correspondence of words with things, of life with speech? “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matthew 12:37). III. The relation of the individual to the race. Names perpetuate memories. William is named to-day after a William of sixty years ago. Of this latter there is only a name. “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh” (Ecclesiastes 1:4). THE DAY OF will harmonize names and things. “Then shall the King say,” &c. (Matthew 25:34-46). Hebrew names. “The Hebrew names were nearly all significant. Sometimes commemoration was in a name. Sometimes it uttered a testimony. Sometimes a prophecy stirred in it. The very name of a man sometimes shone like a burning lamp in the darkness of an evil time. When need was, a new name was taken or given, in addition to, or in place of, the original one, and borne as men bear a banner or speak a watchword.”—Alexander Raleigh, D.D.Names and periods in Hebrew history. “What signifies a name? In these days, when names are only epithets, it signifies nothing. ‘Jehovah. Jove, or Lord,’ as the ‘Universal Prayer’ insinuates, are all the same. Now, to assert that it matters not whether God be called Jehovah, Jove, or Lord is true, if it mean this, that a devout and earnest heart is accepted by God, let the name be what it will by which he is addressed. But if it mean that Jove and Jehovah express the same Being—that the character of him whom the pagan worshipped was the same as the character of him whom Israel adored under the name of Jehovah—that they refer to the same group of ideas—or that ALWAYS names are but names, then we must look much deeper.“In the Hebrew history are discernible three periods distinctly marked, in which names and words bore very different characters. These three, it has been observed by acute philologists, correspond to the periods in which the nation bore the three different appellations of Hebrews, Israelites, Jews.“In the first of these periods names meant truths, and words were the symbols of realities. The characteristics of the names given then were simplicity and sincerity. They were drawn from a few simple sources: cither from some characteristic of the individual, as Jacob, the supplanter; or Moses, drawn from the water; or from the idea of family, as Ben-jamin, the son of my right hand; or from the conception of the tribe or nation, then gradually consolidating itself; or, lastly, from the religious idea of God. But in this case not the highest notion of God; not Jah, or Jehovah, but simply the earlier and simpler idea of Deity: El—Israel, the prince of El; Peniel, the face of El. In these days names were real, but the conceptions they contained were not the loftiest.“The second period begins about the time of the departure from Egypt, and it is characterized by unabated simplicity, with the addition of sublimer thought and feeling more intensely religious. The heart of the nation was big with mighty and new religious truth, and the feelings with which the national heart was swelling found vent in the names which were given abundantly. God, under his name Jah, the noblest assemblage of spiritual truths yet conceived, became the adjunct to names of places and persons. Oshea’s name is changed into Je-hoshua.“Observe, moreover, that in this period there was no fastidious, over-refined chariness in the use of that name. Men conscious of deep and real reverence are not fearful of the appearance of irreverence. The word became a common word, as it always may, so long as it is FELT, and awe is REAL. A mighty cedar was called a cedar of Jehovah; a lofty mountain, a mountain of Jehovah. Human beauty even was praised by such an epithet. Moses was divinely fair, beautiful to God. The eternal name became an adjunct. No beauty, no greatness, no goodness was conceivable except as emanating from him: therefore his name was freely but most devoutly used.“Like the earlier period, in this too words meant realities; but, unlike the earlier period, they are impregnated with deeper religious thought.“The third period was at its zenith in the time of Christ: words had lost their meaning, and shared the hollow, unreal state of all things. A man’s name might be Judas, and still he might be a traitor. A man might be called Pharisee, exclusively religious, and yet the name might only cover the hollowness of hypocrisy; or he might be called most noble Festus, and be the meanest tyrant that ever sat upon a pro-consular chair. This is the period in which every keen and wise observer knows that the decay of national religious feeling has begun. That decay in the meaning of words, that lowering of the standard of the ideas for which they stand, is a certain mark of this. The debasement of a language is a sure mark of the debasement of a nation. The insincerity of a language is a proof of the insincerity of a nation: for a time comes in the history of a nation when words no longer stand for things; when names are given for the sake of an euphonious sound; and when titles are but the epithets of unmeaning courtesy; a time when Majesty, Defender of the Faith, Most Noble, Worshipful, and Honourable not only mean nothing, but do not flush the check with the shame of convicted falsehood when they are worn as empty ornaments.”—F. W. Robertson.Origin of language. “The opinions about the origin of language may be divided into three classes, as follows:—“(a) The belief that man at his creation was endowed with a full, perfect, and copious language, and that as his faculties were called forth by observation and experience, this language supplied him at every step with names for the various objects he encountered. In this view, which has found many able advocates, speech is separated from and precedes thought; for as there must have been a variety of phenomena, both outward and in his mind, to which the first man was a stranger, until long experience gradually unfolded them, their names must have been intrusted to him long before the thoughts or images which they were destined ultimately to represent were excited in his mind.“(b) The belief that the different families of men, impelled by necessity, invented and settled by agreement the names that should represent the ideas they possessed. In this view language is a human invention, grounded on convenience. But to say that man has invented language would be no better than to assert that he has invented law. To make laws, there must be a law obliging all to keep them; to form a compact to observe certain institutes, there must be already a government protecting this compact. To invent language presupposes language already, for how could men agree to name different objects without communicating by words their designs? In proof of this opinion, appeal is made to the great diversity of languages. Here it is supposed again that thought and language were separate, and that the former had made some progress before the latter was annexed to k.“(c) The third view is, that as the Divine Being did not give man at his creation actual knowledge, but the power to learn and to know, so he did not confer a language, but the power to name and describe. The gift of reason, once conveyed to man, was the common root from which both thought and speech proceeded, like the pith and the rind of the tree, to be developed in inseparable union. With the first inspection of each natural object the first imposition of a name took place (Genesis 2:19). In the fullest sense language is a Divine gift; but the power, and not the results of its exercise, the germ, and not the tree, was imparted. A man can teach names to another man, but nothing less than Divine power can plant in another’s mind the far higher gift, the faculty of naming. From the first we have reason to believe that the functions of thought and language went together. A conception received a name; a name recalled a conception; and every accession to the knowledge of things expanded the treasures of expression. And we are entangled in absurdities by any theory which assumes that either element existed in a separate state antecedently to the other.”—Archbishop of York.“We do not make words; they are given to us by One higher than ourselves. Wise men say that you can tell the character of any nation by its language, by watching the words they use, the names they give to things; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. It is God, and Christ, the Word of God, who gives words to men, who puts it into the hearts of men to call certain things by certain names; and according to a nation’s godliness, and wisdom, and purity of heart will be its power of using words discreetly and reverently. That miracle of the gift of tongues, of which we read in the New Testament, would have been still most precious and full of meaning if it had had no other use than this—to teach men from whom words come. When men found themselves all of a sudden inspired to talk in foreign languages which they had never learnt, to utter words of which they themselves did not know the meaning, do you not see how it must have made them feel that all language is God’s making and God’s giving? Do you not see how it must have made them feel what awful, mysterious things words were, like those cloven tongues of fire which fell on the apostles? The tongues of fire signified the difficult foreign languages which they suddenly began to speak as the Spirit gave them utterance. And where did the tongues of fire come from? Not out of themselves, not out of the earth beneath, but down from the heaven above, to signify that it is not from man’s flesh or brain, or the earthly part of him, that words are bred, but that they come down from Christ, the Word of God, and are breathed into the minds of men by the Spirit of God.”—Charles Kingsley.LIFE’S MASONRY .—The Scriptural figures of life’s work as a building. St. Peter’s description of God as building up a fabric of “lively stones” (1 Peter 2:4-5). It is his remembrance of the Saviour’s own use of the figure in Matthew 16:18 : “Upon this rock I will build my Church.” St. Paul’s description of his own apostolic life as that of a “wise master-builder”—a spiritual Nehemiah (1 Corinthians 3:10-15). I. Every one to contribute his life-toil to the building up of the city of God. 1. True of the individual character—the fallen, ruined “city of Mansoul.” Not what we rake together of earthly things, but what we rear in the edifice of our personal character, our true work. 2. True of society. The history of the world a history of the restless reconstructions of society. The reformers and teachers of every age, scanning the desolations of their time, have said, “Let us arise and build!” and with none of Babel’s profanity have said in hope, “Go to, let us build a tower whose top shall reach to heaven!” That is what the piled-up fruit of generations of toil shall be. II. Every man has his own appointed sphere and kind of work. 1. The manifold division of labour in the erection of a great edifice may become to us a parable of the various uses of human character and ability. To some the strong work—the foundations and buttresses—plain, practical usefulness. To others there is given work at the gates of knowledge and intercourse. To some it is the task to beautify and embellish life and its surroundings, to sculpture bright things and thoughts. To the sagacity of others is committed the towers of outlook and defence for human society. 2. Every man to find his own task. Providential circumstances and the bent of wise inclination point us to our share of the wall. The ruin lying nearest our feet, the weak place nearest our own home, is our taskwork. 3. Every man to be content with his own task. Who does not at times sigh in envy of his brother’s portion in life’s great enterprise! We think we could work with less moiling, and get the lines truer, if we were working on some other piece of ground. It’s better as it is. “To every man his work” (Mark 13:34). III. Every man contributes but a fragment to the great whole. All each builder does is to contribute so many feet of the great girdle of masonry; but it is the multiplication of these small piles which completes the circumference. 1. Individual life. Do not judge of experiences singly and alone. Life is a complex and mingled process, and that which seems to have no uses of edification may be one of many powers which uplift the character. Our life is a great whole. WE “walk to-day and to-morrow, and the THIRD day WE are perfected.” “If sad thy present, fancy notThe whole of life is in to-day;To past and future look away;Thy life is not thy present lot.”2. Socially. Do not judge a life with regard to society in its mere isolation or as a disconnected unit; it is a length of fabric to join on with some one else’s work. Moses bursts out of Egypt; Joshua leads through Jordan into Canaan; David prepares for a consolidated nation; Solomon ushers in the rest and magnificence of peace: each builds his own layer and length of the history. One man toils to feed the people; another gives them garments; another settles their quarrels; another tells them the story of the day’s life; another teaches them knowledge; another pleads with them for God; another heals their sickness; another goes out to sea for their merchandise; another gives them a book of cheering song; and each contributes to the walls and gates and towers of man’s life below. EACH is but a small length, but ALL make the mighty ring. IV. Every man to work in harmonious aim with his fellow builders. 1. Recognizing the one reigning purpose—the edification of a city of God; to make Jerusalem a praise in the earth and a city of the great King. 2. Recognizing the, worth of his brother’s work. He has his own task, and has not to work by our piece of the plan. 3. Eccentric people who will pile their stones in other people’s way, and blind other people with their chippings and the bespatterings of their mortar. Do not hinder your “brother mason.” V. The united work is superintended by the great Architect. 1. He only understands the whole of the great intricate plan of life. He has surveyed the whole field, and has appointed each one his place. To understand our own section and task, and to trust to the great unifying power above, is all we can do. These broken, incomplete piles rising in their fragmentariness will, under his direction, circle into the order of his great will. The full plan of life is only seen and understood in heaven, but it is understood THERE. 2. He is near us with directions. In their straits these amateur masons must have often summoned Nehemiah as he rode round among the workers. In all perplexities we can call in Divine direction. “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God” (James 1:5). 3. Let the thought “THOU GOD SEEST ME” animate us at our toil. (a) It is a cheering thought. No eye can look so indulgently as his. “He knoweth our frame,” &c. (Psalms 103:14). (b) It is an admonitory thought. He WILL have true work; and all the wrong that we pile up he will push down. “As ever in my great Taskmaster’s eye.”.—What this finished work shall be we read in the closing chapters of the Bible. The New Jerusalem is man’s work transfigured by the glory of God. The rude foundations we have put in with weariness and toil shall show themselves “garnished with all manner of precious stones.” The gates so clumsily made will shine “every several gate of one pearl.” The building of the wall shall be “as jasper,” and the shapeless, disjointed masses shall be all joined and balanced: “the length of it, and the breadth of it, and the height of it equal.” “And the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it. And there shall be no night there; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” Sacredness of labour. “Two men I honour, and no third. First, the toil-worn craftsman that with earth-made implement laboriously conquers the earth, and makes her man’s. Venerable to me is the hard hand—crooked, coarse; wherein notwithstanding lies a cunning virtue, indefeasibly royal, as of the sceptre of this planet. Venerable too is the rugged face, all weather-tanned, besoiled, with its rude intelligence; for it is the face of a man living man-like. O, but the more venerable for thy rudeness, and even because we must pity as well, as love thee! Hardly entreated brother! for us was thy back so bent, for us were thy straight limbs and fingers so deformed: thou wert our conscript, on whom the lot fell, and fighting our battles wert so marred. For in thee too lay a God-created form, but it was not to be unfolded; encrusted must it stand with the thick adhesions and defacements of labour; and thy body, like thy soul, was not to know freedom. Yet toil on, toil on: THOU art in thy duty, be out of it who may; thou toilest for the altogether indispensable, for daily bread.“A second man I honour, and still more highly: him who is seen toiling for the spiritually indispensable; not daily bread, but the bread of life. Is not he too in his duty; endeavouring towards inward harmony; revealing this, by act or by word, through all his outward endeavours, be they high or low? Highest of all when his outward and inward endeavours are one; when we can name him artist; not earthly craftsman only, but inspired thinker, who with heaven-made implement conquers heaven for us! If the poor and humble toil that we have food, must not the high and glorious toil for him in return, that he have light, have guidance, freedom, immortality? These two, in all their degrees, I honour: all else is chaff and dust, which let the wind blow whither it listeth.“Unspeakably touching is it, however, when I find both dignities united, and he that must toil outwardly for the lowest of man’s wants is also toiling inwardly for the highest. Sublimer in this world know I nothing than a peasant saint, could such now anywhere be met with. Such a one will take thee back to Nazareth itself; thou wilt sec the splendour of heaven spring forth from the humblest depths of earth, like a light shining in great darkness.”—Carlyle.Work is the common duty of all. “It would be very strange if it were not so. The first thing we read of God doing for man when he made him was to assign him work. Before he gave him a right to eat of the fruit of the trees, ‘he put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it’ (Genesis 2:15). When man is translated to the heavenly Eden it is not to idleness: ‘they serve him day and night in his temple.’ The wise man when he looked abroad on the world made this deep reflection: ‘All things are full of labour.’ The calm stars are in ceaseless motion, and every leaf is a world with its busy inhabitants, and the sap coursing through its veins as the life-blood through our own. He who made all worlds has said, ‘My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.’ ”—John Ker, D.D.All the workers shall be rewarded. “Each shall find that he has a share in the completed results, where the labours of all are represented. What does it matter in which stage of the great process our co-operation has been enlisted? Every man that has had a part in the building shall have a share in the glory. What does it matter whether we have been set to dig out the foundation, working amongst mud and wet, or have laid the lowermost courses, which are all covered up and forgotten, or happen to have been amongst those who bring forth the head-stone with shoutings? We are all builders all the same. The main thing is that we have some work there. Never mind whereabouts it is. Never mind whether it be visible or no. Never mind whether your name is associated with it. You may never see the issues of your toils. If you can see them they will generally not be worth looking at. We work for eternity. We may well wait for the scaffolding to be taken away. Then we shall find that preparatory work is all represented in the final issue; even as the first film of alluvium, deposited in its delta by some mighty stream, is the real foundation for the last, which, long ages after, rise above the surface and bear waving corn and the homes of men.”—Alexander Maclaren, D.D.A CHURCH RECORD I. The potency of personal influence. Nehemiah created a spirit of enthusiasm which set all this train of exertion in motion. II. The force of example. The priests took the lead in the common labour. III. Advantages of systematic organization. Each volunteer made responsible for some limited portion of work. IV. The gigantic results achievable by individual action. Like coral insects at work, the multitude of builders each did his part of the whole. V. The diversity of disposition revealed by a great emergency. 1. Enthusiastic work. 2. Refusal to put the neck to the yoke. VI. The consentaneity of purpose and effort which a great emergency demands and is calculated to bring about. All rivalries forgotten in the great aim—to again rebuild Jerusalem. VII. The diversity of gifts which a great emergency calls into requisition.Illustrations:—“No life is waste in the great Worker’s hand.The gem too poor to polish in itselfIs ground to brighten others.”—P. J. Bailey.“Do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself.”—Emerson.“The body is not one member, but many” (1 Corinthians 12:4-27).“Clouds when full pour down, and the presses overflow, and the aromatical trees sweat out their precious and sovereign oils; and every learned scribe must bring out his treasure for the Church’s behoof and benefit.”—John Trapp. Nehemiah 3:1. Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of HananeelI.—Priest and king amongst the most terrible words in language. War, oppression, rapine have come at their call. 1. Elevation is dangerous. Separateness from sympathies and ways of common men a misfortune. Men easily enslave those whom they see to be lower than themselves. 2. Privilege and responsibility are co-extensive. Shepherd feeds and guards flock. King lives for subjects. Priest must think, speak, and act for his follows. Noblesse oblige. What is true priesthood? I. A true priest identifies himself with men. Institution and consecration (Exodus 28, 29). Interpretation (Heb.). 1. Called from amongst men (Hebrews 5:1). 2. Offers gifts and sacrifices (Nehemiah 3:1). 3. Compassionates weakness and ignorance (Nehemiah 3:2). 4. Comes between men and God. (a) To present intercessions. (b) To reveal God’s will. A priesthood is necessary. “You tell me, my seeptical friend, that religion is the contrivance of the priest. How came the priest into being? What gave him his power?”—Channing. [See illustration below, “Christian worship.”] Priest’s dress, robes, &c. stand for a NEEDED and sanctity. If not sacred, all the worse for the priest. Must come to his work from a higher ground. Of the people, but above the people. More thoughtful, not less saintly. MANHOOD first, afterwards. II. A true priest identifies thought with life. The wall-building was Nehemiah’s THOUGHT. Eliashib and his brothers helped to make it REALITY. Priest makes God’s thoughts man’s life. “Be ye holy” (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:15), God’s thought. How to become holy, priest’s life-work. A sinless and sorrowless world, God’s thought. How to approximate to this a priest’s work. Obedience to Divine laws, God’s purpose; enunciations of these and incitements to keep them, priest’s work. 1. Harmonizes ideal and actual. 2. Harmonizes thought and practice. 3. Harmonizes inclination and conscience. III. A true priest identifies the lower with the higher, the common with the sacred, earth with heaven. Priests “sanctified the wall;” built near the temple. God’s house and city wall both SACRED. Sanctity is relative or real. The temple; the temple utensils. Churches (e. g. Corinth) with unholy members in them are sanctified or holy relatively. Only individual believers really sanctified. Broad distinctions between sacred and secular not well. Sabbath sacred; make all days. God’s house is sacred; so is your own. Bible sacred; read nothing impure. Illustrations:—Christian worship. “There have been those who have sought to disparage worship by representing it as an arbitrary, unnatural service, a human contrivance, an invention for selfish ends. I will meet the objection by a few remarks drawn from history. There have been, indeed, periods of history in which the influence of the religious principle seems to have been overwhelmed; but in this it agrees with other great principles of our nature, which in certain stages of the race disappear. There are certain conditions of society in which the desire of knowledge seems almost extinct among men, and they abandon themselves for centuries to brutish ignorance. There are communities in which the natural desire of reaching a better lot gives not a sign of its existence, and society remains stationary for ages. There are some in which even the parental affection is so far dead that the new-born child is cast into the stream or exposed to the storm. So the religious principle is in some periods hardly to be discerned; but it is never lost. No principle is more universally manifested. In the darkest ages there are some recognitions of a superior Power. Man feels that there is a Being above himself, and he clothes that Being in what to his rude conceptions is great and venerable. In countries where architecture was unknown men chose the solemn wood or the mountain-top for worship; and when this art appeared its monuments were temples to God. Before the invention of letters hymns were composed to the Divinity, and music, we have reason to think, was the offspring of religion. Music in its infancy was the breathing of man’s fears, wants, hopes, thanks, praises to an unseen power. You tell me, my sceptical friend, that religion is the contrivance of the priest. How came the priest into being? What gave him his power? Why was it that the ancient legislator professed to receive his laws from the gods? The fact is a striking one, that the earliest guides and leaders of the human race looked to the heavens for security and strength to earthly institutions, that they were compelled to speak to men in a higher name than man’s. Religion was an earlier bond and a deeper foundation of society than government. It was the root of civilization. It bus founded the mightiest empires; and yet men question whether religion be an element, a principle of human nature!“In the earliest ages, before the dawn of science, man recognized an immediate interference of the Divinity in whatever powerfully struck his senses.… Every unusual event was a miracle, a prodigv, a promise of good or a menace of evil from heaven.… The heavens, the earth, the plant, the human frame, now that they are explored by science, speak of God as they never did before. His handwriting is brought out where former ages saw but a blank.… The profoundest of all human wants is the want of God. Mind, spirit must tend to its source. It cannot find happiness but in the perfect Mind, the infinite Spirit. Worship has survived all revolutions. Corrupted dishonoured, opposed, it yet lives. It is immortal as its object, immortal as the soul from which it ascends.”—W. E. Channing, D.D.The origin of the Christian clergy. “Amongst the gifts which our blessed Lord gave to mankind during his life on earth, the Christian ministry as we now possess it was not one of them. The twelve apostles whom he chose had no successors like them. The seventy disciples also, who went forth at the Lord’s command to preach the gospel, they, too, were soon buried in their graves, but no order of the same kind, or of the same number, came in their stead.“Yet there was another sense in which the Christian ministry was the gift of their Divine Master, and it was that which St. Paul so well expresses: ‘When he ascended up on high he gave gifts unto men. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.’ Now what was it that was meant by this statement—this very pointed statement—that it was only after his ascension, after his withdrawal from earth, that he gave those gifts to men, and amongst those gifts were the various offices, of which the two last named contained the germ of all the future clergy of Christendom? What was meant was surely this, that not in his earthly life, not in his direct communication with man, not as a part of the original manifestation of Christianity, but as the result of the complex influences which were showered down to the earth after its Founder had left, as part of the vast machinery of Christian civilization, created by the spirit of Christ for filling up the void of his absence, were the various gifts and professions of Christian forms, and amongst these were the great vocation, the sacred profession of the Christian ministry. Look at the gradual growth of the Christian ministry. In no single instance did the order of clergy now resemble what it was in the first century or even the second. The deacons of every existing Church were very different from the seven deacons of the apostolic age. The presbyters of every Church were either in themselves or in their relations to their brethren very different to the presbyters of the first or second century. Take the bishops; in many important respects they differed essentially from those who bore that title seventeen hundred years ago. They all varied in each age and country, according to the varieties of the age and country; according to the civil constitutions under which they lived; according to the geographical area; according to the climates and customs of cast, west, north, and south; in regard to their election, whether by breathing, by popular election, by internal election, by ministerial election, by ordination, by sacred relics, by the elevation of hands, by the imposition of hands; spheres more or less limited, a humble country village, a vast town population, or a province as large as a kingdom. These variations were not a condemnation, but a justification rather, of their existence. They showed that the order of the Christian clergy, instead of remaining a stiff and useless relic of the past, had grown with the growth and varied with the variations of Christian society. This, therefore, was at once the Divine and the human origin of the Christian ministry; Divine, because it belonged to and formed an important link in the inevitable growth of all Christian communities, of Christian aspirations, and of Christian sympathies; human, because it arose out of and was subject to the necessities and vicissitudes of human passions and human infirmities, and in so far as it was of a permanent and Divine character, having a pledge of an immortal existence so long as Christian society exists; in so far as it was of human character, needing to accommodate itself to the want of each successive age, and needing the support, the sympathy, and the favour of all the other elements of social intercourse by which it was surrounded.”—Dean Stanley. Nehemiah 3:1. Then Eliashib the high priest rose up, &c. I. The priests sharing the interests and toils of common manhood. A minister’s power lies not in that in which he differs from others, but in that in which he is like them—“brotherhood.” He shares their weaknesses. He knows headache and heartache, weariness and worry, trouble and temptation; and just in proportion as he is a man will his ministry be sometimes powerful and sometimes powerless. At times he will wish himself in the most distant seat in the Church; at other times speech will be like the upliftings of angels, and the declaration of the gospel as admission into the paradise of God. A white tie, a black coat, and conventional manners do not make a minister; let him come and say, “Brethren, I am as ye are.” II. The priests an example to the people. The high priest and his subordinates were the first to build. Then common people tied on their aprons and took trowel in hand. There must be leaders; then there will be followers. Simon Peter said, “I go a fishing.” The rest say unto him, “We also go with thee” (John 21). The rank and file will ride into any valley of death if the officers say, “Comrades, come on.” When he “putteth forth his own sheep he goeth before them” (John 10:4). III. Sacredness of work depends not on its nature, but on its purpose and spirit. “They sanctified” a common wall. They were toiling for hearth and home, for the city of their fathers and the temple of their God. Our work in the world not important; the spirit in which we do it the main consideration. A mother who represents Christ to her children, who becomes to them their idea of what God must be, is as sacredly engaged as some woman of genius whose fame fills a hemisphere. The blood and bones of the man who digs out the foundation are as necessary as the architect’s skill. In building Solomon’s temple the noise and dust of cutting and polishing the stones were confined to the quarry; in the temple all was calm. In this world of striving and unattainment, of sin and sorrow, we do not see the plan. That is in the mind of the great Architect. Out of confusion he will educe order. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Illustration:—“Man, it is not thy works, which are all mortal, infinitely little, and the greatest no greater than the least, but only the spirit thou workest in, that can have worth or continuance.”—Carlyle.SYSTEM AND DETAIL IN WORK Nehemiah 3:2-3. And next unto Eliashib builded the men of Jericho. And next to them builded Zuccar the son of Imri. But the fish gate did the sons of Hassennah build, who also laid, the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. “We live not to ourselves, our work is life;In bright and ceaseless labour as a starWhich shineth unto all worlds but itself.”Then life is A . “I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Ephesians 4:1). “Your calling” (Ephesians 4:4). “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called” (1 Corinthians 7:20). In modern phrase, a man’s trade or profession is his calling. This gives work dignity. Labourer, carpenter, mason, sailor, surgeon, preacher, schoolmaster, newspaper editor, thou art called. A hand not thine own placed thee where thou art. Every man’s work should have a Pentecost. Manual labour is honourable. It must be redeemed from a spurious disregard. Indolence is degrading; dishonesty is ruinous; honest toil need fear no shame. “None of us liveth to himself” (Romans 14:7). Then life is A . This redeems it from selfishness. “My servants” (John 18:36). “Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1). Not Paul, Peter, and Apollos only. Judgment-day decisions turn on this—“Inasmuch as ye have done,” or, “Inasmuch as ye did not to the brethren” (Matthew 25). Ban or blessing each man carries in himself. Influence is conscious, direct, and intentional; then it is occasional, and often fails. Influence is unconscious, indirect, and streams on, like light from the heavens; then it is constant and all-pervasive. Life is more solemn than death. A man’s daily work is not only religious, it is his religion. There he fights and conquers, or fights and falls. Well for him if he “be up and doing,With a heart for any fate;Still achieving, still pursuing,Learn to labour and to wait.”On the work of life let Nehemiah and his noble band teach us somewhat. I. A great work can only be planned by a great mind. Many saw the desolations of the city; some wept over them. Nehemiah only had a vocation and talents to “build the old wastes and repair the desolations of many generations” (Isaiah 61:4). An equality is impossible. In any circle of twelve there will be a Peter to lead. These are Kings by Divine right. The laureate’s wreath is only green on the brows of him who utters nothing base. Nehemiahs have comprehensive minds, like some insects that put out “feelers” on all sides. Insight is a dangerous gift, hence granted only to the elect ones. Nehemiah rebuilds Jerusalem; Augustine governs a period; Wesley organizes a society; Shakespeare Shakespearizes a language:—they are “born to command.” II. A great work can only be carried out by division of labour. Nehemiah’s organizing brain needed the hands of the men of Jericho. Farmer requires ploughman, horsekeeper, diggers, and delvers. Architect, clerk of works, mason, carpenter, stone-cutter, hod-man. Writer, an amanuensis, a printer, binder, bookseller. How long it would take one man to make a pin; by dividing the work they are counted by millions. Miner, sailor, soldier hazard their lives for the general good. One goes abroad, another stays at home; this man works with the hand, that with the brain; the husband rules without, the wife rules within; all obeying the same law, the needs be that into the world’s mill each one casts some corn. III. A great work can only be accomplished by attention to details. “Bars and locks.” Gates and doors without bars and locks useless. “There must be detail in every great work. It is an element of effectiveness which no reach of plan, no enthusiasm of purpose, can dispense with. Thus, if a man conceives the idea of becoming eminent in learning, but cannot toil through the million of little drudgeries necessary to carry him on, his learning will be soon told. Or, if a man undertakes to become rich, but despises the small and gradual advances by which wealth is ordinarily accumulated, his expectations will, of course, be the sum of his riches. Accurate and careful detail, the minding of common occasions and small things, combined with general scope and vigour, is the secret of all the efficiency and success in the world.”—Bushnell. 1. Young man carving out his fortunes. “By little and little.” “Take care of the pence,” &c. Trifling delinquencies; white lies are the unlocked gates through which “seven spirits worse” than these enter. Regard to minor courtesies, use of spare moments, buying up opportunities, lead on to honour always, to fortune sometimes. 2. Church work. Sunday schools, mission bands, tract distributors, missionary collectors are needed. Churchwardens, sidesmen, deacons, stewards, let each fill his place and attend to the duty specially allotted him. Hast thou a contracted sphere? Thou mayest fill it better. Is thy work humble? It is not of necessity mean. “Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go,My daily labour to pursue;Thee, only thee, resolved to knowIn all I think, or speak, or do.”IV. A great work brings out special adaptations. The men of Jericho built the wall. But the fish gate with its locks and bars did the sons of Hassenaah build. The disciples of Christ. Prophecy-reading Philip finds prophecy-reading Nathaniel (John 1:43-51). Peter speaks and acts impetuously, and dies courageously (John 21). John, with a piercing insight, writes the angelic Gospel, and waits to see and war against rising error (John 21; Epistles of John; Revelation). Does the hero mould the age, or the age mould the hero? Partly both. In the Church “every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that” (1 Corinthians 7:7). The eloquent Apollos expounds the Scriptures; the deft-handed Dorcas clothes the naked; the man of wealth sustains the charities; the strong minister to weakness; the wise enlighten the ignorant. “There is a different colour of beauty in different stones that are all of them precious. One man may be burnishing to the sparkle of the diamond, while another is deepening to the glow of the ruby. For this reason there are such different temperaments in Christian character and varying circumstances in Christian life, that the foundations of the wall of the city may be garnished with all manner of precious stones. Each Christian has his own place and lustre in that temple, and therefore there is no ground to disparage our neighbour, and none to despair of ourselves, if we are both in the hand of Christ.”—Ker. V. A great work must have regard to practical utility. The fish gate as necessary as the repairing of temple wall. Began at the temple, but did not stop there. What is it for? to be asked of every man’s work. Does it begin and end in itself. True work should brighten somebody’s dark life, cast out the stones from the rugged road along which some brother’s stumbling feet must go, expel some one of the legion of demons that possess men. VI. A great work must be inspired by a lofty purpose. Nehemiah and his fellows were rebuilding the city of David (Nehemiah 3:15). Milton chose ‘Paradise Lost,’ and aimed to justify the ways of God to men. The painters find the sufferings of Christ an inexhaustible subject. A great religious reformer desired to spread holiness throughout the land. Man, art thou moved by a lofty motive inspired by God’s good Spirit to take unto thee thy office in the world and Church? VII. A great work must look on to the future. It must have in it the element of permanence. They were rebuilding the chosen city—the city of the future, as they fondly hoped. .—In heaven “they have no rest day nor night” (Revelation 4:8). Two worlds, but only one law. Here from grace to grace, there from glory to glory. Here “faithful in that which is least” (Luke 16:10), there “ruler over many things” (Matthew 25:23). The first word is, Be faithful; and the second, Be faithful; and the third, Be faithful. Nehemiah 3:3. “If a man would stand on figures and allegories, this gate may well signify Christ, who made his apostles and preachers fishers of men, who by him brought and daily bring them into this spiritual Jerusalem; for he is only the door whereby all must enter into the Lord’s city. These men, like good builders, leave nothing undone that might fortify that gate; for they set on not only the doors, but also bolts and locks. So must God’s Church be made strong by laws, discipline, and authority, that ravening lions and filthy-swine rush not in and disquiet or devour God’s people; and the wholesome doctrine must be confirmed with strong arguments and reasons against false teachers.”—Pilkington.Working for the unknown future. “An old tattered volume found among his father’s books, Bunny’s ‘Resolutions,’ aroused Richard Baxter to concern; and Sibb’s ‘Braised Reed’ led him to the Saviour. From Baxter’s pen proceeded ‘The Call to the Unconverted,’ which, in addition to its most extensive circulation elsewhere, was given by a beggar at the door where Philip Doddridge lived. It was the voice of God to the youthful reader, who became the author of ‘The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul’—a book which gave the first impression to William Wilberforce. He became the author of ‘A Practical View of Christianity,’ which was blessed to the conversion of Leigh Richmond, a successful minister, and author of ‘The Dairyman’s Daughter’ and ‘Young Cottager,’ little works that have had many seals in souls won to God. The ‘Practical View’ was also instrumental in the saving change of Dr. Chalmers, whose works are world-wide, and whose labours were so eminently owned for the revival of religion in the ministry and people of Scotland.”—Dr. Steel.RIVAL CLASSES Nehemiah 3:5. And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their LordThe rivalry of classes in all history. 1. Use of this ricalry. The mutual suspicion and watchfulness of classes serves to put all on their best behaviour; one is as a goad to the other for exertion in industry and excellence. 2. Abuse of this rivalry. All the hatreds and bigotries and wars of mankind. I. Rival classes. 1. A noble peasantry. “The Tekoites.” (1) Simplicity. Lowly life is favourable to simplicity of aim and endeavour. Among the poor you find the most faithful servants; among the poor the Church finds her most diligent workers. Men who have been grinding at the tread-mill of hard labour all the week are the men who work the wheels of Christian service on a Sunday. Among the “better people” of religious communions “the labourers are few.” (2) Devotion. Steady adherence to great principles is more often found amongst the poor. There is something in the saying about ignorance being the mother of devotion. Not in the cynical sense. But those who see only the hard realities of life are often capable of deep attachment to friends and to God and to a great cause, while the dilettante “feels no interest” in anything human or Divine. Enthusiasm is a popular quality. 2. An effeminate aristocracy. (1) Selfishness. Not confined to one class, but in its hardest manifestations to be found among the gay and worldly, who have multiplied their natural wants by a thousand artificial needs. To expect a burst of noble-hearted, generous enthusiasm from the frozen circle of worldly society is to look for grapes on thorns and figs from the thistle-stalk. [Of course in all this contrast we are only keeping in mind the really worldly circle, and are not forgetting the fact that in Jerusalem’s rebuilding and in the reconstructions of English history the noble have nobly stood to the front.] (2) Pride. Beautiful is the way in which modern society is returning in many respects to humility in regard to practical things. A Prince of Wales sends his boys to the routine of a sailor apprenticeship; a Duke of Argyle sends his son to a house of business; a gentleman’s son doffs his neat coat and stoops down, hammer in hand, in the engineer’s yard. In this there is a more hopeful sight than when the proud nobles of Jerusalem disdained the rough work which the God-inspired Nehemiah designed. II. Rival views. 1. Popular desire for reform. (1) Politically. Trace course of national history. Instance the case of the Corn Laws, with its mechanic poet Ebenezer Elliott. (2) Ecclesiastically. Nothing is so fatal to a Church as for the people to let Church government alone and leave it to professional men. The sheep are for the sake of the shepherd in farming; but Christ’s shepherds are for the sake of the flock. In our Lord’s time “the common people heard him gladly” (Mark 12:37); but it was asked as an incredible thing, “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?” (John 7:48). The Reformation was a reply to the people, who groaned by reason of the afflictions wherewith the taskmasters afflicted them. (3) Theologically. The popular sentiment is the curb of theological opinion. What men, as men, think and feel are the governor-halls of the great logic-engine of systematic theology. The mother’s heart in the theologian adjusts his harsh, cold views of God. 2. Reform cried down by the nobles. The doctrine of standing still is only preached by the few who find the place comfortable; the “noble discontent” which spurs on the needy and oppressed is the animation of all reform in State or Church. “Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey.Where wealth accumulates, and men decay:Princes and lords may flourish or may fade;A breath can make them, as a breath has made;But a bold peasantry, their country’s pride,When once destroyed, can never be supplied.”Goldsmith’s ‘Deserted Village.’Application. 1. Beware of luxurious aspirations. Think not merely of the pleasures of greatness, but of its enervating perils. 2. Remember that the duties of individual manhood and the sources of happiness in the individual character remain the same under all changes of costume and title. A man is never more or less than a servant of the great Taskmaster, and a fellow-labourer with others in the ruined city of Mansoul. 3. Beware of indolence and pride, and do thy task for God and man. A life of idleness. “And who art thou that braggest of thy life of idleness; complacently showest thy bright gilt equipages, sumptuous cushions, appliances for folding of the hands to mere sleep? Looking up, looking down, around, behind, or before, discernest thou, if it be not in May-fair alone, any idle hero, saint, god, or even devil? Not a vestige of one. In the heavens, in the earth, in the waters under the earth is none like unto thee. Thou art an original figure in this creation, a denizen in Mayfair alone, in this extraordinary century or half-century alone! One monster there is in the world—the idle man.”—Carlyle.Rich and poor. “Let not the rich misread the signs of the times, or mistake their brethren; they have less and less respect for titles and riches, for vestments and ecclesiastical pretensions; but they have a real respect for superior knowledge and superior goodness; they listen like children to those whom they believe to know a subject better than themselves. Let those who know it say whether there is not something inexpressibly touching and even humbling in the large, hearty, manly English reverence and love which the working-men show towards those who love and serve them truly, and save them from themselves and from doing wrong. Alas! we have been very ready to preach submission. For three long centuries we have taught submission to the powers that be, as if that were the only text in Scripture bearing on the relations between the ruler and the ruled. Rarely have we dared to demand of the powers that be Justice; of the wealthy man and the titled duties. We have produced folios of slavish flattery upon the Divine right of power. Shame on us! we have not denounced the wrongs done to weakness, and yet for one text in the Bible which requires submission and patience from the poor, you will find a hundred which denounce the vices of the rich; in the writings of the noble old Jewish prophets, that, and almost that only; that in the Old Testament, with a deep roll of words that sound like Sinai thunders; and that in the New Testament in words less impassioned and more calmly terrible from the apostles and their Master; and woe to us, in the great day of God, if we have been the sycophants of the rich instead of the redressers of the poor man’s wrongs.”—F. W. Robertson.What the poor have done. “Thomas Cranfield, a tailor, established a prayer-meeting among the brickmakers in Kingsland, which was held every morning at five o’clock. He established schools at Rotherhithe, Tottenham, Kent Street, Southwark, the Mint, Garden Row, St. George’s, Rosemary Lane, and Kennington. John pounds, a Portsmouth cobbler, was the founder of ragged schools. Harlan Page consecrated letter-writing to the highest end—the salvation of souls.”—Dr. Steel.Handicraft. “It is not a mean thing to labour with the hand. There is a dignity in every duty, and especially in this. Since the Carpenter of Nazareth toiled at his bench and made tools for Galilean peasants, labour has had a dignity, and artisans an elevation, and workshops a consecration. After this, the lantern-making of King Ζropus, the ship-building of the Czar Peter, or the watch making of the Emperor Charles V., could do little to exalt it.”—Dr. Steel.“Let not ambition mock their useful toil,Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smileThe short and simple annals of the poor.”Gray’s Elegy.THE OLD GATE Nehemiah 3:6. Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada, &c. Memory needs to be awakened. Forgetting may be impossible, but we cannot always recollect. Illustration:—“I am convinced that the dread book of account which the Scriptures speak of is, in fact, the mind itself of each individual. Of this at least I feel assured, that there is no such thing as forgetting possible to the mind; a thousand accidents may and will interpose a veil between our present consciousness and the secret inscriptions on the mind; accidents of the same sort will also rend away this veil; but alike, whether veiled or unveiled, the inscription remains for ever, just as the stars seem to withdraw before the common light of day, whereas, in fact, we all know that it is the light which is drawn over them as a veil, and that they are waiting to be revealed when the obscuring daylight shall have withdrawn.”—De Quincey.I. The old gate brought up memories of the PAST. The past is valuable. God does not work instantaneously. Instance the seasons. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/phc/ NOTES.] Nehemiah 4:1-6 are in the Hebrew v. 33–38 of chap. Nehemiah 3:1 Nehemiah 4:1. Sanballat] See on chap. Nehemiah 2:10. That we builded the wall] That we were building it (participle expresses not merely resolve, but act of commencing). Mocked] Afraid to use violence. Nehemiah 4:2. Before his brethren] i. e. Tobiah and his brethren in council. The army of Samaria] It is likely that Sanballat had brought an armed force in sight of the city. What do these feeble Jews? &c.] Keil makes two pairs of questions. Will they leave the building of the fortified walls to themselves? i. e. Do they think they are able with their poor resources to carry out this great work? Will they sacrifice? i. e. bring sacrifices to obtain God’s miraculous assistance? Sanballat casts scorn upon the Jews’ ability and upon their faith in God. Second pair of questions; Will they finish the work to-day, directly? Have they even the requisite materials? Will they revive? &c. The building-stone of Jerusalem was limestone, which, softened by fire, loses its vitality. Nehemiah 4:3. Tobiah] See on chap. Nehemiah 2:10. If a fox go up] Foxes in great numbers infested the ruined and desolate places in the mount and city of Zion (Lamentations 5:18). Nehemiah 4:4. Hear, O our God] An imprecatory prayer anticipating God’s justice. Nehemiah 4:5. Cover not] i. e. forgive not (Psalms 85:2). Nehemiah 4:6. All the wall was joined together unto the half thereof] Completed to the half of the intended height. Nehemiah 4:7. The Arabians] Those in Samaria. See on chap. Nehemiah 2:19. The Ammonites] Incited by their countryman Tobiah. Ashdodites] Inhabitants of Ashdod, a Philistine city destroyed three hundred years after. That the walls of Jerusalem were made up] Lit. that a bandage was applied to the walls of Jerusalem. A Biblical expression (2 Chronicles 24:13; Jeremiah 8:22; Jeremiah 30:17; Jeremiah 33:6). Nehemiah 4:9. We] Nehemiah and the superintendents of the work. Nehemiah 4:10. Judah said, &c] The labour is beyond our power. Nehemiah 4:12. Ten times] i. e. frequently. Nehemiah 4:13. Therefore set I, &c.] Nehemiah placed detachments properly armed at such points of the walls as had attained the least height, and were most exposed to attack.—Crosby. Nehemiah 4:14. And I looked, &c] These words can only mean, When I saw the people thus placed with their weapons, I went to them, and said to the nobles, &c., “Be not afraid of them” (the enemies): “remember the Lord, the great and the terrible,” who will fight for you against your enemies (Deuteronomy 3:22; Deuteronomy 20:4; Deuteronomy 31:6), and fight ye for your brethren, your sons and daughters, wives and houses, whom the enemies would destroy.—Keil. Nehemiah 4:15. God had brought their counsel to nought] Although by natural means. Nehemiah 4:16. My servants] Nehemiah’s personal retinue. Habergeon] Old English for “coat of mail.” The rulers, &c.] i. e. each was behind his own people who were employed on the work, to encourage them in their labour, and in case of attack to lead them against the enemy. Nehemiah 4:17. They which builded, &c.] The burden-bearers worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other. Nehemiah 4:18. The builders, &c.] Needing both hands for their work had swords girt to their sides. Nehemiah 4:22. Lodge within Jerusalem] Those that had their homes in the villages and distant towns should now continue night and day in the city. Nehemiah 4:23. Saving that every one put them off for washing] A puzzling sentence. Conjectures and emendations have been resorted to. The idea of the whole verse is clear—unceasing watchfulness. OF CHAPTER 4 Nehemiah 4:1-23. An Undaunted Heart.Nehemiah 4:1-23. Active Hostility frustrated.Nehemiah 4:1-23. The Soldier Builders.Nehemiah 4:1-3. The Laws of Opposition.Nehemiah 4:1. Anger.Nehemiah 4:2. The Day of Small Things.Nehemiah 4:4-9. Praying and Working.Nehemiah 4:4-5. Imprecations.Nehemiah 4:11. The Craft and Cruelty of the Church’s Adversaries.Nehemiah 4:11. Satanic Subtlety.Nehemiah 4:15. A Pause in the Work.Nehemiah 4:17-18. The Work and Warfare of Life.AN HEART Chap. 4 THE childlike piety and the white integrity of Nehemiah not more marked than his heroic undauntedness. Recapitulate his progress from the first resolution:—silent cherishing of his purpose; maturing of his plans; organized schemes and allotments of labour; vigilant precautions; cheery “FEAR NOT!” “Be not ye afraid” (Nehemiah 4:14). A model to the Christian workman and soldier. I. Reasons for fear. 1. Ridicule (Nehemiah 4:1-3). “Mocked.” Jesus Christ mocked and spitted on. And it is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master (John 9:28). “Foolishness” of apostolic preaching. Greek philosophy and Roman civilization, scorn and reviling of the Nazarenes. Religion not the only department in which the right has been reviled by the wrong. Science has always begun to climb upward amid the laughter of circling ignorance. Most great principles have had a point in their history when they were believed in by one and ridiculed by all the rest. Instance—George Stephenson and the railway enterprise. (a) Don’t be ashamed of your Christian faith; let Sanballat and Tobiah laugh themselves hoarse; follow thou after life! (b) Don’t be ashamed of your Christian work. It is easy for a keen witling to pull out his cigar and point to a humorous element in your little tasks. “What do these feeble Christians? Will they revive the stony hearts of fallen men, and rear a dwelling-place for truth and peace amid the rubbish of the world?” They will, God being their helper! 2. Guile. In chap. 6 are accounts of strategy adopted by Nehemiah’s opponents where it required a wise head to keep the heart firm. Plausible pretences of enemies and feigned friendship were of no avail to bend the iron purpose of the Jewish liberator. Nehemiah’s enemies bade him join them for a conference in order to trap and hinder him (Nehemiah 6:2-3); they warned him to beware of his reputation (Nehemiah 6:6); they urged him to “show the white feather” (Nehemiah 6:11). “Satan is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). (a) How many plausible excuses a treacherous heart and a worldly friend can coin for postponement of religious decision and devotion, (b) How many reasons might not every one find in the world’s opinion for leaving his Christian work undone. “Be ye wise as serpents” (Matthew 10:16). 3. Force (Nehemiah 4:8). The conspiring rabble around the rebuilders of Jerusalem but an emblem of the circling forces which press upon the servant of God. Our way is like the way of Paul’s mariners, against “contrary winds.” Our progress is disputed “inch by inch.” (1) The oppositions to the culture of the Christian character are manifold. A false heart within; a sin-maximed world without j break-downs and discouragements in experience. (2) So of the oppositions to Christian work. You must rebuild your fallen fellows into society not because you are invited to do it, but in face of oppositions; nay, “the very stones will cry out;” the people you want to lift up will try in this to throw you down, or at least will “conspire to hinder.” “But consider him!” (Hebrews 12:3). II. Motives for courage. 1. The power of God (Nehemiah 4:14-15). The courage of Moses based on the “Certainly I will be with thee” of God (Exodus 3:12). David’s fearlessness rested on the “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalms 20:7). The three Hebrew children were firm because “our God is able to deliver us” (Daniel 3:17). The undaunted apostles were fixed on the same centre (Acts 4:29-30). “And were this world all devils o’er,And watching to devour us,We lay it not to heart so sore;Not they can overpower us.And let the prince of illLook grim as e’er he will,He harms us not a whit.For why? His doom is writ;word shall quickly slay him.”2. The strength of right. “Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just.” “My strength is as the strength of ten,Because my heart is pure.”“Great is truth, and shall prevail.” All such maxims of the ancient and the modern world bear the popular faith that RIGHT is MIGHT. “The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17). To have “this testimony, that we please God,” is to be clad in triple steel. III. Expedients of the imperilled. 1. Prayer (Nehemiah 4:4; Nehemiah 4:9). “We made our prayer unto God.” “I cried unto the Lord” is the Christian’s explanation of many a hairbreadth escape. 2. Vigilance (Nehemiah 4:9). “We set a watch against them day and night.” “Hear the victors that o’ercame.Still they mark each warrior’s way,All with one sweet voice exclaim,Watch and pray.”3. Hope (Nehemiah 4:20). “Our God shall fight for us.” Giant Despair is a sad foe of Christian souls. The stroke of despondency stuns us like a blow on the head; therefore “take the helmet of hope” (1 Thessalonians 5:8). 4. Perseverance (Nehemiah 4:21 and Nehemiah 4:23). Application. In Christian life and in Christian work take as a motto Poly-carp’s words to his pupil—“Stand thou firm as an anvil that is beaten.” “Write on thy heart this holy principle,Nobly resolve and do as thou resolvest,Thou shalt not die till victory crown thy brows.”ACTIVE Chap. 4 Various forms of active hostility frustrated through the combined vigilance and prayer of the Church. “The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces” (1 Samuel 2:10). Whenever a door of usefulness is opened there are many adversaries (1 Corinthians 16:9). Stand firm and fearless, “in nothing terrified by your adversaries” (Philippians 1:28). “Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord!” (a) Remember the Lord God, who has been described as All-eye. Let this encourage. He knows all the details of individual lives. Let this warn. He scrutinizes all thoughts and deeds. (b) Remember the Lord Christ. “All his adversaries were ashamed” (Luke 13:17). I. Hostility to the work of God assuming phases of growing intensity. 1. Rage. Sanballat had laughed (Nehemiah 2:19); now he is enraged (Nehemiah 4:1). 2. Mockery (Nehemiah 4:2). Tobiah was only Sanballatʼ ?s echo (Nehemiah 4:3). 3. Conspiracy (Nehemiah 4:7-8). This opposition a sign of success; an honour paid to truth. When Dr. Johnson wrote anything that was not vilified he said, “I did not strike hard enough, or the blow would rebound.” “Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you!” (Luke 6:26). II. The Church fortifying herself against expected assault. 1. By appealing to God (Nehemiah 4:4-5). “Eight times in this book Nehemiah interjects a prayer. They are prayers while writing, not while acting. The grounds of this prayer are— (1) God’s people are despised; (2) excited to fear by the enemy.”—Crosby. “Prayer is a sure anchor in all storms; and they never perish that humbly fly unto it and cleave unto it. Prayer is a salve for all sores; yea, it healeth not only body and soul, but even hard stony walls. No kind of earthly physic that God hath made is good for all kind of folk at all times, and all kind of diseases; but this heavenly physic of prayer, in wealth and woe, in plenty and poverty, in prosperity and adversity, in sickness and in health, in war and peace, in youth and age, in life and death, in mirth and sadness, yea, in all things and times, in the beginning, midst, and ending, prayer is most necessary and comfortable. Happy is that man that diligently useth it at all times.”—Pilkington. 2. By redoubled activity in prosecuting the work. “So built we the wall,” &c. (Nehemiah 4:6). “Prayer did not slacken the energy of the Jews. They experienced the redoubled zeal and activity which all true prayer produces. They made their prayer to God, and set a watch against their foes day and night. All the natural means, whether of mind or matter, form channels through which God conveys his grace in answer to prayer. To stop these channels is to cancel prayer. Prayer was never intended to foster idleness or diminish responsibility.”—Crosby. 3. By organized vigilance (Nehemiah 4:9). 4. By defensive preparations (Nehemiah 4:13). “The Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward” (Exodus 14:15). There is a time to pray and a time to prepare to fight. Let the farmer sow his seed, and then pray for rain and sunshine. 5. By mutual encouragement (Nehemiah 4:14). Workers tire; warriors flee when hope dies. 6. By self-denying assiduity (Nehemiah 4:16; Nehemiah 4:21-23). III. The evil counsels of the Church’s adversaries frustrated by Divine interposition. “God brought their counsel to nought” (Nehemiah 4:15). “Our God shall fight for us.” There are laws; is there not a law-giver? There are agencies; point they not to an agent? Will our modern magicians never say, like those of Egypt (Exodus 8:19), “This is the finger of God.” “Oft in danger, oft in woe,Onward, Christians, onward go;Fight the fight, maintain the strife,Strengthened with the bread of life.Onward, then, to glory move,More than conquerors ye shall prove:Though opposed by many a foe,Christian soldiers, onward go.”THE SOLDIER Chap. 4 Energy, unity, and perseverance (chap, 3) give way to discouragement within and conspiracy without. I. Combination of prayer and watchfulness (Nehemiah 4:9). Prayer without watchfulness is hypocrisy; watchfulness without prayer is presumption. An old writer, speaking of men as stewards, urges wise trading. Their (i. e. heart and memory) must store up precious things—holy affections, grateful remembrances, celestial preparations. Their (or their actions), wherein they retail to others. Their CLOCK-HOUSE (e. g. their speech), which must speak the truth. Their -HOUSE (or conscience), which should be scrupulously kept, or everything else will fail. II. Combination of precept and example. Nehemiah “looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid,” &c. (Nehemiah 4:14). But he was not content with that. “WE returned to the wall” (Nehemiah 4:15). “He that sounded the trumpet was by me” (Nehemiah 4:18). III. Every builder was also a soldier. “They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded” (Nehemiah 4:17-18). IV. A mutual co-operation went hand in hand with personal work and responsibility. “Every one unto his work” (Nehemiah 4:15). (Abridged from Rev. J. M. Randall’s ‘Nehemiah, his Times and Lessons.’) THE LAWS OF Nehemiah 4:3. But it came to pass, &c. The unconscious working of men’s minds is a servant of law. There is a reign of law. Distinguished Christian thinkers hold that the great scientific doctrine of evolution “ratifies all that is highest and holiest in the nature of man,” and makes out a new “claim to reverent acceptance of supernatural truths.” There is a Divine government of the passions of men. “Surely the wrath of men shall praise thee,” &c. (Psalms 76:10). “The emotions excited by the passions in our senses are not free. An angry man is carried beyond himself in spite of himself. These emotions are not proportional. A timorous man turns as pale at the sight of a fanciful as of a real danger. These emotions do not obey the orders of our will. The movement is not a gentle stream, but a rapid flood.”—Saurin. Sanballat was angry; Tobiah was scornful. I. Men seek in others what they find in themselves. The old maxim of English law. Every man is to be deemed honest until he is proved to be a rogue; the dishonest the reverse. Cowards disbelieve in bravery. There is a moral obliquity of vision. The unjust cannot appreciate justice. Impure men suspect impurity everywhere. The compact of the wicked is not binding. Judas and the priests. “I have sinned.” “What is that to us?” (Matthew 27:4-6). They cast off Judas when he had served their purpose, and took back their own accursed coins. All wrong-doing is blunder as well as crime. Marvellously deep and philosophic are the prophet’s words: “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?” (Isaiah 55:2). II. All the branches of opposition grow out of the great trunk of selfishness. Sanballat the Samaritan and Tobiah the Ammonite rejoiced in the laying waste of Jerusalem. Its loss was their gain. “Our gain” explains many facts of history in ancient and modern times. Selfish gain has entered temples, disgraced senate houses, tarnished otherwise fair reputations. Gain has been England’s god. Speculation has been a species of madness. “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others,” is a peculiarly Christian injunction. III. Great work is generally accomplished by a committee of one. There was one Nehemiah against Sanballat, Tobiah, men of Arabia, &c. (Nehemiah 4:7); one Luther against Rome, the monks, and the schoolmen; one Tindal against Bishop Tonstal and Sir Thomas More. John Evangelist Gossner was a solitary worker—“One-in-hand” somebody styled him. “It’s quite true,” he said, laughing, when it came to his ears; “and yet old ‘One-in-hand’ carries more passengers than your Four.” Organize, organize—that is well. But individuality is lost in the mass. Application. 1. “We mortal millions dwell alone.” 2. The way of sorrow leadeth to the city of God. 3. Whatever has value is bought at a high price. Illustrations:—The spirit of cynicism. “The Cynics were a sect of philosophers among the Greeks, founded by Antisthenes, who, on account of his snappish, snarling propensities, was frequently called ‘the dog;’ and probably enough it may have been on account of this that his school of philosophy was called the Cynic or Dog school. He was stern, proud, and unsympathetic. He taught that all human pleasure was to be despised. He was ostentatiously careless as to the opinions, the feelings, and the esteem of others. He used to appear in a threadbare dress, so that Socrates once exclaimed, ‘I see your pride, Antisthenes, peeping through the holes in your cloak!’ His temper was morose, and his language was coarse and indecent. It is from this old school of philosophy that we derive the term cynicism; and we commonly apply it now-a-days to that mood or habit of mind which looks out upon mankind with cold and bitter feeling, which finds little or nothing to admire in human character and action, which systematically depreciates human motives, which rejoices to catch men tripping, which sneers where others reverence, and dissects where others admire, and is hard where others pity, and suspects where others praise. Distinguish between cynicism and satire. No doubt the cynic is often satirical; satire is just the kind of weapon that comes ready to his hand. But the same weapon may-be wielded by very different hands, and in very different causes; and satire may often be employed by men who are anything but cynical. There is such a thing as genial satire—the light and even humorous play of irony or sarcasm around some venial fault, or some peculiar excrescence of character. Then there is also the satire of moral indignation, which applies the stinging lash to manifest vices, or pours the vials of scorn on some detestable meanness, in order to make the shameless ashamed, or to infuse a healthy contempt of vice into the souls of those who are still uncontaminated by it. The old Hebrew prophets knew how to wield this weapon, and even in the pages of the New Testament it finds its fitting place. In fact, all such satire as this—whether of the genial or the vehement type—is often used by men who are passionate admirers of human excellence, and who are not only warmly attached to individuals, but also earnest lovers of their race. Whereas it is the very characteristic of cynicism that it lacks earnestness. It knows nothing of a noble scorn. Its satire is neither genial nor vehement. Even its humour is always sardonic. Its very bitterness, although intense, is unimpassioned. It is a kind of acrid gelatine. The fully-developed cynic prides himself on his indifferentism. Remorselessly he dissects and analyzes human character and action; for, like Iago, he ‘is nothing, if not critical;’ but his criticism has no useful end in view; he is not seeking to make others wiser or better. He is scarcely earnest enough even to care about his success in stinging and wounding? It is simply his ‘way’ to pick faults and to sneer. We find the culmination of this cynicism in Goethe’s ‘Mephistopheles;’ and indeed the word ‘devil’ itself means ‘accuser’—the slanderer of God and man.”—Finlayson.“Let us keep our scorn for our own weaknesses, our blame for our own sins, certain that we shall gain more instruction, though not amusement, by hunting out the good which is in anything than by hunting out the evil.”—Kingsley.“Sarcasm I now see to be, in general, the language of the devil: for which reason I have long since as good as renounced it.”—Carlyle.ANGER Nehemiah 4:1. Sanballat was wroth, and took great indignationIt is not a sin to be angry, but hard not to sin when we are angry. Anger is a tender virtue, and such as by reason of our unskilfulness may be easily corrupted and made dangerous. He that in his anger would not sin, must not be angry at anything but sin. Our Saviour was angry with Peter, and angry with the Pharisees for the hardness of their hearts (Matthew 16:23; Mark 3:5). Moses was even blown up with holy anger at the people for the golden calf. “Do not I hate them that hate thee? I hate them with a perfect hatred,” saith David; “I count them mine enemies” (Psalms 139:21). This is the anger of zeal, found in Phinehas, Elijah, Elisha, our Saviour, John 2:17; and should have been found in Adam towards his wife, in Eli towards his sons, in Lot towards his servants (Genesis 13:7). It must have a good rise and a good end, saith Bucer, else it becomes a mortal, not a venial, sin, as the Papists fondly conclude from Matthew 5:22 : “Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause,” &c. There is a just cause then of anger; sin, as an offence to God. And there must be a just measure observed, that our anger for sin render us not unfit either to pity the sinner (as our Saviour in his anger did the obstinate Pharisees) or to pray for him (as Moses for those idolaters he was so enraged at—Exodus 32:31-32). Anger that is not thus bounded is but a “momentary madness,” saith the heathen; it resteth in the bosom of fools, saith Solomon, whether it be anger, wrath, or hatred (for into those three degrees Damascen distinguisheth it). The one, saith he, hath beginning and motion, but presently ceaseth; the other taketh deep hold in the memory; the third desisteth not without revenge. Clichloveus compareth the first to fire in stubble; the second to fire in iron; the third to fire that is hid and never bewrayeth itself, but with the ruin of the matter wherein it hath caught. Some are sharp, some are bitter, a third kind are implacable, saith Aristotle. The first are the best, that, as children, are soon angry and as soon pleased again. “Be ye children in malice” (1 Corinthians 14:20). Of Beza, his colleagues would often say that, like the dove, he was without a gall. Giles of Brussels, martyr, when the friars (sent to reduce him) did any time miscall him, he ever held his peace, insomuch that those blasphemers would say abroad that he had a dumb devil in him. Cassianus reports that when a certain Christian was held captive of infidels, tormented with divers pains and ignominious taunts, being demanded by way of scorn and reproach, “Tell us what miracle thy Christ hath done?” he answered, “He hath done what you see, that I am not moved at all the-cruelties and contumelies you cast upon me.” Christ did “not strive, nor cry, nor did any man hear his voice in the streets;” who, “when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (Matthew 12:19; 1 Peter 2:23). So did Moses when murmured against by Aaron and Miriam. He was meek, and complained not. The less any man strives for himself, the more is God his champion. Anger is a short devil, saith Chrysostom; the fury of the unclean spirit. “Wrath killeth the foolish man” (Job 5:2), delivers him to the destroyer, if it rest in his bosom especially, and lodge a night with him, which is the second degree above mentioned. “Let not therefore the sun go down upon your wrath;” for that is all one as to give place to the devil, who hereby entereth the heart and takes possession. Many there are that suffer the sun not only to go down upon their anger, but to run his whole race, yea, many races, ere they can be reconciled; whereby their anger becomes inveterate, and turns into malice, for anger and malice differ but in age. Now “cursed be this anger, for it is fierce; and this wrath, for it is cruel” (Genesis 49:7). It is the murder of the heart (Matthew 5:21 seq.); the fountain of the murder both of the tongue and hand. Hence it is said, “He that hateth his brother is a man-slayer” (1 John 3:15). He is so in desire, he would be so in deed if he durst. There is a passion of hatred and there is the habit of it. The former is a kind of averseness and rising of the heart against a man when one sees him, so that he cannot away with him, nor speak to nor look courteously or peaceably upon him, but one’s countenance falls when he sees him, and he even turns away, and by his good will would have nothing to do with him: this is the passion of hatred. The habit of it is when the heart is so settled in this alienation and estrangement that it grows to wish and desire and seek his hurt. This is that third and worst sort of anger. Are we mortal, and shall our anger be immortal? To be revenged is more honourable than to be reconciled, saith Aristotle. This is the voice of nature. Thus “the spirit that is in us lusteth to envy.” But God giveth more grace. 1. Cease therefore from anger and refrain strife. “Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil” (Psalms 37:8). When thou findest thyself incensed and chafing ripe, presently lay a necessity of silence upon thyself; as Ahasuerus walked a while in his garden ere he would pass sentence upon Haman. Another repeated the Greek alphabet ere he would say or do anything in his anger. He doth better that repeateth some grave sentences of Scripture, such as these: “Be angry, but sin not; be slow to wrath; avenge not yourselves, but give place to wrath; submit to God; resist the devil, and he will fly from you.” This devil of anger, if thus resisted by Scripture, will surely fly; he cannot bide by it; especially if we set ourselves to pray it down. 2. Get thy heart purified by faith, for faith makes patience. When the disciples heard that they must forgive till seventy times seven times in a day, they prayed, “Lord, increase our faith” (Luke 17:5). The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable (James 3:17). Unrepentant David was cruel to the Ammonites. The devils are most impure, and therefore most malicious; Christ, on the other side, most pure, and therefore most gentle. 3. Study to be quiet and do your own business. Seldom is a patient man inquisitive, or an inquisitive man patient. It doth require much study to live quietly. 4. Consider the deformity, disgrace, and danger of anger. Plato and Seneca have advised the angry man to look at his face in a glass. Anger hurteth not great minds. 5. Consider wisely of God’s providence, presence, patience. Set God before thy passions, and they will be soon hushed. 6. Add a constant endeavour to be lowly. Keep the strict watch of the Lord over your heart; pray down your passions. Your labour will not be in vain. (From Trapp’s ‘Marrow of many good Authors.’) THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS Nehemiah 4:2. What do these feeble Jews?Two great events in the history of the returned captives from Babylon: building the second temple; rebuilding and fortifying the city. Subject—That God produces great events by comparatively feeble means. I. As it relates to the objects of personal religion. “What do these feeble Jews?” Zechariah said, Who hath despised the day of small things? (Nehemiah 4:10). We may ask, Who has not? All do. It is quite to the taste of human nature in its search after that which is great to overlook that which is small. The captives did so as well as their heathen persecutors; they wept when they saw the foundation (Ezra 3:12). Zerubbabel and Zechariah probably did too. “Not by might!” (Zechariah 4:6). Good men do, both in judging of their own religion and that of other people. It is possible to err on the side of despondency as well as on that of presumption. We dishonour God as much by denying the grace we have as by boasting of the grace we have not. We ought not to despise it because it is day. (á) A day which God originates; (â) the day of Christ’s power; (ϒ) a day which must advance to its perfection, and shall never know a night. Though man despises it, God does not. He sees the flower in the bud, the pearl in the shell, the man in the infant, the heir of glory in the child of grace. He sees not only what they are, but what they shall be. Remember that God accomplishes his greatest designs by apparently slight and inconsiderable means. (a) In nature. (b) In providence. (c) In grace. The birth of an infant child in the manger at Bethlehem seemed a very ordinary occurrence, but it was an event on which the salvation of the world was made to turn. The cross of Christ is to them that perish foolishness; to the saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). The rod of Moses; Gideon’s lamps, pitchers, and trumpets; the rams’ horns at Jericho; David’s sling and stone, worked wonders. Pharaoh’s dreams were made the means of Joseph’s advancement. The ark, though small, saved the heirs of a shipwrecked world. Zoar, a little city, saved Lot from the shower of fire. The mantle of Elijah divided the waters of Jordan. The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32). The stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing! (Matthew 21:42.) II. That God accomplishes great events by small means encourages in all our efforts to promote the good of others. 1. To the preaching of the gospel at home and the diffusion of the gospel abroad. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:7). We are often discouraged. The disproportion between the means and the end; the slow progress of the renovating principle. We would recognize the presence and advance of the kingdom of God. Where is the Lord God of Elijah? (2 Kings 2:14). Where are the kings for nursing fathers? (Isaiah 49:23). Where are the great masters of science and literature? Where are the nations born in a day? The confederacies of guilt are still powerful, and the enemies of the truth replete with confidence. The answer to all this is, God’s ways are not our ways. That we can clothe our exertions with a power not our own. Remember, the most weak and uninfluential may be made to effect great things, as Naaman’s little maid. A mite cast into the treasury of God is not overlooked. It may produce ten talents. 2. The parent and Sunday school teacher.—Anonymous. PRAYING AND WORKING Nehemiah 4:4-9. Hear, O our God; for we are despised, &c. The man-ward side of prayer. I. It narrows the conditions of the strife. Who are Sanballat and Tobiah? Men of position, ranging under them Arabians, Ammonites, and Ashdodites—a crowd of warriors. Who is Nehemiah? A chieftain of a handful of “feeble Jews.” “Hear, O our God!” The cause is thine. “Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. Establish thou the work of our hands upon us” (Psalms 90:16-17). When, like “Moses the man of God,” any man of God discovers that God’s work and his work are one and the same thing, the aspect of affairs is changed. The contest is then spiritual. The forces arrayed are light and darkness, truth and error, God and the devil. II. It inspires energy. “So built we the wall,” &c. (Nehemiah 4:6). “Nevertheless we made,” &c. (Nehemiah 4:9). Nevertheless! The foes were many, powerful, determined, bloodthirsty. Nevertheless God was approachable. Work was possible, pressing, needing earnest minds and willing hands. III. It awakens faith. Prayer first, then work, in the assurance that the prayer will be answered and the work successful. “Patience! have faith, and thy prayer will be answered.Look at this delicate plant that lifts its head from the meadow,See how its leaves all point to the north as true as the magnet;It is the compass-flower, that the finger of God has suspendedHere on its fragile stalk, to direct the traveller’s journeyOver the sea-like, pathless, limitless waste of the desert.Such in the soul of man is faith.”Illustrations:—“ ‘Ora et labora,’ writes Dr. Wichern in one of his pleasant papers, ‘is carved on a peasant’s house in the Vierland. “It must be French,” said a neighbour’s wife, as I stood looking at the legend; “but you know it just means—With this hand work, and with the other pray, And God will bless them both from day to day.”“Ora et labora is the legend of the Christian’s faith, and the plan of his life. His fervent prayer begets honest, manly, unshrinking work; his work, as it is faithful, and it is faithful in proportion as he realizes it is for God, throws him back upon prayer. It is true that this connection is regarded with some suspicion. It is associated with the failure, and worse, of monastic life. Ora et labora was the monkish watchword with which men went into the wilderness, and builded up their lonely cells, and toiled at their simple gardens, and knelt in solemn thought of the world behind them, through long fastings and wakeful nights. But on their lips it was a profound mistake. They had cut themselves off from brotherly sympathies and social duties, from the entire sphere of Christian work. They had thrown themselves upon the selfishness of lonely hours and solitary thoughts. Their ora, earnest and well meant at first, became mechanical and unreal; their labora was a fiction. They had no right to their motto. And remembering the hollowness and hypocrisy to which their system brought them, its utter worthlessness, its world-wide scandal, men have shrunk with fear from the truth they misused. Nor are they alone guilty. Those who by practice or speech arrogate to prayer the time and place of ordinary duties are in the same error. Divorced from the common charities of life, prayer must become mechanical and untrue. If it be used to set some apart, on some sacred and haughty height above the rest and the ordinary obligations of society, if it only make them more rigid censors of others, while they themselves are less kindly, less helpful, less useful, who can wonder that the world revolts, or that the more thoughtful and reverent minds are carried to the other extreme, and boldly say that work is prayer? Work is no more prayer than prayer is work, although the looseness of the expression is often forgiven for the deeper truth of the thought. Work is no more prayer than a walk in the fields is religious worship. To the devout man both are devout; to the undevout man they are nothing. Nay, work without prayer is as dangerous, ay, and more, than prayer without work. It is the practical ignoring of God, of a spiritual world and spiritual laws. It is the start downwards to the grossest and most superstitious materialism. It is a clear peril of our present time. We do not want to be reminded of the need and dignity and sacredness of work; the whole century is preaching that; but we do want to be taught the need and sacredness of prayer, and that it is a force, of which though the world knows nothing, yet it establishes greater than the world’s works.”—Stevenson.“Prayer is a strong wall and fortress of the Church. It is a godly Christian’s weapon, which no man knows or finds but only he who has the spirit of grace and of prayer.”—Luther. Nehemiah 4:4-5. Hear, O our God; for we are despised, &c. This prayer takes its tone, form, and expression from the imprecations in the Psalms—the “Cursing Psalms,” as some have styled them. Consider we then some Specimens of such, Psalms, that we way know where the difficulty lies; and in what way if any, this difficulty may be solved. I. The following are fair specimens:— Psalms 5:10. “Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.”Psalms 10:15. “Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.”Psalms 28:4. “(Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.”Psalms 40:14. “Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.”Psalms 68:2. “As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the tire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.”Psalms 83:9-17. “Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison: which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna. O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; so persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O Lord. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish.”Psalms 109:6-15. “Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; and let. another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers he remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.”Psalms 137:7-9. “Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.”These passages seem to breathe a vindictive spirit; they seem to be opposed to the spirit of the New Testament. II. In what way is the difficulty to be solved? 1. Whatever difficulty there exists is created by the Bible itself. It cannot be said that the writers indulged in feelings which they were unwilling to record. The Bible is thus a book of candour. There was some reason for making the record. 2. It may be a fair subject of inquiry how much of what is charged as wrong, harsh, and vindictive belongs to the spirit of the age. To know how much words express, we must understand the customs and habits of the times. The strong language used by a Covenanter or a Puritan may have expressed no other internal emotion than would be expressed by the milder language which we should use. 3. Part of these passages may undoubtedly be regarded as prophetic: expressing what would be, rather than indicating any wish that such things should be. Part—not all. 4. Some of the expressions are a mere record of the feelings of others. The inspired writer is only responsible for the fairness of the record; e. g. cruelty of sons of Jacob (Genesis 34:25-29; Genesis 49:6-7), David (2 Samuel 12:31), Joab, Ahithophel, Ahab. In Psalms 137:8-9 the pleasure which they would actually feel who should wreak vengeance on Babylon is described. 5. Can such imprecations ever be right? (a) David was a magistrate, a king. As a magistrate, he represented the state, the majesty of the law, the interests of justice. (b) Punishment is right when properly inflicted. (c) Arrangements are made in every community for detecting and punishing crime, (d) A Judge who prays that he may discharge his duty has no vindictive feeling. 6. There is another solution of the difficulty. These expressions are a mere record of what actually occurred in the mind of the Psalmist, and are pre-served to us as an illustration of human nature when partially sanctified. If such is a just view of the matter, then all that inspiration is responsible for is the correctness of the record; the authors of the Psalms actually recorded what was passing in their own minds. They gave vent to their internal emotions. They state feelings which men have actually had. They do not apologize for it; they do not pause to vindicate it; they offer no word in extenuation of it, any more than other sacred writers did when they recorded the facts about the errors in the lives of the patriarchs, of David, and of Peter. In some of these ways it is probable that all the difficulties with regard to “imprecations” in the Bible may be met. Those who deny the inspiration of the records that contain them should be able to show that these are not proper explanations of the difficulty; or that they are not consistent with any just notions of inspiration.—Barnes, abridged. THE CRAFT AND CRUELTY OF THE CHURCH’S Nehemiah 4:11. And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to ceaseChapter gives view of Nehemiah’s discouragements. Like waves of the sea breaking upon him, he an unshaken rock. Like Job’s messengers, one hardly gone before another comes. Like Ezekiel’s prophecy, mischief upon mischief. First verse: adversaries’ rage. Second verse: venting itself in foam. But this is cool: it reaches blood-heat (Nehemiah 4:7-8). I. A strong combination against the Church of God. “Adversaries.” II. A wicked design they were combined in. “To cause the work to cease.” III. A bloody means propounded. “Slay them.” IV. A subtle way projected for the effecting of this. “Secretly, suddenly.” Sum of the whole. The great design of the enemies of the Church is by craft or cruelty, or both, to hinder any work that tends to the establishment or promoting of the Church’s good.—Matthew Newcomen, 1642. SATANIC Nehemiah 4:11. And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to ceaseThe malice of Satan by his members is so great against the building of God’s city, that by all means, inward enemies and outward, fair words and foul, sword, fire and faggot, war and peace, in teaching or holding their tongue, knowledge or ignorance, undermining or conspiracies, and all other devices whatsoever, they let none slip, but try all, that they may overthrow all, and not so much to do themselves good as to hinder others; to set up themselves in the sight of the world, and to deface the glory of God; but in the end all is in vain, and our God shall have the victory. They will not yet use any open violence, but cunningly come on them unawares. 1. In this serpentine, crafty, and malicious dealing of these wicked men appeareth the old serpentine nature and malice of Satan, that old enemy of God and man from the beginning. God said to the serpent that the seed of the woman should tread upon his head, and the serpent should tread upon his heel (Genesis 3). Crafty and subtle men, when they will work a mischief, go privily about it, to deceive the good man. God endued man, when he made him, with such a majesty in his face, afore he fell to sin, that all creatures did reverence and fear him; and although sin hath much defaced and blotted out that noble majesty and grace that God endued him with, yet it is not utterly disgraced and taken away, but some spark and relic remaineth at this day, that no wild nor venomous beast dare look a man in the face boldly and hurt him, but will give place for the time, and seek how he may privily wound or hurt him when he seeth him not. These crafty and subtle foxes, therefore, like the seed of the serpent, would not openly invade nor gather any great power of men against them, but at unawares steal on them privily, afore they should suspect any such thing. This is the nature of wicked men, so craftily to undermine the godly. 2. The next property of the serpent that appeareth in these wicked men is, that they mercilessly would murder them when they had once thus suddenly invaded them. Satan was “a murderer from the beginning,” as St. John saith; and therefore no marvel if his children be bloodsuckers, like unto the father. When he would not spare the innocent Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, but most cruelly crucified him, why should we marvel to see him by his wicked children so greedily seek to shed innocent blood still? 3. The last property of Satan appeareth here most plainly in these wicked men, in that they would so gladly overthrow this building of Jerusalem, that it should never be thought on any more. Satan is “the prince of this world,” and therefore cannot abide another king to reign, nor any kingdom to be set up but his own; and for maintaining of that he will strive by his members unto death. And as it falleth out thus generally in the building of God’s spiritual house and city that all sorts of enemies most diligently apply themselves, their labour, wit, power, policy, and friendship to overthrow the true worship of God, so particularly “Satan goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour,” and therefore every man hath great need to be wary and circumspect, that he be not suddenly overthrown, but let him watch and put on “the whole armour of God” (Ephesians 6:13-18), that he may stand stoutly in the day of battle, and through the might of his God get the victory. The devil never ceaseth, for if he cannot overthrow the whole Church, yet he would be glad to catch any one that belongeth to the Lord if he could.—Bishop Pilkington. A PAUSE IN THE WORK Nehemiah 4:15. We returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his workA dangerous pause. Judah had become faint—hearted (Nehemiah 4:10). The opponents were gaining strength (Nehemiah 4:11). Terror had taken hold upon the neighbouring Jews (Nehemiah 4:12.) An armed outlook was necessary (Nehemiah 4:13). Nehemiah encouraged the workers to wait the issue (Nehemiah 4:14). The enemy noted the attitude and saw that God had brought their counsel to nought (Nehemiah 4:15). The pause was over. Once again to the work. There is the truth of life in this parable. I. A period of preparation is essential to successful work. Lightly begun means easily discontinued. Count the cost (Luke 14:28-33). Raw haste is sister to undue delay. Find thy task, calculate thy strength, and rest not until the evening. Impetuous natures need patience and perseverance; fearful and timid natures need courage and self-reliance; all need encouragement. Moses—“Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh?” (Exodus 3:11-22). Joshua—“Be strong” (Joshua 1:1-9). Jeremiah—“I am a child” (Jeremiah 1:4-10). Ezekiel—“Be not afraid of them” (Ezekiel 2:3-8). Nehemiah’s workmen—“Be not ye afraid” (Nehemiah 4:13-14). II. Joyous acceptance of the allotted task is a great element of strength. Duty as duty, or duty joyously done, how different! Love thy task. Do it for its own sake, and it will become easier. Such service is perfect freedom. Men see what most interests them. An artist on entering a room sees pictures; a student books; an architect decorations. “The wide worldIs full of work, and everything thereinFinds in it its best blessedness. The beeSings at his task throughout the summer day.”III. Earnest work is sure to provoke opposition. Ridicule (Nehemiah 4:1), compromise (Nehemiah 6:2), misrepresentation (Nehemiah 6:7), attack (Nehemiah 4:8). IV. Work is instrumental in developing personal character. What canst thou do? Nehemiah proved his men by trial. V. Fluctuation in the success of an undertaking is no reason for relinquishing it (Nehemiah 4:10-15). George Stephenson’s motto was “.” “Go on, sir, go on,” was D’Alembert’s advice to a young discouraged student. John Wesley, interrogated as to the remarkable success of his followers, said, “They are all at it, and always at it.” VI. The power of combined action in meeting a common foe (Nehemiah 4:13; Nehemiah 4:23). Nelson the day before Trafalgar took two officers who were at variance to the spot where they could see the fleet opposed to them. “Yonder,” he said, “are your enemies; shake hands and be friends, like good Englishmen.” “Oh! ye the ministers of Christ, and stewards of his truth,Lead ye the band, all vigorous in faith’s immortal youth.But not alone shall ye repair,For all must aid in toil and prayer.Then let them say the work is nought, to scoff us into fear.What is the answer we must make? Calmly the walls to rear;Building with weapons girded on;Warriors until the work is done.”Enlarged from ‘Scenes from the Life of Nehemiah.’THE WORK AND WARFARE OF LIFE Nehemiah 4:17-18. They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one, &c. Nehemiah 4 one of the Bible scenes that has indelibly impressed itself upon the popular imagination. Like the “lamps, pitchers, and trumpets” of Gideon’s army, the “sword and trowel” of Nehemiah’s army has passed into a proverb. Only scenes, books, pictures, sculptures become popular that present the elementary conditions of human life, that go down to the rock on which the structure of human society rests, e. g. the parables of Jesus, Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrim’s Progress,’ Nehemiah 4 a picture of the work and warfare of life. I. The conditions of the conflict. 1. Against the solicitations of self-indulgence. “The people had a mind to work” (Nehemiah 4:6). Not always so. The spirit is not always willing. And when the spirit is willing the flesh is often weak. True (a) of the cultivation of personal character. To conquer pride, subdue passion, root out evil dispositions, to “grow in grace,” not an easy thing. In this sense “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” A Christian docs not always “sail with a straight course,” as did Paul on his first voyage to Europe (Acts 16:11). Oftener, like the same apostle on a later voyage, he “sails slowly” (Acts 27:7), or the “ship sticks fast and remains unmoveable” (Acts 27:41). Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward, is God’s message to the inspired leaders of every age. What doest thou here? is his question to every dispirited and inactive Elijah. Jonah may sit for awhile under the shadow of the gourd, but when the morning calls him to his work and to his labour the gourd perishes. True (b) of working for one’s fellows. Social and philanthropic work. How little response of gratitude from those to whom you give, from those whom you toil to raise. Religious teaching and influence. Manifold are difficulties and discouragements. Unless work be its own reward, who shall continue? No motive lower than the stars, no inspiration less stable than trust in God, will enable a man to war against the lust of self-indulgence. 2. Against foes. (a) Foes may be violent and pronounced as Sanballat (Nehemiah 4:1). With such as these a man can count. Rouse a lion, and the consequences are clear. The arch foe and many of his emissaries are not unwilling to show a bold front to a servant of God. Specially if it can be said of him— “Servant of God, well done!Well done! thy words are great and bold;At times they seem to meLike Luther’s in the days of old,Half battles for the free!”Words for freedom, for brotherhood, against oppressors, against shams, must count the cost. Reformers, Covenanters, Puritans “resisted unto blood, striving against sin” (Hebrews 12:4). (b) Foes may be subtle and plot in secret (Nehemiah 4:11). Against these we are comparatively defenceless. It is dastardly to stab in the dark. But the assassin is dastardly. Guilt makes cowards. (c) Foes have the advantage of numbers and possession (Nehemiah 4:7). They were on the ground. Nehemiah and his compatriots’ loss was their gain. “They conspired all of them together,” &c. (Nehemiah 4:8). The good have always been a minority. The great have too often been on the side of the majority. “Not many wise, not many mighty,” &c. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). “We wrestle not against flesh and blood” only, “but against principalities,” &c. (Ephesians 6:12-13). 3. Against friends, (a) Half-hearted friends (Nehemiah 4:12). They had patriotism enough to warn Nehemiah of danger. But they dwelt near the adversaries. A decided foe better than a doubtful friend. Gideon’s 300, who had not time to kneel to drink, better than countless crowds of self-indulgent people (Judges 7). “Art thou for us?” said Joshua to the angel-captain (Joshua 5.). For or against is understood. But half-heartedness never won a battle, never gained a victory. (b) Dispirited friends (Nehemiah 4:10). The wall was built somewhat, but they feared their strength would give out. Fear and faith are antagonists. Trust in thy cause, trust in the God of thy cause, cures for dispiritedness. “I know not what the future hathOf marvel or surprise,Assured alone that life and deathHis mercy underlies.And if my heart and flesh are weakTo bear an untried pain,The bruised reed he will not break,But strengthen and sustain.”II. The conditions of victory. 1. All at it (Nehemiah 4:13). Every man at work. Every man at his own work. Every man under discipline—under the rulers (Nehemiah 4:14), under Nehemiah (Nehemiah 4:18-20). Generalize these particulars. Nobody can do my work. My task is my own. No man can lift responsibility off his own shoulders. There is a cry to every man from some helpless man, or mass of men, “Come over and help us.” The unnamed disciple of John 20 did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre; but Peter first went into the sepulchre. Had he more courage or less reverence? Never mind—each left the other scope to work. St. John has left a greater name than his brother James. But James died for the truth. In this holy war men call life the feeble cannot be dispensed with. Nehemiah conferred with the nobles (Nehemiah 4:14). Nehemiah needed the bearers of burdens (Nehemiah 4:17). 2. Unslumbering vigilance. We “set a watch” (Nehemiah 4:9). “I set the people,” &c. (Nehemiah 4:13). “And it came to pass,” &c. (Nehemiah 4:16). There is a lesson of life in the heading of this chapter in our Bibles—“Nehemiah prayeth and continueth the work.” Patient waiting is a grace; perseverance is a virtue. Men are sometimes enervated by success. They become unwatchful. “Doctor,” said his wife to Martin Luther one day, “how is it that, whilst subject to papacy, we prayed so often and with such fervour, whilst now we pray with the utmost coldness and very seldom?” “Every one with one hand held a weapon” (Nehemiah 4:17). “He that sounded the trumpet was by me” (Nehemiah 4:18). “In what place ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us” (Nehemiah 4:20). These are only the dictates of worldly prudence. So true is it that “the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light” (Luke 16:8). What said the greatest Christian Teacher? “The Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore. What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch” (Mark 13:34-35; Mark 13:37). Illustration:—“That man is happy who can combine work and watching in perfect harmony—who has Stephen’s life of labour and Stephen’s vision in the end. In every soul there should be the sisters of Bethany, active effort and quiet thought, and both agreeing in mutual love and help. But Mary no longer sits at the feet of Christ and looks in his face; she stands at the door and gazes out into the open sky to watch the tokens of his coming, while in this hope her sister in the house still works. In due time he will be here to crown every humble effort with overflowing grace, to satisfy the longing soul that looks for him, and to raise all the dead for whom we weep.”—Dr. Ker.3. Resort to the unseen Refuge. “Hear, O our God” (Nehemiah 4:4). “Be not ye afraid: remember the Lord” (Nehemiah 4:14). “Our enemies heard that God had brought their counsel to nought” (Nehemiah 4:15). “Our God shall fight for us” (Nehemiah 4:20). Our God—the attestation of experience. “He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee” (Job 5:19). The Apostle Paul appealed from Festus unto Cæsar. Nehemiah appealed from Sanballat to God. In the miracle of feeding our Lord turned an inward look upon the troubled, calculating thoughts of his disciples, though “he himself know what he would do.” He turned an outward look upon the hungry, trustful crowd: “Make the men sit down.” He directed an upward look to God: “When he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes he looked up to heaven.” The inward look revealed distrust; the outward look revealed need; the upward look revealed strength and supply. A parable of life. Look abroad—the work is great; look within—calculate resources; look up—“Thy God hath commanded thy strength.” “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/phc/ NOTES.] Nehemiah 5:1. Against their brethren] i. e. the richer portion (Nehemiah 5:7). Nehemiah 5:2-4. There were that said] Keil divides into three classes. (a) The workers, who had no property. (b) Those who had mortgaged their fields, vineyards, and houses. (c) Those who had borrowed money for the king’s tribute upon their fields and vineyards. Nehemiah 5:2. We take up corn] Not by force. The words mean, We desire that corn may be provided. Nehemiah 5:3. Because of the dearth] Probably Sanballat and his army intercepted the supplies. Nehemiah 5:4. For the king’s tribute] We have made our fields and our vineyards answerable for money for the king’s tribute (Bertheau), i. e. We have borrowed money upon our fields for tribute. This they could only do by pledging the crops (comp. the law, Leviticus 25:14; Leviticus 25:17). Nehemiah 5:5. “Our brethren”] The richer Jews. The sense of the first half of the verse is, We are of one flesh and blood with these rich men. The law not only allowed to lend to the poor on a pledge (Deuteronomy 15:8), but also permitted Israelites, if they were poor, to sell themselves (Leviticus 25:39), and also their sons and daughters, to procure money. It required, however, that they who were thus sold should not be retained as slaves, but set at liberty without ransom, either after seven years or at the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:39-41; Exodus 21:2 seq,). It is set forth as a special hardship in this verse that some of their daughters were brought into bondage for maidservants.—Keil. Neither is it in our power] Lit. Our hand it not to God (Genesis 31:29). Keil explains thus: The power to alter it is not in our hand. Our fields and our vineyards are in the hands of others. Nehemiah 5:7. I consulted with myself] My heart took counsel upon it. Ye exact usury] Usury and injustice are closely allied. Nehemiah 5:8. We redeemed. Ye sell] Strong contrast. The sale of their brethren for bondservants forbidden (Leviticus 25:42). Nehemiah 5:11. Hundredth part] Probably a monthly interest. Nehemiah 5:12. I called the priests] To witness the oath. Nehemiah 5:13. I shook my lap] A symbolical action. “The lap of the garment, in which things are carried (Isaiah 49:22), where alone the word is again found.”—Keil. See for this significant action Acts 18:6; Acts 18:14. Crosby says this verse and those which follow form an interruption of the narrative. They show that Nehemiah was for twelve years governor of Judah, and did not write this history till the expiration of that time. The bread of the governor] The food and wine with which the community had to furnish him. Nehemiah 5:15. Even their servants bare rule] Arbitrary, oppressive rule. Abuse of power for extortions. Nehemiah 5:17. The rulers] The heads of the different louses of Judah. Nehemiah 5:19. Think upon me] (Comp. Nehemiah 13:14; Nehemiah 13:31). OF CHAPTER 5 Nehemiah 5:1-19. Greed corrected.Nehemiah 5:1-19. Godless Rich Men.Nehemiah 5:1-13. A Great Schism averted.Nehemiah 5:1. The Accusing Cry of Humanity.Nehemiah 5:3-5. The Miseries of Debt.Nehemiah 5:6. Righteous Anger.Nehemiah 5:7. Introspection.Nehemiah 5:7. An Assembly convoked against Sinners.Nehemiah 5:8. Inconsistency without Excuse.Nehemiah 5:9. God’s People under the Eye of a Critical World.Nehemiah 5:10. What Others do no Excuse for My doing.Nehemiah 5:12. Clenching a Good Resolution.Nehemiah 5:13. The Terrors of the Lord persuading Men.Nehemiah 5:14. A Man foregoing his Rights for the sake of his Duties.Nehemiah 5:15. A Motto for a Manly Life.Nehemiah 5:19. Conscious Integrity.Nehemiah 5:19. The Saint’s Support.Nehemiah 5:19. The Remembrance of Good Deeds a Pillow of Rest for a Good Man.GREED Chap. 5 THE chapter is complete in itself. It is not only a story, but a parable of everlasting suggestiveness. In the history of every generation we find some situation similar to the one recorded here. The great humanness of the Bible is not less striking than its divinity. God’s book is sublimely crowded with pathetic interest in man’s life. Here is a picture of the desolations of greed and their correction. I. The desolations of greed. The cry of the people in the first verse is a note in the “still, sad music of humanity” which has rung out in every age. The cry of the people in the days of Norman tyranny; the wail of nations in the priest-ridden dark ages; the lamentations of the negro race in the slaveries of the last century; the shriek of the despised people prior to the bloody struggle of the French Revolution; the clamour of the English poor in the days of the Corn Laws,—are all re-echoes of this old cry. “So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter” (Ecclesiastes 4:1). Such was the melancholy view which made Solomon praise the dead, whose eyes were shut upon the scene, and the unborn, who had the chance of coming to look upon a better spectacle. In this fifth chapter of Nehemiah we have the whole of the dark parable of poverty and oppression—hunger debt, mortgage, serfdom. Jesus Christ redeemed poverty by himself becoming poor; not to show that poverty is a good, but to show that the highest moral conditions of man’s soul may co-exist with these hard conditions. He, Jesus of Nazareth, was (temporally speaking) a vassal of Rome, and had not where to lay his head. This story of the earthly sojourn of the mighty God is a golden ray which gilds the deep valley of humiliation, where millions walk all through their threescore years and ten; but woe to those who help to deepen the gloom of that dreary place by their own narrow and damnable selfishness. “I was angry,” says Nehemiah, “when I heard their cry” (Nehemiah 5:6); and he did well to be angry. 1. WANT. Bread! bread! bread! what a cry is that to be the chief cry of immortal creatures. Yet such is and will yet be the wail of the hungry. “God deliver us,” says Isaac Walton, “from pinching poverty.” “Feed me with food convenient for me,” meekly said the good man in olden days. By industry and frugality let us offer this prayer. 2. is the result of this want. Great are thy temptations, O Poverty. What will not the poor man in the wilderness, with hunger in his body and the devil beside him, do to make stones into bread? How can a man be a man while he is kept in slavery to his pinching need? Again let the woe, woe, woe go forth upon those whose selfish greed breaks the staff of bread for the people. 3. . Here is a picture from one of Thomas Carlyle’s graphic books. “Passing by the workhouse of St. Ives in Huntingdonshire, on a bright day last autumn” (about 1840), “I saw sitting on wooden benches, in front of their Bastille, and within their ring-wall and its railings, some half hundred or more of these men. Tall, robust figures; young mostly, or of middle age; of honest countenance; many of them thoughtful and even intelligent-looking men. They sat there, near by one another; but in a kind of torpor, especially in a silence, which was very striking. In silence; for, alas, what word was to be said? An earth all lying round, crying, Come and till me, come and reap me;—yet we here sit enchanted! In the eyes and brows of these men hung the gloomiest expression, not of anger, but of grief, and shame, and manifold, inarticulate distress, and weariness. They returned my glance with a glance that seemed to say, ‘Do not look at us. We sit enchanted here; we know not why.’ There was something that reminded me of Dante’s hell in the look of all this, and I rode swiftly away.” What a dark outlook utter want has! what a dreary nightmare to lie on a human spirit! In the poor wretches whose condition stirred Nehemiah’s anger with their want and their hopeless debt and their heart-breaking family separations, as son and daughter went in pawn for bread, there is a scene to smite the buried conscience of the grinding oppressor, and to call forth some natural tears from the eyes of onlooking philanthropists. “Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.” II. The corrections of philanthropy. Like a Howard moved with pity and shame for the prisoner as if he had been his own mother’s son, or a Wilberforce making his vow to break the iron chain of the negro, Nehemiah rose up to mend the evil. It was a monster that would have frightened back to Persia a less dauntless man, but fear and discouragement were his playmates. Nehemiah proceeded to correct this evil by his exhortation and by his example. 1. Echortation. He rebuked the greed of gain. In Nehemiah 5:6-8 we have the grand outpouring of his aroused sympathies. “Then they held their peace, and found nothing to answer.” Read from Nehemiah 5:12-13. Knowing how subtle is the devil of greed, Nehemiah called the priests to a religious solemnity, that the promise of the repentant oppressors might as it were be written down in the great doom-book of God, so that each man might go back to his money-bags with his own Amen! with the curse on greed ringing in his ears. Here is an example. What is good to be done should be done in the solemn name of God. Strike the iron of a good resolution while it is hot. Second thoughts are selfish thoughts in all Divine things. Bind the soul while it. is willing fast to God’s altar. Pledges, vows, oaths; let those mock these who will. Our evil nature is a Samson, who snaps cords like tow; nay, a demoniac whom no man can bind, no, not with chains. If the obligations of a solemn pledge to God can do it, let it be done. “I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.” You who are meditating surrender to Christ, or reformation from drunkenness, or abandonment of some evil thing or associate, go and do likewise. 2. Example. Grand as was Nehemiah’s exhortation, his example is still grander. He enforced his sermon by living it out before his congregation. The perquisites of his office he abandoned for the sake of example (Nehemiah 5:15); what he might have regarded as a right he surrendered in order to be himself a type of unselfishness. His chances of gain were many. He knew what his plans were, and could have invested well in the new city; but, says he, “Neither bought we any land,” a suggestion to public persons whose office gives them the chances of gain. “I took no advantage of my opportunites.” Besides his servants, he maintained himself. The men he had brought to do the noble work of renovation were men who had claim to reward; and what was needful Nehemiah gave them out of his own private means. He wanted to build Jerusalem as Michael Angelo said he would build St Peter’s—“for the glory of God.” Application. 1. Have an ear for the cry of the poor and oppressed. Keep a heart alive for such as be prostrate. 2. Emulate Nehemiah’s self-sacrifice. Do not say, “He was a hero.” His character made him a hero. His sublime fear of God and pity for man did not flow from his heroism so much as make it. He was but a cupbearer to the king, and had a snug birth and a good stipend and great expectations, but these were chaff when compared with an opportunity of making a good mark in his generation, and of writing his name in the book of life. “By faith he obtained a good report!” Illustrations:—“Every grain of riches hath a Vermin of pride and ambition in it.” “Oppression is a bony sin” (Amos 5:12-13). “As God hath enlarged any man in his outward estate, he must be answerably enlarged in works of mercy.” “It is one thing to be rich in this world, and another thing to be rich towards God, as our Saviour phraseth it; to be rich in knowledge, as St. Paul hath it; rich in faith, as St. James.” “Highmindedness, causing men to think great things of themselves, and to seek great things for themselves, is a blab that the devil will easily blow up in rich misers, to think themselves simply the better men because richer than others, which is all one as if the silly ant, the higher she gets upon her hillock, the greater she should conceit herself.”—Trapp. “Poverty,” it has been said, “has many wants; but avarice is in want of everything.”“The sense to value riches, with the artT’enjoy them, and the virtue to impart,Not meanly nor ambitiously pursued,Not sunk by sloth, nor raised by servitude;To balance fortune by a just expense,Join with economy, magnificence;With splendour, charity; with plenty, health;O teach us.”—Alexander Pope.GODLESS RICH MEN Chap. 5 This is not the only page of the Bible on which the sins of covetousness, oppression, and luxury are linked together and denounced. Isaiah represents the Lord of Hosts looking for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry; and then hurls a Divine woe against those that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth; that rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink, &c. (Isaiah 5:7-12). Amos speaks of those who cause the seat of violence to come near, that lie upon beds of ivory (Amos 6:3-4). Micah utters a woe against those who covet fields and houses, and take them by violence (Micah 2:2). Even Christ takes up his parable against those who devour widows’ houses (Matthew 23:14). The apostles follow his example. But they remind us that other gifts may be misused—power, beauty, any gift of God. I. The value of wealth. The word of God does not despise wealth. The references to riches and rich men are no fewer than one hundred and seventy—descriptive, regulative, corrective. 1. Riches are God’s gift. Not invariably. He has not ordained that right and riches should be inseparable, or that wrong and want should be invariably cause and effect. Still it is true that “the Lord maketh poor and maketh rich.” “Riches and honours come of him.” “The earth is full of his riches.” The virtuous he “maketh fat and flourishing.” He has not made poverty the outward and visible sign of his displeasure, nor wealth of his favour. Had he done so the Church would have been sectional. Large numbers would have been shut out by circumstances. It would have been in antagonism to human weal. There is a working force and a conserving force. 2. Wealth is man’s glory. With it he can surround himself with all that is ennobling in science and art, the conveniences of life. With it he can rule men. It elevates. Prosperous families and prosperous nations become refined. II. The responsibility of wealth. We take this responsibility to be personal and relative. 1. A man owes a duty to himself. The first contrast here is between getting and covetous hoarding. The Bible preaches no Crusade against getting. It does not say, “Take no care for the morrow.” It does say, “Take not anxious, boding thought.” Christianity is a system of prudence. It imposes restraint because license leads to ruin. It gives a premium to diligence. Idleness is treated with scorn by the inspired writers. The sun shines on no fairer prospect than a diligent person; whatever his station, whatever his aim, the first condition of success is toil, the second is toil, the third is toil. But the crucial test is, “Are we getting to live?” or, “Are we living to get?” Do we lay up or lay out? At every step in our inquiry we are upon the horns of a dilemma. The breakers are on every side. The vessel needs careful piloting. Laying up is not wrong, and nature as well as revelation teaches that he that does not provide for his own house is worse than an infidel. “Naked came we into this world, and naked shall we return thither;” but we do not read that we must leave those naked whom we leave behind. For the majority this must be so. The law of life for most is from hand to mouth. Very literally their prayer is answered, “Give us this day our daily bread.” But for the middle and upper classes John Wesley’s famous rules apply. “Get all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” At eighty years of age he thus narrated his own experience. “Two-and-forty years ago I wrote many books. Some of these had such a sale as I never thought of, and by this means I unawares became rich. I gain all I can without hurting either my soul or body. I save all I can, not willingly wasting anything, not a sheet of paper, or a cup of water. I do not lay out anything, not a shilling, unless as a sacrifice to God. Yet by giving all I can I am effectually secured from laying up ‘treasures upon earth.’ And I am secured from either desiring or endeavouring it as long as I give all I can. But my own hands will be my executors.” Generally no better executors can be found. The Peabodys and Burdett-Coutts act on this principle, and their memorial remains in model cottages and Christian sanctuaries. Howard’s rule was “that our superfluities give way to other men’s conveniences; that our conveniences give way to other men’s necessities; and that even our necessities sometimes give way to other men’s extremities.” “Charity,” says Chrysostom, “is the scope of all God’s commands.” 2. A man owes a duty to others. “No man liveth to himself.” (a) We have spoken of the kingly rule of wealth. A king’s is a noble office. But sometimes kingship becomes kingcraft. Kingship rules for the good of the subject; kingcraft rules for personal ends, and then power becomes tyranny. To rule well is a difficult task. In most men the love of power is a ruling passion. In no form is it stronger than in ruling men. The pages of history are stained with the blood shed by the oppressor. But there are other thrones than that on which the monarch sits. Every master is a king. Let him never forget that kingly honours imply kingly reponsibilities. “Read the indictment in Epistle of Jas 5:1-6.” The “labourers” are dependent on you—their masters. The moral claim is stronger than the legal. There are forms of oppression which are too subtle for the coarse instruments of law. But God has a special controversy with the oppressor. “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust.” “The poor, and him that hath no helper,” find a helper in God. One duty of a Queen’s Counsel is to plead the cause of the queen’s subject, who would otherwise be defenceless. The queen is the defender of the weak. “Now will I arise,” saith the Lord, “for the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy” (Psalms 12:5); “He shall judge the poor of the people” (Psalms 72:4); and, not to quote passages, he is the Advocate of the poor, the Elevator of the poor, the Satisfier of the poor, the Deliverer of the poor. The sin of oppression is the child of covetousness. Ye exact usury! Sins which are passed by because of the power of those who commit them, or passed by because of the poverty and powerlessness of those who suffer from them, are said to cry to God. There are many species of slavery below the actual thing. When we get from our servants more than they are well able to do, when remuneration is insufficient, when in any way we prey upon their necessities we are slaveholders in all but the name. Remember, “the Lord of Hosts” is the poor’s Avenger. What hosts he can send against us. Wilt thou contend with God? “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). It is hard to possess riches without sin. They are called “the mammon of unrighteousness.” They are often possessed by the wicked, much admired by them, and not seldom gained by fraud. Many a fortune is built on wrong, and wrong is a foundation of sand. It is not easy to have them and not be hindered by them. A ship that takes in too much cargo is liable to sink. Many rich men bend under their mountain of gold. A man who should bear this burden should be a very Atlas for moral strength. The beasts become fierce when well fed. And it is hard for the purse-full to be other than purse-proud. God can best be served by a mean, “Give me not riches, lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord?” “Give me not poverty, lest I take the name of God in vain.” If riches increase, set not thine heart upon them. “Possess them; let them not possess you.” “God gives riches to the good lest they should be thought evil; he gives them to the bad lest they should be thought the only good.” It is not impossible for a rich man to be virtuous. Abraham and Job were the wealthiest men of the East. In the highest circles the fair flower of piety flourishes. Those, however, who have so much to keep them here may well find it difficult to be absorbed in the contemplation of a hereafter. Prosperity begets security. III. The punishment of misused wealth. Nehemiah cites them, as it were, to God’s judgment-seat. They are called upon to plead their cause. 1. The punishment is self-caused. “Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days,” as the New Testament apostle teaches (James 5). The punishment grows out of the gain. The wind shakes the tallest trees. The willow bends under the storm and rises when the gust is over; the oak stands until endurance is no longer possible. Men fall from eminences. He who keeps on the ground has generally secure foothold. 2. The punishment is self-inflicting. All speech is translatable by God. The young lions’ cry for prey is an appeal to God, and he gives scent and swiftness. The parched ground speaks to him and pleads that the windows may be opened, and the rain-drops fall from the closed storehouse. There is something terribly suggestive in the RUST of wrongly-withheld gain, and the helpless CRIES of the defrauded poor passing up through distant space and taking their case to the highest tribunal, pleading with an earnestness akin to that of the woman who came to the unjust judge, but, unlike her, pleading with the Judge of the whole earth, the only absolutely righteous Judge, who will surely avenge his own elect. Heard by God, it becomes the instrument of the punishment. “The canker and rust shall witness against you.” “Miseries shall come upon you.” Calamities everywhere attended the Jews soon after the ascension of Christ. Proverbial for their wealth, they were ransacked and punished. From then till now they have been a persecuted people, and mainly through their wealth. Every one remembers Shakespeare’s Shylock, and Sir Walter Scott’s Isaac of York. Covetousness brings God’s curse on our estates. He sends putrefaction, the rust, and the moth. Ill gains are equivalent to losses, because providence often scatters them. There is a “withholding that tends to poverty.” “He that will save must lose” is the gospel riddle. The best way of bringing in is laying out. What is given to the poor is lent to God, and he is a safe banker; he repays with interest. God can easily corrupt that which we lay up, and make the worm breed in manna. God is in no lack of servants to carry information or effect his purposes. Corruption, canker, moth, all are at his beck and call. Some rise from within, as corruption; some attack from without, as the moth; the rust corrupts the substance, eats it away. He can arm the elements of fire, wind, and water. He can take the lightning into his hand. The stormy wind and vapour fulfil his word, and these he can bring at last as witnesses against us. Sealed volumes. God breaks the seal, and each circumstance becomes an unbribed witness. Many things now fair-seeming will show rottenness in the day of judgment. Vividly does the prophet tell us of the houses built by oppression coming as witnesses against the owners. “The stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.” The stones will say, “We were hewn by violence,” and the timbers, “We were inlaid by fraud.” Many of the great works of ancient times, i. e. the pyramids, many colossal fortunes and magnificent mansions of modern times, were built with bones and cemented with blood—the blood and bones of the men who built them, or the men from whom the wealth was obtained. The circumstances of sin are so many memorials to put us in mind of guilt and to put God in mind of vengeance. Conscience writes when it does not speak. There is a book of remembrance. All conceptions of torment indicate a relation between sin and punishment not only in justice and duration, but in kind. In this world each sin has its own avenger; many sins are their own avengers. Anger—the agitation and unrest, are not they like whips whose lashes are weighted with lead? Application. 1. Let us learn to weep tears of penitence, that we may not have to shed tears of remorse. After great showers the air is clear. It is better to weep in a way of duty than to weep in a way of judgment. 2. Let us learn the secret of happiness. The saint in the Old Testament commanded his soul to be merry because God was the light of his countenance; the fool in the gospel because he had much goods laid up for many years. 3. Let us learn to provide ourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth nor moth corrupteth. For all that is in the world is not of the Father. And the world passeth away, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. The rich man’s empire.—“The empire which a rich man exercises finds no nation or tribe that wishes to resist it. It commands the services of man wherever man can be reached, because it offers to the desires of man the power of acquiring whatever objects of external enjoyment he is most eager to acquire. From the north to the south, from the east to the west, everything that can be rendered active is put in motion by him, who remains tranquilly at home, exciting the industry of those of whose very existence he is ignorant, and receiving the products of labour for his own use without knowing from whom he receives them. It is almost as in the magic stories of romance, in which the hero is represented as led from the castle-gate by hands that are invisible to him, ushered to a splendid banquet, where no one seems present, where wine is poured into the goblet before him at his very wish, and luxurious refreshment after refreshment appears upon the board, but appears as if no hand had brought it. To the rich man, in like manner, whatever he wishes seems to come merely because he wishes it to come. Without knowing who they are who are contributing to his idle luxury, he receives the gratification itself, and receives it from hands that operate as invisibly as the fairy hands at the banquet. He gathers around him the products of every sea and every soil. The sunshine of one climate, the snows of another, are made subsidiary to his artificial wants; and though it is impossible to discern the particular arms which he is every instant setting in motion, or the particular efforts of inventive thought which he is every instant stimulating, there can be no doubt that such a relation truly exists, which connects with his wishes and with his power the industry of those who labour on the remotest corner of the earth which the enterprising commerce of man can reach.”—Dr. Thomas Brown.Possessions.—Possessions distinguish man from the brute, and civilized man from the savage. Labour finds in possessions its normal fruit; possessions are labour as having become reality. The brute is possessionless because he does not labour. In property man ceases to be a mere isolated individual of his species; he creates for himself a world about himself which he can call his own; his property is the outward manifestation of his inward peculiarity. The fact that he who possesses much is also much regarded and esteemed in the world is indeed often very hollow and baseless, though in reality it springs from the correct consciousness that possessions are the fruit of labour, the result of moral effort. He who acquires nothing for himself passes in the world, not without reason, for unrespectable. Of a special virtue of possession-despising, as with the mendicant monks, there can, in the ante-sinful state, be no question; and even after the fall possessions are presented as a perfectly legitimate end of moral effort, and their being increased as a special Divine blessing. Cain and Abel possess already personal property; and the God-blessed possessions of the patriarchs occupy a very large place in their morally religious life [Genesis 12:5; Genesis 12:16; Genesis 13:2; Genesis 14:14; Genesis 24:22; Genesis 24:35; Genesis 24:53; Genesis 26:13-14; Genesis 27:28; Genesis 30:27; Genesis 30:30; Genesis 30:43; Genesis 31:42; Genesis 32:5; Genesis 32:10; Genesis 32:13 sqq.; Genesis 33:11; Genesis 39:6; Genesis 49:25; Exodus 23:25; Leviticus 25:21; Deuteronomy 2:7; Deuteronomy 7:13; Deuteronomy 15:14 sqq.; Deuteronomy 16:15; Deuteronomy 16:17; Deuteronomy 28:3 sqq.; Deuteronomy 33:13 sqq.; Deuteronomy 24:22 : comp. 1 Kings 3:13; Psalms 107:38; Psalms 112:2-3; Psalms 132:15]. Property being the enlarged life-sphere of the moral person,—in some sense his enlarged personality itself,—the moral phase thereof lies not merely in its antecedent ground, namely, labour, but also in its moral use and application. To its enjoyment man has a moral right, as such enjoyment is the reward of labour; but to the exclusive enjoyment of it for himself alone he has no moral right, seeing that he is bound to other men by love, and love manifests itself in communicative distribution.”—Wuttke’s ‘Christian Ethics.’A GREAT SCHISM AVERTED Nehemiah 5:1-13. And there was a great cry of the people, &c. The paragraph teaches— I. That social injustice may exist even amongst fellow-workers in a great and good cause (Nehemiah 5:1-6). The complaint of the poor was forced from them. Wrong may be long endured; but it will find a voice, a cry “not loud, but deep.” II. That social injustice, if not corrected, will undermine the stability of any cause, however righteous. Sanballatʼ ?s army less fatal than the nobles’ avarice. III. That social injustice should be regarded by all good men with feelings of righteous indignation (Nehemiah 5:6). From a realization of the brotherhood of men; of interdependence; of a Divine purpose in the elevation of the downtrodden. V. That social injustice, whenever discovered, should be calmly yet promptly dealt with (Nehemiah 5:7). The prudent Nehemiah brought a moral force to bear upon the offenders. “Set an assembly.” The courageous Nehemiah rebuked the offenders, albeit they were highest in name and station. The far-seeing Nehemiah discerned ruin if internal wrongs remained unredressed. V. That conciliatory appeals are sometimes more efficacious than coercive measures in dealing with social injustice (Nehemiah 5:8-13). Nehemiah used persuasive arguments. 1. The efforts already made to redeem their captive brethren (Nehemiah 5:8). 2. The exposure of the national cause to reproach (Nehemiah 5:9). 3. His own unblemished life and fit example (Nehemiah 5:10). THE CRY OF Nehemiah 5:1. There was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethrenTHE .—“The many” who lack bread (Nehemiah 5:2). THE ACCUSED.—“Their” richer “brethren,” “the nobles and the rulers” (Nehemiah 5:1; Nehemiah 5:7). THE .—“Ye exact usury. Ye have our lands and vineyards.” A story of the olden time of ever-new significance. A twice twenty-times told tale. I. The unending struggle. Wealth and poverty, knowledge and ignorance, brain and brawn, capital and labour—when in all the ages have not these come into collision? Communists, Socialists, Nihilists—are not these today voices from many lands (whether rightly or wrongly); the “great cry” of the poor of many nationalities against their richer brethren? The prayer of the philanthropists of every age has been expressed by a poet of our own:— “Ring out the false, ring in the true;Ring out the darkness of the land;Ring out the fend of rich and poor;Ring in redress to all mankind;Ring out the want, the care, the sin,The faithless coldness of the times;Ring in the love of truth and right;Ring in the common love of good.”THE HEBREW declare that they that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field (Lamentations 4:9). They tell how God’s judgments came upon the land because the righteous were sold for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes (Amos 2:6). The scathing words of JESUS CHRIST were reserved for those who used the pride of place to oppress the poor and him that hath no helper. The EARLY PERIOD of English history is associated with William the Conqueror. The DARK AGES had light enough to show the few how to prey upon the many. Through much tribulation NATIONS have emerged into the light, and CLASSES burst the shackles of slavery and proclaimed their freedom. With a great sum England obtained the freedom of the WEST INDIES. The blood of AMERICA’S sons wiped out the stain of slavery which disgraced the greatest republic the world has seen. A great cry has gone up to God as our poor world has struggled on towards knowledge and liberty. II. Elements of bitterness in this struggle. 1. On the side of the oppressors there is power. They are “the nobles and the rulers” (Nehemiah 5:7). “The names of king and priest are the most appalling in history.” So perverted have they become. Anciently to rule was also to feed (Psalms 78:71-72). A bishop is a shepherd. The pastoral staff is the shepherd’s crook. 2. The oppressed are the brethren of the oppressors. “Our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children.” Same blood, same love of children, same sensitiveness to pain. Hath not a poor man eyes, hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Is he not fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a rich man? If you prick a poor man, will he not bleed? if you tickle him, will he not laugh? if you poison him, will he not die? 3. They were engaged in a common caus—rebuilding God’s chosen city. To make this world a paradise; to compel all kings to recognize the King of kings; to set up a kingdom of righteousness and peace, is not this the task given to humanity, the goal toward which our world should move? III. Light in the darkness. “Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh.” 1. Christ-came to proclaim the brotherhood of humanity. His Beatitudes direct men to look to character, not to position, for Divine approval. The strait gate must be passed through by rich and noble as well as by poor and unknown. Jesus spoke to the poor, felt for the degraded, raised hope in the oppressed. 2. Signs of the times. The “many” (Nehemiah 5:2) are not unheard; their influence not unfelt. There is wrong, but society tends towards redress. Ignorance abounds, but the teacher is abroad. Many rich forget their duties—not all. Tennyson’s Sir Walter Vivian is not the creation of a poet’s fancy. “Sir Walter Vivian all a summer’s dayGave his broad lawns until the set of sunUp to the people: thither flocked at noonHis tenants, wife and child, and thither halfThe neighbouring borough, with their Institute,Of which he was the patron.Why should not these great SirsGive up their parks some dozen times a yearTo let the people breathe?”Tennyson’s vision will one day be actualized. “I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be;Saw the havens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails,Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales;Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rain’d a ghastly dewFrom the nations’ airy navies grappling in the central blue;Far along the world-wide whisper of the south wind rushing warm,With the standards of the peoples plunging through the thunder-storm;Till the war-drum throbb’d no longer, and the battle-flags were furl’dIn the parliament of man, the federation of the world.There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe,And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law.”“How long, O Lord?” The passion for power.—“Christianity has joined with all history in inspiring me with a peculiar dread and abhorrence of the passion for power, for dominion over men. There is nothing in the view of our Divine Teacher so hostile to his Divine spirit as the lust of domination. This we are accustomed to regard as eminently the sin of the arch-fiend. ‘By this sin fell the angels.’ It is the most Satanic of all human passions, and it has inflicted more terrible evils on the human family than all others. It has made the names of king and priest the most appalling in history. There is no crime which has not been perpetrated for the strange pleasure of treading men underfoot, of fastening chains on the body or mind. The strongest ties of nature have been rent asunder, her holiest feelings smothered, parents, children, brothers murdered to secure dominion over man. The people have now been robbed of the necessaries of life, and now driven to the field of slaughter like flocks of sheep to make one man the master of millions. Through this passion government, ordained by God to defend the weak against the strong, to exalt right above might, has up to this time been the great wrong-doer. Its crimes throw those of private men into the shade. Its murders reduce to insignificance those of the bandits, pirates, highwaymen, assassins against whom it undertakes to protect society. Power trampling on right, whether in the person of king or priest, or in the shape of democracies or majorities, is the saddest sight to him who honours human nature and desires its enlargement and happiness.”—W. E. Channing.THE OF DEBT Nehemiah 5:3-5. Some also there were that said, &c. Dr. Jamieson, the Bible interpreter, thus writes on this passage:—“The poor made loud complaints against the rich for taking advantage of their necessities, and grinding them by usurious exactions. Numbers of them had, in consequence of these oppressions, been driven to such extremities that they had to mortgage their lands and houses to enable them to pay the taxes to the Persian Government, and ultimately even sell their children for slaves to procure the means of subsistence.” Generalizing this particular instance, we have the subject of debt and its miseries. I. Mental unrest. Credit is necessary. The world’s business could not otherwise be carried on. The every-day word trust is, like most every-day words, suggestive. It is confidence between man and man. It supposes an honourable undertaking. Faith is not only a theological word; it is a force in this working-day world. No man ought to receive credit without a prospect of being able to pay. The violation of this rule is dishonest. To take a man’s purse is stealing. So is taking up goods without paying for them, and receiving wages for which the stipulated labour has not been given. Unless hardened through a long series of dishonesties, a man cannot be contented who does not obey the New Testament law, “Owe no man anything.” II. Social degradation. It is pro verbial that to be in debt is to be in danger; danger of detection and exposure. Do not pretend to be what you are not; do not keep up a style and scale of cost beyond your means. III. Family ruin. A man owes a first duty to his own house. The helpless hang on him. He may bring ruin through extravagance. IV. A disregard of a Divine command. “THOU SHALT NOT STEAL” was written with the finger of God. This law has not been abrogated. Application. 1. Christians should set the world an example. 2. Watch the beginnings of extravagance. 3. In small things as well as in greater act on Christian principle. “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” Illustrations:—“The Persians reckoned these two very great sins. 1. To be in debt. 2. To tell a lie; the latter being often the fruit of the former.”“By the twelve tables of Rome, he that owed much, and could not pay, was to be cut in pieces, and every creditor was to have a piece of him according to the debt.”“We read of a certain Italian gentleman who, being asked how old he was, answered that he was in health; and to another that asked how rich he was, answered that he was not in debt. He is young enough that is in health, and rich enough that is not in debt.”—Trapp. ANGER Nehemiah 5:6. And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words“Ezra and Nehemiah were both of them very wise, good, useful men; yet in cases not unlike theirs there is a great deal of difference between their management. When Ezra was told of the sin of the rulers in marrying strange wives he rent his clothes and wept, and prayed, and was hardly persuaded to attempt a reformation, fearing it impracticable; for he was a man of a mild, tender spirit. When Nehemiah was told of as ill a thing he warmed presently, fell foul upon the delinquents, incensed the people against them, and never rested till, by all the rough methods he could use, he forced them to reform; for he was a man of a hot and eager spirit. Very holy men may differ much from each other in their natural temper, and in other things that result from it. Again, God’s work may be done, well done, and successfully, and yet different methods taken in doing it; which is a good reason why we should neither arraign others’ management nor make our own a standard. There are diversities of operation, but the same spirit.”—Matthew Henry. Nehemiah’s soul was stirred within him as he saw the oppression of his voiceless brethren. But they who were not able to help themselves were not therefore to remain unhelped. “The voice of their indignationRose up to the throne of God.”They bore long, until suffering was no longer endurable; and then they appealed from Festus unto Cζsar, from the nobles and rulers who were set over them to Nehemiah under whom they all served. The longer Nehemiah mused the more fiercely the fire of his anger burned. There cannot be supreme love of right without bitterest hatred of wrong. Admiration of virtue and scorn of vice are correlative. There is such a thing as righteous anger. I. The righteousness of anger depends upon its cause and occasion. “What is anger? It is displeasure felt in a high degree; a feeling which is awakened when we think ourselves injured. It is usually attended with a restless uneasiness of mind, and frequently with something worse. But is anger in no case allowable? Perhaps it is. ‘God is angry with the wicked every day’ (Psalms 7:11); that is, he is highly displeased with their sinful conduct, and resolved to punish them on its account; yet anger in God is infinitely remote from anything of turbulence and malevolence. We read of our Lord Jesus looking round on the people, particularly on the Pharisees, ‘with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts’ (Mark 3:5); but this anger was perfectly consistent with the purest benevolence, with the tenderest, the most disinterested kindness. Anger in depraved creatures is certainly very different from what it is in God, and from what it was in Jesus Christ; and we should be cautious how we give the least allowance to so dangerous a passion. It has been judiciously remarked, when anger ‘proceeds from pride, or from selfishness; when it rises high, or continues long; and when it is accompanied by anything like hatred or ill-will towards the person who is its object, then it is sinful and hurtful. But whatever we may think of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of anger in itself, and how difficult it may be to ascertain in what cases and in what degree it is allowable, one thing is evident—we cannot be too cautious of yielding to its influence. It is a passion so difficult to be regulated and so dreadful often in its effects; so destructive of that meekness, gentleness, and love which form the very essence of the Christian character; so expressly forbidden in various passages of the New Testament, and so carefully guarded even in those where it seems to be in some measure allowed, that we have much more reason to restrain than to encourage it even in the smallest degree.’ There is one object against which anger may be innocently directed, and this object is sin; either sin in ourselves, or sin in others. Peter was angry, exceedingly displeased with himself, when, at the recollection of his sin in denying his blessed Lord, ‘he went out and wept bitterly.’ The brethren of Joseph were angry with themselves, displeased at their base behaviour, when convinced of their cruelty towards an unoffending brother; and doubtless the feeling was laudable. The soul of righteous Lot was ‘vexed;’ he was angry with the filthy conversation of the wicked among whom he dwelt; and as we dwell among a people of unclean lips and unholy conduct, our blame would be great if we felt not displeasure at what we hear and witness.”—Kidd. We read of the fierce anger of the Lord when Israel joined himself unto Baal-Peor (Numbers 25:1-9). Pronounced upon disobedience (Deuteronomy 29:20). When Jesus Christ looked upon his spying enemies with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, which predominated, the anger or the grief? Contrast the anger of Sanballat (chap. 4) with the anger of Nehemiah (chap. 5); how different the occasion, how unlike the cause. For a good work Sanballat was prepared to stone the Jews; for an evil act of oppression Nehemiah rose up to rebuke the nobles. Be ye angry and sin not in reference to cause. II. The righteousness of anger depends upon its spirit and limitations. Note, especially, the anger of Jesus Christ had reference to the evil, the hardness of their hearts. Righteous anger is against wrong, not against wrong-doers. Must have in it no personal malice, no spleen. Must not cross the line to revenge. Anger is the basis of magistracy, the support of laws, and the pillar of decency and right conduct. “Magistrates are mortal gods, and God is an immortal magistrate; therefore, as the merciful God heareth in his holy habitation in heaven the cry of the miserable, oppressed people in earth, so should every godly ruler hear and relieve the pitiful cry of the oppressed, being his brethren, seeing he is God’s lieutenant, and hath the sword and law in his hand to bridle such ill-doers, and must not for favour, gifts, nor fear suffer it unamended; else he doeth not his duty unto the mighty Lord, who set him in that place, gave him the authority, and will ask a strait account how he hath used it to the relief of the oppressed. Some be of opinion that a magistrate should not be moved with anger in doing his office, but give every man fair words, pass over matters slowly, please all men, though he do them little good; but, the truth being well considered, it may be judged otherwise. Lactantius writeth a book wherein he proveth that God himself is angry, and every anger is not sin. If God then be angry against sin, why may not a good man in God’s cause then do the same? Hate not the man, but his ill-doing; be not angry without a just cause unadvisedly; keep not thy anger long, that it grow not into hatred; let it be no more nor no less than the fault deserveth, and let it be without raging, fuming, fretting, swelling, and raving and disquieting of body or mind; not for malice of revenging, but for pity or justice to correct and amend; and anger well qualified is not ill. This is not spoken to give liberty to anger, for we are too ready to it by nature; but rather to bridle it, seeing it standeth on so narrow a point to keep measure in. This qualifying of anger is declared in the Scripture as that it should not continue. St. Paul saith, ‘Let not the sun set upon your anger;’ and that it should not be rashly, without cause, nor more than the cause requireth. The gospel teacheth, saying, ‘He that is angry with his brother without a just cause is guilty of judgment.’ This anger of Nehemiah was just in all circumstances, and kept the rule of St Paul, ‘Be angry and sin not,’ which is a hard point to keep.”—Pilkington. He who hates sin will escape it. An extreme sentimentalism would make all virtue consist in amiability. Men have proclaimed the love of God as if it denied his justice. “God is love.” “Our God is a consuming fire.” The two poles of the Divine character. Application. 1. Temperamental anger to be subdued by holy thought, prayer, and effort. Lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset. 2. Distinguish between the wrong and the wrong-doers. Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 3. Remember Christian doctrine of forgiveness. If thy brother trespass against thee and return, saying, Repent, forgive him. Let the daily prayer be, Forgive us our trespasses, and help us to forgive them that trespass against us. For this doctrine of forgiveness is one of the hard sayings of Jesus Christ. Nehemiah 5:7. Then I consulted with myselfThe position was perilous. The nobles and the rulers were powerful; their services were needed. The toilers were embittered; the common cause endangered. Too little courage or too much prudence, cowardice or temporizing, would prove fatal. “Then I consulted with myself.” His heart took counsel upon the injustice. From this instance of introspection or self-communion let us consider self-communion generally. I. The value of self-communion. Thought comes in solitude. Character is formed by self-communings. A preacher must return sometimes to “fructifying silence.” We are not enough alone. Our age is restless. It craves results—speedy and sure. Too much bustle and hurry. Duty treads upon the heels of duty. Moses, Elijah, John Baptist, Paul, yes, and Christ himself, lived in the wilderness alone with God. Cecil, Scott, Newton, Wesley, the spiritual giants, were men of solitary hours. Too much familiarity with men breeds contempt and distrust. Know thyself! “Come ye yourselves apart,” said Jesus to disciples flushed with success (Mark 6). Need of rest and self-communion evident in all spheres of life. Restlessness characterizes most men. Space and time are nearly annihilated. Parliamentary speech spoken in the early hours of the morning is printed and transmitted to the breakfast-table. Markets of Odessa, Alexandria, New York, Calcutta, and Sydney hardly closed ere the electric current has flashed the quotations. Best and time to think almost denied many commercial and professional men. It was the sin of Israel. “My people doth not consider.” “Consider your ways”—there speaks a prophet. “Think on these things”—there speaks an apostle. “Hear ye the word of the Lord” ushers in the Old Testament. “He that hath ears to hear let him hear” introduces the New. He who pleads the pressure of business has too much business. Men must find time to prepare for eternity. Too much religious work dangerous. “They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept” (Song of Solomon). “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (Paul). “Nothing is so important as to keep an exact proportion between the interior source of virtue and the external practice of it, else, like the foolish virgins, we shall find that the oil in our lamps is exhausted when the bridegroom comes” (Chrysostom). Is this the meaning of our Lord’s solemn words, “Many will say to me,” &c. (Matthew 7:22-23)? Christian charity begins at home. It is possible to build reformatories and be ourselves unreformed; possible to send the Bible to others and ourselves forget to read it; possible to lay costly gifts on God’s altar and not bow in penitence at his footstool. The Christian life a growth. It is the burden of direct precept. “Grow in grace and in knowledge” (2 Peter 3:18). “Add to your faith” (2 Peter 1:5). It is variously illustrated. “The righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger” (Job 17:9). “He shall be like a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out its roots by the river” (Jeremiah 17:8). It is the subject of apostles’ joy when Christians “stand fast in the Lord” (Philippians 4:1). Can this be effected without time and thought? Does not the garden of the soul require culture? Do the flowers of humility and charity grow wild? Does business demand application, but the soul’s commerce none? Must the children’s minds be educated and their hearts remain untrained? Each must come into some desert place and rest awhile with Christ. II. The dangers of self-communion. 1. Morbid religion. Don’t be always a spiritual anatomist. Too frequent looking within brings depression. Religious depression arising from neglect of duty or commission of sin cannot coexist with spiritual life. But very much depression is needless or self-induced. We may say sometimes, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” (Psalms 42:11). A man feels forsaken, and, projecting his own feelings, imagines God has forsaken him. Do not rashly imagine that because you cannot every hour “read your title clear” that therefore your name is erased from the book of life. 2. Out of undue self-communion arose asceticism of middle ages; arises some conventual tendencies of our own. Dream not of becoming unworldly by escaping from duty. “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:15). III. The safe-guards of self-communion. 1. Action. From the temple to the city. “ ’Twixt the mount and multitude,Doing or receiving good.”Thought the basis of action. Acts become habits. “I must work the works of him that sent me” (John 9:4). “As the Father hath sent me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world” (John 17:18; John 20:21). Do not put asunder what God hath joined together. Different temperaments will give varying prominence to contemplation and action; the inward and the outward. But woe to those who neglect either. A pure heart the indispensable condition of a noble life. 2. God’s word. Make that the only guide. AN AGAINST SINNERS Nehemiah 5:7. And I set a great assembly against themPartly because persons implicated were numerous and powerful to show them that greater numbers disapproved, and partly to cause such shame and remorse as might lead them to renounce their criminal practices. The measure was successful. Show impenitent sinners how great an assembly may be set against them. Sinners rely on being a majority. They are decidedly superior to the servants of God; not only in number, but in wealth and power and influence. Were the great question What is truth? to be decided by numbers, they could easily determine it in their own favour. Show that those whose opinions and approbation are more important are against them. I. The good men now in the world. Not necessarily professors of religion. Many professors not good men. By good men is meant men whom God will acknowledge to be good. II. All the good men who have ever lived. These compose an assembly far exceeding in number all the good men who are now alive. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, John Baptist, disciples of Jesus, early Christians, martyrs, reformers, men of ‘May-Flower.’ III. All the writers of the Old and New Testaments. They are good men; they are more—they are inspired men. Being taught by the eternal Spirit of God, with one voice they cry, Woe to the wicked; it shall be ill with him! Heaven and earth shall pass away, but God’s words never. IV. The holy angels. Consider number, character, and intellectual rank. Perhaps exceed in number the human race. “An innumerable company.” In comparison with the least angel the wisest human philosopher is a child. Their holiness is perfect, spotless. They execute the will of God. V. The Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord of angels and men, the appointed Judge, who will pronounce a sentence on both. VI. God the Father. Sinners strive with their Maker. Survey the whole assembly which is arrayed against evil and evil-doers. Terrible to sinners; consolatory to Christians.—Dr. Payson, abridged. WITHOUT EXCUSE Nehemiah 5:8. And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answerThey found nothing to answer. For what answer could be given? They which heard Nehemiah’s accusation were convicted by their own conscience. Brotherhood, memories of bondage, the great price at which they had redeemed their brethren from Persian masters, the inspiration of their journey to the decayed city, the work God had given them to do—these rose up like prophets of evil tidings to second the noble censures of Nehemiah. Their inconsistency was without excuse. I. The admirableness of consistency. It is manly. Everybody reverences it. Even in an unworthy cause it extorts a momentary recognition. In a worthy cause all bow the knee and do it homage. The heroes of history by flood and field, the redressers of human wrongs at home and abroad, the characters of Bible story, were consistent. They had a purpose and stuck to it. Despised of men, mocked at by demons, are those whom the inspired apostle describes as “wavering like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed; the double-minded, who are unstable in all their ways” (James 1:6-8). Dignity is robbed of its excellency and power of its strength in the Reubens who are “unstable as water” (Genesis 49:3-4). Be persistent. Be consistent. Is it consistent for Christian men to enter into partnership with those who work without a conscience? Ought Christian parents to consult first and foremost the worldly convenience and advantage of their children? If religion be true, should it not decide the just weight and the true measure? In business, in pleasure, at home, abroad, through the week as well as on the Sabbath, be consistent. II. The inexcusableness of inconsistency. Has nothing to recommend it. Nothing gained. Brings discredit upon any cause. The inconsistent man has no faith in his position. An inconsistent Christian may profess but does not possess a good creed. The creed which influences conduct is not that which a man holds, but that which holds him. Life is the expositor of doctrine. Nehemiah’s nobles called the workmen brethren. But that was only a word of the lip. The deed of the life made them slaves and foreigners. For a time the nobles prospered. Success smiled upon oppression. But a reckoning day came. Summoned to Nehemiah’s bar, they “found nothing to answer.” A New Testament parable is recalled. The man who had not on a wedding garment was “speechless” (Matthew 22:1-14). Profession and possession, reality and hypocrisy, are not always distinguishable here and now. Parable of tares: “Let both grow together until the harvest” (Matthew 13:24-30). In earlier times men strove for a pure visible Church. That impossible. Our eyes cannot distinguish true from false in every instance. By-and-by inconsistency will stand self-convicted. At heaven’s judgment-seat every one must give an account. Application. 1. The supreme importance of character. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). 2. The value of self-reliance. Wrong-doing is contagious. One noble imitated another in exacting usury. Those who were half conscious that they were doing wrong were encouraged by the evil example of others. Trust thyself when thou hast the approval of thy own conscience. 3. Remember the bar of God. He who made Nehemiah upright “is a God all whose ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity” (Deuteronomy 32:4). “He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?” (Psalms 94:9). SAME THEME The marvellous personal power of Nehemiah. Great individuality triumphs over all things. Napoleon laughed away the pretensions of rank by saying, “I am an ancestor.” The force of personal character makes all other forces give way. Especially when the individuality is a good individuality; when the strength of manhood is backed by the strength of right. Illustration of this in the text, where the dumbfounded nobles stand ashamed before the challenge of the man who has come to spy out their faults and to mend them at all costs to himself. Subject, the inexcusableness of inconsistency. I. The inconsistency. Define inconsistency. Want of harmony in the parts of a man’s life. The presence in a man’s being of two things which cannot be together. A man who swears the British oath of allegiance and takes the pay of the English state would be an inconsistent man if he betrayed state secrets to a hostile country, or gave guidance to an invading foe. That would be treason. Religious inconsistency is treason against the King of kings—treason and treachery against the truth. 1. Worldly inconsistency. Worldly men point sneeringly to any little deviation from consistency in Christian people; but if Christian charity did not forbid the sneer might be returned. The cant and pretence and selfish departure from avowed principles which fills the life of the children of this world may well creep a little into the Church. A politician who loves liberty, and is at the same time a tyrant in his household and to his servants; a man who loves to read and to talk fine sentiment, and whose common life runs along a low level of worldly meanness, are examples of inconsistency. The world had need to pluck the beam out of its own eye before meddling with the mote in the eye of the Church. 2. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/phc/ NOTES.] “When Sanballat and the enemies associated with him were unable to obstruct the building of the wall of Jerusalem by open violence, they endeavoured to ruin Nehemiah by secret snares. They invited him to meet them in the plain of Ono (Nehemiah 6:1-2); but Nehemiah, perceiving that they intended mischief, would not come. After receiving for the fourth time this refusal, Sanballat sent his servant to Nehemiah with an open letter, in which he accused him of rebellion against the king of Persia. Nehemiah repelled this accusation as the invention of Sanballat (Nehemiah 6:3-9). Tobiah and Sanballat hired a false prophet to make Nehemiah flee into the temple from fear of the snares prepared for him, that they might then be able to calumniate him (Nehemiah 6:10-14). The building of the wall was completed in fifty-two days, and the enemies were disheartened (Nehemiah 6:15-16), although at that time many nobles of Judah had entered into epistolary correspondence with Tobiah to obstruct the proceedings of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 6:17-19).”—Keil.Nehemiah 6:1. When Sanballat.… heard] “In the indefinite sense of it came to his ears. The use of the passive is more frequent in later Hebrew; comp. Nehemiah 6:6-7; Nehemiah 13:27.”—Keil. The rest of our enemies] See Nehemiah 4:7. Nehemiah 6:2. Come, let us meet together] for a discussion = Let us take counsel together (Nehemiah 6:7). Ono] According to 1 Chronicles 8:12, situated in the neighbourhood of Lod (Lydda), and is therefore identified by Van de Velde and Bertheau with Kefr Anna, one and three-quarter leagues north of Ludd. Roediger compares it with Beit Unia, north-west of Jerusalem, not far from Bethel. There may have been two places of the same name. They thought to do me mischief] Probably they wanted to make him a prisoner, perhaps even to assassinate him. Nehemiah 6:3. I am doing a great work: I cannot come down] Could not undertake the journey because his presence in Jerusalem was necessary for the uninterrupted prosecution of the work of building. Nehemiah 6:4. They sent unto him four times in the same manner, and Nehemiah gave them the same answer. Nehemiah 6:5. An open letter] That its contents might alarm all the Jews and create opposition to Nehemiah. In Western Asia letters, after being rolled up like a map, are flattened, and, instead of being scaled, are pasted at the ends. In Eastern Asia the Persians make up their letters in form of a roll, with a bit of paper fastened round it. Letters were and are still sent to persons of distinction in a bag or purse, and to equals inclosed; to inferiors, or to express contempt, open. Nehemiah 6:6. It is reported] Sanballat throughout makes no accusation, but refers to rumour. Nehemiah’s answer is, “There is not according to these words which thou sayest;” i. e. there is no such rumour (Nehemiah 6:8). Nehemiah 6:7. Thou hast appointed prophets to preach of thee] To proclaim concerning thee in Jerusalem, saying, King of Judah. Nehemiah 6:8. Thou feignest] Nehemiah charges his enemy with devising a wicked slander. Nehemiah 6:9. “ ‘For’—adds Nehemiah, when writing of these things—‘they all desired to make us afraid, thinking, Their hands will cease from the work, that it be not done’ ”] Keil. Strengthen my hands] Taken from Nehemiah’s journal kept at the time of building. Quotes to show where his dependence was at that trying time. Nehemiah 6:10. Shemaiah] “A false prophet hired by Tobiah and Sanballat, who sought by prophesying that the enemies of Nehemiah would kill him in the night to cause him to flee with him into the holy place of the temple, and to protect his life from the machinations of his enemies by closing the temple doors. His purpose was, as Nehemiah subsequently learned, to seduce him into taking an illegal step, and so give occasion for speaking evil of him.”—Keil. The gift of prophecy did not prevent a man from selling himself to lie for others (see 1 Kings 22:22). Shut up] Perhaps in performance of a vow, or as a mere pretence. “Your foes are my foes. Let us escape together.” In the house of God, within the temple] Within the holy place, where no layman was allowed to enter. And let us shut the doors, &c.] “He seeks to corroborate his warning as a special revelation from God by making it appear that God had not only made known to him the design of the enemies, but also the precise time at which they intended to carry it into execution.”—Keil. Nehemiah 6:11. Should such a man as I flee?] Nehemiah had anxiety and alarm, but no cowardice. To save his life] “ ‘That he may live.’ May mean ‘to save his life;’ or, ‘and save his life.’ Not expiate such a transgression of the law with his life.”—Keil. Nehemiah 6:14. The prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets] Nehemiah 6:10-13 only a specimen case. Nothing more is known of Noadiah. Nehemiah 6:15. Elul] The sixth month. Parts of August and September. Nehemiah 6:16. They perceived that this work was wrought of our God] Accomplished in so short a space of time. Nehemiah 6:17-19. A supplementary remark that in those days even nobles of Judah were in alliance and active correspondence with Tobiah because he had married into a respectable Jewish family. Nehemiah 6:19. His good deeds] “Good qualities and intentions.”—Bertheau. They were trying to effect an understanding, Bertheau and Keil think. Or were they not traitors? OF CHAPTER 6 Nehemiah 6:1-19. The Perils of Greatness.Nehemiah 6:1-4. Persistency.Nehemiah 6:1-2. Old Foes with New Faces.Nehemiah 6:3. The Great Work.Nehemiah 6:3. Hindrances to Revivals.Nehemiah 6:5-8. Slander.Nehemiah 6:6. Rumour.Nehemiah 6:8. Boldness.Nehemiah 6:9. Fear and Faith.Nehemiah 6:9. Felt Weakness.Nehemiah 6:10-13. Panic.Nehemiah 6:10. Lying Prophets.Nehemiah 6:11. Personal Responsibility.Nehemiah 6:11. Self-respect.Nehemiah 6:11. Christian Firmness.Nehemiah 6:12. Human Prescience.Nehemiah 6:13. Bribery.Nehemiah 6:15. Fifty-two Days’ Work.Nehemiah 6:16. The Godward Side of Things.Nehemiah 6:16. The Overruling God.Nehemiah 6:16. The World’s Acknowledgment of God.Nehemiah 6:17-19. The Oppositions of Influence.Nehemiah 6:17-18. Deserters.Nehemiah 6:19. The Bad Man praised.THE PERILS OF Chap. 6 THE interest of the history centres in the man. All history is the biography of the most eminent men. “Men of the time” make the time. We have met Nehemiah before, but under different conditions. The accidents of men’s lives change; the character remains. Not in what a man does, but in what a man is, look we for permanence. Nehemiah the Persian cup-bearer becomes the reformer of abuses and rebuilder of the decayed city of God. Nehemiah, to-day confronted by visible armies, is to-morrow confronting the unseen foes of stratagem and deception. “Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together. But they thought to do me mischief” (Nehemiah 6:2). “It is reported among the heathen that thou and the Jews think to rebel; it is reported that thou hast appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah. Come, let us take counsel.—There are no such things done as thou sayest” (Nehemiah 6:6-8). “Shemaiah was hired, that I should be afraid, and sin” (Nehemiah 6:10-14). “The nobles of Judah reported Tobiah’s good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear” (Nehemiah 6:17-19). The Book written by inspired men gives the teaching of observation and experience when it says in every variety of expression, and with all the cumulative force of its progressive teaching, “Be watchful. The conditions of the conflict of life change; the conflict never ceases. In this battle there is no truce. He that endureth to the end shall be saved.” I. The perils of greatness. High places are dangerous places, as poets, moralists, and preachers have told us with perhaps wearisome iteration. That each man should do his duty in that state of life in which God has placed him used to be a favourite text with many. The laws of self-help are, if not of recent date, at least of recent definition. That the battle be to the strong and the race to the swift; that all be unhelped and all unhindered, is historically of recent date. We must not forget to proclaim that the powers that be are ordained of God. There may be insanity in hero-worship over-much; but it is idiotic to refuse to recognize the hero. The celebrated valet sees no genius in his master. Is it because he is too near, or because he is too ignorant? That there be men of Nehemiah’s stamp occupying Nehemiah’s station is indispensable. The world must have leaders who can infuse their own courage into their followers. Nehemiah’s men were devoted—but only in his presence and under his inspiration. They were liable to panic and subject to craven fear. In doing the world’s work there must be some who have opportunities for clearer vision and deeper knowledge. The general on the heights, not the private in the thick of the fight, gives the word of command. To the captain the charts are an alphabet employed without distinct consciousness; leave to him the steering, whilst you walk or sleep. Kings have committed acts of folly; but has King Mob been always a Solomon? There is a needs-be for the king on his throne, the senator in the council-room, the judge on the bench, the barrister at the bar, the poet in the study, the painter in the grove, the preacher in the pulpit, the teacher at his desk. But let none dream that these offices are sinecures, or that the men who hold them are free from the thousand ills to which flesh is heir. It is a fierce light that beats upon a throne. No man yet climbed the heights without the dogs of envy, hatred, and malice barking at his heels. Not Nehemiah’s labourers, but Nehemiah, was the object of Sanballat’s force and fraud. Strike him, and all are struck. The most eminent men are the best-hated men. In any task the responsibility of the second man is proverbially easier than that of the first. It is not always needful to point out the moral that adorns the tale of human life. II. The deportment of the imperilled. The great thing to be desired for those who hold high office in our world is the conviction that God has appointed their station, set the bounds of their habitation, and allotted their task. In this conviction there is power; from it courage springs. This was Nehemiah’s strength. “I am doing a great work.” And he explains the “I.” “This work was wrought of our God.” Hence the sublime trust of Moses in the day of God’s anger. “Let thy work appear unto thy servants” (Psalms 90). When neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and men’s hearts failed them for fear, Paul strengthened himself in the recollection of his mission. “There stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve” (Acts 27). In the darkest hour of Luther’s life he lifted up his eyes to God and cried, “It is not my cause, but thine.” “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be the glory of the strength and endurance we have manifested,” is the substance of the impassioned utterances of the noble army of martyrs, workers, and warriors from the days of Abel down to the last hours of the sainted sufferer who but yesternight went home to God. The truest self-reliance rests upon the rocky foundations of trust in God. That thousands of professedly Christian and Bible-reading people are little bettered, but rather grow worse in temper and character, needs no proof—it is evident to the all but blind; but that the Christian and Bible-reading nations are immeasurably superior to the peoples that sit in the darkness of nature and the shadow of heathenism is indisputable. Any man who would be in any measure faithful to himself and equal to his life-task must “believe that God is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” This is not a blind, unreasoning trust; not a reliance on another to do what the man can do himself. Nehemiah threw all his soul into those two little words in the fourteenth verse, “MY GOD.” But he did not neglect to be watchful. “They thought to do me mischief” (Nehemiah 6:2). He was anxious to discover the truth, and sought out the origin even of misrepresentation. “I perceived that God had not sent the prophet; Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him” (Nehemiah 6:12). He recognized the appointed channels of God’s revelation. “I came unto Shemaiah the prophet” (Nehemiah 6:10). He was fearless in denouncing wrongdoers, albeit they sat in high places. “There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart” (Nehemiah 6:8). Above all, he renewed his strength by waiting upon God. “Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands” (Nehemiah 6:9). From God came his task; from God must come the strength to accomplish it. A great historian, after telling the tale of the life of a king of France, adds, “Let no meanest man lay flattering unction to his soul. Louis was a ruler, but art not thou also one? His broad France looked at from the fixed stars is no wider than thy narrow brick-field, in which thou too didst faithfully or didst unfaithfully.” Brother, thy task is not Nehemiah’s, nor Paul’s, nor Luther’s, nor John Wesley’s, nor Calvin’s, but it is thy task; and if thou strivest faithfully thou wilt find it thy task. The work of a man’s life is no child’s play. Do not sport with everything. It is said that when Carlyle was shown a Comic History, he inquired when we were to have a Comic Bible. To such a man the word of God and the life of man were terribly earnest. To all earnest men their daily task is earnest. The humblest is a witness to the power of his own convictions of what he is, where he is, and whom he serves. Let him take care to bear a constant, unfaltering, and ever-growing testimony. Let him be more anxious to be great than to do some great thing. Let him be more concerned to work faithfully than to work successfully, and by and by to the question, “Is all well?” he shall give the answer, “All is well!” “Let your light shine before men” (Matthew 5:16). Illustration:—Grown great.“Some divinely gifted man,Whose life in low estate began,And on a simple Village green;Who breaks his birth’s invidious bar,And grasps the skirts of happy chance,And breasts the blows of circumstance,And grapples with his evil star;Who makes by force his merit known,And lives to clutch the golden keys,To mould a mighty state’s decrees,And shape the whisper of the throne;And moving up from high to higher,Becomes on fortune’s crowning slopeThe pillar of a people’s hope,The centre of a world’s desire;Yet feels, as in a pensive dream,When all his active powers are still,A distant dearness in the hill,A secret sweetness in the stream,The limit of his narrower fate,While yet beside its vocal springsHe play’d at counsellors and kings,With one that was his earliest mate;Who ploughs with pain his native leaAnd reaps the labour of his hands,Or in the furrow musing stands;‘Does my old friend remember me?’ ”Tennyson. Nehemiah 6:1-4. Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, heard, &c. To do a thing and see it all frustrated, and to begin again coolly, calmly, quietly, and repeat the action, that is a very necessary power in this world. In your summer idleness you break a spider’s web with your stick or disturb an anthill, and the tiny operatives, without wasting one moment, steadily begin again and repair their damaged property. These illustrate a grand faculty of man. In life you want the power to begin again and to keep on in spite of whatsoever break-down or hindrance. Nehemiah gives grand example of this. Our text is a text on persistency—persistency, of opposition, persistency of endeavour. The opponents of this Jewish Garibaldi try one move more to checkmate and hinder the great Liberator, and, like the moon when the watch-dog barks, he simply keeps on doing what he was doing, unterrified, unmoved. I cannot meet you for conference (he said); I am too busy, and cannot stop the work for you or for any one or for anything. He had no time to say this in person; he “sent messengers” “four times after this sort.” I. This principle of persistency is illustrated in all the circle of nature and life. 1. Everywhere there is exhibition of hostile force. Universal life is a conflict. The “Peace Society,” who have the noblest of all objects, the suppression of strife, have but few clients in inferior nature. All natural forces, all life, energy, creep to their goal as the wave creeps to the shore after many a rebuff and after many a spurning. The seed struggling up from its grave, the sapling bending through the crevice in the ruin, the tree battling with the sweep of the tempest—all are persistent fighters of opposition. The insect striving with its mortal foe in the cup of a tiny flower, the bird with vigilant eye watching foes below and above, the beast of the forest amid its dangers, are all showing us on what terms a place is to be found on earth—clinging pertinacity. You must not be tempted or coerced from your aim by hostility. 2. It is so with man in all social life. The boy at school wrestling with competitors for his prizes or his juvenile influence, the man of business watching the mischances and the adversaries of his success, the popular character striving against the envious among his contemporaries and the changefulness of the people, show us under what tenure the prizes, noble and ignoble, of social life are held. “To him that overcometh” the crown of life is given. 3. Consistently with this analogy of nature, the Bible represents all moral victory as against deep and persistent hostility. A legion of devils, from without, a legion of lusts within seek to snare and to frighten the soul from its work. The Bible moves and stirs in eagerness to warn and to inspirit the threatened soul. II. This principle of persistency is illustrated in the general history of the kingdom of God. 1. The Bible is one long history of God’s controversy with his opponents. From one generation to another, through millenniums of history, the Almighty Sovereign of the world is battling with opposition. Physically speaking, God can do whatever he will; but morally speaking, God must do what he can against the wills of moral creatures who “dare defy the Omnipotent to arms.” And our Bible is the Iliad of heaven against earth. The clash of battle rings through its mighty leaves. This is the value of Old Testament history—it is God saving men in spite of the resistance of the men he seeks to save. Hence the history of one chosen people has become the world’s parable of life and salvation. Jewish history is an immortal text-book concerning this Divine controversy and conflict. 2. Christian history is in the same tone. (a) The Captain of our salvation is set forth in the gospel story as in warfare with the obstinate and prejudiced all the way to his transcendent triumph. “I would and ye would not” is the burden of the solemn story. (b) Apostolic history makes a harmony with what has gone before. The chosen apostles and all who took up their great watchword, Christ, were gladiators in the great arena of the world; “of all men most miserable” unless their cause were Divine and eternal. And the closing words of God’s Testament fade away in St. John’s Apocalyptic visions of wars in heaven, and the noise of him who goes forth conquering and to conquer. (c) Nor have we seen the end The Church is a “militant Church”—every saint a soldier; and the world, the flesh, and the devil set in battle array. Heathen creeds, worldly maxims, carnal forces, all opposing the will of the redeeming Lord. III. It is the same with regard to this principle of persistency in individual salvation and work. 1. To save your own soul is “a great work”—a work that is hindered. This is why the gate of life is strait; not that it is narrow in itself, but it is narrowed by the throng of foes that block it to the soul. John Bunyan saw in his dream a gate leading to a beautiful palace. At the gate sat a man with a book to record the names of such as would enter. Around the gate stood armed foes to drive back all who came. At length a man with “a stout countenance” came, and said to the recorder, “Set down my name, sir!” and then, girding on his sword, he set to and fought his way in, “but not before he had given and received many wounds.” It is thus that most of us enter into life. Persistent opposition beaten back by persistent determination. This is what the Saviour means by those who are worthy of him, those who will have him. The elect are the select spirits who must enter into life because the must is in their will. They will go in, though hell move from beneath to oppose. If you are about this purpose, the one purpose of man, you are doing a great work, and cannot come down from that, or you fail. 2. To be instruments of salvation to others is a great work that is hindered, but must not cease. The parent lovingly battling with the wills of his children, the Sunday School teacher bearing with the way wardness of a circle of opposing spirits, the minister standing as God’s watchman in his congregation, the man of business striving to live without damage to the soul of his brother, and to live with good influence upon those who meet him in life’s conflict, are Nehemiahs all of them. He toiled on amid the stones of Jerusalem, they amid the living stones of a better city of God. But the story is one story—the world-wide story of good hindered and opposed, but triumphant. Application. Helps to persistency. 1. Do not magnify your foes. Right is itself “a big battalion.” Greater is he that is for us than all that can be against us. 2. Do not under-estimate your work. All good work is “a great work.” Let its loftiness fill and inflame you. 3. Do not fail in hope. Hope on, hope ever. “Hope thou in God.” On this rock of Peter-courage and inflexibility Christ will build his Church, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” OLD FOES WITH NEW FACES Nehemiah 6:1-2. Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;) that Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of One. But they thought to do me mischief. The enemies of reformation in Nehemiah’s day were fertile in resources as well as persistent in opposition. When mockery failed to dishearten, and threats to drive Nehemiah from his task, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem tried the art of deception. The same men, with purpose unchanged, but masked faces. “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” “My son, thou art never secure in this life, but as long as thou livest thou shalt always need spiritual armour. Thou dwellest among enemies.” This golden sentence from the lips of Thomas ΰ Kempis contains the moral application we may make of this historical passage. I. Faults of character. “The natural man” is in Biblical language distinguished from “the spiritual man.” “The past of our life;”—“the rest of our time.” The dividing line we popularly call conversion. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” That is the ideal; does not become the actual in a day. The life religious is a growth. A man becomes a Christian; supposes that conversion makes all things new; is soon disabused. He was before an angry man; he blazes up again in an unwatchful moment. He was full of health and vigour; animalism ruled him; he discovers that he needs to lay a strong hand upon himself. Temptability remains. “The snake is scotched, not killed.” The natural prayerlessness of men creeps insensibly upon an unwatchful Christian. A principal will connive at the doubtful deeds of an agent—deeds which he himself would not stoop to do. There is a moral obliquity of vision. “If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness.” “Can’t see” is pitiable; “won’t see” is criminal. An under-current is often fatal when a hurricane would have been harmless. Against the second the captain would provide; of the first he might have no knowledge. The signing of the pledge does not of itself quench the burning thirst. The Church roll does not make defection impossible. Every man has one great foe—himself. “Worse than all my foes I findThe enemy within,The evil heart, the carnal mind,My own insidious sin:My nature every moment waitsTo render me secure.And all my paths with ease besets,To make my ruin sure.”Faults of character are foes to interest. Nobody has a fault that is not injurious. “There is a but in every man’s fortunes, because there is a but in every man’s character.”—Maclaren. A good cause is sometimes injured by the intemperance of its advocates; more often by their inconsistency. Creed and conduct are not always equal. Beware of little sins. II. Foes to progress. Nehemiah was reforming, uplifting the nation. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were advocates of things as they were. Indolence and selfishness of individuals are aggregated. In the movements of history there has been presented the spectacle of men fleeing from persecution to become persecutors in their turn. Presbyter was priest writ large. Human nature is much the same under all conditions. Luther overthrew the Pope’s infallibility to meet claimed infallibility in his own followers. Only to patient faith is the prize sure. They who work for eternity can afford to listen calmly to the babblings of contemporary opinion. Utter no rebuking word, although the “meetening for the inheritance” and the unsuccess of your toils require you to possess the patience of God. “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” “Christian! seek not yet repose,Cast thy dreams of ease away;Thou art in the midst of foes;Watch and pray.Principalities and powers,Mustering their unseen array,Wait for thy unguarded hours;Watch and pray.Gird thy heavenly armour on,Wear it ever night and day;Ambushed lies the evil one;Watch and pray.Hear the victors who o’ercame;Still they mark each warrior’s way;All with one sweet voice exclaim,Watch and pray.Hear, above all, hear thy Lord,Him thou lovest to obey;Hide within thy heart his word;Watch and pray.Watch, as if on that aloneHung the issue of the day;Pray that help may be sent down;Watch and pray.”THE GREAT WORK Nehemiah 6:3. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?Religion the most momentous and important matter that can possibly engage the attention. Either the veriest dream of superstition, or the most stupendous as well as the most interesting subject. This is the great work. I. The great work in which Nehemiah was engaged. Repairing the wall and setting up the gates around the city of Jerusalem. He had many powerful enemies. They first tried to ridicule him and his brethren out of the undertaking; and this failing, they endeavoured to terrify them; and not succeeding in this, they had recourse to craft and stratagem. In the verse preceding Nehemiah says, “Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me,” &c. And in the verse following Nehemiah tells us that they sent unto him four times, after the same sort, and he answered them after the same manner. What is fortifying, defending, and preserving a city when compared with the salvation of our immortal soul? If we are really on the Lord’s side we shall assuredly be opposed as he was, and perhaps more strenuously, by ridicule, stratagem, and force. To all opposition let us reply, “I am doing a great work.” Some say the business of salvation so far as we are concerned is no work at all. Surely faith and love have something to do with salvation; and although these graces of the Spirit may apparently be the farthest removed from what may be termed a work, yet we read in Scripture of “the work of faith, and the labour of love.” Yes, faith worketh by love. True, as far as merit is concerned, salvation is not of works; yet there is a sense in which we are to “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure.” The believer “fears the Lord and his goodness.” He fears to offend against infinite holiness, or to “grieve the Holy Spirit.” He fears to bring guilt upon his conscience. And he trembles to be found “an unprofitable servant.” Faith enables the believer to see the path of obedience, and love constrains him cheerfully to walk therein. The work of Christ, so far from freeing us from obedience, lays us under greater obligations to devotedness. II. The opposition Nehemiah had to encounter in his undertaking. 1. He was assailed by ridicule (see chap. Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 4:1-3). You may profess what you please without molestation, but if you proceed to act up to your profession you will certainly not escape opposition. How did Nehemiah meet the scoffs of his enemies? He did not desist from his purpose, nor did he take the matter of revenge into his own hands. 2. Nehemiah’s enemies attempted also to assail him by force (Nehemiah 4:7-8). We ought to give all due obedience, in things lawful, to those who in the providence of God may have control over us, but there is a point beyond which to yield would be sin. When human authority is exerted contrary to the Divine command we ought not a moment to hesitate to “obey God rather than man.” 3. Nehemiah’s enemies assailed him also with craft and cunning. “Sanballat and Tobiah sent unto me, saying,” &c. More persons are enticed and allured into sinful compliances by plausible inducements than by any other means. Never expect any spiritual advantage from the proposal of a confederacy with worldly men. 4. When Sanballat could not succeed by stratagem, he endeavoured to effect his purpose by putting Nehemiah in fear. Raised false reports against him, representing that he was building the wall that he might set up himself as a king and rebel against his Persian master. Expect misrepresentation. It was said of the apostles of old, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.” Think it not strange if modern Christians be accused of being enemies to the peace of society. When we see Sanballat not only falsely accusing Nehemiah, but also hiring the professed prophets of God to endeavour to turn him from the work in which he was engaged, let us learn the great need of watchfulness, caution, and circumspection. “Be ye wise as serpents.” If an angel from heaven should speak anything contrary to the doctrine of godliness, shun his counsel. Even Satan can transform himself into the appearance of an angel of light, and his angels imitate his example. “Prove all things, and hold fast that which is good.” Nehemiah went to Shemaiah for godly counsel and advice, little expecting that he was in the service of his great enemy (Nehemiah 6:10-14). God will expose the snares and bring to nought the devices planned against his faithful servants. “I perceived,” saith Nehemiah, “that God had not sent him.” And as before he answered the rumours of Sanballat by saying, “There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart;” so now he boldly answers the counsel of the lying prophet who would have him shamefully neglect his duty, and shut himself up in the temple to save his life, by saying, “Should such a man as I flee—I on whose presence at the building of the wall so much depends, and who believe and have professed that God will protect and defend me?” When we are tempted to make sinful compliance, let us call to mind the noble answer of Nehemiah, and adopt similar language; let us say to every temptation to evil, “Should such a man as I, who profess to be a disciple of, yea, a joint-heir with, Christ, a son of God, and an heir of immortality—should such an one as I condescend to bring disgrace upon my profession, and thus dishonour God and sin against my own soul?” Or with Joseph let us ask our own conscience, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” III. The magnitude of the work required that Nehemiah should not cease. It was a great work, for the walls of Jerusalem extended some miles round the city; and it was a very necessary work to be completed for the defence of the inhabitants. Of what momentous importance is the salvation of a man! The destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem is said to have forced tears from the eyes of its heathen conqueror; but what is a flaming temple or the destruction of a city to the destruction of an immortal spirit! Let your careful and constant attention be given to the one thing needful. “For it is not a light thing, because it is your life.” Nehemiah succeeded in accomplishing the work he had in hand by prayer, watchfulness, and painstaking diligence (Nehemiah 6:15-16). So will all the enemies of God’s truth be finally cast down in their own eyes; they will be utterly ashamed and confounded, while they will be constrained to confess that the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. The wall was built in troublous times, and we often find Nehemiah supplicating help from the mighty God of Jacob, like Jehoshaphat, who said, “Lord, we know not what to do, but our eyes are toward thee;” and while he was unceasing and fervent in prayer, he was also watchful and diligent in the work.—Rev. James Shore, M.A., abridged. TO Nehemiah 6:3. I am doing a great work, &c. Sanballat’s opposition—threatened; complained; insisted that Nehemiah’s design was not pious, but political. Nehemiah went on. I. A revival of religion is a great work. It is a great work because in it great interests are involved. In a revival of religion are involved both the glory of God, so far as it respects the government of this world, and the salvation of men. The greatness of a work is to be estimated by the greatness of the consequences depending on it. And this is the measure of its importance. II. Several things may put a stop to a revival. A revival is the work of God, and so is a crop of wheat; and God is as much dependent on the use of means in one case as the other. 1. A revival will stop whenever the Church believe it is going to cease. No matter what the enemies of the work may say about it, predicting that it will all run out and come to nothing, they cannot stop it in this way. But the friends must labour and pray in faith to carry it on. 2. A revival will cease when Christians consent that it should cease. When Christians love the work of God and the salvation of souls so well that they are distressed at a mere apprehension of a decline, it will drive them to agony and effort to prevent its ceasing. 3. A revival will cease whenever Christians suppose the work will go on without their aid. The Church are co-workers with God in promoting a revival, and the work can be carried on just as far as the Church will carry it on, and no farther. 4. A revival will cease when Christians begin to proselyte. Do not raise selfish strife, and drive Christians into parties. 5. When the Church in any way grieve the Holy Spirit. 6. When Christians lose the spirit of brotherly love. 7. A revival will decline and cease unless Christians are frequently reconverted. III. Things which ought to be done to continue a revival. 1. Ministerial humiliation. Ministers must not only call upon the people to repent; they must be ensamples to the flock. 2. Churches which have opposed revivals must repent. 3. Those who promote the work of revivals must repent their mistakes. There is a constant tendency in Christians to backsliding and declension. Let us mind our work, and let the Lord take care of the rest; do our duty, and leave the issue to God.—Finney, abridged. SLANDER Nehemiah 6:5-8. Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me, &c. An attempt to frustrate Nehemiah by a false report concerning his intentions is described in these verses. This petty wasp of slander may sting the even-minded Reformer, and make him swerve from his steadiness. Sanballat sent to say that it was a “common report” that Nehemiah was meditating the ambitious project of becoming a king; and to make the matter circumstantial, Gashmu was quoted as the authority for this information. Nehemiah, with noble indifference, brushed away the wasp—sent a short, sharp answer back—and then, dismissing the matter, went on with his work. I. The slander. Isaac Barrow’s biographer quaintly wishes he could find an enemy of his hero, that he might have the honour of defending the memory of the great divine. All men are not so fortunate. The faultless have some fault found with them, and the faulty have their faults exaggerated. Let the most blameless man in the town offer himself as candidate for parliament, and the organ of the rival political party will give a picture astounding to the friends of the good man. Shimei finds foul things to say about David, and Gashmu knows a damaging thing about Nehemiah. In this example of the text there are three stages of slander. 1. The common report. “It is commonly reported among the heathen that thou and the Jews think to rebel.” Who got up that report? is a common question about similar matters now-a-days. Who was the man in the iron mask? Who executed Charles I.? Who invents the lie that sings in the air about some faultless man? These are conundrums to “give up.” Where all the gnats come from that fill the windowpane was a puzzle to our childhood. Where all the lies come from that buzz round our neighbourhoods is a puzzle to our later life. “It is commonly reported!” Woe to the tongue ingenious in this art! For our own part, let us beware of giving our jealousies and suspicions wings. Let them die in the egg. Keep the door of the lips, especially when conversing with a fool. And equally necessary is it to beware of eager listening to groundless suggestions, born of malice and envy and uncharitableness. The demand creates the supply. Send these hawkers of mischief away from the door. Keep the door of the ears. 2. The authority for the “fact.” “Gashmu saith it.” Who’s Gashmu? A very common authority on these matters. He’s very often a myth. There is no Gashmu at all. Try to find him, and he is always “removed.” Tracking a slander is often like seeking a grasshopper. It chirps here and there and everywhere, except on the handful of grass you lay your hand on. Looking for Gashmu is like hunting the cuckoo—it’s “a voice, a mystery.” Gashmu! He is not, or you find him not. Sometimes Gashmu is real enough. If you hear the report, you need not be told where it came from. Gashmu “his mark” is on the forehead of the slander. He sits in his window blowing peas at all passers-by. There are human creatures who delight in this kind of cowardly damage of other men’s reputations. For some wise end they were created—all things are. The nettle and the hornet and the slanderer—perhaps these have their part to play. “Gashmu” might be carved on some of the graves—“Here rests one who never let any one else rest.” 3. The informant. Sanballat sent the letter. These are the three steps: “Common report”—“Gashmu”—“Sanballat.” An illustration of the development theory! The slander is born out of nothing; it is generated in that inorganic matter of lies which fills the atmosphere of the globe; it takes form and organization in Gashmu, in him it becomes a real thing; then Sanballat conducts it to its goal. Sanballat, who writes the letter of information, or whispers the thing in confidence, is often the mischievous originator of the whole mystery of lies—the predecessors are but imaginary. Sometimes he is “not a knave, but a fool” merely, some one who means well, a friend who thinks it is a part of friendship to do things like this. But for him the slander would be unknown and harmless; it is his work to post up the information in the window. The ill that is wrought for want of thought! It is only thinking that can stop that. II. Treatment of slander. 1. Give it no foundation in yourself. Such a thing is said of you! exclaimed a zealous friend once. Ah! coolly answered the victim, and the worst of it, it’s true. “Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” There is a spirit of slumbering fairness in society. Do not say in your “haste, all men are liars.” It is not so. Do not be soured by the abundance of mischief and the superfluity of naughtiness among men. But at the same time beware! Avoid the appearance of evil. Like Cζsar’s wife, be “above suspicion.” Do not be content with such integrity as will go with the average; let your white be snow-white. [Illustrate by the grand integrity of Nehemiah.] Not in fear of the slander, but in love of what is right and good, seek the lofty character of the righteous man. Whatsoever things are true and lovely and of good report take as the garb of your character. 2. Take no notice of it. As the children say, “Don’t believe it!” See the grand style of Neh 6:8 : “Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart”—a message for Sanballat to think about. To have his elaborate slander crumpled up and flung at his head with the label “LIES” on it would be disappointing to this officious person. Silence is the best reply as a rule. We cannot waste the day in explanations. “When I have written an angry reply to a letter, I never send it off at once. I read it over. I often re-write it, and put more sting into the sentences. Then I argue thus. This letter will do if I send it in twenty-four hours. It shall not go earlier on any consideration. To reserve my reply will show I was not annoyed much, and that I am a tranquil master of myself. I consequently lock up my letter, all sealed and addressed. And at the end of the twenty-four hours I take out the letter, and without reading it throw it on the fire. That has always been my course since I once wrote and posted immediately one of those replies. It proved to be a mistake. Since then I have done as I have said. It always relieves me—serves as a waste-pipe—and I never have to repent of harsh correspondence.” 3. Go on with your work. Slander as a rule does the good man no harm, unless it stop him in his work and make him lay down his enterprise in disgust. Many a man has given up his Master’s work of “doing good” because his good was evil spoken of. [Illustrate from the life of Jesus.] When the Lord of the vineyard cometh and asks, “Why did you leave my work?” what can you say? At your peril keep to the good course. This sharp-shooting of criticism is to try the soldier. Endure as seeing Him who is invisible. “They say? What do they say? Let them say.” Many a man has given up the good work of his soul’s salvation for a similar reason. It sometimes falls to the lot of a minister to be sent for to some dying man, and this is the story which comes from the departing deserter. “I was once a member of such and such a church, and there I was not treated as, &c., &c.; I took offence, and have hardly been in a place of worship since. It is ten years ago.” “My brother,” thinks the minister though he takes care not to say it, “do you think that excuse will cover those ten wasted years?” You are responsible for the effect of the slander; another may have a heavy score to pay on account of its origin. Application. 1. Live for the approval of the Lord of all. Do not root yourself on the shallow, changing opinion of man. Seek a higher basis for endeavour, animated by the solemn fear of God. 2. Consider the importance of life and its work. Do not suppose you may please yourself whether you keep your hand on the plough or not. Woe to Jonah, whatever be the cause of his flight from his God-appointed task. 3. Accept criticism—as an instructive corrector; and slander—as a discipline of patience and firmness. “Lord, I adore thy gracious will,Through every instrument of illMy Father’s goodness see;Accept the complicated wrongOf Shimei’s hand and Shimei’s tongueAs kind rebukes from thee.”RUMOUR Nehemiah 6:6. It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words. Matthew Henry well expresses the historical sense of this passage. “Sanballat endeavours to possess Nehemiah with an apprehension that his undertaking to build the walls of Jerusalem was generally represented as factious and seditious, and would be accordingly resented at court. The best men, even in their most innocent and excellent performances, have lain under this imputation. This is written to him in an open letter, as a thing generally known and talked of; that it was reported among the nations, and Gashmu will aver it for truth, that Nehemiah was aiming to make himself king, and to shake off the Persian yoke. Observe, it is common for that which is the sense only of the malicious, to be falsely represented by them as the sense of the many.” From this particular instance let us consider generally the tongue, its use and abuse. I. Use of the tongue. 1. To express thought and emotion. A word is the incarnation of a thought. It lay hidden and formless in the thinker’s mind. The word is the body prepared for it. The thought stands out clear to the gaze of others. There is a language understood by the animals. A child speaks because of the necessity it feels to express its thought. It understands before it can express itself. The first dawn of intelligence is in a child’s smile; it enters into a new world when it utters the first word. The fountains of the great deep of intelligence are broken up. The child performs “the miracle of speech.” Were thought pent up in our minds without the medium of expression which words give, each one would live in a world of his own. We cannot conceive of a family, a social state, a nation without language. “Speak, that I may see thee,” said one to a fair-haired youth. As “we know metals by their tinkling,” so we know men by their speech. Dumbness excites pity. Expression is the first and simplest use of the tongue. 2. To glorify God. “Therewith bless we God.” We are not alone in this. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.” God is known by the works of his hands. But it is our province explicitly to bless God. The glory of the heavens is the glory of inference; our glory is the glory of reference. “The whole creation is as a well-tuned instrument, but man maketh the music.” Men of science reduce the myriad things in nature to laws; and these to still fewer; until all causes resolve themselves into the Cause of causes—God. To him all things tend. From him, as a fountain, all streams flow; to him, as a sea, they all return. 3. To fan the flame of devotion in others. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Words have moved the world. Pulpits, senates, law courts are centres from which words proceed. Men of words as necessary as men of action. Armies, nations have been stirred by eloquent speech. Possibilities of speech should make us humble, if not make us tremble. Words escape our lips big with eternal issues. “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” “Foolish talking” is condemned as well as “filthy communication.” II. The abuse of the tongue. “Take heed,” says an Arabian proverb, “thy tongue cut not thy throat.” 1. Self-misrepresentation. (1) Under-statement. Half-truths; concealing some material thing. We are not bound to satisfy everybody’s curiosity. Two legitimate times for speaking—when God would be glorified or man benefited. But having professed to tell and then conceal is deception. There are spoken lies and acted lies. (2) Over-statement. Speaking in superlatives. A habit easily contracted. “All his geese are swans.” (3) False statement. God and men hate lying. You may be clever, amiable, attractive; but if you lie, the swift, sure, terrible Nemesis is, you will never again be trusted. For this there is no place of repentance, though you seek it carefully with tears. Lying is a sin of which it is peculiarly true—“Be sure your sin will find you out.” 2. Defamation of others. Grosser forms—evil speaking with malice aforethought; bearing false witness; slander. A form of this punishable by law. But some of the keenest slanders elude law. “A good name is great riches.” It is to be desired. We must not superciliously discard the good opinion of others; we need not fawningly seek it. To some a good name is all they have; e. g. domestic servants, professional men. Studied wickedness is worst of all. “I saw,” said Augustine, “a little child pale with envy.” How many town scandals would have been avoided, how many Church quarrels prevented, had men acted on that golden rule—“If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.” Be patient under detraction. “Blessed are ye when men shall say all manner of evil against you falsely.” Silence and speech. “Why tell me that a man is a fine speaker if it is not the truth that he is speaking? Phocion, who did not speak at all, was a great deal nearer hitting the mark than Demosthenes. He used to tell the Athenians, ‘You can’t fight Philip. You have not the slightest chance with him. He is a man who holds his tongue; he has great disciplined armies; he can brag anybody you like in your cities here; and he is going on steadily with an unvarying aim towards his object; and he will infallibly beat any kind of men such as you, going on raging from shore to shore with all that rampant nonsense.’ Demosthenes said to him one day, ‘The Athenians will get mad some day and kill you.’ ‘Yes,’ Phocion says, ‘when they are mad; and you, as soon as they get sane again.’ It is told about him going to Messina on some deputation that the Athenians wanted on some kind of matter of an intricate and contentious nature, that Phocion went with some story in his mouth to speak about. He was a man of few words—no unveracity; and after he had gone on telling the story a certain time, there was one burst of interruption. One man interrupted with something he tried to answer, and then another, and, finally, the people began bragging and brawling, and no end of debate, till it ended in the want of power in the people to say any more. Phocion drew back altogether, struck dumb, and would not speak another word to any man, and he left it to them to decide in any way they liked. It appears to me there is a kind of eloquence in that which is equal to anything Demosthenes ever said. ‘Take your own way, and let me out altogether.’ ”—Carlyle.Slander. “In St. James’s day, as now, it would appear that there were idle men and idle women, who went about from house to house, dropping slander as they went, and yet you could not take up that slander and detect the falsehood there. You could not evaporate the truth in the slow process of the crucible, and then show the residuum of falsehood glittering and visible. You could not fasten upon any word or sentence and say that it was calumny; for in order to constitute slander it is not necessary that the word spoken should be false—half truths are often more calumnious than whole falsehoods. It is not even necessary that a word should be distinctly uttered; a dropped lip, an arched eyebrow, a shrugged shoulder, a significant look, an incredulous expression of countenance, nay, even an emphatic silence, may do the work; and when the light and tritling thing which has done the mischief has fluttered off, the venom is left behind, to work and rankle, to inflame hearts, to fever human existence, and to poison human society at the fountain springs of life. Very emphatically was it said by one whose whole being had smarted under such affliction, ‘Adders’ poison is under their lips.’ ”—F. W. Robertson.“We have no right to spread an injurious report merely because somebody brought it to us. It is a crime to pass bad money as well as to coin it. We are bound to consider whether the person from whom we heard the report had opportunities of knowing the truth, was likely to form a sound judgment of the facts which came under his knowledge, and whether we should have believed him if be had said the same thing to us about some person to whom we bore no ill-will. There would be very much less scandal manufactured if there were less disposition to circulate it.”—R. W. Dale.SAME THEME One great sin wherein the corruption of human nature bewrayeth itself is detraction, or depriving others of a good repute. Here I shall show— I. What is detraction. 1. The nature of it in general. It is an unjust violation of another’s fame, reputation, or that good report which is due to him. God, that hath bidden me to love my neighbour as myself, doth therein bid me to be tender not only of his person and goods, but of his good name. And indeed one precept is a guard and fence to another. I cannot be tender of his person and goods unless I be tender of his fame; for every man liveth by his credit. (1) It is a sin against God, who hath forbidden us to bear false witness against our neighbour, and to speak evil of others without a cause. Ephesians 4:31 : “Let all evil-speaking be far from you.” By evil-speaking is meant there disgraceful and contumelious speeches, whereby we seek to stain the reputation of others. (2) It is a wrong to man, because it robbeth him of his good name, which is so deservedly esteemed by all that would do anything for God in the world. “A good name should rather be chosen than great riches” (Proverbs 22:1). Therefore, as he himself should not prostitute his good name, so others should not blast it and blemish it; for it is a greater sin than to steal the best goods which he hath, and it is such an evil as scarce admits any sound restitution; for the imputation even of unjust crimes leaveth a scar though the wound be healed. (3) The causes it proceedeth from are these. (α) Malice and ill-will, which prompteth us to speak falsely of others, so to make them odious, or do them wrong or hurt. To hate our brother in our heart is no way consistent with that charity which the impression of the love of Christ should beget in us. The hatred of offence, which is opposite to the love of complacency, may be justified as to the wicked. Proverbs 29:27 : “An unjust man is an abomination to the just, and he that is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.” But then we should first and most abominate ourselves for sin; this very hatred and abhorrence should begin at home, and we should be most odious to ourselves for sin, for we know more sin by ourselves than we can do by another. But for the hatred of enmity, which is opposite to the love of benevolence, that should be quite banished out of the heart of a Christian. (β) It comes from uncharitable credulity, whereby men easily believe a false report, and so propagate and convey it to others. Jeremiah 20:10 : “I have heard the defaming of many. Report, say they, and we will report it.” If any will raise a report tending to the discredit of another, some will foster it; and it loseth nothing in the carriage, till by additions and misconstructions it groweth to a downright and dangerous infamy. (γ) It comes through rashness and unruliness of tongue. Some men never learned to bridle their tongues, and the Apostle James telleth us that “therefore their religion is vain” (James 1:26). Till we make conscience of these evils, as well as others, we content ourselves with a partial obedience, and therefore cannot be sincere. Whisperers must be talking. (δ) It comes from carnal zeal, which is nothing else but passion for our different interests and opinions. Many lies walk under the disguise of religion. Is all speaking evil of another unlawful? I cannot say so, but yet it is hard to keep it from sin. 1. He that doth it without just cause is plainly a detractor, and so a grievous sinner before God. God doth not only reject the liars for hypocrites, but also the backbiters and slanderers. 2. He that doth but speak what he hath heard from others, without any assertion or asseveration of his own, as not knowing the truth of the report, can hardly be excused from sin. He reporteth those things which may induce the hearers to think ill of another, and if without just cause he is in part accessory. 3. He that doth speak that which is true, but tendeth to the infamy of another, may be guilty of sin if he have not a sufficient call and warrant. If it be a matter we have nothing to do with, but only speak of their faults for talk sake. If we aggravate things beyond their just size and proportion. If we urge their crimes and deny their graces. Is there no good amongst all this evil? 2. The kinds of detraction. (1) Whispering, which is privy defamation of our brother, to bring him into disfavour and disrespect with those that formerly had a better opinion of him. Herein whispering differeth from backbiting, because the whisperer stingeth secretly, but the other doth more openly attack our credit. Now this whispering is a great sin; it is reckoned among the sins which reigned among the heathen, and God hath expressly forbidden to his people. Leviticus 19:16 : “Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer among thy people.” It is against natural equity, because they do that to others which they would not have done to themselves It is a grief to the party wronged, and a cause of much debate and strife. (2) Backbiting is a more public speaking evil of our absent brother, to the impairing of his credit. Now this may be done two ways. With respect to the good things found in him, and with respect to the evil supposed to be committed by him. With respect to the good things found in him:—When we deny those good things which we know to be in another. When we lessen the gifts and graces of others. When we own the good, but deprave it by supposing a sinister intention. When we have just occasion to speak of a man’s due commendation, but enviously suppress it. As to evil supposed to be committed by them:—When we publish their secret slips, which in charity we ought to conceal. Proverbs 11:13 : “A tale-bearer revealeth secrets.” When a man intrudeth himself into the mention of things faulty, which he might with better manners and more honesty conceal, it is the effect of a base heart. When, in relating any evil action of another, we use harder terms than the quality of the fact requireth, and make evils worse than they are, beams of motes, and mountains of molehills. We should lessen sins all that we can; I mean the sins and faults of others. By imposing false crimes. The most godly and innocent persons cannot escape the scourge of the tongue, and unjust calumnies. II. The heinousness of the sin. 1. In general, that is evident from what is said already. Two arguments more I shall urge. (1) Men shall be called to an account for these sins as well as others. (2) It is the property of a citizen of Zion—one that shall be not only accepted with God now, but dwell with God for ever—not to be given to backbiting (Psalms 15). 2. More particularly, it is the more heinous, (1) Partly from the person against whom it is committed; e. g. the godly; public persons. (2) From the persons before whom the slander is brought, as suppose kings and princes; so that they are deprived not only of private friendships, but the favour and countenance of those under whose protection they have their life and service. (3) From the end of it. If it be done with a direct intention of hurting another’s fame, it is worse than if out of a rash levity and loquacity. Some men have no direct intention of mischief, but are given to talking; others sow discord. (4) From the great hurt that followeth, be it loss of estate or general trouble. When men’s good names are buried, their persons cannot long subsist afterward with any degree of service. And all this may be the fruit of a deceitful tongue. The use is, to show how good-natured Christianity is, and befriendeth human societies; it condemneth not only sins against God, but sins against our neighbour. Let us not speak evil of others behind their backs, but tell them their faults. Remembering our own faults, looking at home, will not only divert us from slandering of others, but make us compassionate towards them, and breed comfort in our own souls.—Manton, abridged. Nehemiah 6:8. Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heartA bold word this to fling in the teeth of authority. I. Men of courage are men of convictions. Nehemiah’s consciousness that he was doing a great work made him bold. Physical courage is a thing of blood and nerve. The morally courageous man may be nervous, shrinking, fearful. He is self-reliant because reliant on God. The men without convictions, what have they done? Those who tell us it is doubtful if there be a God, religion is the poetry of conscience, the Bible is a fetish, whom have they blessed? for whom have they agonized? Has the world’s suffering wrung from them any great sweat of blood? The world’s hard work has never been done by the mealy-mouthed. Great reformations have not been accomplished by the nerveless souls without strong convictions for or against. Men of one idea have made mistakes, but not the mistake of leaving the work undone. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/phc/ NOTES.] “The second section of this book (chaps. 7–12:43) furnishes a description of the further efforts of Nehemiah to increase and insure the prosperity of the community in Judah and Jerusalem: first, by securing Jerusalem from hostile attacks; then, by seeking to increase the population of the city; and, lastly, by endeavouring to bring the domestic and civil life of the people into conformity with the precepts of the law, and thus to furnish the necessary moral and religious basis for the due development of the covenant people.”—Keil. It is generally supposed that Nehemiah’s return to Persia must be inserted after Nehemiah 12:43; the remainder of the book narrating his later reforms. Bishop Hervey, however, suggests that the work stopped immediately after the events narrated in Nehemiah 6:16-19, and that chapter 7 goes on to relate the measures adopted by Nehemiah upon his return with fresh powers. Nehemiah 7:1-3. The watching of the city provided for. Nehemiah 7:1. Porters … singers … Levites were appointed] In olden time each had a separate work. The porters guarded the gates of the temple. They were reckoned by genealogies, and separated into various divisions (see 1 Chronicles 9:17-27; 1 Chronicles 26:1-19). The singers had charge of the service of song (1 Chronicles 6:31), and “their brethren the Levites were appointed unto all manner of service of the tabernacle of the house of God” (1 Chronicles 6:48). “Under the present extraordinary circumstances Nehemiah committed also to these two organized corporations the task of keeping watch over the walls and gates of the city, and placed them under the command of his brother Hanani and of Hananiah, the ruler of the citadel. This is expressed by the words (Nehemiah 7:2), ‘I gave Hanani … and Hananiah … charge over Jerusalem.’ ”—Keil. Nehemiah 7:2. The ruler of the palace] The marshal or chamberlain of the vice-regal court which Nehemiah had maintained in Jerusalem.—Jamieson. Nehemiah 7:3. Let not the gates be opened until the sun be hot] In the East it is customary to open the gates of a city at sunrise, and to bar them at sunset—a rule which is very rarely, and not except to persons of authority, infringed. Nehemiah recommended that the gates of Jerusalem should not be opened until broad day. An earlier opening might expose the city to a sudden surprise. By day the special guard were to watch; by night the inhabitants. Nehemiah 7:4. The city was large and great, &c.] Broad on both sides regarded from the centre. After the fashion of Oriental towns, the houses standing apart, with gardens and orchards intervening. Nehemiah 7:5-69. Genealogy of those who came at the first out of Babylon] “Nehemiah discovered a register of the first detachment who had come under the care of Zerubbabel. It is transcribed in the following verses, and differs in some few particulars from that given in Ezra 2; but the discrepancy is sufficiently accounted for from the different circumstances in which the two registers were taken—that of Ezra having been made up at Babylon, while that of Nehemiah was drawn out in Judζa, after the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt. The lapse of so many years might well be expected to make a difference appear in the catalogue, through death or other causes; in particular, one person being, according to Jewish custom, called by different names. Thus Hariph (Nehemiah 7:24) is the same as Jorah (Ezra 2:18), Sia (Nehemiah 7:47) the same as Siaha (Ezra 2:44), &c. Besides other purposes to which this genealogy of the nobles, rulers, and people was subservient, one leading object contemplated by it was to ascertain with accuracy the parties to whom the duty legally belonged of ministering at the altar, and conducting the various services of the temple; and for guiding to exact information in this important point of inquiry the possession of the old register of Zerubbabel was invaluable.”—Jamieson. Nehemiah 7:39-42. The priests] Only four of the courses returned from the captivity, Nehemiah 7:43. The Levites] “Assistants of the priests in Divine worship.”—Keil. Nehemiah 7:44. The singers] Only sons of Asaph returned. Nehemiah 7:45. The porters] Door-keepers.—Keil. Nehemiah 7:46-56. The Nethinims] See on chap. Nehemiah 3:26; Nehemiah 7:57-60. Solomon’s servants] “Doubtless those whom Solomon enslaved of the Canaanites (see 1 Kings 9:20-21). Their descendants were probably regarded as engrafted into Israel, as were the Gibeonites.”—Crosby. Nehemiah 7:70. “With Nehemiah 7:69 the register ends, and the thread of Nehemiah’s history is resumed. He was the Tirshatha or governor, and the liberality displayed by him and some of the leading men for the suitable equipment of the ministers of religion forms the subject of the remaining portion of the chapter. Their donations consisted principally in garments. In the East a present of garments, or of any article of use, is conformable to the prevailing sentiments and customs of society.” Drams of gold] i. e. darics. A daric was a gold coin of ancient Persia, worth £1 5s. Nehemiah 7:71. Pound of silver] i. e. mina (sixty shekels, or £9). Nehemiah 7:73. So … all Israel dwelt in their cities] “The utility of these genealogical registers was thus found in guiding to a knowledge of the cities and localities in each tribe to which every family anciently belonged.”—Jamieson. OF CHAPTER 7 Nehemiah 7:1-3, Finished Work.Nehemiah 7:2. The Best Testimonial.Nehemiah 7:4. The Spaciousness and Emptiness of the City of God.Nehemiah 7:5. Family Traditions.Nehemiah 7:70-72. The Enthusiasm of Generosity.Nehemiah 7:73. Toilers Resting. WORK Nehemiah 7:1-3. Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed, that I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many. And I said unto them, Let not the gates of Jerusalem, be opened until the sun be hot; and while they stand by, let them shut the doors, and bar them: and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one in his watch, and every one to be over against his house. THE narrative has traced the progress of the work—its inception, its difficulties, its opponents; now the last stone has been lifted into its place, and Nehemiah looks upon his finished work. This is fitting; it is beautiful, but withal uncommon. “God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good.” And the evening fell upon a finished world. “Father, the hour is come. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” And when the darkness at the crucifixion rolled away, the sun looked upon a finished redemption. Of John the Baptist and Paul the Apostle it is written, they “finished their course,” as if there were no incompleteness of character or tasks left undone. Uncommon! I. Every man has some work to do. It is well surely, it is needful certainly, that we be reminded that business is a sacred thing, and that duty is a bow set in the firmament that is above every one of us. Right and wrong are not theological terms to be accurately defined in Christian pulpits, and spasmodically sought on holy days. The word work has all but infinite meanings. It was fitting that the man who perhaps more than any other in our country has taught the sacredness of work should have a medal struck in his honour when he reached the patriarchal age of eighty. That in us which is best and truest says that the man whom we delight to honour is he who can widen our conception of duty, who can cherish in us the faith that this is God’s world, not the devil’s world, and that life is more important than death. To live in this spirit is no child’s play. A merchant who strives to conduct a large business on Christian principles, who endeavours to divest himself of the prejudices of habit and the customs of those around him, will soon discover that the commonplace “honesty is the best policy” is not true in the first and most obvious interpretation which is put upon it. Let any one of us try to take up the petty details of each day’s work and ennoble them by the spirit in which they are done, and it shall not be easy. But be it remembered that, after all, the formation of his character is a man’s true work. Every work should bear relation to the one indispensable thing, “meetness to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” II. Few men leave their tasks complete. Finished work—that suggests unfinished work. Nehemiah, the rebuilder of Jerusalem, reminds us of David, the projector of Jerusalem. There is much of human feeling in those words of David in which he refers to his unpermitted purpose. Shortly before his death—at that period of life when men become prophetic—he assembled the chiefs of the people, and said, “I had in mine heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building: but God said unto me, Thou shalt not build a house for my name. Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts” (1 Chronicles 28). Much work is planned but never executed; more is begun which is not completed. There were brave men before Agamemnon, only no poet arose to sing their deeds. He who, sitting in the hull of some forest tree, first struck out upon the sea was one of the bravest men who ever lived, but his name those who heard it have not transmitted. Yet the art of ship-building had its birth in that man’s brain. There is an element of sadness in the fact that David only gathered the materials to build the temple. The idea of that temple floated in his mind, lay concealed there; grew slowly, as all great things grow. Even the pattern was partly conceived. Nothing was wanting but a Divine permission, and that was withheld. David was happy in that the work was entrusted to his son Solomon. For that man is honoured who conceives a noble project, and sees his children rise up to carry it out. When in this best and truest sense is fulfilled the old promise that after the fathers shall come up the children, it is well. Such a man may well take a farewell of the world, and say, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.” Perhaps that man is happier who, like Nehemiah, lives to complete his own work. One hardly knows. Of one thing we may be certain—this is the exception, the other is the rule. There are few cemeteries in which you will not find a broken column; broken not by accident, or stress of weather, but by the sculptor’s hammer, to indicate that the life of him who sleeps beneath was snapped asunder, his purposes suddenly hindered. As, however, God does not work without a purpose and a plan, there must be, there is, a meaning in this. The world is a huge clock-work. Each man is a part of and necessary to the whole. The individual is insignificant. His work is partial. Division of labour is necessary. One man’s skill needful to all men’s well-being. One country has what another lacks. Life is a series of beginnings. A human life is little more than a beginning. Threescore years and ten are too few in which to accomplish much. “No day without a line” was a motto of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Most men might imitate a famous carver, who when he exhibited his work wrote underneath, “Lysippus has something more to add to this.” In the artist’s mind the picture is perfect, on his canvas the picture is incomplete. It is only in a relative sense, only with mental reserve and understood apology, that any man can say of himself, “I have finished the work.” The story of our joint work is pictured in the history of our cathedrals. Norman barons, pious queens, monks of a long-forgotten age, and bishops of to-day have prayed and begged, toiled and given, to make them what they are. This is the conclusion of the whole matter. We work for eternity. We are strangers and sojourners, as all our fathers were. III. He that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. His work may not abide. Nehemiah’s did. A builder’s work is lasting. All necessary work is not. The eloquence of Chalmers will one day be only a memory; the bridges of Brunel and Stephenson will tell their tale to many generations. But the influence of Chalmers will abide. Your task may not be permanent; it has in it some permanent element. What is greater than the work? The man who does it. An invading army may destroy Nehemiah’s wall, but not the memory of Nehemiah’s character. The temple of David and Solomon is destroyed, but the Church has preserved their songs and copied their example in building a house for the Lord. They abide for ever. Let us do our work reliant on Him who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. POEM:— LEFT UNDONE. “Labour with what zeal we will,Something still remains undone,Something uncompleted stillWaits the rising of the sun.By the bedside, on the stair,At the threshold, near the gates,With its menace or its prayer,Like a mendicant it waits;Waits, and will not go away;Waits, and will not be gainsaid;By the cares of yesterdayEach to-day is heavier made;Till at length the burden seemsGreater than our strength can bear,Heavy as the weight of dreams,Pressing on us everywhere.And we stand from day to day,Like the dwarfs of times gone by,Who, as Northern legends say,On their shoulders held the sky.”—Longfellow.THE BEST Nehemiah 7:2. I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many. The obscure men and women of the Bible furnish a study as interesting as it is practically inexhaustible. Who was Hanani? A brother of Nehemiah, who took a journey to Susa to visit his brethren (Nehemiah 1:2). Who was Hananiah? Ruler of the palace at Jerusalem. No further biographic facts are discoverable. “Apelles approved in Christ” (Romans 16:10). Approved in Christ; what character lies behind that commendation! But how little of the private history of Apelles can investigation furnish. So with Paul’s friends in general. Nehemiah and Hanani. Two brothers whose paths diverged. They started in life together: one scaled the heights until he stood on the steps to the throne; the other moved in the quiet vales of lowly life. Both retained allegiance to the God of their fathers; both maintained loyalty to conscience; and each reverenced the other. A not too common thing—a brother’s testimony to a brother’s virtue. For though the description of a faithful God-fearing man grammatically applies to Hananiah, it is equally applicable in fact to Hanani. He preferred Jerusalem above his chief joy. A prophet is often without honour in his own country. “A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” To be “sympathetic with the loads we see on others, forgetful of our own,” argues no small degree of saintliness. Nehemiah honoured himself by honouring Hanani and Hananiah. I. A true man’s relation to God. “Hananiah feared God above many.” Religious reverence, a fear that hath not torment, was the basis of his character. “The God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac” was Jacob’s description of his God. Old Testament “fear” melts into New Testament “faith and love.” Patriarchs and prophets lived under the constraining influence of “the fear of God;” apostles and martyrs felt the sweet reasonableness of “the love of Christ.” The phrase is changed, but not the substance. Life hath its centre not in self, but in God. Selfishness is the most ignoble motive of action. All true life begins with God. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the ladder between the earth on which we stand and the heaven in which God dwells. Christ came not to destroy. He expounded, illumined, fulfilled the descriptions of religious life he found already. Do not take old-time reverence out of your holy fear of God whilst you infuse into it more of the warmth of love and trust. Our God is more fully revealed to us; but their God is our God for ever. “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling,” urges the Psalmist; “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” counsels the Apostle. II. A true man’s relation to his fellows. “Hananiah, a faithful man.” Firm, stable, enduring; a trustworthy man. In a judge this is integrity; in a witness, truth. “Fear” and “faithfulness” are inseparable. Our modern equivalents are profession and practice, creed and conduct The path reveals the purpose, the life confirms the lip. “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” Faulty conduct does not adorn a faultless creed. Notable devotion in church must be supported by noteworthy uprightness in business. If the temple of our character rests upon pillars of dishonesty, its rottenness and instability will soon appear. If the first table of commandments be written in the chancel, the second table must be suspended in the counting-house. “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.” Only thus can you sanctify him in your lives. A Christian man ought to be able to show a bold front to the world. Let him strive ever to keep a conscience void of offence toward men as well as toward God. If the laws of trade are not compatible with the laws of God, so much the worse for the laws of trade. You may bend if you will, but alas if you cringe because you must! You must forgive your enemies, you must not fear them. Men of the world seal the lips of (so-called) Christian men when these show inconsistencies in life. Would you reprove sin? Then your daily life must rebuke it. Do you desire to maintain the character of a God-fearing man? The penalty you must pay is to deserve the character of a faithful man. “He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” III. A true man’s reward in this world. “I gave Hananiah charge over Jerusalem.” Loyalty and royalty are not far apart. Those who will rule must learn to obey. Hananiah had been “faithful over a few things,” he was now to be made “ruler over many things.” No vote of thanks for what he had done. No testimonial raised. Simply higher work and more of it. Capacity creates responsibility. Power demands performance. “To him that hath shall be given.” Application. 1. Graduate in the school of Christ. There is no limit to your knowledge except your power of acquirement. Do not be content with conventional standards of devotion. Obey conscience, worship duty, fear God above many. Thus did Hananiah. 2. Enter the sacred hierarchy of those who look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Look for virtues in your brethren. Be not like those who, “seeing many things, observe not.” Some flowers grow in the shade. Many men like Hanani and Hananiah are hidden until some Nehemiah discovers them. Recognize and reverence goodness wherever you find it. Say not, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” “Are not his mother and his sisters with us?” Thank God for what the man is, and aid the purpose of God by placing the man where he should be. Thus did Nehemiah. “ ‘He was a faithful man, and feared God above many.’ It is said of Obadiah that he feared the Lord greatly. Every saint fears the Lord, but every saint does not greatly fear him. Oh, there are but few Obadiahs in the world, I mean among the saints on earth. As Paul said of Timothy, ‘I have none “like-minded,” ’ so it may be said of some concerning the fear of the Lord; they have scarce a fellow. Hananiah had got, as to the exercise of and growth in this grace, the start of many of his brethren. He ‘feared God above many.’ Now, then, seeing this grace admits of degrees, and is in some stronger, and in some weaker, let us be all awakened, as to other graces, so to this grace also: that like as you abound in everything, in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.”—Bunyan.THE AND OF THE CITY OF GOD Nehemiah 7:4. Now the city was large and great: but the people were few therein, and the houses were not buildedThe spaciousness and emptiness of the city of God! This phrase suggests God’s doing and man’s misdoing. “With his sword and with his bow” David the warrior-king captured the city; with his wealth he endowed it; to Solomon his son he committed its keeping. Under the hand of Solomon it grew; the great of other nations came to behold its magnificence; silver was as plentiful as stone and cedar trees as numerous as sycamores: it was “the city of the great king.” When Nehemiah came it was almost a silent city, as a city of the dead. “The entire number of Jews who returned in Cyrus’ day to Jerusalem was small—about 50,000 out of millions. Piety, patriotism, and desire for change were three motives at work in the 50,000. But what a vast mass were unmoved by any of these motives, and were well satisfied with their exile! Some, however, like Daniel, remained from high and holy motives. The Jewish people is a remnant.”—Crosby. I. The spaciousness of the city of God. “The Church on earth is called a city. How beautiful the orders, laws, and privileges thereof! God her king dwells in her; angels and ministers are her watchmen and guard; believers are her free , entitled to all the fulness of God; his salvation, providential preservation, and system of sacred government are her walls (Isaiah 62:12). She is called a great city because of her extent, and the vast number of her members (Revelation 21:10); a holy city because of the holiness of her Founder, laws, ordinances, and members, and end of erection (Revelation 11:2); and the city of God because he planned, built, peopled, rules, protects, and dwells in her (Hebrews 12:22).” “Heaven is represented as a city, a city with twelve foundations, a holy city. What glory, order, safety, and happiness are there enjoyed by the multitudes of saints! how perfect and durable their state of felicity! and all of it founded on the purchase of Christ! None but holy persons do ever enter it, nor is aught but holiness ever practised therein (Hebrews 11:10; Hebrews 11:16).”—Wood. The Church was made for man. What pages of history have been blurred and blotted in the strife to narrow the entrance; to make the Church for man a Church for men. Not from Rome only, from the east and the west, from the north and the south they have come who would limit the rights of men and monopolize the city of God. A city; a kingdom. Whose city? who is the king? “All the ends of the earth,” “all nations,” “sinners,” these are the catchwords of Old and New Testament teaching. The works of men are contracted; the creations of God are broad, limitless. The quiet star-lit sky, how suggestive of boundless space. The all-embracing atmosphere, how emblematic of an all-seeing and all-interested Presence. Everywhere is the only limit that can be assigned to God; to every one the only limit to the offer of his great gifts. “According to his glorious riches he shall supply all your need.” “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” This city is destined to grow. The Church is blessed first inwardly and then outwardly. Religion deepened within her pale, then extension. In the history of the first Church there are the “notes” of the Church’s life before the announcement of the Church’s increase (Acts 2:42-47). The Holy Ghost first fell on the assembled disciples, then there were added three thousand souls. The doctrine of justification by faith dawns upon a Luther, and a Reformation follows. The brotherhood of man arrests Wilberforce—“bows the tall soul as by wind”—and the slave-trade is doomed; its extinction is thenceforward only a question of time. “The golden side of Heaven’s great shield is faith,The silver reason.”The gospel has an element of Divinity in the comprehensive way in which it claims all our service and the service of all. None are exempted. None are allowed to do partial fealty. “Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.” II. The emptiness of the city of God. “Are there few that be saved?” Do you waive that question of curiosity? “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” Take heed to thyself. “Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought; but that we receive a full reward.” Leave the future, busy thyself with the practical, pressing present. Now at any rate “few” enough are saved. In any civilized Christian city the population divides into two classes—the churchgoing and non-churchgoing. If all were disposed to attend Church, they could not. Christian and heathen countries. All are not “soldiers of Christ.” What then? Despair? Nay, work, pray, wait. We see not as yet all things put under Christ. But “he must reign.” And we understand a Divine must. “Let the echo flyThe spacious earth around”The Church has done much; the world needs her to do more. Success has followed missionary effort at home and abroad. A kneeling Church has risen strong in the Lord and in the power of his might to lengthen her cords, strengthen her stakes, and multiply her converts. “As Jerusalem, in Nehemiah’s time, extended far on both sides, and was scantily populated, so also the city of God in all times has had space for new additions to its population. For, in truth, the rich possessions which God has prepared in his Church for mankind would only then be sufficiently turned to profit when every one called man should enjoy them, and it were itself full and sufficiently built out and all had entered in. For that God, who has made all things for himself, and for that Lord who has redeemed all, the totality alone, from which none is lost, forms a sufficiently great people.”—Schultz. The time is coming when the nations shall stretch out their hands unto God, the kingdoms of the earth sing praises unto the Lord. Right shall be predominant when at his name every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that he is Lord. The rest is vision. “I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” “I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” FAMILY Nehemiah 7:5. And my God put into mine heart to gather together the nobles, and the rulers, and the people, that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of them which came up at the first. When, in Biblical sense, we speak of a family, we may mean a household, a kindred, a division of a tribe, a nation, or the whole family of God in heaven and on earth. “The genealogies occupied an important place in Israel. They contained the certificate of Church-membership for each Israelite. They also contained the claims to official dignity that belonged to priest and Levite. The family-idea thus received a marked emphasis in God’s redemptive government—an emphasis which is echoed by Malachi (Malachi 4:6) and the angel that appeared to Zacharias (Luke 1:17). The appearance of the Nethinim in the genealogies is a forcible illustration of the impartial grace of God. That grace which would bring in all the Gentiles as children was foretokened by the brotherly position of the Nethinim (of Gentile blood) among the people of God—the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”—Crosby. The genealogy was the story of their lives from year to year. I. The family-idea. The corrective of individualism. A natural barrier against selfishness. Father, mother, brother, sister suggest unity in diversity. Differences without disagreement. “There are the two opposite poles of masculine and feminine, which contain within them the entire of our humanity—which together, not separately, make up the whole of man. Then there are the diversities in the degrees and kinds of affection. For when we speak of family affection, we must remember that it is made up of many diversities. There is nothing more different than the love which the sister bears towards the brother, compared with that which the brother bears towards the sister. The affection which a man bears towards his father is quite distinct from that which he feels towards his mother; it is something quite different towards his sister; totally diverse, again, towards his brother. And then there are diversities of character. First the mature wisdom and stern integrity of the father; then the exuberant tenderness of the mother. And then one is brave and enthusiastic, another thoughtful, and another tender. One is remarkable for being full of rich humour; another is sad, mournful, even melancholy. Again, besides these, there are diversities of condition in life. First, there is the heir, sustaining the name and honour of the family; then, perchance, the soldier, in whose career all the anxiety and solicitude of the family is centred; then the man of business, to whom they look up, trusting his advice, expecting his counsel; lastly, perhaps, there is the invalid, from the very cradle trembling between life and death, drawing out all the sympathies and anxieties of each member of the family, and so uniting them all more closely from their having one common point of sympathy and solicitude.”—F. W. Robertson. “Of all the mysteries in the universe, I hardly know of any which is more wonderful than the kind of relationship existing between all of us and our parents. The universal consent of mankind sustains the authority of my conscience, and declares that I—I alone—must be held responsible for whatever evil I commit, and that I am to be praised if I do well. And yet nothing can be plainer than that it is easy or difficult for me to do well, according as my father and my mother, my grandfather and my grandmother, and I know not how far back I may go, were, or were not, temperate, virtuous, upright, good people. As there is this singular and most mysterious relationship between my moral life and the moral life of my parents, there is a relationship equally intimate between my physical and intellectual life and theirs. My voice, the length and shape of my limbs, my height, the colour of my hair, the strength and clearness of my sight, the soundness of my brain, my muscular vigour, whatever constitutes my weakness or my power, was largely determined for me by what my parents were.”—R. W. Dale. The mysteries of life are not so much abroad as at home. The miracle is not in some seldom, far-off event, but in life’s daily scenes—noon and night, birth and death, the daily bread, the nightly guardianship. Home, family, a sacred centre, a heaven-made bond. “Where’er I roam, whatever realms to see,My heart, untravelled, fondly turns to thee.”II. Family history. We are heirs of all the yesterdays. An unpayable debt owed to the past. The poets describe virtues more to be valued than “Norman blood.” Men prize “Norman blood” notwithstanding. The Jew, “the pilgrim of commerce,” turned homeward with a peculiar ardour of affection. The chosen people. All others Gentiles. Cosmopolitanism a modern idea. “My name and the name of my fathers.” Jacob. “My fathers’ God.” Moses. “I am not better than my fathers.” Elijah, “l am a sojourner as all my fathers were.” David. “O thou God of my fathers.” Daniel. “I worship the God of my fathers.” Paul. The thought which the dying Wesley phrased ran through Hebrew history as a “family tradition”—“The best of all is, God is with us.” Their familiar description of God was “the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.” The “family tradition” that links us with some event in history is good; the “family tradition” that tells of deeds of heroism and acts of unselfishness is better. Not who we are, but what we are, the pre-eminent consideration. “My boast is not that I deduce my birthFrom loins enthroned, and rulers of the earth;But higher far my proud pretensions rise—The son of parents passed into the skies.”The idea of the family is unity; the history of the family suggests continuance. “No separation can ever break that fellowship of common love which exists in a home. Its members may be sundered by unknown seas, yet the bands of a common affection and sympathy unite them still. So is the fellowship of the Christian brotherhood unbroken by death. It extends to heaven, and unites it with earth—the whole family in heaven and earth named in Christ.”—E. L. Hull. There is no past. The ages are inseparably linked together. “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” So it shall be with us. Christ hath brought life and immortality to light. We shall stand in the presence of those who were dead, but are alive again and live for evermore. “In my Father’s house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” The dead will not return to us, but we shall go to them. THE OF Nehemiah 7:70-72. And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drams of gold, five basons, five hundred and thirty priestsʼ ? garments. And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pound of silver. And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand pound of silver, and threescore and seven priestsʼ ? garments. This scene reminds us of two similar ones in Hebrew history. Shortly before his death David the king gathered the people together, and by his example and entreaty caused the princes and people to offer willingly (1 Chronicles 29). Even the abundance of the offerings is less marked than the willing spirit of the offerers. “I know, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee. O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee.” Joash gave order to repair the temple with “all the money that cometh into any man’s heart to bring into the house of the Lord.” “And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in and cast into the chest, until they had made an end. And they gathered money in abundance” (2 Kings 12; 2 Chronicles 24). The Jew and the Friend have received honourable mention for their generosity to the poor of their confraternity. The Jew has distinguished himself in his devotion to his temple. The pilgrim of commerce has cast some of his commercial gains into the treasury of God. I. Claimants. The cause of God is the cause of humanity. The Church a republican institution. “The rich and poor meet together.” “The poor shall never cease out of the land.” “The poor ye have always with you.” Moses and Jesus, Old Testament and New, recognize what they do not explain—poverty. The Communion Service takes special cognizance of the poor. The offertory sentences cite the golden rule, the laws of analogy, the behests of God. It is fitting, it is beautiful that at the feast of love, love should take shape and colour, that a body should be prepared for it. “All ye are brethren.” How far-reaching are these simple sayings of Jesus Christ. The cause of God—let not that well-known phrase lose its sharpness by use and familiarity. The cause of God is the cause of righteousness, the cause of the weak and oppressed, the cause of the widow and orphan, the cause of the slave and aboriginal, the cause of those who in every clime sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. II. The generous spirit. Motive decides action. “The true measure of sacrifice is not the greatness of the outward act, but the perfectness of the inward motive. We like to do a thing which seems to be a great dedication, and which flatters our self-love by its greatness, partly because it is far easier to do a great thing which does not necessitate self-surrender, than a small thing that does. It is the all—the very heart of the man—that God asks for; the outward form of the sacrifice is of little worth. It is not the great outward act, but the perfect yielding of the soul, which constitutes the sacrifice which God will not despise.”—E. L. Hull. “The motive and measure.” How much shall I give to God? A tithe? “Am I a Jew?” Is the world still in its cradle? Is Christianity a set of rules or a great principle? How much owest thou unto thy Lord? “Freely ye have received, freely give.” Do not ask, “How little can I give?” Inquire rather how much thou hast received. “In the light of the judgment day” it will be well to be “blameless as the steward of God.” When the omniscient Searcher of all hearts pronounces his verdict, blessed will be the man whom he describes as “that faithful and wise steward.” Hold your possessions in trust. When need arises and ability be given, cast your uncounted coins into the treasury. “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and look, what he layeth out, it shall be paid him again.” “There is that scattereth and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” “Not getting, but giving, is the way to wealth.” POEM:— “Abon Ben Adhem—may his tribe increase!—Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,And saw amid the moonlight in his room,Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,An Angel writing in a book of gold:Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, And to the vision in the room he said,‘What writest thou?’ The vision raised its head,And with a voice made of all sweet accord,Replied. ‘The names of them that love the Lord.’‘And is mine one?’ said Abon. ‘Nay, not so,’Replied the Angel. Abon spoke more low,But cheerily still, and said, ‘I pray thee, then,Write me as one who loves his fellow-men.’The Angel wrote and vanished. The next nightHe came again with a great wakening light;He showed the names whom love of God had blest,And, lo, Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest.”Leigh Hunt.TOILERS RESTING Nehemiah 7:73. So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and some of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities; and when the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities. Wall built. Reformations about to begin. A breathing-time. I. Rest after labour. The great human heart of Jesus speaks in Mark 6:31 : “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile.” More dramatic when we see him weeping tears of friendship by the grave of Lazarus, or tears of regret over the city of Jerusalem. But not more human than this anxiety for his disciples. The people needed teaching and healing, but the disciples needed rest. The circumstances were these. They had been through the cities preaching and healing. Returning to their Lord, “they told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.” He orders them to cross the lake and be beyond the tide of human population. After the miracle of feeding he himself “departed into a mountain to pray. And when even was come, he was alone.” Putting side by side his precept and example, we have his recorded convictions on the necessity and importance of leisure and loneliness—the needs—be for rest. Body and mind require it. Rest and sleep are Nature’s great restorers. Never more than in this day. “One great danger in our time is that every man is so active; every man has so much to think about and to do. Nothing moves slowly. If we had the refashioning of the year, we would make it twenty-four months. If we had the refashioning of the day, we would make it forty-eight hours. If we had our own refashioning, we would kindle in ourselves a fire that would burn forty-eight hours without replenishing. Intensity of life, over-wrought occupation comes from the very social, political, and commercial conditions in which we live. And, as if this were not enough, we try, by strong stimulus, to wind up the flagging nerve, worn out by too much excitement. We want, in that way, to make twelve hours do the work of twenty-four.”—H. W. Beecher. One of the penalties we pay for high civilization. The too common history of men in relation to whom work has induced insanity and insanity suicide. Earlier rest would have ministered to many a man’s mind in the incipient stages of disease. Moral development retarded by the whirl of business; by the incessant anxiety to make both ends meet. “The cares of this world” and “the deceitfulness of riches” are both harmful. All a Christian’s time must not be devoted to others. The sanctuary is necessary. Labour is commendable. But leisure is invaluable. Leisure to remind ourselves that we are immortal, that there is a God for us; leisure for personal examination, contrite confession, private prayer, inward resolve; leisure for physical renewal, mental culture, spiritual advancement. “In these hours of rest and retirement many gentle qualities will spring up which find no place in life; only as flowers and grass find place on a pavement, growing up between the stones. There is many a man whose ordinary life is hard as a stone, and whose taste or culture shows itself only as it steals out through the joints where stone meets stone. It is a piteous thing that men should be so hard; and the habit of being by one’s self, the habit of rest and inspection, gives some opportunity for the development of the finer traits of character, which, after all, go far toward making the beauty of holiness in man spring up and bear appropriate fruit.”—H. W. Beecher. II. Rest before labour. Rest not an end, but a means to an end. The corrective and reward of toil. The true reward of anything consists in having done it more than in its consequences or in men’s appreciation of it. All who labour may enjoy the earthly paradise of rest. But only when it is the preparation for renewed toil. The life of leisure which some sigh for is not desirable. None more wretched than those who have nothing to do. Work was not imposed as a curse. God put the first man into paradise “to dress it and to keep it.” It is expressly noted that “there was not a man to till the ground.” Work is as old as the creation. Noble too. God imposed it. The curse consisted in the toil and its fruitlessness. “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.” The naturalness of work is seen in the recurrence of day and night. Weary we lie down to rest. Sleep recruits the wasted energies of body; the mind recuperates itself. The morning calls us forth to labour. “Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.” All work and no play is a curse indeed. All play and no work is not a blessing. “I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day.” So Christ spake. And he gives three reasons for this. It is the accomplishment of his Father’s purpose. “He sent me.” It is in imitation of his Father. “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” The opportunity for work will soon be past. “The night cometh, when no man can work.” Speaking of his disciples to the end of time, he said, “As the Father sent me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world.” “Labourers together with God” is our appellation. Rest is for a while; work is for life. We find Christ in the city, in the temple, in all the haunts of men. But he soon leaves. His choice seems to be where Nature can speak to him—on the mountain, in the desert, by the sea. He is grander there than when compelled to battle with prejudices. He drank at the pure fount of Nature. So must we. Amongst men we get dwarfed, discontented, disgusted. Meanness, selfishness, the grinding of the weak by the strong, the lip profession belied by the life—all this shakes our faith in goodness. No man can always live in a crowd. We are led by popular opinion, deceived by glitter and show. We shall be superficial in much the same proportion as we neglect solitary converse with ourselves. Too much looking within may be dangerous. That danger is remote. Our danger lies in being strangers to ourselves—looking upward, outward, and onward, but not inward. It is sometimes good for a man to be alone. Some experiences only come to us in solitude. We shall die alone. Friends may smooth our pillow and soothe our pain by their tender ministries of affection; but in the depths of the soul we shall be alone. To every one death is an undiscovered land. Alone in death we must be. And yet not alone. “The Father is with me.” Beyond, the labour that does not fatigue, the service that is perfect freedom. “They serve him day and night in his temple.” “They rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.” “They rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.” ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 7 CITIES The classification of the human race into dwellers in towns and nomade wanderers (Genesis 4:20; Genesis 4:22) seems to be intimated by the etymological sense of the Hebrew words Ar or Ir, and Kirjath, viz., as places of security against an enemy, distinguished from the unwalled village or hamlet, whose resistance is more easily overcome by the marauding tribes of the desert. This distinction is found actually existing in countries, as Persia and Arabia, in which the tent-dwellers are found, like the Rechabites, almost side by side with the dwellers in cities, sometimes even sojourning within them, but not amalgamated with the inhabitants, and in general making the desert their home, and, unlike the Rechabites, robbery their undissembled occupation. The earliest notice in Scripture of city-building is of Enoch by Cain, in the land of his “exile” (Genesis 4:17). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar; and Asshur, a branch from the same stock, built Nineveh, Rehoboth-by-the-river, Calah, and Resen, the last being “a great city.” A subsequent passage mentions Sidon, Gaza, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Lasha as cities of the Canaanites, but without implying for them antiquity equal to that of Nineveh and the rest (Genesis 10:10-12; Genesis 10:19; Genesis 11:3; Genesis 11:9; Genesis 36:37). Cities existed in Syria prior to the time of Abraham, who himself came from “Ur,” the “city” of the Chaldζans. The earliest description of a city, properly so called, is that of Sodom (Genesis 19:1-22); but it is certain that from very early times cities existed on the sites of Jerusalem, Hebron, and Damascus. The last, said to be the oldest city in the world, must, from its unrivalled situation, have always commanded a congregated population. Hebron is said to have been built seven years before Zoan (Tanis) in Egypt, and is thus the only Syrian town which presents the elements of a date for its foundation. Even before the time of Abraham there were cities in Egypt (Genesis 12:14-15; Numbers 13:22). The Israelites, during their sojourn there, were employed in building or fortifying the “treasure cities” of Pithom and Raamses; but their pastoral habits make it unlikely that they should build, still less fortify, cities of their own in Goshen. Meanwhile the settled inhabitants of Syria on both sides of the Jordan had grown in power and in number of “fenced cities.” In the kingdom of Sihon are many names of cities preserved to the present day; and in the kingdom of Og, in Bashan, were sixty “great cities” with walls and brazen bars, besides unwalled villages; and also twenty-three cities in Gilead, which were occupied and perhaps partly rebuilt or fortified by the tribes on the east of Jordan. On the west of Jordan, whilst thirty-one “royal” cities are enumerated (Joshua 12) in the district assigned to Judah, one hundred and twenty-five cities with villages are reckoned. But from some of these the possessors were not expelled till a late period, and Jerusalem itself was not captured till the time of David (2 Samuel 5:6-9). From this time the Hebrews became a city-dwelling and agricultural rather than a pastoral people. David enlarged Jerusalem, and Solomon, besides embellishing his capital, also built or rebuilt Tadmor, Palmyra, Gezer, Bethhoron, Hazor, and Megiddo, besides store-cities. Collections of houses in Syria for social habitation may be classed under three heads: (1) cities, (2) towns with citadels or towers for resort and defence, (3) unwalled villages. The cities may be assumed to have been in almost all cases “fenced cities,” i. e. possessing a wall with towers and gates; and that as a mark of conquest was to break down a portion, at least, of the city wall of the captured place, so the first care of the defenders, as of the Jews after their return from captivity, was to rebuild the fortifications. But around the city, especially in peaceable times, lay undefended suburbs, to which the privileges of the city extended. The city thus became the citadel, while the population overflowed into the suburbs. The absence of walls, as indicating security in peaceable times, combined with populousness, as was the case in the flourishing period of Egypt, is illustrated by the prophet Zechariah (Nehemiah 2:4). According to Eastern custom, special cities were appointed to furnish special supplies for the service of the state: cities of store, for chariots, for horsemen, for building purposes, for provision for the royal table. Special governors for these and their surrounding districts were appointed by David and by Solomon. To this practice our Lord alludes in his parable of the pounds, and it agrees with the theory of Hindoo government, which was to be conducted by lords of single townships, of 10, 100, or 1000 towns. To the Levites cities were assigned, distributed throughout the country, together with a certain amount of suburban ground, and out of these thirteen were specially reserved fur the family of Aaron. The internal government of Jewish cities was vested before the captivity in a council of elders with judges, who were required to be priests: Josephus says seven judges with two Levites as officers. Under the kings a president or governor appears to have been appointed, and judges were sent out on circuit, who referred matters of doubt to a council composed of priests, Levites, and elders at Jerusalem. After the captivity Ezra made similar arrangements for the appointment of judges. In the time of Josephus there appear to have been councils in the provincial towns, with presidents in each, under the directions of the great council at Jerusalem. In many Eastern cities much space is occupied by gardens, and thus the size of the city is much increased. The vast extent of Nineveh and Babylon may thus be in part accounted for. In most Oriental cities the streets are extremely narrow. It seems likely that the immense concourse which resorted to Jerusalem at the feasts would induce wider streets than in other cities. Herod built in Antioch a wide street paved with stone, and having covered ways on each side. Agrippa II. paved Jerusalem with white stone. The straight street of Damascus is still clearly defined and recognizable. We cannot determine whether the internal commerce of Jewish cities was carried on as now, by means of bazaars, but we read of the bakers’ street (Jeremiah 37:21), and Josephus speaks of the wool market, the hardware market, a place of blacksmiths’ shops, and the clothes market at Jerusalem. The open spaces near the gates of towns were in ancient times, as they are still, used as places of assembly by the elders, of holding courts by kings and judges, and of general resort by citizens. They were also used as places of public exposure by way of punishment. Prisons were under the kingly government within the royal precinct. Great pains were taken to supply both Jerusalem and other cities with water, both by tanks and cisterns for rainwater, and by reservoirs supplied by aqueducts from distant springs. Such was the fountain of Gihon, the aqueduct of Hezekiah, and of Solomon, of which last water is still conveyed from near Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Josephus also mentions an attempt made by Pilate to bring water to Jerusalem. Burial-places, except in special cases, were outside the city.—Rev. H. W. Phillott, M. A., in ‘Smith’s Bible DictionaryG Genealogy, literally the act or art of the γενεαλόγος, i. e. of him who treats of birth and family, and reckons descents and generations. Hence by an easy transition it is often (like ἱστορια) used of the document itself in which such series of generations is set down. In Hebrew the term for a genealogy or pedigree is “the book of the generations;” and because the oldest histories were usually drawn up on a genealogical basis, the expression often extended to the whole history, as is the case with the Gospel of St. Matthew, where “the book of the generation of Jesus Christ” includes the whole history contained in that Gospel. So Genesis 2:4, “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth,” seems to be the title of the history which follows. Genesis 5:1; Genesis 6:9; Genesis 10:1; Genesis 11:10; Genesis 11:27; Genesis 25:12; Genesis 25:19; Genesis 36:1; Genesis 36:9; Genesis 37:2, are other examples of the same usage, and these passages seem to mark the existence of separate histories from which the book of Genesis was compiled. Nor is this genealogical form of history peculiar to the Hebrews, or the Semitic races. The earliest Greek histories were also genealogies.… The frequent use of the patronymic in Greek, the stories of particular races, the lists of priests, and kings, and conquerors at the games preserved at Sparta, Olympia, and elsewhere; the hereditary monarchies and priesthoods; the division, as old as Homer, into tribes, fratriζ, and γένη, and the existence of the tribe, the gens, and the familia among the Romans; the Celtic clans, the Saxon families using a common patronymic, and their royal genealogies running back to the Teutonic gods, these are among the many instances that may be cited to prove the strong family and genealogical instinct of the ancient world. Coming nearer to the Israelites, it will be enough to allude to the hereditary principle and the vast genealogical records of the Egyptians as regards their kings and priests, and to the passion for genealogies among the Arabs, mentioned by Layard and others, in order to show that the attention paid by the Jews to genealogies is in entire accordance with the manners and tendencies of their contemporaries. In their case, however, it was heightened by several peculiar circumstances. The promise of the land of Canaan to the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob successively, and the separation of the Israelites from the Gentile world; the expectation of Messiah as to spring from the tribe of Judah; the exclusively hereditary priesthood of Aaron with its dignity and emoluments; the long succession of kings in the line of David; and the whole division and occupation of the land upon genealogical principles by the tribes, families, and houses of fathers, gave a deeper importance to the science of genealogy among the Jews than perhaps any other nation. We have already noted the evidence of the existence of family memoirs even before the Flood, to which we are probably indebted for the genealogies in Genesis 4:5; and Genesis 10, 11, &c. indicate the continuance of the same system in the times between the Flood and Abraham. But with Jacob, the founder of the nation, the system of reckoning by genealogies was much further developed.… According to these genealogical divisions the Israelites pitched their tents and marched, and offered their gifts and offerings, and chose the spies. According to the same they cast the lots by which the troubler of Israel, Achan, was discovered, as later those by which Saul was called to the throne. Above all, according to these divisions the whole land of Canaan was parcelled out amongst them. But now of necessity that took place which always has taken place with respect to such genealogical arrangements, viz., that by marriage, or servitude, or incorporation as friends and allies, persons not strictly belonging by birth to such or such a family or tribe were yet reckoned in the census as belonging to them. The tribe of Levi was probably the only one which had no admixture of foreign blood. In many of the Scripture genealogies, as, e. g., those of Caleb, Joab, Segub, and the sons of Rephaiah, &c., in 1 Chronicles 3:21, it is quite clear that birth was not the ground of their incorporation into their respective tribes. However, birth was, and continued to be throughout their whole national course, the foundation of all the Jewish organization, and the reigns of the more active kings and rulers were marked by attention to genealogical operations.… But, however tradition may have preserved for a while true genealogies, or imagination and pride have coined fictitious ones, after the destruction of Jerusalem it may be safely affirmed that the Jewish genealogical system then came to an end. Just notions of the nature of the Jewish genealogical records are of great importance with a view to the right interpretation of Scripture. Let it only be remembered that these records have respect to political and territorial divisions, as much as to strictly genealogical descent, and it will at once be seen how erroneous a conclusion it may be that all who are called “sons” of such or such a patriarch, or chief father, must necessarily be his very children.… The sequence of generations may represent the succession to such or such an inheritance or headship of tribe or family, rather than the relationship of father and son … As regards the chronological use of the Scripture genealogies, great caution is necessary in using them as measures of time. What seems necessary to make them trustworthy measures of time is, either that they should have special internal marks of being complete, such as where the mother as well as the father is named, or some historical circumstance defines the several relationships, or that there should be several genealogies, all giving the same number of generations within the same termini. As an indication of the carefulness with which the Jews kept their pedigrees, it is worth while to notice the recurrence of the same name, or modifications of the same name, such as Tobias, Tobit, Nathan, Mattatha, and even of names of the same signification, in the same family. The Jewish genealogies have two forms, one giving the generations in a descending, the other in an ascending scale. Females are named when there is anything remarkable about them, or when any right or property is transmitted through them. The genealogical lists of names are peculiarly liable to corruptions of the text. The Bible genealogies give an unbroken descent of the house of David from the creation to the time of Christ. The registers at Jerusalem must have supplied the same to the priestly and many other families. They also inform us of the origin of most of the nations of the earth, and carry the genealogy of the Edomitish sovereigns down to about the time of Saul. Viewed as a whole, it is a genealogical collection of surpassing interest and accuracy.—Rev. Lord A. Hervey, in ‘Smith’s Bible Dictionary.’ FROM OLD WRITERS I. The wall completed (Nehemiah 7:1). “Nehemiah was not vain-glorious. He was humbly lofty, and loftily humble; humble in heart, and yet high in worth and works.” “Those that have a hand in building the spiritual Jerusalem shall be surely crowned and chronicled.” “There must be no straining courtesy who shall begin to build, nor must men fear for their forwardness to be styled seraphical and singular.” “Not priests and Levites only, but the great men in every country, yea, and the country people too, must work at God’s building. Every one must be active in his own sphere; not live to himself, but help to bear the burdens of Church and commonwealth.” “All God’s work is honourable.” “Let us learn at these good men’s examples to be bold and constant in well-doing, and not to fear every brag and blast of wind. Let us be as a lusty horse, that goeth through the street, and careth not for the barking of every cur that leapeth forth as though he would bite him; so let us not be afraid of the barking curs, nor look backward, but go on forth, not changing with every tide; and the mighty Lord will strengthen our weakness with good success to finish his building; for so have all good men done from the beginning.” II. Hanani and Hananiah (Nehemiah 7:2). “Hanani was a gracious man according to his name, and zealous for his country, which indeed is a man’s self.” “An honest man of good credit, and more earnest in religion and love to his country than others, because his name is put down in writing, and the others are not.” “Hananiah was a man of truth, faithfulness, or firmness; a sure man, and such as one might safely confide in.” “He feared God. No wonder, therefore, that he was faithful to men. God’s holy fear is the ground of all goodness and fidelity. Hence Jethro, in his well-qualified ruler, places the fear of God in the midst of the other graces, as the heart in the body, for conveying life to all the parts, or as a dram of musk, perfuming the whole box of ointment (Exodus 18:21).” “Nothing maketh a man so good a patriot as the true fear of God.” “Take away piety, and fidelity is gone.” “He cannot be faithful to me (said a king) that is unfaithful to God.” “Religion is the foundation of all true fidelity and loyalty to king and country. Hence that close connection, Fear God, honour the king (1 Peter 2:17).” “Hananiah feared God above many. This is a singular praise, and by every man to be sought after, to be eminent and exemplary, taller than the rest by the head and shoulders, full of all goodness, filled with all knowledge (Romans 15:14), able and active in every good word and work.” “That is a low and unworthy strain in some, to labour after no more grace than will keep life and soul together, that is, soul and hell asunder.” “God would have his people to be discontentedly contented with the measures they have received, and to be still adding (2 Peter 1:5) and advancing (Philippians 3:14), aspiring to perfection, till they come unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).” III. The city guard (Nehemiah 7:3). “Set thou watches. He speaketh to the two Hananis, and bids each of them, whose turn it was, see to the well-doing of it. Xenophon saith of Cyrus, that when he gave anything in command he never said, ‘Let some one do this,’ but, ‘Do thou this.’ ” IV. An inspired man (Nehemiah 7:5). “No man ever grew to be greatly good without a Divine instinct.” “Every good motion in him, and whatever he thought of that was conducive to the good and welfare of Jerusalem, Nehemiah always ascribed it to God.” NOTES.] Nehemiah 8:1. Street] Rather “square.” An open place at the gate of Oriental cities where trials were held and wares set forth for sale.—Gesenius. The water gate] Sec addenda to chap. 3. They spake unto Ezra] “The assembled people. This reading, then, was desired by the assembly. The motive for this request is to be found in the desire of the congregation to keep the new moon of the seventh month as a feast of thanksgiving for the gracious assistance they had received from the Lord during the building of the wall, and through which it had been speedily and successfully completed, in spite of the attempts of their enemies to obstruct the work. This feeling of thankfulness impelled them to the hearing of the word of God for the purpose of making his law the rule of their life.”—Keil. Ezra the scribe] “In the next verse it is Ezra the priest. This is the first mention of Ezra in the book of Nehemiah. He had come to Jerusalem thirteen years previously. He had forced the Jews to separate from their heathen wives, and had then probably returned to Persia. As we do not meet with his name in Nehemiah till now, it is probable he followed Nehemiah to Judæa to assist him in another movement of reform.”—Crosby. Nehemiah 8:2. All that could hear with understanding] Men, women, and elder children. The first day of the seventh month] Distinguished above the other new moon’s of the year as the feast of trumpets, and celebrated as a specially sacred festival (Leviticus 23:23-25; Numbers 29:1-6). Nehemiah 8:3. From the morning] “From the light till mid-day.” About six hours. Nehemiah 8:4. Pulpit] A very high platform. Beside him stood Mattithiah, &c.] Probably priest. “Perhaps Urijah is the father of the Meremoth of Neh 3:4; Nehemiah 3:21; Maaseiah, the father of the Azariah of Neh 3:23; Pedaiah, the individual named Nehemiah 3:21; the Azariah to be inserted, according to 1 Esdras, the same named Nehemiah 3:23; a Meshullam occurs, Nehemiah 3:4; Nehemiah 3:6; and a Malchiah, Nehemiah 3:11; Nehemiah 3:14; Nehemiah 3:31.”—Bertheau. Nehemiah 8:6. Ezra blessed the Lord] Perhaps with a sentence of thanksgiving, as David did (1 Chronicles 29:10). Nehemiah 8:7. Also Jeshua, &c. caused the people to understand] “To instruct by expounding.”—Keil. Nehemiah 8:8. So they read, &c.] The Rabbis understand it to be a paraphrase in the Chaldee language for those who were not acquainted with the ancient Hebrew. Others, exposition and application. “Perhaps Ezra first read a section of the law, and the Levites then expounded to the people the portion just read; the only point still doubtful being whether the Levites expounded in succession, or whether they all did this at the same time to different groups of people.”—Keil. Nehemiah 8:10. Send portions] See Deuteronomy 16:11-12; Esther 9:19; Esther 9:22; Esther 9:14-15. The law concerning the feast of the tabernacles, of which the essentials are here communicated, is found Leviticus 23:39-43. Nehemiah 8:17. Since the days of Jeshua.… had not the children of Israel done so] The emphasis is on so. The feast of tabernacles had often been observed, but not in such a way as on this occasion, when the whole community dwelt in booths. Nehemiah 8:18. Also day by day] The law enjoined such a public reading once in seven years at the feast of tabernacles (Deuteronomy 31:10-11). OF CHAPTER 8 Nehemiah 8:4-8. The Church’s Common Service a Primitive and Reasonable Service.Nehemiah 8:5-6. Effect of Ezra’s Preaching.Nehemiah 8:9. Ezra Reading the Law.Nehemiah 8:10. The Christian in his Spiritual Joys.Nehemiah 8:10. The Joy of the Lord.Nehemiah 8:10. The Joy of the Lord is our Strength.Nehemiah 8:10. On Religious Joy, as giving Strength and Support to Virtue.Nehemiah 8:18. Daily Bible Reading.THE CHURCH’S COMMON SERVICE A AND SERVICE Nehemiah 8:4-8. And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, &c. WE might search long among the different histories of the world before we should find a scene more impressive and affecting than that which is here represented. A whole people recently re-established by God’s mercy in their own country, from which for their sins they had been long banished; assembled together to hear the solemn reading and exposition of their Divinely-inspired law, now about to be revived amongst them; and bowing down in lowly adoration of the Lord, the great God, from whom they had received it. So arduous and laborious an enterprise as the resettling of a people in full possession of their own land, and in the complete enjoyment of their several religious, social, and domestic relations, was necessarily a work of time. Many obstacles were raised to it by the malicious opposition of enemies from without, and many interruptions occurred from a want of spirit and energy within. The work gradually proceeded. Under the directions of Zerubbabel, then of Ezra, and lastly Nehemiah, the people had the satisfaction of contributing to the restoration of their dwellings, of their altars, of their temple, and finally of the gates and walls of their city. But another want remained to be supplied. The knowledge of their sacred Scriptures had been almost totally lost among the Jews. Together, therefore, with anxiety and diligence in restoring their material buildings, Ezra, who is recorded to have been “a ready scribe in the law of Moses,” combined an equal degree of care and industry in restoring the Holy Scriptures. I. First, then, the reading of the Holy Scriptures thus publicly for the instruction of the people became, from the time of Ezra, a constant practice in the Jewish synagogues. The practice was continued in our Saviour’s days, and those of his apostles. “Moses of old time,” &c. (Acts 15:21). And together with the reading of Moses was united that of the prophets (Acts 13:15; Acts 13:27). The propriety of this practice might be inferred from our Lord’s custom (Luke 4:16). The utility of the practice may be inferred from the fact, that to this practice has been attributed the preservation of the Jewish people from the idolatrous usages of the neighbouring nations. The practice thus observed in the Jewish Church was continued in the Early Christian. Apparently recognized by St. Paul (1 Thessalonians 5:27; Colossians 4:16). “On the day” (saith Justin Martyr) “which is called Sunday there is an assembly of all those who live either in the cities or in the country, and those things which are written of or by the apostles, and the writings of the prophets, are read as long as time will permit.” Upon this primitive practice is founded that of our apostolical Church. To the Scriptures of the Old Testament are added those of the New. The types of the law are accompanied with the antitypes of the gospel. The promises of the prophets are combined with the historical completion of them recorded by the apostles. Thus by means of the lessons, gospels, and epistles which are read in our churches much benefit accrues to the people. Many persons cannot read the Scriptures themselves. Many who can, will not or do not read them. But no small number of these persons is drawn together to attend the public service of the congregation. And although they may not have the alacrity of the people spoken of here, who “gathered themselves together as one man,” and “spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses,” yet, when the book of God is brought, they can hardly fail of hearing some portion of its contents, and acquiring some knowledge of the truths which it reveals or records, and the duties which it teaches and inculcates. Not that any man who is able to attain more knowledge of the Scriptures ought to be contented with this. He ought not only to hear, but read, search, search daily—so to study the Holy Scriptures as to know them (John 5:39; Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 3:15). II. The reading of the law was the express object of the assembly. The manner, however, in which this business was undertaken is well worthy of our regard. “And Ezra opened,” &c. (Nehemiah 8:5-6). Here is the union which subsists between the reading of the Scriptures to the people and the offering of adoration and thanksgiving to Almighty God. All public service implies this. We assemble and meet together to render thanks to God for the great benefits that we have received at his hands. The union between the devotions of the priest and the congregation. “Amen.” Liturgical responses. In those forms of prayer which the Church hath provided we inherit the most valuable examples of Christian piety and devotion, a rich treasury of evangelical doctrine, and perpetual monuments and memorials of practical holiness. III. Together with the reading of the law and the accompanying benedictions and adoration, a third service was combined, namely, that of expounding the law to the people. “So they read,” &c. (Nehemiah 8:8). One cause of difficulty may have been the change of language between the law as originally written by Moses and as now recited by Ezra. A thousand years had elapsed. Religious, political, civil, and domestic revolutions had occurred. From whatever cause, the fact is expressly stated. “The Levites caused the people to understand the law,” &c. Practice continued in the service of the synagogue. Sanctioned by the presence and practice of our Lord and his apostles. “When the reader hath done” (continues Justin Martyr), “he that presides in the assembly admonishes and exhorts us to put those good things which we have heard in practice. And afterwards we rise up with one consent, and send up our prayers to God.” The sermon—the exposition and application of Scriptural truth. Application. 1. Give a reverential attention to the word of God, as read in the public services of the congregation. Grateful for the mercies of God, and sensible withal of their own manifold infirmities and acts of disobedience, these Jews received the word with lowly expressions of thankfulness, and tokens of humiliation and repentance. 2. With reverential attention to the Holy Scriptures unite a constant and serious participation in the devotions of the Church. “All the people answered, Amen, and worshipped.” If you would derive benefit from God’s word, you must derive it through the medium of his grace. If you would enjoy his grace, you must solicit it by prayer. 3. Give attendance to those who are over you in the Lord, and who watch for your souls as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy. It is no abridgment of your Christian liberty to give heed to those who bear God’s commission to instruct you. We do not pretend to have dominion over your faith, but we would gladly be helpers of your joy. Let your feet habitually stand within the gates of the temple of God.—Bishop Mant, abridged. EFFECT OF EZRA’S Nehemiah 8:5-6. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, &c. Though in the time of our Lord it was the custom to read the law of God in the synagogues, it does not appear to have been any regular part of the priest’s office to preach unto the people. On some occasions we find persons sent through the land of Israel to make known the law; and here we behold Ezra on a pulpit of wood elevated above the people, and surrounded by an immense congregation, who had come together on purpose to hear the word of God expounded to them. Since the introduction of Christianity, the preaching of the gospel to men has been the particular office assigned to men who are set apart for that purpose; and though we must chiefly look to the apostles as our examples, and to the effects of their ministrations as the pattern of what we may expect to see amongst our auditors, yet may we profitably look back to the time of Ezra to learn from him and his ministry. I. In what manner the word of God should be dispensed. The mode adopted by Ezra, namely, the expounding of Scripture, we conceive to be peculiarly worthy of imitation. It is indeed but little practised at the present day, though at the time of the Reformation it generally obtained; and it has very great advantages above the plan which has superseded it. 1. It leads the people into a better acquaintance with the Scriptures. The Scriptures, except as a book for children, are but little read; persons are discouraged from perusing them by an idea that they are unintelligible to common capacities. But a very little explanation would render them, for the most part, easy to be understood by all. And what an advantage would this be! The people studying the word of God at home would be abundantly better qualified to understand it when read in public; and the explanations given to them in public would enable them to study it to better purpose at home; whereas the present plan of taking only a small passage for a motto, or merely as a groundwork for some general observations, leads to an extreme neglect of the Holy Scriptures, and to a consequent ignorance of them among all classes of the community. 2. It brings every part of the sacred records into view. There are some who bring forward the doctrinal part of Scripture exclusively, and leave the practical part entirely out of sight; there are others who insist only on the practical parts, and leave out the doctrinal. There are some also to whom many of the doctrines contained in the sacred volume are perfectly hateful, and who never in all their lives so much as mentioned the doctrines of predestination and election but to explain them away, and to abuse the persons who maintained them. But by expounding whole books of Scripture every doctrine must be noticed in its turn, and the connection between them and our practice must be pointed out. True it is that this mode of preaching would not altogether exclude false doctrine; but it would render the establishment of errors more difficult, because the hearers would be able to judge, in some good measure, how far the true and legitimate sense of Scripture was given, and how far it was perverted. The benefit of this, therefore, cannot be too highly appreciated. 3. It brings home truth, to the conscience with more authority. The word of man, though true, has little weight in comparison of the word of God; “that is quick and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged sword.” It is inconceivable what advantage a preacher has when he can say, “Thus saith THE LORD;” then every doctrine demands the obedience of faith, and every precept the obedience of righteousness. When told that the word which is delivered to them will judge them at the last day, the people will not dare to trifle with it, as they will with the declarations of fallible men. Were this matter more attentively considered, we have no doubt but that more frequent appeals would be made to Scripture in our public harangues, and that the obsolete method of expounding Scripture would have at least some measure of that attention which it deserves. But, in considering the word of God as explained to the people of Jerusalem, we are more particularly led to notice— II. In what manner it should be heard. Truly admirable was the conduct of the people on this occasion. Observe— 1. Their reverential awe. When Ezra opened the book of God, all the people, in token of their reverence, stood up; and when he blessed God for giving them so rich a treasure, they “all with uplifted hands cried, Amen, Amen;” yea, they bowed their heads also, “and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” This was a deportment which became sinners in the presence of their God; they did not look to the creature, but to God, whose voice they heard, and whose authority they acknowledged, in every word that was spoken. What a contrast does this form with the manner in which the word of God is heard amongst us! How rarely do we find persons duly impressed with a sense of their obligation to God for giving them a revelation of his will! How rarely do men at this day look through the preacher unto God, and hear God speaking to them by the voice of his servants! Even religious people are far from attending the ministration of the word in the spirit and temper that they ought; curiosity, fondness for novelties, and attachment to some particular preacher too often supply the place of those better feelings by which men ought to be actuated in their attendance on the preached gospel. To “stand in awe of God’s word,” and “to tremble at it,” are far more suitable emotions than those which we usually see around us. The Lord grant that our duty in this respect may be more justly estimated, and more generally performed. 2. Their devout affections. “When the people heard the words of the law,” they all wept, as feeling that they had sinned greatly against it (Nehemiah 8:9). And when they were reminded that, as the design of the present feast was to bring to their view the tender mercies of their God, and to encourage them to expect all manner of blessings at his hands, they ought rather to rejoice (Nehemiah 8:10-11), they did rejoice, insomuch that “there was very great gladness” amongst them; and they rejoiced especially on this account, that “they had understood the words that had been declared unto them” (Nehemiah 8:12). Now it is in this way that we should hear the word delivered to us. When it shows us our sins, we should weep, as it were, in dust and ashes; and when it sets forth the exceeding great and precious promises of the gospel, we should rejoice, yea, “rejoice with joy unspeakable.” We should have our hearts rightly attuned, so that we should never want a string to vibrate to every touch of God’s blessed word. But may it not be said to the generality in the present day, “We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented”? Yes; the gospel has little more power over the affections of men than if it were “a cunningly devised fable.” But we entreat you to consider, that if the law when expounded was so powerful, much more should the gospel be, since “it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” 3. Their unreserved obedience. No sooner was it discovered that an ordinance appointed by Moses had been neglected, than they hastened to observe it, according to the strict letter of the law, and actually did observe it with greater fidelity than it had ever been observed even from the days of Joshua to that present hour (Nehemiah 8:13-18). This showed that the impression made on their affections was deep and spiritual. And it is in this way that we also must improve the ministration of the word. If we attend to the gospel as we ought to do, we shall find out many things which we have neglected, and many that we have done amiss; yea, many things which are not generally noticed even among the godly will occur to our minds, and show us the defectiveness not of our obedience only, but of the obedience of the best of men. Let us have our minds then open to conviction, and attentive to every commandment of our God. Nor let us be satisfied with paying only customary attention to his revealed will, but let us aspire after higher degrees of purity, and a more perfect conformity to the Divine image. This will serve as the best test of our sincerity, and it will show that neither have you heard in vain nor we dispensed his word in vain.—Simeon. EZRA READING THE LAW Nehemiah 8:9. And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Ezra and Nehemiah amongst the neglected books of the Bible. Contain no specific prophecies of our Saviour’s days nor of the nature of his kingdom. They do not immediately connect themselves with the consideration of our Saviour’s ministry, and therefore we are tempted to pass them by. Yet, not withstanding, they form part of “the whole counsel of God.” Their subject-matter. The character of Nehemiah shows how Divine grace, whilst it sustains the lowly, is still the best safeguard to protect those who stand in the high places of the earth. The full and perfect patriotism of Nehemiah’s character. Describe the bright contrast which it presents to the base and selfish purposes which are so often sheltered beneath that honourable name. The people of Jerusalem mourning when they heard the words of the law. The law had not been read to the Jewish people since their return from Babylon. A large stage was erected in the most spacious street of the city, near to the water-gate. Ezra ascended to it with thirteen others of the principal elders. Ezra read the law in the Hebrew text, the Levites translated it into Chaldee. This was repeated daily during the entire festival, till they had gone through the whole law. Observe the impression made upon the people. Their eyes were opened to the clear knowledge of those things which they had before seen only through the partial instruction of teachers in the land of captivity. Their hearts were touched with the consciousness of the great mercies which the Lord their God had wrought for them, and upon the sad return which the history of their own sins and the sins of their fathers presented. They were overwhelmed with sorrow. The reading of the law revealed the spectacle of Jehovah’s creative glory, Jehovah’s avenging power, Jehovah’s redeeming mercy. Patriarch, prophet, and apostle had been overwhelmed with awe at this spectacle. [Story of the past rehearsed again.] Is not this day holy unto the Lord our God? Are we not assembled to hear the words of his revealed will? And do not the characters of man’s perverseness and rebellion which that revelation depicts stand out in as strong and humiliating contrast with the mercy of God now, as they did in the day of Jerusalem’s redemption from captivity? Can we listen to the counsels of God’s gracious providence unmoved? Our revelation fuller. Our redemption from a mightier oppressor. We are no longer under the law, but the gospel. Let us take heed, however, to ourselves that in so confessing that truth of Christ which has made us free we mar not the confession by abusing the freedom. We are freed from the law as a covenant; but we are not freed from the law as a rule. In preaching the law let us not put forth its terrors, in order that men may be affrighted or despair; but that they may be startled from the slumber of a false security, and fly for refuge unto Christ. “To preach the law alone” (saith Bishop Reynolds) “by itself we confess is to pervert the use of it; neither have we any power or commission so to do, for we have our power for edification, and not for destruction. It was published as an appendant to the gospel, and so must it be preached; it was published in the hand of a Mediator, and it must be preached in the hand of a Mediator; it was published evangelically, and it must be so preached. We have commission to preach nothing but Christ, and life in him; and therefore we never preach the law but with reverence and manuduction to him.”—Rev. J. S. M. Anderson, M. A., abridged. THE IN HIS JOYS Nehemiah 8:10. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. A sacred festival. “Go your way.” They were to return home and refresh themselves. He does not forbid the delicacies which they had provided. Eat the fat, and drink the sweet. But all this was to be accompanied with two things. First, liberality towards the destitute. “Send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared.” Law of Moses, gospel of Jesus inculcate this. Secondly, with cheerfulness. “Neither be ye sorry.” Joy becomes a feast. And this joy, says Nehemiah, is as important as it is becoming; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. It will strengthen your bodily frame, and, what is more, it will renew the strength of your souls. Let us contemplate the Christian—I. In the Divinity, and, II. In the utility of his joy. I. The Divinity of it. It is the joy of the Lord. So it is called by the Judge of all in his address at the last day. “Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Now this joy enters the Christian, and as he is so contracted a vessel, he cannot contain much; but THEN he will enter the joy, and he will find it a boundless ocean. It is the joy of the Lord. 1. His in the authority that binds it upon us as a duty. “Rejoice evermore.” “Rejoice in the Lord always.” “Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous.” 2. His in the assurance which holds it forth as a privilege. “The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy.” “Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound; in thy name shall they rejoice.” 3. His in the resemblance it bears to his own. Christians are “partakers of the Divine nature.” Do we feel the joy of God’s salvation? He feels it too; and this salvation is called “the pleasure of the Lord.” 4. His in the subject. The material of it, so to speak, is found in him, and in him alone. “Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.” With him is the fountain of life. We are accepted in the beloved. “I will go in the strength of the Lord God.” All his relations are mine. He is my Physician, my Friend, my Shepherd, my Father. All his perfections are mine—his wisdom, his power, his mercy, and his truth. All the dispensations of his providence, all the treasures of his word are mine. All his grace, all his glory is mine. 5. His, finally, in the production. There may be reasons for rejoicing when yet no joy is experienced; for the mourner may be unable to lay hold of them, and appropriate them to his own use. David therefore says, “Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.” And he prays, “Rejoice the soul of thy servant.” And he acknowledges, “Thou hast put gladness in my heart.” II. The utility of this joy. It is efficacious because Divine. To know the force of an argument, we apply it. To know the power of an implement, we make trial of it. To ascertain the strength of a man, we compare him with others, we task him with some exertion, we judge by the difficulty of the work which he achieves, and especially by the might of opposition which he overcomes. Let us examine this joy. Let us bring it to six tests, some of them very severe ones. 1. Let us review the Christian in his profession of religion. The joy of the Lord is the very strength of this profession. For in proportion as a man possesses it, he feels satisfied with his portion, he glories in his choice, he is ready to avow it. “I am not ashamed; I know whom I have believed.” “I will speak of thy testimonies.” Let us observe the Christian— 2. In his concern to recommend religion to others. Godliness must begin at home, but it can never end here. “The joy of the Lord gives us confidence in our addresses. We speak not from conjecture, or opinion, but experience. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you.” This also adds conviction and force to our testimony and commendation. Men see what our religion has done for us, and what it can do for them also. Will anything recommend a master more than the cheerfulness of his servants? 3. Let us view the Christian in the discharge of his duties. These are numerous, and extensive, and difficult. Fear chills, despondency unnerves, sorrow depresses. But hope is encouragement: joy inspires, excites, elevates. It renders our work our privilege. We not only have life, but have it more abundantly. “I will run in the way of thy commandments when thou shalt have enlarged my heart.” 4. Let us view the Christian in his perils. Perpetually surrounded with temptations in the world. These flatter him, and would entice him away from God. These he is to resist, steadfast in the faith. How? By constraints? By threatenings? These may indeed induce him actually to refuse the offers and allurements, but not in affection. The joy of the Lord is his strength; and without this a man will only leave the world as Lot’s wife left Sodom—she left it, but her heart was still in the place. Prohibition, so far from killing desire, has a tendency to increase it. Having found the pure spring, the Christian no longer kneels to the filthy puddle. Having tasted the grapes of Eshcol, he longs no more for the leeks, and garlic, and onions of Egypt. The palace makes him forget the dung-hill. The only effectual way of separating the heart from the world is to subdue the sense of an inferior good by the enjoyment of a greater. 5. We shall see that the joy of the Lord is his strength if we view the Christian in his sufferings. Afflictions try religious principle. 6. This joy of the Lord is the Christian’s strength in death. What but this can be his support then? God’s comforts delight his soul. What says our subject in a way of practical improvement? 1. Inquire what your joy is. 2. See how greatly religion is libelled. 3. What an inducement is here to seek the Lord and his strength, to seek his face evermore. 4. Your religion is to be suspected if you are habitually destitute of joy. 5. Let this joy be a peculiar object of attention to every Christian. Let him never forget that it is his strength. 6. Some know the worth of this joy from the want rather than from the experience. Seek, immediately and earnestly, an increase of it.—Jay, abridged. THE JOY OF THE LORD Nehemiah 8:10. The joy of the Lord is your strengthA man does not take leave of happiness by knowing Christ. The believer has a sick-bed joy, a death-bed joy—a joy that shall depart with him out of this world, go with him to the judgment, live with him through eternity. I. The nature of the true believer’s joy. “The joy of the Lord”—a description. 1. The Lord is its AUTHOR. He creates it and establishes it in the hearts of his people. The joy of true believers is no mere animal sensation. Not “good spirits.” Not a natural feeling, but a spiritual gift. St. Paul enumerates it among “the fruits of the Spirit,” calls it “joy of the Holy Ghost” (1 Thessalonians 1:6). 2. The Lord is the SUBJECT of this joy. His people not only rejoice by him, but they rejoice in him—they “joy in the God of their salvation. His grace, his gifts, his glories, his perfections constitute the subject-matter of their joy.” In his presence is “their fulness of joy.” He is the Sun of their souls. And why? What is there belonging to their Lord to give occasion, for this joy? (1) The freeness of his great salvation. Here is a daily, hourly song for the believer. (2) The imputation of his justifying righteousness. (3) The Giver of their present privileges, and the Preparer of their future glories. II. The effects of this joy. “Your strength.” 1. Spiritual joy strengthens a man for DUTY. 2. Spiritual joy strengthens a man for . Application. 1. To the confident professor. 2. To the desponding penitent.—Roberts’s Village Sermons. THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR Nehemiah 8:10. The joy of the Lord is your strengthThe preaching of God’s word is a very ancient ordinance. In the context we have a description of the manner in which Nehemiah conducted it. These means of instruction were useful in that day. Nor are they less necessary in every place and age. People need not only reproof for what is wrong, but direction in what is right. The Jews wept bitterly at the hearing of the law; but Nehemiah corrected their sorrow as ill-timed, and exhorted them to rejoice in God, who had done so great things for them. I. What reason we have to rejoice in the Lord. God is often said to rejoice over his people (Zephaniah 3:17). But the joy here spoken of must be understood rather of that which we feel in the recollection of God’s goodness towards us. The Jews at that season had special cause for joy in God. Delivered from Babylon, they had prospered even to a miracle in their endeavours. Their sorrow, however just, was not to exclude this joy. Such reason also have all the Lord’s people to rejoice in the Lord. They have experienced a redemption from sorer captivity, and been delivered by more stupendous means. Every day’s preservation is, as it were, a miracle. The work of their souls is carried on in spite of enemies; yea, is expedited through the means used to defeat it. Surely, then, they should say, like the Church of old, “The Lord hath done great things for us” (Psalms 126:3). These mercies are pledges and earnests of yet richer blessings. They may well confide in so good and gracious a God. They have indeed still great cause for sorrow. Yet it is their duty to rejoice always in the Lord. To promote and encourage this we proceed to show— II. In what respects this joy is our strength. We are as dependent on the frame of our minds as on the state of our bodies. Joy in God produces very important effects. 1. It disposes for action. Fear and sorrow depress and overwhelm the soul (Isaiah 57:16). They enervate and benumb all our faculties. They keep us from attending to any encouraging considerations (Exodus 6:9). They disable us from extending any relief to others (Job 2:13). They indispose us for the most necessary duties (Luke 22:45). We cannot pray or speak or do anything with pleasure. On the contrary, a joyous frame exhilarates the soul (Proverbs 17:2). David well knew the effect it would produce (Psalms 51:12-13). Every one may safely adopt his resolution (Psalms 119:32). 2. It qualifies for suffering. When the spirit is oppressed the smallest trial is a burthen. In those seasons we are apt to fret and murmur both against God and man. We consider our trials as the effects of Divine wrath. Or, overlooking God, we vent our indignation against the instruments he uses. But when the soul is joyous afflictions appear light (Hebrews 10:34; Hebrews 12:2). How little did Paul and Silas regard their imprisonment (Acts 16:25). How willing was Paul to lay down his very life for Christ (Acts 20:24). This accords with the experience of every true Christian (Romans 5:2-3; 2 Corinthians 6:10). Application. 1. Let us not be always brooding over our corruptions. Seasonable sorrows ought not to be discouraged. But we should never lose sight of all that God has done for us. It is our privilege to walk joyfully before the Lord (Psalms 89:15-16; Psalms 138:5; Psalms 149:5). If we abounded more in praise, we should more frequently be crowned with victory (2 Chronicles 20:21-22). 2. Let us carefully guard against the incursions of sin. It is sin that hides the Lord from our eyes (Isaiah 59:2). Joy will not consist with indulged sin (Psalms 66:18). Let us then mortify our earthly members and our besetting sins. Let us be girt with our armour while we work with our hands; nor ever grieve the Spirit, lest we provoke him to depart from us. 3. Let us be daily going to God through Christ. If even we rejoice in God at all it must be through the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:11). It is through Christ alone that our past violations of the law can be forgiven (Colossians 1:20). It is through Christ alone that the good work can be perfected in our hearts (Hebrews 12:2). And since all things are through him, and from him, let them be to him also (Romans 11:36).—Rev. Charles Simeon, M.A. ON JOY, AS GIVING AND SUPPORT TO VIRTUE Nehemiah 8:10. The joy of the Lord is your strengthOn hearing the words of the book of the law, all the people wept. Nehemiah exhorts them to prepare themselves for serving the God of their fathers with a cheerful mind. These words contain this important truth, that to the nature of true religion there belongs an inward joy which animates, strengthens, and supports virtue. I. Joy is a word of various signification. By men of the world it is often used to express those flashes of mirth which arise from irregular indulgences of social pleasure. The joy here mentioned signifies a tranquil and placid joy, an inward complacency and satisfaction, accompanying the practice of virtue and the discharge of every part of our duty. A joy of this kind is what we assert to belong to every part of religion; to characterize religion wherever it is genuine, and to be essential to its nature. In order to ascertain this, let us consider— 1. In what manner religion requires that a good man should stand affected towards God. Rational, enlightened piety presents God not as an awful, unknown Sovereign, but as the Father of the universe, the lover and protector of righteousness, under whose government all the interests of the virtuous are safe. With delight the good man traces the Creator throughout all his works, and beholds them everywhere reflecting some image of his supreme perfection. In the morning dawn, the noontide glory, and the evening shade; in the fields, the mountains, and the flood, where worldly men behold nothing but a dead, uninteresting scene; every object is enlivened and animated to him by the presence of God. Amidst that Divine Presence he dwells with reverence, but without terror. He is under the protection of an invisible guardian. He receives the declarations of his mercy. Objection. Are there no mortifications and griefs that particularly belong to piety—the tear of repentance, humiliation of confession, and remorse? Reply. There may be seasons of grief and dejection, yet this is not inconsistent with the joy of the Lord, being, on the whole, the predominant character of a good man’s state; as it is impossible that during this life perpetual brightness can remain in any quarter without some dark cloud. And even the penitential sorrows and relentings of a pious heart are not without their own satisfactions. It is no unusual thing for pleasure to be mixed with painful feelings. And where the mind is properly instructed in religion, it will not long be left in a state of overwhelming dejection, but will return to tranquillity, and repossess again the joy of the Lord. 2. Consider next the disposition of a good man towards his fellow-creatures. That mild and benevolent temper to which he is formed by virtue and piety, a temper that is free from envious and malignant passions, is a constant spring of cheerfulness and serenity. 3. With respect to that part of religion which consists in the government of a man’s own mind, of his passions and desires, it may be thought that much joy is not to be expected. For there religion appears to lay on a severe and restraining hand. Strict temperance and self-denial are often requisite. But in purity, temperance, and self-government there is found a satisfaction. A man is conscious of soundness. There is nothing that makes him ashamed of himself. II. In what respects the joy of the Lord is justly said to be the strength of the righteous. 1. It is the animating principle of virtue; it supports its influence, and assists it in becoming both persevering and progressive. Few undertakings are lasting or successful which are accompanied with no pleasure. Not until a man feels somewhat within him which attracts him to his duty can he be expected to be constant and zealous in the performance of it. 2. The joy of the Lord is the strength of the righteous, as it is their great support under the discouragements and trials of life. A good man’s friends may forsake, fortune may fail, his health decay; calumny and reproach may attack his character. Then, when worldly men become peevish, dispirited, and fretful, he can possess himself calm and undisturbed. He has resources within. Much is against us in our endeavours to cultivate this disposition. We must study to correct false ideas; persuade ourselves that there are other things besides riches, honours, and sensual pleasures that are good for man; that there are joys of a spiritual and intellectual nature which directly affect the mind and heart, and which confer a satisfaction both more refined and more lasting than any worldly circumstances can confer. To endeavours of our own for rectifying and improving our taste of pleasure let us join frequent and fervent prayer to God, that he may enlighten and reform our hearts, and by his Spirit communicate that joy to our souls which descends from him, and which he has annexed to every part of religion and virtue as the strength of the righteous.—Blair, abridged. SAME THEME Joyfulness is the invigorating tonic of the Christian character. The thing that makes you a strong Christian or a weak one is your possession or deprivation of the joy of the Lord. Religion many-sided. Faith, hope, joy. Yet many whose religious principle is strong do not take bright views of Christian service. Some people go to sea because the blood of the sailor is in their veins; they love the sea; almost regret to read in Revelation that in the new heavens and earth of St. John there will be no more sea. Now others go to sea because duty drives them there. If they could go over-land they would; but there is neither bridge nor tunnel, so they must go to sea, and with much fear and sickness they go. It is very like that going to heaven. Some have delight at every step, and that is as it ought to be; some go with the hard constraint of duty upon them, and that is as it should not be. Take, as illustrative of the latter view, two types of religious character that have played an important part in the past of this country—Popery and Puritanism. Roman Catholicism—full of austerities; services mournful; chantings; suffer here or in purgatory; pictures; biographies of the ideal saint; dress of the religious orders; portraits of eminent saints. Whole tone a strange contrast to the “glad tidings of great joy.” Puritanism—grand but severe men and women; many fasts, but few festivals. This sentiment of the text about the strengthening power of joy was spoken by one of those grand, all-round honourable men who come as ornaments and saviours of society—Nehemiah. His people had been captive, and were restored, and wept at their restoration, and this was said to cheer them. Bring the thing into our own times. English captive among heathen holding fast to Bible and Christian faith. Patriot rising—a Nehemiah or Garibaldi—to restore. London rebuilt—reading of law. First day of national religious celebration for 150 years. Memories of past bringing tears. But sagacious leader says, “You must above all things keep up your hearts. Weeping will cleanse, but joy is the strengthener.” Thankful gladness. Is not our fathers’ God our God? Eat the fat, and send portions to the poor. Weep not, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. They were Jews, and the Jewish religion is a religion of joy. One fast and many feasts. Sabbath joyous. “O be joyful in the Lord.” Judaism was, in spite of Sinai, a service of joy. Much more is the gospel joyous. “Glad tidings.” “The joy set before him.” “We rejoice.” “Joy in presence of the angels.” Strange, after that, that anybody should have brought gloom into religion. If God did not make his creatures to be happy, why did he make them at all? If God meant us to have no joy on earth, why did he fill earth with beauty and with gladness? But he did, for God is love. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Everybody knows what joy is. Joy means that faculty has seized what it wanted. Now religion aims at perfection; to make most of all life. Hence its attainment is attainment of joy. In this way it takes possession of the body. “Glorify God in your body.” Use it for what God has made it. Look at a machine. As those gloriously artistic ribbons come out of the loom you are glorifying, honouring the maker. Sinful gratification is against the laws of the body; for God’s laws are written on the body as truly as on the Sinaitic tables of stone. Religious joy is harmony with natural law. Same with active business. Handcraft and head-craft in righteous way. And the righteous way means the right way, and the right way means the true way. There are people who tell you that business on Christian principles means bankruptcy. There are proofs that godliness will actually pay. Golden rule. There is a divinity in business. Paul is as Christian and as holy when he sits at Damascus making tents as when he stands on Mars’ Hill and preaches a sermon. To a Christian man all life is holy, all life is joyous. The same is true of intellectual life. Search for truth is pleasant. The tree of knowledge bears good fruits. So with the relative and social aspect. Laughter and jest, wit and humour, are Divine; for Divinity stamped them into us. The laughter of some men is blighting as the laughter of a fiend, and you shrink from it as much; the laughter of another is always against wrong, and on the side of right, and is healing as medicine. Of course we must wisely distinguish between religion and the joy of religion. Let not a man suppose he is necessarily under the condemnation of God because he lacks brightness and buoyancy. Salvation is one thing, and the joys of salvation are supplementary things:—these we may do without, but that we should not be without. Joy comes out of a steady continuous sense of acceptance with God. But a man may be a true Christian and yet often fail here. For instance, in every-day life a case like this may occur. A man gets for a little while into an unaccountably nervous state. He fears the worst. Friends laugh; doctor examines; the man is assured. Is he really more healthy? No; but still he is stronger. Joy is his strength. A great many Christians act that out in spiritual things. They are safe, if anybody is safe; but oh! for this assurance of safety. If they could believe the word of God joy would come. Joy then is the proper result of Christian faith. “Believing, we rejoice.” Must not forget other side. “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” Trivial nature that always wants the countenance wreathed into smiles. Does not deep joy often fly as a resource to tears? Jesus Christ anointed with oil of gladness, and yet acquainted with grief; anointed with oil of gladness, and yet crowned with thorns. So deep and earnest and sympathetic that it must have been thus. Sorrow on surface, and joy in depths. “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” “My joy.” “My peace.” That joy is our strength. Then joy is a thing we are exhorted to. Joy is in our power. Not that joy must express itself after one pattern. Two persons watching a spectacle, or listening to music—one jubilant, the other silent. Prospect in nature—one exclamatory, the other still. Both have the deep joy of the scene, each in a form suited to himself. So there are these varying forms of religious experience—silent and speaking, calm and rapturous. Imaged in Revelation—voice of many waters, silence in heaven. Exultation when we say, “Come, let us sing unto the Lord a new song!” “Speechless awe that dares not move.” In Book of Genesis it says the vegetables were to increase after their kind, and animals after their kind; and so we must serve God and enjoy his salvation after our kind. The only thing is this, that if we are not enjoying the salvation of Christ we miss the mark more or less. We have not as much as God’s love has designed for us. Joy is a controllable thing. We can put ourselves in the shade or in the sunshine. We can be for ever dissecting ourselves, or contemplating Christ. Lack of faith brings joylessness. Not enough confidence in God. A sceptical man cannot be a happy man. Giant Despair’s Castle is in the way of scepticism. Sometimes we are afraid to boldly claim all that is ours. “I know whom I have believed.” “Now are we the sons of God.” Trust Christ, and all is yours. The joy of the Lord is our strength. “A merry heart goes all the day.” Band at head of regiment. Do a task you have no joy in, and one that is a delight, and see the difference. Take salvation for granted, and work from it, not for it. And, my brother, yet uncertain as to whether you ought to be a Christian or not, don’t be nervous. Christ invites you to joy. A man who has less joy as a saint than as a sinner is a very poor saint, that is all. His ways are ways of pleasantness. The joys of forgiveness are the beginning of heaven. Christian joy is the strength and manliness of all true human character. And when a man enters into the saved state it is as when he enters heaven—he enters into the joy of his Lord. DAILY BIBLE READING Nehemiah 8:18. Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of GodDaily reading of the word of God. I. Why? 1. Because of its infinite preciousness and value. “The book of the law of God.” Not a book, but the book. Value it as the gift of a Father’s love; as the legacy of the Saviour’s grace; as the instrument of the Spirit’s power. Dear to all the faithful, because they feel that they hang upon that truth all that is most precious for time and eternity. It comes clothed with the authority of infinite truth, and crowned with the attractions of infinite love. It may be compared to that river that went out of Eden to water the garden, dividing itself into four heads:—“that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;” and it is most significantly added, “and the gold of that land is good.” ’Tis a broad land of wealth unknown. Study it every day. The Scriptures are styled oracles—oracles of God which we may consult for our guidance. Not like the lying oracles of the heathen, which were distinguished for their ambiguity; these are the true sayings of God. It is like the Urim and Thummim, the holy oracle of the Jews, which they were privileged to consult for guidance and direction in all doubtful cases. It is given to be a lamp to our feet. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” God gave these oracles to convince of sin, to convert to Christ, to confirm in grace, and to direct and comfort in obedience. The book is called the Testament. The Old Testament—a legacy of God to the Jewish Church; the New—a legacy of Christ to the Christian Church. “All the promises are in him yea”—the promises of the Old and the promises of the New. The gospel describes the legacy of blessing Christ has bequeathed to his redeemed people, a legacy for both states of being, and we should study it as an heir to a great estate does title-deeds and documents. If a man does not study it, it is a sign that he does not consider there is any legacy left to him in it. And he who does may be sure to find his name in some codicil or other. “I call that legacy my own.” It is called the book of the law of God. A man ought to know something of the law of the country in which he lives, and something of the character of the country to which he goes. It is at once the statute book of the King of kings and the great charter of his people’s privileges. The law of God’s government and the law of God’s grace “the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” Study it every day. Revelation, like the sun, must be seen by its own light, and the best of all arguments of its truth are those derived from its own pages. Those parts of the word are most precious which we have made our own by personal examination, inquiry, and experience. It is a law of compensation which obtains in Divine things as well as human, that any species of property obtained by our own effort has a heightened value: an acre of ground cultivated by our own hand, or a plant or flower reared and tended by our own care, exceeds all that we obtain or inherit by the labour or the bounty of others. So one promise examined, prayed over, and applied is more useful than whole books read in a cursory manner. “He that believeth hath the witness in himself.” “Now we believe, not because of thy saying!” 2. Because of its tendency to build up the inner and spiritual life—the life of God in the soul. Hence compared to manna, to bread, to living water. The life of the natural man is important; of the spiritual man surely not less. “The life I live is by the faith,” and the life of faith can only be supported by the word of life. “Man doth not live by bread alone.” All life seeks its natural food and aliment. A scientific man reads works of science; a poet converses in spirit with Chaucer and Milton; the Christian, the Divine word. “The words that I speak, they are spirit and they are life.” There has been a great education of our race going on from the morning of time, by which the souls of men have been trained for eternity, by these Divine words. The humblest Christian, in studying the word, mingles with the greatest minds, with the kingly spirits that have enthroned themselves in the hearts of mighty nations. He makes himself a fellow-student with Moses on the mount; with Elijah at the cave of Horeb; with Daniel when he conversed with Gabriel; with John the Baptist in the wilderness; with the beloved disciple as he leaned on Jesus’ bosom; nay, with Jesus himself; and he says, lifting to heaven an unpresumptuous eye, “Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” How can you hope for spirituality without retirement for these purposes? How can you hope for peace and joy in believing if the closet is deserted and the Bible is unread? Where is the wonder you complain, “My leanness, my leanness,” when you feed only on the husks of worldly opinion and worldly writings, and neglect to sit down at the banquet of truth? Can you wonder that you are without the comforts of the Spirit when you do not put yourself in communion with the Spirit? 3. Because all great revivals of the power of religion have been associated with high reverence for the written word. It was in the mount that Moses received the tables of stone written by God’s own finger. The prophets commenced their addresses by a careful memorial of the time and date of God’s manifestation to them: “The word of the Lord came unto me.” The finding of the book of the law was the commencement of better times in the later date of the Jewish monarchy. And it was when strengthened by these reports of faith that the ancient worthies wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, out of weakness were made strong. Our Saxon forefathers valued and prized the word of God. King Alfred translated the Psalms for them, and the Venerable Bede the Gospel of John. It was a little leaven, but it served to keep a better faith alive; a little salt, but it tended to purify the fountains of public opinion. Before Luther the Waldenses held the faith of Christ in the fastnesses of the Alps and in the valleys of Piedmont. Our own countryman Wickliffe gave to the people the whole New Testament in their mother tongue, by which he gave a resting-place to the mind, and widely sowed the seed of the kingdom. So much so that a contemporary says, “You could not meet two people by the way but one of them was a disciple of Wickliffe.” This was the crowning work of Luther—the unsealing the fountains of Divine truth to the millions in Germany. In Italy the Reformation dawned in the same manner. If ever the flame of holiness and devotion burn brightly in your bosom, it must be fed by the word. 4. Because by this word you must be judged. “God shall judge men by my Gospel.” “The words I speak, the same shall judge you at the last day.” II. How? Different minds take different courses. Some a chapter of Old Testament in the morning, and New Testament at night; some Psalms; some Gospels; some histories; some epistles. Whate’er is best administered is best. As to states of mind. 1. With reverence. “Take off thy shoe!” There should be a pause of solemn seeking and solemn waiting for a spiritual frame. Who feels the sublime dignity of a saying fresh descended from the porch of heaven? Who feels the awful weight of one of the words of the living God? How awestruck were Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk. On the frontispiece of some Bibles is written, “How awful is this place!” “So ought we,” as Owen says, “to look upon the word of God with holy awe and reverence for the presence of God in it.” 2. With special affection and prayerfulness. Go to God by prayer for a key to unlock the mysteries of the word. St. John by weeping got the sealed book open. Daniel by prayer drew an angel down from heaven to give him more light. Bow your knees before you open your Bibles. “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” Honour the prophetical office of Christ. It is the prerogative of the Lion of the tribe of Judah to open the books and unloose the seals. Honour the work of the Holy Spirit. No man can say that Christ is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. 3. Take time. Not time? You have time to sin—none to repent? time for the world—none for God? Could God find time to write this book, and will not you to read it? Shall the sick man find no time to read his Physician’s prescriptions? the condemned malefactor find no time to read his Judge’s pardon? Must Joshua in the midst of war and cares of government find time to meditate on the law; and shall thy shop, or plough, or a few trivial duties discharge you? 4. Keep the end in view.—Thodey. ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 8 THE religious times ordained in the Law fall under three heads:— (1) Those formally connected with the institution of the Sabbath; (2) The historical or great festivals; (3) The Day of Atonement. Immediately connected with the institution of the Sabbath are—(a) The weekly Sabbath itself. (b) The seventh new moon, or Feast of Trumpets, (c) The Sabbatical year, (d) The year of Jubilee. The great feasts (in the Talmud, pilgrimage feasts) are—(a) The Passover. (b) The Feast of Pentecost, of weeks, of wheat harvest, or of the First-fruits. (c) The Feast of Tabernacles, or of ingathering. On each of these occasions every male Israelite was commanded “to appear before the Lord,” that is, to attend in the court of the tabernacle or the temple, and to make his offering with a joyful heart (Deuteronomy 27:7; Nehemiah 8:9-12). The attendance of women was voluntary, but the zealous often went up to the Passover. Thus Mary attended it (Luke 2:41), and Hannah (1 Samuel 1:7; 1 Samuel 2:19). As might be supposed, there was a stricter obligation regarding the Passover than the other feasts, and hence there was an express provision to enable those who, by unavoidable circumstances or legal impurity, had been prevented from attending at the proper time to observe the feast on the same day of the succeeding month (Numbers 9:10-11). On all the days of Holy Convocation there was to be an entire suspension of ordinary labour of all kinds (Exodus 12:16; Leviticus 16:29; Leviticus 23:21; Leviticus 23:24-25; Leviticus 23:35); but on the intervening days of the longer festivals work might be carried on. Besides their religious purpose, the great festivals must have had an important bearing on the maintenance of a feeling of national unity. This may be traced in the apprehensions of Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:26-27), and in the attempt at reformation by Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 30:1), as well as in the necessity which, in later times, was felt by the Roman government of mustering a considerable military force at Jerusalem during the festivals. The frequent recurrence of the sabbatical number in the organization of these festivals is too remarkable to be passed over, and (as Ewald has observed) seems, when viewed in connection with the sabbatical sacred times, to furnish a strong proof that the whole system of the festivals of the Jewish law was the product of one mind. Pentecost occurs seven weeks after the Passover; the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles last seven days each; the days of Holy Convocation are seven in the year—two at the Passover, one at Pentecost, one at the Feast of Trumpets, one on the Day of Atonement, and two at the Feast of Tabernacles; the Feast of Tabernacles, as well as the Day of Atonement, falls in the seventh month of the sacred year; and, lastly, the cycle of annual feasts occupies seven months—from Nisan to Tisri. The agricultural significance of the three great festivals is clearly set forth in the account of the Jewish sacred year contained in Leviticus 23. The prominence which, not only in that chapter, but elsewhere, is given to this significance in the names by which Pentecost and Tabernacles are often called, and also by the offering of “the first-fruits of wheat harvest” at Pentecost (Exodus 34:22), and of “the first of the first-fruits” at the Passover (Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26), might easily suggest that the origin of the feasts was patriarchal, and that the historical associations with which Moses endowed them were grafted upon their primitive meaning. It is, perhaps, however, a difficulty in the way of this view that we should rather look for the institution of agricultural festivals amongst an agricultural than a pastoral people, such as the Israelites and their ancestors were before the settlement in the land of promise. The times of the festivals were evidently ordained in wisdom, so as to interfere as little as possible with the industry of the people. The Passover was held just before the work of harvest commenced; Pentecost at the conclusion of the corn harvest, and before the vintage; the Feast of Tabernacles after all the fruits of the ground were gathered in. In winter, when travelling was difficult, there were no festivals. After the Captivity the Feast of Purim (Esther 9:20) and that of the Dedication (1Ma 4:56) were instituted. The festivals of wood-carrying, as they were called, are mentioned by Josephus. What appears to have been their origin is found in Nehemiah 10:34. The term “the Festival of the Basket” is applied by Philo to the offering of the first-fruits described in Deuteronomy 26:1-11.—Rev. Samuel Clark, M. A., in Smith’s ‘Bible Dictionary.’ FROM OLD WRITERS I. The Reading and Exposition of the Law. They spake unto Ezra the scribe. “The people may, if need be, say to Archippus, Look to thy ministry that thou fulfil it. The gifts and abilities of all good ministers are theirs, and they may call for them” (1 Corinthians 3:22). “Ezra knew that the best need hear the law, that they might be kept within the bounds of obedience. Not the unruly colt only, but the horse that is broken, hath a bit and bridle also.” “The commandment was a lamp, and the law a light. The Greeks call the law the standing mind of God. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/phc/ NOTES.] “The confession recorded in this chapter uses largely the language of the older Scriptures. For Nehemiah 9:6 see Psalms 86:10; Exodus 20:11, and Deuteronomy 10:14. For Nehemiah 9:9 see Exodus 3:7. For Nehemiah 9:10 see Jeremiah 32:20. For Nehemiah 9:11 see Exodus 15:5; Exodus 15:10. For Nehemiah 9:12 see Exodus 13:21. For Nehemiah 9:13 see Exodus 19:20. For Nehemiah 9:15 see Psalms 105:40-41. For Nehemiah 9:16 see 2 Kings 17:14. For Nehemiah 9:17 see Psalms 78:11; Exodus 34:6. For Nehemiah 9:25 see Deuteronomy 6:10-11. For Nehemiah 9:27 see Judges 2:14; Judges 2:18. For Nehemiah 9:29 see Leviticus 18:5. For Nehemiah 9:33 see Psalms 106:6. For Nehemiah 9:36 and Nehemiah 9:36 see Deuteronomy 28:47-48.”—Crosby. Nehemiah 9:1. The twenty and fourth day of this month] Two days after the close of the Feast of Tabernacles. With fasting and with sackclothes and with earth upon them] External marks of internal grief. Sackclothes] Elsewhere in Eng. version sackcloth for Heb. plural.—Crosby. Nehemiah 9:2. Separated themselves] Foreigners, “a mixed multitude,” had become united with the chosen people by trade and marriage. 3. Stood and confessed and worshipped] More fully shown in penitential prayer that follows after verse Nehemiah 9:5.They read in the book of the law] Their extraordinary zeal led them to continue this as before. One fourth part of the day] For three hours, twelve hours being the acknowledged length of the Jewish day (John 11:9), so that this solemn diet of worship, which probably commenced at the morning sacrifice, was continued for six hours, i. e. till the time of the evening sacrifice.—Jamieson. “The general form and phraseology of this prayer place it among the liturgical Psalms of the Old Testament, and show it specially suitable to be used by the whole congregation. Nehemiah 9:6. All their host] (Comp. Genesis 2:1). The host of heaven who worshipped God are the angels (Psalms 103:21; Psalms 148:2). Nehemiah 9:7. Abram.… Abraham] (Genesis 17:5). Ur of the Chaldees] Topography uncertain. Mugheir near the Persian Gulf probable. Nehemiah 9:8. Canaanites.… Girgashites] “The Hivites are left out of this enumeration, perhaps to please their descendants, the Nethinim” (see Joshua 9:7).—Crosby. Nehemiah 9:15. Thou hadst sworn] Margin—Lift up thine hand. Allusion to the ceremony of raising the hand in taking an oath. Nehemiah 9:17. Appointed a captain] In Numbers 14:4 it is only said that they proposed to appoint; probably they actually carried out their intention, so far as to nominate a leader. Nehemiah 9:22. Divide them into corners] “Thou didst divide them (the kingdoms and nations, i. e. the land of these nations) according to sides or boundaries, i. e. according to certain definite limits.”—Bertheau. The land of Sihon and the land of the king of Heshbon] Sihon is the king of Heshbon. “Heshbon being the capital city, the passage should run thus:—the land of Sihon, or the land of the king of Heshbon.”—Jamieson. Nehemiah 9:29. Withdrew the shoulder] Like the refractory ox that rebels against the yoke (Zechariah 7:11; Hosea 4:16). Nehemiah 9:32. Let not all the trouble seem little before thee] “What seems little is easily disregarded. The sense is, Let our affliction be regarded by thee as great and heavy.”—Keil. Nehemiah 9:38. A sure covenant] Such solemn signing and sealing bespeaks their earnestness. This verse is the first of the tenth chapter in Hebrew. OF CHAPTER 9 Nehemiah 9:1-38. Hebraic Conceptions of God.Nehemiah 9:1-38. The Story of God’s Providence Retold.Nehemiah 9:1-38. A Nation’s Prayer.Nehemiah 9:6. The World preserved by Divine Providence.Nehemiah 9:17. The Mercy of God.Nehemiah 9:18-21. Promises Kept.Nehemiah 9:21. The History of a Generation.Nehemiah 9:25-26. Secular Prosperity inimical to Spiritual Life.Nehemiah 9:38. Responsibility of Honour.HEBRAIC OF GOD THE Bible does not define God. The nearest approach to definitions are in those two remarkable sentences in St. John’s Epistle—“God is light;” “God is love.” Modern philosophy speaks of God as the Unknowable. One of the oldest books in the world—the Book of Job—teaches that philosophy with a difference. “Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” God may be known: cannot be comprehended. The secret of God is as high as heaven, deeper than hell, longer than the earth, broader than the sea. St. Paul, the mental philosopher among the twelve apostles, speaks of “that which may be known of God.” Bible tells us what God does; not what God is. Nor does it attempt to prove his existence. “He that cometh to God must believe that he is.” Sacred writers assume this. With a “Thus saith the Lord” many of the books open. Every page is instinct with the presence of God. There is no relation to human life in which Eastern poets and prophets did not conceive God. He was in the generation of the righteous; a present help in time of trouble. He was a King to those who believed; a judge of those who rebelled; the helper of those who trusted. They saw God— I. In the movements of history. “Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt. He rebuked the Red Sea. He did great things in Egypt, and wondrous works in the land of Ham. Our fathers angered God—not Moses, though him they angered—they angered God at the waters of strife. He gave them into the hand of the heathen, and they that hated them ruled over them. Many times did he deliver them. He made them to be pitied of all those that carried them captive. All nations are before him. Pharaoh’s heart he hardens, and Cyrus’ sword he employs. He takes hold of the ships of Tarshish. The world’s merchandise and hire shall be holiness unto the Lord.” These passages are quoted at random. It was hardly necessary to quote at all. The pages of Moses, the songs of David, the prophecies of Isaiah, teem—literally teem—with references to the presence of God in the movements of history. God in history! the seers and songsters of the Scriptures of Truth hardly condescend to say that. God in history? History is God. Men read, “Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; and foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous” (Nehemiah 9:7-8); and they say, We can see the hand of God in this. Verily there was a God. Then they turn over the pages of English History and read how we emerged out of barbarism; how a fusion of race-stocks has made us what we are—the hardiest, most truth-loving, uprightest nation under the blue sky; and they say, It is history; but they do not say, We see God. Now and then some popular orator turns to the pages of the old Chroniclers and sees how, in the reign of James I., a poor people became enlightened by the word of God, and finding no such phrase in the dictionary as “religious toleration,” sped to America; and he adds, I see a Divine hand in this emigration movement. Why not boldly say, “Thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea; and their persecutors thou overthrewest” (Nehemiah 9:11)? That is the Bible language for the passage of the Red Sea. Surely we, casting our glances towards the West, and noting the magnificent proportions of the American Republic, can see that the language is applicable to the passage of the Atlantic; to the colonization of the New World. Says Bancroft, the American historian, “The pilgrims were Englishmen; exiles for religion; men disciplined by misfortune; cultivated by opportunities of extensive observations; equal in rank as in rights; and bound by no code upon earth but that of religion or the public will.” What cast Pharaoh and his hosts into the sea? Nothing—God. Who destroyed the Spanish Armada? Nobody—the storm. Did not, then, the same God direct both storms? What says the prophet, “Seeing many things, but thou observest not.” “Seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive; hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand,” said Jesus the Revealer of truth. If God had no hand in the Reformation, Martin Luther, the Mansfeld miner’s son, the Augustinian monk, the darling of Wittenberg University, was simply an obstinate revolter against authority; whereas he was accustomed to console himself with the thought that the cause was not his, but God’s—that God “who stays the waves upon the sea-beach, and stays them with sand.” “He that has not God, let him have what else he will, is miserable,” was his deliberate opinion. “God will be found there where he has engaged to be,” he believed. He loved the second Psalm. The Psalm that tells how God laughs when great men rage he loved with all his heart, “because it strikes and flashes valiantly.” The Levites in the olden time sang, “Our fathers were disobedient, therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies. Nevertheless, in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee thou heardest them from heaven, and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours.” And shall not we thank God for the “saviours” whom he has raised up to deliver this nation, to burst the shackles of the slave, to flood the dark places of the earth with light? Is it nothing that good Queen Bess and brave, God-fearing Oliver Cromwell once governed these realms? Were not the Puritans ever the friends of popular liberty? Can Scottish Covenanters be forgotten, or the Clapham sect become despised? So long as Nonconformity acts upon its motto, “In things essential, unity; in things doubtful, liberty; in all things charity,” it will be the instrument of God for good. When Methodism loses her cunning in spreading Scriptural holiness throughout the land, then—not till then—she will become a by-word and a proverb of reproach among the religious communities of Christendom. On the bead-roll of English worthies men and women in the generations following will look for parson Wycliffe, tinker Bunyan, gentleman Wilberforce, sturdy Howard, and sweet-souled Elizabeth Fry. These were the angels in whose presence the doors flew open, and the iron gate that shut in imprisoned men opened to them of his own accord. Every ray of light that falls upon the darker places of the earth; each blow that is struck for freedom; every the painfulest endeavour of weak men and timid women to reach truth and exhibit the beauty of holiness, is an intimation of a higher presence—a voice from the innermost sanctuary, crying, “Surely the Lord is in this place.” In the movements of history the Hebrews saw God; and they heard God. And II. In the voices of Nature. The sun was a globe of light, and more—the visible symbol of the invisible God. The sun brought light and life, and growth and joy, and hope and courage. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear?” “The Lord God is a sun; He will give grace and glory.” The sun rode in the heavens like a thing of might; no sign of weariness appeared in him. Let them that love thee, O Lord, be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might.” The rock had more than a geological message. It told of strata, growth, history of long-since-buried men; it told too of the strength, patience, endurance of God—“THE ROCK OF AGES.” “He is the rock; his way is perfect.” “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Clouds did not merely collect the waters to pour down upon the earth: they were the treasure-houses of God. As the sun shone through them they became luminous as with the shining of the glory of the Lord. They hid the face of the scorching sun from the tired and thirsty traveller. “He spread a cloud for a covering.” “His favour is as a cloud of the latter rain.” God was the keeper of the vineyard of the house of Israel. They saw God— III. In the lives of men. God writes his will in falling dynasties; in commercial and political changes; in solitary experiences. God speaks to us, works in us, expresses his will through us. Reliant weakness, weariness and worn-outness, trusting in God, have around them an omnipotent arm; they rest on the immoveable rock on which the world reposes. God often means to men terror, fear, law, hatred, hell; too seldom grace, salvation, light, hope, joy, strength, inspiration, courage, help, heaven. “The knowledge of the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ.” He taught “our Father,” and revealed something like “the motherhood of God.” A great God we knew before. Tenderness, patience, forbearance, forgivingness, motherliness, he showed us; restated, illustrated what lay in Old Testament less distinctly. Not by his lip only, but in his life. Whom did he seek but the sick and sad? Who sought him but the oppressed and outcast? Whom did he ever send away empty of hope? God is in Nature; God is in history; but the whole of God is in Jesus Christ. Son of man was Son of God. Application. 1. My God—not everybody’s God. God here—not God everywhere. 2. When do we think of God? After wrong-doing? First thing in the morning, last thing at night, there should come to us a word of joy, providence, help—this is what God should be. Let us approach God, who is “a great King,” with manly reverence; let us approach God, who is “our Father,” with a child’s unfaltering trust. “Let us draw near with full assurance,” for “our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” And as the fellowship grows and deepens there will be revealed to us what is revealable of the infinite secret men call God. THE STORY OF GOD’S RETOLD “The invitation to praise God insensibly passes into the action of praising. ‘Stand up and bless the Lord your God.’ The assembled congregation blessed God. They did so by silently and heartily praying to and praising God with the Levites, who were reciting aloud the confession of sin.”—Keil. Not as to an unknown God did they cry and make confession. He had been forgotten, but he was still familiar. “Our God,” the keynote of Hebrew prayer and psalmody. I. A choice and a covenant. “Thou art Lord alone.” “Thou art the God who didst choose Abram.” “Thou madest a covenant with him” (Nehemiah 9:6-8). Around these central themes are grouped illustrations. The independency of God is marked in the making and preserving of all things, in confirmation whereof the host of Heaven worship him. He doeth what he will. When he chose Abram he gave him a new name. “I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” He who claimed service rendered reward. “Thou foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land to his seed.” “Abram believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). A man of faith will be a faithful man. God’s covenants are conditioned. “The meek shall inherit the earth.” “With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward.” “With God word and deed correspond with each other.” “Thou hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous.” II. The word fulfilled. “Thou sawest the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red Sea” (Nehemiah 9:9-11). The extremes of deliverance. God saw them under the taskmaster’s lash; he heard when they fled. The Ever-present coming down, the Omniscient looking—this is the Biblical anthropomorphism. Admit if you will that this is not God; still it is our necessary conception of him. He is always nigh; but we do not always realize His presence. When I weep assure me that God pities; when I pray tell me that God listens; when I die whisper in my ear that God is nigh. If it be not exact phraseology it is full of comfort, and withal of truth. “He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see?” Those who are held in the bondage of evil habits, those who are striving to burst the bonds, may take the strength and courage implied in this. The Psalm-book specially exults in the all-seeing eye and ever-listening ear. The romance of reality in the histories of apostles and martyrs, in the stories of saints and sufferers, is derived from the realized nearness of God. But deliverance is not salvation. The first step of the journey is indispensable, but insufficient. A first implies a second. Possibility is a pledge of performance. Freedom is faculty. The Red Sea opens into the desert, not into the Promised Land. “Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,”is the poetry of the common-place experience of life. “Thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go. Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them laws” (Nehemiah 9:12-14). Providence without, conscience within. God was in the cloud; duty in the law. “And gavest them bread from heaven, and broughtest forth water out of the rock, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land” (Nehemiah 9:15). A guiding cloud, a directing law, an unfailing supply, an assured promise. “Thou leddest Thy people like a flock.” III. Divine forbearance. “Even the fathers to whom God had shown such favour, repeatedly departed from and rebelled against him; but God of his great mercy did not forsake them, but brought them into possession of the Promised Land” (Nehemiah 9:16-25). “Words are accumulated to describe the stiffnecked resistance of the people. They hardened their necks; they hardened their hearts. They said one to another, Let us make a captain, and return to Egypt. In spite, however, of their stiffneckedness God—a God of pardons—did not forsake them. He did not withdraw his gracious presence, but continued to lead them by the pillar of cloud and fire. The words (Nehemiah 9:20), ‘Thou gavest Thy good Spirit,’ &c., refer to the occurrence (Numbers 11:17; Numbers 11:25) where God endowed the seventy elders with the spirit of prophecy for the confirmation of Moses’ authority. The definition ‘good spirit’ recalls Psalms 143:10. The Lord also fulfilled His promise of giving the land of Canaan to the Israelites, notwithstanding their rebelliousness.”—Keil. They were a community of slaves in process of formation into a nation. God dealt with them as with children. He did not call wrong by any other name, but he compassionated ignorance and pitied weakness. “The mercy of the Lord our God” was celebrated in later times by prophet and priest, seer and scribe. “About the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.” IV. Disobedience chastised. “Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” In the wilderness they were not without punishments; but there mercy rejoiced against judgment. In the Promised Land, after long experience of the goodness and graciousness of God, their rebellions were less pardonable. So God gave them into the hands of their enemies. Still for his great mercies’ sake he did not utterly consume them, nor forsake them (Nehemiah 9:26-31). They rejected God’s law; they slew God’s prophets. Yet when they cried he heard; in their distress he sent them saviours. The majesty and mercy of God! “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” “Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for very great are his mercies; but let me not fall into the hands of man.” “The hand of God was very heavy.” “The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him.” “Our God is a consuming fire.” “God is love.” V. The past the prophet of the present. “Now, therefore, our God, let not all the trouble seem little before thee” (Nehemiah 9:32-37). History had repeated itself. The disobedient, God had rejected. Weakened by oppression, they had returned to their own land. In their present distresses they pray to the God of past deliverances—the God who had said of himself that he was unchangeable. Application. The story of Israel has been always regarded as a parable of life. “The Lord knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness.” Egyptian influence on Hebrew character. “Before God gave the Commandments to the Jewish people he wrought a magnificent series of miracles to effect their emancipation from miserable slavery, and to punish their oppressors. He first made them free, and then gave them the law. It might not have been absolutely impossible for the Jews to have kept these commandments even in Egypt, but the difficulties would have been almost invincible. The people were in no condition to receive a Divine revelation. Oppression had broken their spirit, and crushed all the nobler elements of their nature. In the atmosphere which they breathed purity and virtue could hardly live. They had been degraded by the heathenism and by the vices, as well as by the severity of their masters. It was impossible for such a race as the Jews seem to have been at this period of their history to have any vigorous faith in the greatness of the God who had revealed himself to their fathers. The wealth, the greatness, the power of the world belonged to the Egyptians; contempt and wretchedness to the descendants of Abraham and the heirs of the promises. The God of their fathers was either not strong enough to defend them from intolerable evils, or else was indifferent to their distresses. God did not begin by commanding them to acknowledge his greatness and authority, and to show fidelity to himself, and to break at once with the vices to which their external condition almost bound them as with fetters of iron. He began by manifesting his greatness in acts which must have appealed most powerfully to their imagination, and made even their passions—which seem to have been almost the only elements of energy left in them—take the side of faith in himself.—R. W. Dale, M.A.A NATION’S PRAYER The three annual feasts instituted by the Mosaic Law were memorials of God’s goodness to Israel. His works shall be kept in everlasting remembrance. At the Feast of the Passover the Jews celebrated their deliverance from Egypt; at Pentecost the giving of the Law from Mount Sinai; and at the Feast of Tabernacles the mercies of God during their wilderness journey and the ingathering of the harvest. Never, since the days of Joshua, had the Feast of Tabernacles been celebrated with such solemnity as under the teaching of Ezra and the government of Nehemiah. The services of New Year’s Day, or the Feast of Trumpets, had yielded the precious fruits of godly sorrow for sin, and of holy, charitable joy (chap. 8). One sermon may bring forth great results. The Scripture narrative of the festival closes by informing us “that day by day, from the first day unto the last day, they read in the Book of the Law of God; and they kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly according unto the manner.” God’s word was the “joy and rejoicing of their hearts;” God’s book, the first of books and the best of books. Here we have consolation in sorrow, directions in duty, and armour in the day of battle; a guide-book for every road, and a chart for every sea. In our Lord’s time the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God (‘Paul’s Missionary Journeys.’ ‘Vaudois Christians.’ ‘Wycliffites.’ ‘Translation and Diffusion in Modern Times’). The continued and protracted services of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Trumpets, produced an extraordinary impression on the public mind. The revival of religion was not merely metropolitan, but national. The deed of Jerusalem was the deed of the whole people; the voice of Jerusalem was the voice of the many thousands of Israel. Immediately upon the close of the services at the Feast of Tabernacles, we read that “the children of Israel were assembled with fasting,” &c. (Nehemiah 9:1-3). The service of national dedication probably commenced at nine o’clock in the morning with the usual sacrifices. The reading and the exposition for three hours prepared the way for the solemn supplications of the people. These occupied three hours more, and were closed by the offering of the evening sacrifice, and by the public signing of the national covenant. The heads of this form of supplication and dedication were probably drawn up by Nehemiah, who was the first to append his signature. Copies were probably distributed among the Levites, who led the people in prayer. The national dedication opens with solemn worship of God. His great and Infinite Majesty is adored. “Blessed be thy glorious name.” Then follows a retrospect of God’s mercies to Israel. With this review of mercies was interwoven penitential confession of sin. First they acknowledged the sins of their fathers (Nehemiah 9:16); then they pass on to the transgressions of their fathers under their kings (Nehemiah 9:26). They acknowledged the righteous dealings of God, and their own disobedience to his Word. Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly; and they bring before God the one petition in this pathetic appeal: “Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people.” They implore mercy, they deprecate judgment, and with one accord resolve to bind themselves unto the service of God, in a perpetual covenant never to be forgotten. This was the conclusion of the whole matter. As the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, they make a solemn promise to God; and that it might be sure the covenant is written, and as we read in the thirty-eighth verse, “Our princes, Levites, and priests seal unto it.” We are told in the opening of the tenth chapter, that at the top of the eighty-two representative signatures is inscribed THE , THE SON OF . He had set a noble example to his people, and now, at a time of intense religious feeling, he puts himself in the fore-front to lead them to God. “Happy are the people that are in such a case, yea, blessed are the people who have the Lord for their God.” Have we, as Englishmen, no retrospect to make? Have not we a history to review with thankfulness, and a duty to God and to one another? A nation is made of individuals. A national dedication implies personal dedication.—Rev. J. M. Randall; abridged. THE WORLD BY DIVINE Nehemiah 9:6. Thou preservest them allThe providence of God may be regarded as exercised either in the preservation of the world or in the government of it, to which two main heads all the acts of Divine Providence are reducible. God’s preservation of the world. In that admirable address that is made to God in the name of the Jewish Church, after celebrating him as the great Creator of the universe, are those noble expressions—“Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein;” it is added, “and thou preservest them all.” The preserving this vast frame of nature, and all things that are therein, is owing to the same omnipotent being that created them. We must not imagine that things, when once put into being, continue to exist independently of him that first created them. It is easily conceivable that the self-existent Jehovah, who existed necessarily from everlasting, must certainly exist to everlasting by the intrinsic excellency of his own most perfect nature. But the case is otherwise as to contingent beings, who have the source and basis of their existence without them. The works of men’s hands may subsist at a distance from the hands which fashioned them; but the creatures can never exist in an absolute separation from God, who is always most intimately and essentially present with his own works. Consider this preservation of all things, which is an eminent act of Divine providence, as extending to the whole inanimate creation, and of all things that have life in their different degrees. 1. God, by his constant powerful influence, upholdeth the inanimate creation, this huge material system, in all its parts. As at the first formation of it he put things into a certain order, so it is by his power and wisdom that this order and constitution of things is maintained according to the first establishment. All things in the material world proceed according to a settled rule or method. Sun, moon, and stars; fertile earth, minerals, vegetables. As God said at the first creation, “Let the earth bring forth,” &c. (Genesis 1:11); so by his providential concourse, and according to his appointment, the plants, the herbs, the trees, the flowers in all their tribes, and the various kinds of grain, spring up from their several kinds, and gradually grow up into maturity. The species of them are still continued and kept distinct, and they uniformly preserve their several virtues, their distinct forms and appearances, and bring forth their several productions in the appointed seasons. 2. God preserveth the beings that have life and sense, with their several capacities and instincts. “Thou preservest them all” might be rendered, “Thou quickenest them all,” or “maintainest them all in life.” God preserveth and upholdeth the inferior brute animals in their several species, which by a wonderful provision are successively propagated according to established laws, and continue to be furnished in all ages with the same organs, powers, and appetites, and the same admirable instincts. It is God that preserveth the angels in their several degrees. None of them have an independent existence. In him we exist, or have our being. As he gave us our existence at first, and made us of such a particular order of beings, so by him we are continued in existence, and in that kind of existence which belongeth to us as creatures of such a species. In God we not only exist, or have our being, but in him we live. As it was he that first established the wonderful vital union between soul and body in man, so it is by his care and influence that it subsisteth. To this it is owing that our food nourisheth and strengtheneth us, that the vital functions are carried on, and that we are enabled to exercise our several sensations. “The God of my life.” And as it is in God that we exist and live, so it is in or by him that we move. He originally gave us the power of motion, and organs admirably fitted for carrying it on, and it is through him that we are continued in the use and exercise of those organs; so that it may be justly said that we cannot move a foot, or lift up a hand, without him. And this holdeth equally with regard to the operations of our souls as the motions of our bodies. As he hath endued our souls with the admirable faculties of understanding, with memory, free agency, and hath implanted in us affections of various kinds; so by his providential concourse and support of our faculties we apprehend, judge, reason, remember, and freely determine our own actions. It is he that upholdeth the powers which he gave us, and enableth us to exert those powers. And this he doeth not only when we do good, but when we employ our powers in acting wickedly; and yet this doth not derive the least stain of guilt upon God, or make him the author of our sins. The natural active power and the use of it, which is in itself good, is from God; the abuse of it to sinful purposes is wholly owing to ourselves, and to the corruption of our wills. For if he should withdraw his sustaining influence from men, the moment they attempt to abuse their natural powers, this would be absolutely to hinder them to exercise their liberty; nor could they in that case be accounted free agents at all. As the God of nature he ordinarily upholdeth or sustaineth them in being and in the use of their natural powers, in what manner soever they act; and then afterwards, as the moral governor, he will call them to an account for their actions, and will reward or punish them accordingly. Practical Reflections. 1. What admiring thoughts should we entertain of God, and what diminishing thoughts of ourselves and all created beings! 2. What a just propriety and dominion God hath on and over us! 3. He is perfectly acquainted with all our thoughts, words, and actions, and all the events which befall us. 4. How strange and inexcusable will our conduct be if we allow ourselves in an habitual neglect and forgetfulnes of the Deity! 5. Since God continually preserveth us he hath an undoubted right to govern us.—John Leland, D.D., 1766, abridged. THE MERCY OF GOD Nehemiah 9:17. A God ready to pardonThe mercy of God the most delightful subject. It is so in its own nature, and relatively to us who have so great need of it, who have so much depending upon it, who must perish for ever without it. The thought that the greatest Being in the universe is the most compassionate is itself elevating. Mournful that this subject is so little regarded, awakens so little emotion; that all subjects but those immediately relating to duty, affect us. Yet how delightful is it to the Christian when he is brought to apprehend the truth and rest upon it! That God is ready to pardon, that he waits to be gracious, is a joyful topic to those who know themselves, who have been taught to estimate the value of Divine friendship. I. A doctrine to be established. There is a strange tendency to doubt it. We speak of news too good to be true; and under humiliating sense of our own worthlessness are at least ready to make an exception in our own case—“If the Lord would make windows in heaven might this thing be!” The power of unbelief is great, the resistance offered by conscience is great, the prevalence of fear induced by guilt is great. Exodus 34:6 contains the doctrine and gives mercy pre-eminence. 1. The direct statements of Scripture. The object of all revelation is to establish and explain the doctrine of God’s mercy. Direct assertions, gracious promises, inspired prophecy. Twenty-nine times in one Psalm “his mercy endureth!” “Who is a God like unto Thee?” “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious.” “As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.” “Your Father in heaven is merciful.” These repetitions show the resistance against it really, the difficulty of believing it, the necessity of being grounded in it. No worship without it, no hope, no love, no joy, no obedience. 2. The positive facts exhibited in his dispensation. The gift of his Son. “Herein is love.” “He that spared not his own Son.” The gift of his Spirit: Divine revelation, ordinances, heaven at last. Discovery of his own character: harmony of attributes, long-suffering to the world in general. Why mitigations of trial? excitements of hope?—prodigality of good gifts. This world a great volume of mercy written within and without. 3. Some striking instances of his readiness to pardon. Manasseh, Mary Magdalene, thief, prodigal, Paul. “And such were some of you.” Every sinner deems himself chief of sinners, and his conversion the greatest miracle, because he knows most of himself. II. A doctrine to be personally applied. Not a doctrine for others merely, but for ourselves. Go to God for it: “Have mercy upon me.” 1. To produce an immediate appeal to it. We need it deeply. Of no use to know the fact—the business is to build upon it, and say, “I will arise.” Approach the mercy-seat by faith in Christ. If you doubt it, test it. “It is a faithful saying.” 2. To awaken cordial admiration of the method of redemption. 3. To check our tendency to distrust and despondency. Very prevalent in all minds; specially those newly awakened. They do not doubt God’s ability, but willingness. We have all a great tendency to indulge dishonourable thoughts of God. 4. To produce affection, contrition, obedience. III. A doctrine to be carefully guarded from abuse. 1. The loiterer in religion. To be had at any time, hence delay. 2. The self-sufficient Pharisee. Only through the cross. To the truly contrite. 3. The man who sins that grace may abound. Always in connection with sanctity. 4. Those who altogether presume upon it. God is righteous. There is a judgment of God.—Thodey. Illustrations:—“It is harder to get sin felt by the creature than the burden when felt removed by the hand of a forgiving God. Never was tender-hearted surgeon more willing to take up the vein, and bind up the wound of his fainting patient when he hath bled enough, than God is by his pardoning mercy to ease the troubled spirit of a mourning penitent.”—Gurnall.“God will pardon a repentant sinner more quickly than a mother would snatch her child out of the fire.”—Vianney.SAME THEME God absolutely incomprehensible: the mghest archangel cannot “find him out unto perfection.” Yet we are not called to worship an unknown God. All his works praise him, but his word which he hath magnified above all his name peculiarly reveals him. In the sacred volume some clouds and darkness are round about him. Subjects are occasionally intimated which lie beyond the reach of our present faculties, concerning which we may safely follow the advice of the poet: “Wait the great teacher, Death.” Scripture renders things plain and obvious in proportion as they are important and necessary. Some truths are written as with a sunbeam—such are those which regard our state as sinners, and are calculated to draw forth our faith and hope in God. For we are saved through faith; we are saved by hope. Man fell by losing his confidence in God; and he is only to be recovered by regaining it. For which purpose we read not only that there is forgiveness with him, but that he is a GOD READY TO PARDON. I. What is necessary to render the subject interesting? Three things. 1. A conviction of guilt. “They that are whole need not the physician,” &c. “The full soul loathes the honeycomb,” &c. In vain we present alms to the affluent, or offer pardon to the innocent. Have you ever lived a day as you ought? Have you not at least been chargeable with sins of omission? The law begins with the object of all adoration, and requires that we serve God alone. Have you never transferred to the creature that supreme regard due to the Creator? If you have daily worshipped the Supreme, has it been in spirit and in truth? never taken his name in vain, “mocked him with a solemn sound upon a thoughtless tongue?” Have you not squandered many precious Sabbath hours? But you are sure you are no murderer! Is there, then, no one dead in whose removal you have rejoiced? Is there no one alive at whose continuance you have inwardly repined? Have you never been angry with your brother without a cause? You repel with indignation the charge of theft! Is it not pride rather than principle that has sometimes restrained you; or the fear of the consequences rather than a sense of the sin? Are you a stranger to all unjust gain? Always paid fair wages? never robbed the poor? Have you done unto others as you would they should do unto you? 2. An apprehension of our danger as transgressors. The present effects of trangression! These only the beginning of sorrow. Can you flee from him who is everywhere; and everywhere the sin-avenging God? There is only one way of deliverance. It is forgiveness. 3. A discovery of the privileges of a pardoned state. We talk of happiness. Oh, what a change to be delivered from the wrath to come; to know that God’s anger is turned away; that from an enemy he is become a friend—a friend giving us cordial access to all the rights of innocency, and entitling us to a felicity superior to the happiness of Adam in paradise, and even of an angel in glory! “Being justified by faith,” &c. II. The proofs which establish the truth of the doctrine. 1. The provision he has made for the exercise of pardon. “It became him”—we use his own language—it became him to administer this pardon in a peculiar way. It was necessary that sin should be condemned in the flesh, even while it was forgiven. It was necessary that God’s law should not appear so rigid as to require relaxation, or so changeable and weak as to admit of dispensation; but be magnified and made honourable. It was necessary that God’s truth should be seen as well as his grace; and his righteousness as well as his mercy. Of his own self-moved compassion he has reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ. “He has made him to be sin for us,” &c. “Herein is love,” &c. 2. The promptitude with which he pardons on our return. “Before they call I will answer, and while they speak I will hear.” (‘Parable of Prodigal Son.’) 3. His earnestness to excite us to seek after the blessing. It would be enough to prove that a man was ready to pardon if he yielded immediately upon the offender’s submission and application; but God not only waits to be gracious, he comes forward, he beseeches, he urges; yes—by the uneasiness of conscience, by the afflictions of life, by the importunity of friends, by the addresses of ministers—it is as the Apostle says, “As though God did beseech you to be reconciled to God.” Seek evidence— 4. In the character of those who have received pardon. The chief of sinners—Manasseh, the dying thief, the murderers of Christ, the Corinthian converts. Seek evidence— 5. In the number of those who obtain forgiveness. There are thousands more than we are aware of, even when we send forth Candour to reckon them; and when they shall be all gathered together, out of every kindred, and nation, and tongue, and people, they will be found a multitude which no man can number. III. The way in which this subject may be abused, and the manner in which it ought to be improved. The subject is abused when it leads us to deny any disposition in God to punish. God is not only to be viewed as a tender father, but a moral governor. The subject is abused when it encourages us to hope for pardon in ways not warranted by the word of God. For instance—thus, unwarranted is our hope when we expect it without a reference to the mediation of Christ; when we expect pardon without repentance; when we expect this pardon by delaying an application for it to the close of life; when we expect to find this pardon in another world if we fail to obtain it in this. But what is the proper improvement we should make of this delightful subject? It should yield encouragement to the broken-hearted, and consolation to those who have believed. It demands not only our admiration and praise; it calls upon us to imitate as well as to admire. Is he a God ready to pardon? “Be ye followers of God, as dear children. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”—Jay, abridged. KEPT Nehemiah 9:18-21. When they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations; yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not, &c. THE —is not this one of the “surnames” of God? I. This is the verdict of history. Nehemiah and his Levites knew what they said and whereof they affirmed. Was it not written in the book of Moses (Exodus 13:21-22; Numbers 14:14), that the pillar of cloud departed not from them by day, neither the pillar of fire by night? Were there not chronicles that told how for their mouth he provided manna, and for their mind instruction (Nehemiah 9:20)? See Numbers 11:17; Numbers 11:25; Numbers 11:6-9; Numbers 20:2-8. Nothing awanting (Nehemiah 9:21). God was in Hebrew history: not confined to Hebrew history. England’s God. America’s God. Men who planted that republic had Bible on their right hand. II. The statements of Scripture. Psalms in especial addressed to the God of the promises. The psalmists called; he answered. This they make their plea when next they cry—“Doth his promise fail?” “He remembered his holy promise.” “Exceeding great and precious promises.” “The word of the Lord is tried.” Those whom the book canonizes have set to their seal that God is true. III. The confirmations of experience. “God punishes the persecutors of his people energetically. Our pillar of cloud, which shows us the way to our everlasting fatherland, is the ministry of the Gospel, in which God is truly present and powerful. Although God does not immediately place all the godly in fruitful and pleasant places, nor give them bread from heaven, nor water from the rock; still he gives them, notwithstanding, necessary nourishment and clothing wherewith they should be satisfied.”—Starke. In despondency trace the footprints of God in the past. “He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.” This the strongest confirmation; most unassailable reason. What we have felt and seen,With confidence we tell;And publish to the sons of menThe signs infallible.THE HISTORY OF A Nehemiah 9:21. Forty years didst thou sustain them in the wildernessThis is the bright side of the story of his people Israel. “The penal portion of the wanderings” (Numbers 14:1-39; Hebrews 3). I. Every generation inherits the past. “Your children, which in that day” (of rebellion) “had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it” (Deuteronomy 1:39). The fathers sinned; the children suffered. Hereditary diseases. Superstitions, political combinations. “We are the heirs of all the yesterdays.” II. The task of each generation in the present. We receive our fathers’ uncompleted tasks. Their plans indicate our power of performance; their aims an index-finger. But new times new methods; a fresh age fresh needs. To-day is not yesterday. Victorian age an advance, calling for all energies. “Forward, forward, let us range.” Patriarchal times, prophetic period, apostolic age. “Little children; young men; fathers.” Parables of growth in Gospels of Jesus. “The righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.” “Grow!” Peter is here not a whit behind his beloved brother Paul. III. The responsibility of the present generation. We inherit to transmit; we labour to secure blessings for coming generations. The Hebrews of Nehemiah’s day found consolation in the memory of God’s abounding goodness to their faithless fathers. We have inherited freedom; the future will require it at our hands. In this sense is that text applicable—“Hold that fast which thou hast.” Pass on the torch of truth to other hands; quench not the Spirit of God. Thy memory will be invaluable; thy work faithfully done a treasure. Let not the chain be snapped—past, present, future. The “continuous purpose” of him who sees the end as well as the beginning! The humblest life is not mean. The tiniest task is not insignificant. The issues of to-day are in the far-off future. SECULAR TO LIFE Nehemiah 9:25-26. They took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness. Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations. .—Let us define our spiritual are here contrased. Prosperity terms. Prosperity—life. Secular—is outside us. It is the realization of one’s hope. The prosperous man has his wishes gratified. “We must distinguish between felicity and prosperity; for prosperity leads often to ambition, and ambition to disappointment.”—Landor. “A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Secular; spiritual—a distinction and a difference. Often falsely made. All things pertaining to this present world are not secular. “It is not the work that makes the workman holy, but it is the workman’s heart that consecrates the toil.”—Cumming. I. The value of prosperity. “They took strong cities,” and thus became a strong nation. “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over every living thing.” The earth is the Lord’s, but he hath given it to the children of men. “Money answereth all things.” Art, science, commerce, civilization, religion, are aided by prosperity. The refinements of life are foes of the lower passions. The devil should not have the best music, nor the best pictures, nor the highest knowledge. Christians! Claim the world for God. It is his; he made it, he upholds it, he sustains it, he redeemed it, he is restoring it. And because it is his it is yours. “Ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” “All things are yours; and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” Illustration:—Riches are the stairs whereby men climb up into the height of dignity, the fortification that defends it, the food it lives upon, the oil that keeps the lamp of honour from going out. Honour is a bare robe if riches do not lace and flourish it, and riches a dull lump till honour give a soul to quicken it.—Adams.II. The danger of prosperity. “They became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness. They rebelled against thee.” They accepted God’s gifts; they rejected God. “The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” My fruits, my barns, my goods, my soul. Self stood where God should stand. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Are the poor my poor? “Every man for himself.” This is the world’s policy; the tone, if not the language, of unconsecrated prosperity. Forget God, and you will neglect man. Illustrations:—Prosperity is no friend to a sanctified memory, and therefore we are cautioned, when we are full, lest we forget God. Noah, who had seen the whole world drowned in water, was no sooner safe on shore, and in the enjoyment of plenty, than he forgot God, and drowned himself in wine.—Gurnall.Where one thousand are destroyed by the world’s frowns, ten thousand are destroyed by the world’s smiles. The world, siren-like, sings us and sinks us; it kisses us and betrays us, like Judas; it kisses us and smites us under the fifth rib, like Joab.—Brooks.It is one of the worst effects of prosperity to make a man a vortex instead of a fountain; so that, instead of throwing out, he learns only to draw in.—Beecher.It is the bright day that brings forth the adder, and that craves wary walking.—Shakespeare.Prosperity most usually makes us proud, insolent, forgetful of God, and of all duties we owe unto him. It chokes and extinguishes, or at least cools and abates, the heat and vigour of all virtue in us. And as the ivy whilst it embraces the oak sucks the sap from the root, and in time makes it rot and perish; so worldly prosperity kills us with kindness, whilst it sucks from us the sap of God’s graces, and so makes our spiritual growth and strength to decay and languish. Neither do men ever almost suffer an eclipse of their virtues and good parts, but when they are in the full of worldly prosperity.—Downame.Two things have I required of thee, deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest? I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.—Agur.In all time of our tribulation; in all time of our wealth; in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment, Good Lord, deliver us.—The Litany.III. The safeguard of prosperity. Remember thy stewardship. “What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” “The poor ye have always with you.” “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,” &c. Get to give; gather to scatter. And as the husbandman sows to reap so shalt thou. “The liberal soul shall be made fat.” “There is that scattereth and yet increaseth.” “Whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” Illustration:—In everything to give and receive is the principle of numerous blessings: in seeds, in scholars, in arts. For if any one desire to keep his art to himself, he subverts both himself and the whole course of things. And the husbandman, if he bury and keep the seeds in his house, will bring about a grievous famine. So also the rich man, if he fails thus in regard of his wealth, will destroy himself before the poor, heaping up the fire of hell more grievous upon his own head. Therefore, as teachers, however many scholars they have, impart some of their love unto each; so let thy possession be—many to whom thou hast done good.—Chrysostom. OF HONOUR Nehemiah 9:38. We make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it“Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not.” These were the words of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah to a discouraged man. But because they are the words of a true prophet of God they contain a philosophy. A prophet in occasional Old Testament language is a seer—one who sees. Power is good but it exacts penalty. I. In office and position. “Our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.” And the first name was that of THE . The strongest must carry the burdens; the tallest be exposed to the fire of the enemy. Statesmen, reformers, scientists, preachers, teachers—the best-hated men. II. In intellectual and moral elevation. The strong must lend an arm to the weak; the wise pour out their treasures to enlighten the ignorant. Those who know the way must guide those who don’t. The sun lives for the fields and homes of men. The stars enlighten other worlds. “The Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” III. In national supremacy. “A strong nation.” “A great people.” “An increasing territory.” “The sun never sets on the Queen’s dominions,” &c. Every boast implies a duty. “Italian unity;” “German Fatherland;” “American Republic;” “England’s sway.” Be it ever remembered that with honour comes responsibility; with greatness claims. What then? Biblical fear not! “Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee. Be not afraid of their faces; for I am with thee.” “As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.” “Fear not, thou worm Jacob.” Strength without God is weakness; weakness with God is strength. “Where he appoints I go.” And thus directed, when I am weak, then am I strong. ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 9 FROM OLD WRITERS I. From feasting to fasting (Nehemiah 9:1-3). “There is in this present life an interchange of all things, a succession of feasting and fasting. Of the best whilst here it may be said, unhappy you cannot call him, happy you may not. One compareth him to the Ark, which was ever transportative, till settled in Solomon’s Temple; another to quicksilver, which hath in itself a principle of motion, but not of rest.” “Deadness of spirit is apt to follow our liveliest joys; but that must be looked to, and security prevented, which is wont to seize upon men after holy duties, like as worms and wasps eat the sweetest fruits.” “It was a fast that men appointed, but such a fast as God had chosen. They were restrained from weeping (chap. Nehemiah 8:9), but now they were directed to weep. The joy of our holy feasts must give way to the sorrow of our solemn fasts when they come. Everything is beautiful in its season.” “Confession is the way to the kingdom; walk in it; only it must be joined with confusion of sin, as hero. They separated themselves from all strangers, they abandoned their darling sin, they kept themselves from their iniquity.” “They that intend by prayers and covenants to join themselves to God must separate themselves from sin and sinners.” “Fasting without prayer is a body without a soul.” “In the glass of the law we may see our deformities and defilements, and know what to acknowledge and what to amend.” “The Word will direct and quicken prayer.” II. A story of Divine guidance (Nehemiah 9:4-38). They cried with a loudvoice—Unto the Lord their God. “As being in covenant with them. This shows their faith, as the former their fervency. Faith is the foundation of prayer; and prayer is the fervency of faith.” Then the Levites said, Stand up. “Gird yourselves and serve the Lord. Be instant, or stand close to the work (2 Timothy 4:2); set sides and shoulders to it; rouse up yourselves and wrestle with God. In the primitive times the ministers prepared the people to serve God, by saying, Lift up your hearts,” Stand up. “For though they are before said to stand, yet, through shame and confusion of face, and awe of the Divine Majesty, might be fallen on their faces to the ground.” And bless the Lord your God for ever. “If we should do nothing else all our days, yea, as long as the days of heaven shall last (said that martyr), but kneel upon our knees and sing over David’s psalms to God’s praise, yet should we fall short of what we owe to the Lord, who is most worthy to be praised.” And blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. “These holy Levites, having called upon the people to bless God, break forth into the performance of this Divine duty themselves. So St. Paul often, exhorting the saints to pray, falls a-praying for them.” “When we have done our utmost herein we can never overdo.” “As oft as we breathe we are to breathe out the praises of God, and to make our breath like the perfumed smoke of the Tabernacle.” Thou art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, &c. “The first article of our Creed is fitly made the first article of our praises.” “God’s providence extends itself to the highest beings, for they need it; and to the meanest, for they are not slighted by it.” “Jehovah is God’s incommunicable name; that holy and reverend name of his, which Jews pronounce not, we too oft profane, at least by not considering the import of it, which is enough to answer all our doubts and to fill us with strong consolation, had we but skill to spell all the letters in it.” “With great skill and artifice God has made heaven three stories high” (2 Corinthians 12:2; Hebrews 11:10). “Of the heaven of heavens no natural knowledge can be had, nor any help by human arts; for it is neither aspectable nor movable.” “God may be read in the great book of nature, which hath three leaves—heaven, earth, and sea.” And foundest his heart faithful. “He must needs find it so who hath made it so.” And madest a covenant with him. “Wherever he finds a faithful heart he will be found a faithful God.” And heardest their cry. “Though mixed with much murmuring. So he heard that pitiful poor prayer of David, ‘I said in mine haste, I am cut off from thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications, when I cried unto thee.’ God heareth the young ravens, though they have but a hoarse and harsh note, making no melody to move pity, and cry but by implication only, and not directly unto him.” And showedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh. “That sturdy rebel whom neither ministry, nor misery, nor miracle, nor mercy could possibly mollify.” And gavest them bread from heaven, &c. “God rained down angels’ food, and set the fluid abroach; and this he did for their hunger, for their thirst, fitting his favours according to their need and request. Besides that, their bread was sacramental, whereof they communicated every day. Their drink also was sacramental, that this ancient Church might give no warrant of a dry communion: for they did all eat of the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink, the same that we do at the Lord’s Supper.” Hearkened not to thy commandments. “The word of God they heard, but they did not hearken to God’s commandments; and the works of God they saw, but they were not mindful of his wonders.” A God ready to pardon. “It is our comfort that we have to do with a forgiving, sin-pardoning God, that doth it naturally (Exodus 34:6), plentifully (Isaiah 55:7), constantly (Psalms 130:4). This should be as a perpetual picture in our hearts.” They made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God. “These be thy gods (Exodus 32:4). It was the serpent’s grammar that first taught men to decline God in the plural number: ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3). They lacked nothing. “Nor more shall they that seek the Lord lack any good thing. God will not be a wilderness to them, or a land of darkness. A sufficiency they shall be sure of, if not a superfluity; yea, in the midst of straits they shall be in a sufficiency” (1 Timothy 6:6). So they possessed the land of Sihon. “God’s favours must not be mentioned in the lump only, and by wholesale; but particularly enumerated and celebrated.” The land concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers. “And they disposed of it by will to their posterity, as if they had been in present possession. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/phc/ NOTES.] Nehemiah 10:1-27. “First came the name of the governor, the Tirshatha; next Zidkijah, perhaps the secretary to the governor. Then follow twenty-one names of priests, seventeen Levites, and forty-four of the chief of the people.” Nehemiah 10:28. The rest of the people] Represented by the heads of the nations who had sealed the covenant. These sealed; those swore. All they that had separated themselves] “The descendants of those Israelites who had been left in the land, and who now joined the new community.”—Keil. Nehemiah 10:30-31. “Besides the general obligation to observe all the commandments, judgments, and statutes of God, two points, then frequently transgressed, are specially mentioned. In Nehemiah 10:30, that we would not give our daughters to the people of the lands, nor take their daughters for our sons. In Nehemiah 10:31, that if the people of the land brought wares or any victuals on the Sabbath day to sell, we would not buy it of them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and would let the seventh year lie, and the loan of every hand. To the sanctification of the Sabbath pertained the celebration of the Sabbatical year in which the land was to lie untilled and unsown” (Exodus 23:10).—Keil. Nehemiah 10:32-39. Having agreed to keep the law they then resolved to maintain the Temple service. Nehemiah 10:32. The third part of a shekel] The law required half a shekel; perhaps reduced to one-third in consequence of the people’s poverty. Ver. Nehemiah 10:34. We cast the lots for the wood offering] “The carrying of the wood had formerly been the work of the Nethinims. But few of them having returned, the duty was assigned as stated in the text. The practice afterwards rose into great importance, and Josephus speaks of the Xylophoria, or certain stated and solemn times, at which the people brought up wood to the Temple.”—Jamieson. Nehemiah 10:38. The priest shall be with the Levites when they take tithes] A prudential arrangement. The presence of a dignified priest would prevent the people deceiving the Levites, or the Levites defrauding the priests.—Jamieson. The tithe of the tithes] The Levites, having received a tenth of all land produce, were required to give a tenth of this to the priests. The Levites were charged with the additional obligation to carry the tithes when received, and deposit them in the Temple stores, for the use of the priests.—Jamieson. Nehemiah 10:39. We will not forsake the house] The people swore to maintain, the priests and Levites to serve, the Temple. OF CHAPTER 10 Nehemiah 10:28-31. Unworldliness.Nehemiah 10:29. Moses.Nehemiah 10:32-39. Voluntary Taxation.Nehemiah 10:39. Zeal for the Sanctuary.Nehemiah 10:39. Zeal for God’s House expressed in a holy resolution not to forsake it. Nehemiah 10:28-31. And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge, and having understanding; they clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes; and that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons: and if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day: and that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt. THEY did not pray to be taken out of the world; they did resolve to keep themselves from its evil. Is that biblical unworldliness? St. James says, “The friendship of the world is enmity with God; whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” Does the Apostle stand alone in this? Is he carried away by the vehemence of his feelings as public speakers sometimes are? He was pre-eminently a calm man. He weighed his words. The men of his age styled him “the just.” He was a man of weight. And the key-note of his epistle is struck in the sermon on the mount. Let us listen to the teaching of Jesus, so tranquil in its tone: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works.” Unfortunately use has dulled the edge of these beautiful words. Could we listen to them as they deserve to be heard they would sound strangely. They distinguish between things that differ—the world and God. They separate the worshippers of the world from the worshippers of God. They tell of a reciprocal influence. If we turn from Christ to Paul the strain is the same. “Be not conformed to this world, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” “The time is short: it remaineth, that they that weep be as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.” Take one more step—from Paul to John. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world is not of the Father, but is of the world.” I. What is the forbidden world? 1. Not the material world. “Every creature of God is good.” The world is God’s: he made it; he gloried in it; he upholds it. It is a mark of God’s likeness to enjoy this beautiful world. In the world God is mirrored. When night draws its curtain and hangs up its silvery lamps, All things are calm, and fair, and passive. EarthLooks as if lulled upon an angel’s lapInto a breathless dewy sleep: so stillThat we can only say of things, they be!It is said that the first Napoleon was once on the deck of a vessel surveying such a scene when he overheard two of his officers in discussion, and one denying the existence of God. Going towards them he said, “Gentlemen, I heard one of you say there is no God; then pray tell me who made all this?” pointing as he spoke to “the beads of light strung o’er night’s dark brow.” Think you God has forbidden us to love this beautiful world? Why has he hidden it from us? Why has he made science, art, health, life itself, dependent on the study of it? Is it not that he would have us cultivate its friendship and worm out its secret? and whether we gaze with awe on the worlds upon worlds circling in distant space, or the worlds within worlds in each the minutest creation of God, rise from our daily contemplation, as he rose on the first day of its existence, with the words upon our lips—“It is very good;” “He hath done all things well.” 2. Not the men who are in the world. If the world is dear to God because he made it and sustains it, how much more man, whom he has redeemed with his Son’s most precious blood? We have been on the Mount with Christ. Let us revisit it. He shall teach us our relations to the world of men. “Ye are the salt of the earth.” “Ye are the light of the world.” Did Christ scorn men? He scorned, hated, recoiled from, denounced sin; but the sinner he sought, soothed, taught, won, and rejoiced over. Christ had human affections. Broad enough to embrace a world was the love of Christ, and yet he needed human love. And in selected homes and from selected hearts he got what he wanted. God has not outlawed our affections. They will outlast death. Love is of God. Love is eternal. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a lair: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.” 3. But the spirit of the world. Our Lord styled it “the evil.”; St. John phrases it, “the lust of the world.” The maxims, the tone, the tendency of a life that shuts out God, ignores death, buries the thought of another life, the godlessness of the world—this is forbidden. The World’s Final Court of Appeal is Opinion; the Christian’s is God’s Word. The one anxiously asks, “What will society say?” The other fearlessly asks, “What has God said?” “Will it be discovered? will shame follow?” that is one way of meeting a temptation. “Is it right?” that is the other, the more excellent, way. II. Importance of a correct answer to the question, What is the forbidden world? A mistake here is fatal. 1. Some have looked upon this world as accursed. They have betaken themselves to monasteries and sisterhoods, oblivious of the fact that The trivial round, the common task,Would furnish all we ought to ask:Room to deny ourselves; a roadTo bring us daily nearer God.2. Some have supposed the evil to be in our business. Here temptation arises; but the place where the fire breaks out is not the cause of the fire. To be unworldly does not mean to be out of the world. “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” St. Paul did not give up tent-making, nor St. Peter relinquish fishing, when they became apostles. They taught their converts to “abide” in their callings. Business is not outside religion; it must be religiously attended to. The shop should be as sacred as a sanctuary. Work done with right motives and aims is a ceaseless litany. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” Illustrations:—Let us use worldly things as wise pilgrims do their staves and other necessaries convenient for their journey. So long as they help us forward in our way, let us make use of them, and accordingly esteem them. But if they become troublesome hindrances and cumbersome burdens, let us leave them behind us or cast them away.—Downame.All the water is waste that runs beside the mill; so all thy thoughts and words are waste which are not to the glory of God. A bee will not sit on a flower where no honey can be sucked; neither should the Christian engage in anything but for his soul’s good and God’s honour.—Gurnall.Christianity allows us to use the world, provided we do not abuse it. It docs not spread before us a delicious banquet, and then come with a “Touch not, taste not, handle not.”—Porteous.A Christian is like Jacob’s ladder: while his body, that lower part, stands on the ground, the top, his higher and better part, is in heaven. He that hath the living waters of Jesus flowing in his heart, is mad if he stoop to the puddles of vanity, or seek content in the world. Yea, such a one will scarce descend to lawful pleasures, but for God’s allowance and nature’s necessity; and then but as the eagle, who lives aloft, and stoops not but for her prey.—Adams.MOSES Nehemiah 10:29. Moses, the servant of GodThree periods of forty years:—agreeing with his life in Egypt, Arabia, and the wilderness of the wandering. I. Birth and education. Tyranny and cowardice twin-sisters. Pharaoh enslaved the people. Unrighteous power is uncertain power. Pharaoh knew this. Dreading the increasing numbers of the children of Israel, he issued an edict that all the male children should be strangled at birth. Fearing political intrigue, he placed over them Egyptian task-masters. Anxious to crush their spirits, he increased their burdens. Then Moses was born. Jewish proverb says, “When the tale of bricks is doubled then comes Moses.” “Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” The story of the child’s salvation. His mother his educator. Mother’s influence. Augustine and Monica. The mother of the Wesleys. Cowper’s poem on seeing his mother’s picture. Boyhood of Moses not detailed. Nor childhood of Jesus. Two anecdotes in Stephen’s speech. Flight now necessary. II. Moses kept the flock in the desert near Horeb. Desert voices—solitude and thought. Burning bush—a lesson to the eye; “My people are in the fire; they shall not be burned.” Voice—a command and a commission. Reluctance. Moses and Aaron. Our dependence upon each other. Goes to Pharaoh. III. His work. Eighty years of preparation. How God can wait! Our impatience if harvest ripens slowly. Moses became deliverer. Difficulties from Pharaoh; from people’s accustom edness to bondage. Human sagacity and Divine help. The order of their march he indicated, but Hobab a guide. With the sagacity of a leader Moses united the courage of a warrior. He was the patriarch and judge. Difficulties he surmounted, and doubts he resolved. How he bore with them the history tells. His speech sometimes song. The poet of the nation. Passage of the Red Sea (Psalms 90). Farewell (Deuteronomy 32, 33). The scenes of this history have passed into proverbs. Our conceptions of the journey of a human soul from this land of exile to its home with God are borrowed from this narrative. Horeb, Sinai, and Nebo speak a language understood by thousands. The Red Sea, the city of palm trees, and the cleft rock have suggested thoughts of God which have inspired untold myriads in their pilgrimage. Such a history can never again be written. “A man of like passions.” Penalty of passion. He was to see, but not to enter the land. Forty years he had toiled to bring them there, and now he must die outside. How many coveted objects get just within our reach, and then are removed as by invisible hands. A few lines sum up a human life. “Moses, the servant of the Lord.” Few words, but 120 years in them—the victories and defeats, fears and hopes, temptations and resistances, dangers and deliverances of a lifetime. Moses died: God buried him. The people wept: Joshua arose. Moses died, but his work remained—remains. His life is ours to study. His laws are at the base of English and American jurisprudence; and he is with those who have gotten the victory, who stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God; and sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. Illustrations:—“The life of Moses is probably the most complete of any man’s, either in the Old Testament or the New—a great, noble, growing life to the very end, and most clearly and graphically depicted in the word of God. But not a single ray of light falls upon his death, and no man attends his funeral. We only know that it was well cared for; “the Lord buried him.”—Ker.Moses, pre-eminently one of the greatest men of all time. Coming from the lowest ranks of life,—born a slave under the iron tyranny of an Eastern despot,—he rose to become the emancipator of his people from that bondage, and the founder of a nation that held the light of heaven through the darkness of ages; and which, of all nations, has had the mightiest influence in advancing the true progress of the world.—E. L. Hull. Nehemiah 10:32-39. We made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God, &c. The old law required the offerings; but it had been long unread. In the enthusiasm of the Reformation under Nehemiah they accepted the neglected law, and adapted it to their new conditions. Not to enter upon the thorny path of endowed or voluntary religion, nor to inquire whether tithes are coeval with the first man, and binding upon the present age, let us maintain— I. That a Church supposes an edifice. “No particular sort of building, style of architecture, or ceremony of preparation is essential. An upper room in Jerusalem, the abode of the eleven, is the first-mentioned place of Christian consolation. The place of pentecostal concourse is not exactly mentioned, but is called a house. Afterwards the Christians met in the temple, probably for public worship; and celebrated the eucharist or broke the bread in the house. Perhaps it was in the same place in which the eleven abode that the pentecostal assemblage was held, that the eucharistic bread was broken, that the deacons were installed, and that the apostolic council was held, and which was ‘shaken’ in answer to prayer.”—Manly. God may be worshipped in any house. Experience has taught the convenience and value of a house of God. The edifice must be built and maintained. II. That a Church requires a minister. “All elders are worthy of honour, the elders that rule well of double honour, the elders that labour in the word and doctrine of special honour. The honour consists of either obedience, or maintenance, or of both together. The labourer is worthy of his reward. No man can rightly labour in the word and doctrine without diligent and habitual biblical study; no man can conduct such study without the renunciation of secular pursuits; no man can abandon such pursuits without an adequate and guaranteed salary from the Church in which he teaches and for which he labours; and accordingly it is a wise arrangement, an equitable exchange, a Divine direction, that the bishops or ministers of the churches should be adequately sustained and paid. An unpaid ministry must always be an occasional and defective ministry; and a Church that relies on it will droop and decline. It is simple justice; and it is God’s law that he who is taught in the word should communicate to him that teacheth in all good things.”—Manly. The ministry must be sustained. III. That a Church is a brotherhood. “The rich and poor meet together.” “The poor ye have always with you.” In a Church sense, “if any provide not for his own house he hath denied the faith.” “All ye are brethren.” IV. That a Church is a missionary organization. It has duties both at home and abroad. The word of God must be translated, the masses evangelized, society leavened. This is the only “needs-be” for a Church. It gets to give; exists for what it does. A praying Church must also be a working Church. A working Church must of necessity be a generous Church. Jesus stood over against the treasury and saw the rich men casting in their gifts. And he saw also a certain widow casting in the two mites. “If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.” “God loveth the cheerful giver.” Illustration:—Men may say they prefer to give their missionary money nearer home, where they see what becomes of it. But remember that it is by setting up standards and beacons, getting hold of a few here and there and Christianizing them, even when results look small, that a great testimony to Christ is finally given. Make the gospel “witness to all nations,” before the end comes. The apostles travelled and sailed, casting their bread upon the waters, not too anxious to count up visible results. The great commission was, “Go, preach the gospel to all nations.” There is no knowing where the fruit will spring.—Bishop Huntington.ZEAL FOR THE Nehemiah 10:39. We will not forsake the house of our GodIsrael ordained the guardians of God’s spiritual worship, and the repositories of his lively oracles. So long as they kept oracles undefiled and maintained worship undebased God was with them; when they profaned or abandoned the place where his honour dwelt—defiling his worship with superstition and idolatry—he turned to be their adversary. He gave up their city to destruction, and their beautiful house, where their fathers had praised him, to utter desolation. They were carried away captive into Babylon. After seventy years of tribulation, God hearkened to their cries. He caused Cyrus to issue a decree of return. Multitudes hastened back. Having rebuilt the temple they kept a solemn festival. They made confessions, and renewed their covenant with God. They bound themselves to restore the tithes and sacrifices which the law ordained. Though impoverished and oppressed they undertook to give such things as were needful for the full service of the temple. The whole assembly, in unison with their governor, protested with one mind and one mouth, WE WILL NOT FORSAKE THE HOUSE OF OUR GOD. Why you should say of “the habitation of God’s house,” we will not forsake it? 1. God has clearly ordained public worship. He made man to be social—social in virtue of his sorrows, his joys, his wants, his affections, his relationships. But if he formed men to be social in things natural, he no less formed them to be social in things spiritual. The isolation of selfishness is of sin; the union of love is of God. But union is cherished by communion, and communion strengthened by united worship. The faithful ought therefore to assemble themselves together in their Master’s name. Accordingly, fellowship in worship may be traced from the earliest period. It seems not improbable that, as our great poet has represented, even in paradise the primitive pair had some chosen bower whither they resorted to offer up their stated homage to their Maker. But be that as it may, no sooner do we find men calling upon the Lord after the fall, than we find them calling upon him in fellowship. Where the patriarch pitched his tent, there he built his altar. As soon as ever God had singled out a people for himself, he bade them raise a tabernacle of witness and of worship, giving the minutest instructions for its construction, its furniture, and its ordinances. He added this memorable promise, which remains in all its force, “Wherever I record my name I will come to thee and bless thee.” And gloriously did he record his name—first in the tabernacle, and afterwards more gloriously still in the temple. He dwelt between the cherubim, over the mercy-seat, and poured his blessing on all who truly sought him there. Jesus honoured the temple. He loved to resort to his Father’s house. He was very jealous of its desecration; the zeal of it ate him up. There he was wont to teach; there he wrought mighty miracles. His disciples met for worship, sometimes in the synagogue, sometimes in the upper chamber, sometimes at the river-side: and no sooner did opportunity serve than they set apart holy places for the ordinances and worship of God. The faithful in every ago have desired to dwell in the house of the Lord. If, therefore, any man have the mind of the Spirit; if he love the Saviour and those whom the Saviour loves—he cannot but say of the solemn assembly, “I will not forsake the house of my God.” 2. The special manifestations of the Divine presence, vouchsafed in the congregations of the saints, ought to endear to us such privileged scenes. Never has the promise failed, “Where two or three are met together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” His chosen have sought and seen his “power and glory in the sanctuary.” The history of the Church in all ages is rich in the illustration of this fact. The patriarchal altar was many a time illumined from on high. The cloud of glory often rested on the tabernacle of witness. The mystic splendour which shone between the wings of the cherubim, reflecting a radiance on the mercy-seat—that symbol of the propitiation of Jesus—testified that “God dwelt with man on the earth,”—that “his dwelling-place was in Zion. There, by voices and by visions, by Urim and Thummim,” and by secret communications of his grace, he revealed himself to his people. And now—what though the temple with its magnificent ceremonial and impressive ordinances has passed away—what though no visible Shekinah irradiates the simple house of prayer—have we no signs, no tokens left? Have we not the substance instead of the shadow? the spirit in lieu of the letter? If the carnal worshipper sees less—does not the spiritual worshipper see more—abundant glory? “If the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.” Are there not still memorials of a present Lord amongst us—memorials sublimely simple, exquisitely expressive?—his blessed gospel—his living sacraments—the preaching of his word? Neither are there lacking demonstrations of his power and love. True it is that they who come not in faith find him not here; but those who come believingly hear a voice the unbelieving do not hear—feel a presence the unbelieving do not feel—enjoy a blessing the unbelieving cannot receive. If, then, God manifests himself surpassingly in the sanctuary; if he has never failed to bestow his special favour towards the social services of his children, it follows that they who love the Lord and love to meet him cannot but say, “We will not forsake the house of our God.” 3. As the sanctuary has been the place of the Lord’s rest, so has it been the scene where he has imparted the richest gifts to his worshippers. On the day of Pentecost, it was “when they were all with one accord in one place,” that “suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as a of rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them: and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” Examine the history of the Church ever since, and you will find that of the multitudes of the believing, the largest proportion have been born for eternity in the house of God. If not begotten in the sanctuary, the saints have at least been nursed and nourished there. Many a time has the devout worshipper entered the sanctuary in darkness, and left it full of light; entered sorely beset with temptations, returned from it with the snare of the fowler broken; come perplexed, departed assured; come burdened, gone back enlarged; come prostrate, gone back exalted; come mourning, returned rejoicing; come cold, gone back enkindled; come secularized, gone back spiritualized; come weary, gone back revived; come earthly-minded, gone back heavenly-minded. 4. The servant of God will love the courts of the Lord and not forsake them, because in them he tastes most of heaven below. You cannot form a better conception of heaven than by fixing on the happiest Sabbath, and the happiest hour of worship on the happiest Sabbath, you ever enjoyed in the assembly of the saints. Then and there, withdrawn from the world’s vanities and disquietudes; then and there, abstracted from things seen and temporal, and absorbed in things unseen and eternal; then and there, when all was tranquillity without, and all was calm within; then and there, faith almost turned into sight and hope into fruition—all earthly distinctions forgotten, the poor and the rich blended in fellowship and love, the whole assembly worshipping in unison, like many instruments all true to one key-note; then and there, you had a miniature of heaven, you reached the very vestibule of that temple not made with hands, where congregations never break up, and Sabbaths never end. He then who loves not such scenes on earth—how could he love the heavenly habitation of holiness? He who has no taste for the communion and the songs of the saints below, how would he weary of the ceaseless thanksgiving and the eternal communion of the glorified in immortality! Of all men, the busy, harassed, weary mercantile man—forced to plunge daily into the dust and din of the world’s mart—is the very man who most requires the refreshment and savour of the sanctuary. A Sunday passed in worship has an influence on the days of toil. Many are witnesses that, when on the evening of the stated service which forms the half-way well in the week, they have gone up to the house of the Lord, rich has been the return of blessing and comfort. These services interrupt the current of earthly care, and suspend for a little the play of the overwrought machinery of the mind. Alas! with what punctuality do many frequent the counting-house who are seldom seen in the solemn assembly! What numbers who never think of contenting themselves with a single visit to the warehouse on the Monday, yet content themselves with a solitary attendance at church on the Sunday. What numbers are all alive and alert in the exchange, who are sluggish and uninterested in waiting on God—as though the toys and shadows of time and earth surpassed in magnitude and moment the illimitable realities of immortality.—Canon Stowell, abridged. ZEAL FOR GOD’S HOUSE, IN A HOLY NOT TO FORSAKE IT Nehemiah 10:39. And we will not forsake the house of our GodI. Consider these words as they relate to the Jews at that time. The house of God was once the tabernacle, after that the temple. Tabernacle was forsaken: temple destroyed: worshippers carried away into captivity. I. A resolution well becoming Christians themselves. “We will not forsake the house of our God.” The same zeal and affection which this people expressed to the temple, should be manifested by us to the Church and ordinances of Christ. The material temple was the centre of their unity. Under the gospel there is no such house, unto which all are obliged to repair, and any parts of divine worship are confined. Our house not a material building of wood and stones, of silver and gold, and cedar work; but a mystical building, a spiritual house, whose maker is the living God, and whose materials are living stones: whose house are we. By this house I mean the Church of God, as it is composed of the faithful in all ages and places of the world; comprehending his worship and ordinances, with all the concerns of his kingdom, and interests among men. This is that house which we should resolve never to forsake. There is doubtless much more intended than is expressed in such forms of speech, and in its full extent this resolution comprehends the three following particulars:— 1. That we will never cast off the profession of our faith, nor make a defection from the truths and ways of the gospel, for any cause nor upon any account whatsoever. It’s so rare a thing for a nation to change their gods (though really no gods) that the prophet challenges his people to produce a single instance of its being ever done—Hath a nation changed their gods? But to the everlasting reproach of Israel, they had changed their glory for that which did not profit. They that were the only people under heaven who had no cause to change their God, were of all others the people that had done it. Now it’s this defection from the true God and his worship which this people covenanted against. 2. That we will not neglect the ordinances of Divine worship, nor be wanting in our attendance on them whenever we are called, and have an opportunity of appearing before God in his house. Thus much is contained in this resolution of these devout and reforming Jews. And the same should be our resolution with respect to the house and worship of God under the gospel; we certainly are under no less obligations to frequent Christian assemblies and keep up public worship than they were; we stand in as much need of these helps and advantages as they did. Jesus Christ, as lord of his own house, has appointed divers ordinances to be observed. There must be an assembly of people meeting together for the public administration of these holy ordinances. There must be some proper and convenient places appointed and agreed upon for such religious assemblies where they can be had. Some have learned to condemn all assemblies but their own, and every way of worship but what agrees with theirs. I shall leave it to every man’s conscience where (according to the best light he can get) he thinks himself obliged ordinarily to worship God. There are particular times and seasons for the holding these religious assemblies. Reason tells us, if God is to be worshipped there must be a set time for it. Which day of the week is designed, and ought to be observed, for this stated worship is not agreed among all those that yet are heartily affected to the worship of God itself. Seventh day? First day? There are certain persons, whose work and duty it is to go before others in these holy administrations. Who they are that have this authority I list not now to contend. Some have the charity as well as modesty to nullify all administrations besides their own. 3. That we will promote as far as in us lies the interests of religion, and spread the kingdom of Christ in the world. It’s not the good of this or that particular Church and society only, but the whole interest of Christ as opposed to the devil’s kingdom in the world, whose welfare and prosperity we are bound to seek. II. It is not only lawful, but may be useful and expedient, for Christians in societies to engage themselves to God, and the duties they owe to him and one another. This people agreed together as one man, and bound themselves by a solemn covenant, which was written and subscribed, sealed and sworn to, that they would never forsake the house of the Lord their God. What I would gather from this instance is, that as this people did, Christians may voluntarily agree together, and engage themselves in particular societies to carry on a work for God in such a way as is warranted by his word, and judged by themselves most likely to promote some valuable end. I shall, III. Offer reasons both for making this resolution and obliging ourselves to make it good. 1. Because it is God’s house. Everything that is his should be sacred and dear to us. It is his house we are to frequent; they are his ordinances on which we attend. His word is preached and heard. His interest we oblige ourselves to support. They carry his image and superscription; this gives them their worth and value. (1) To forsake God’s house would be to forsake our own mercies, and deprive ourselves of the most valuable blessing in the whole world. In God’s house we are sure to meet with the truest pleasure and satisfaction. They that come crowding to God’s house, shall be sent away rejoicing to their own, with the greatest benefit and advantage. Here we may hope to have our doubts resolved, our darkness scattered, and temptations most effectually vanquished. With that which will prove the firmest and most effectual support to us under all the troubles of life and at the near approach of death. (2) To leave this house is to forsake the place which God himself hath chosen, and where he delights to dwell. He loveth the gates of Zion. Is it not good for us to be near to God? Has he said, Here will I dwell?—and should not we for that reason say, Here will we dwell? (3) To forsake this house is to forsake God himself. We cannot quit the inheritance of the Lord but in effect we go and serve other gods. To what houses will they resort that have once forsaken God’s house? With what company will they associate, and in what assemblies may we expect to find those that have renounced the communion of saints? 2. Because our particular good is lodged in the public interest. In seeking this we seek ourselves. At the same time that we discharge our duty we consult our interests. No service performed to Christ shall lose its reward. No man shall kindle a fire on God’s altar, or shut a door in his house, for nought. It is then likely to go well with our own houses when due care is taken that it may go well with God’s house. 3. This is the noblest way of imitating the great God himself, and conforming to the example of our blessed Saviour. Thou art good, O Lord, and thou doest good. To be like God is our truest glory, and should be our highest ambition. Herein also we imitate the shining example of Jesus Christ. “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” His anger at the profanation of the temple rose up to an holy indignation. 4. This makes men real blessings to the world. However they may be esteemed by others, they really are the strength and security of a nation; the stay and support of the public interest: they bear up the pillars of the earth, and keep it from being quite dissolved. For their sakes God sometimes preserves others from those judgments which their crying sins would otherwise pull down upon their guilty heads. Sodom had been preserved for the sake of ten righteous persons, could so many have been found in the place. 5. This will be our rejoicing and comfort another day. Having made this resolution we must oblige ourselves to make it good. Because of the deceitfulness and inconstancy of our hearts. Such engagements will help to fix us more firmly in the interests of religion, and make us more successful in resisting all temptations to apostasy. Hereby we are rendered more capable of serving the interests of religion. A force when united becomes the stronger. The joint concurrence of many give a great advantage to a design, and a better prospect of success.—Matthew Clarke 1715; abridged. ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 10 TITHES Without inquiring into the reason for which the number ten has been so frequently preferred as a number of selection in the cases of tribute offerings, both sacred and secular, voluntary and compulsory, we may remark that numerous instances of its use are found both in profane and also in Biblical history, prior to, or independently of, the appointment of the Levitical tithes under the law. In Biblical history the two prominent instances are— 1. Abram presenting the tenth of all his property, according to the Syrian and Arabic versions of Hebrews 7, but as the passages themselves appear to show, of the spoils of his victory, to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20; Hebrews 7:2; Hebrews 7:6). 2. Jacob, after his vision at Luz, devoting a tenth of all his property to God in caso he should return home in safety (Genesis 28:22). These instances bear witness to the antiquity of tithes, in some shape or other, previous to the Mosaic tithe system. But numerous instances are to be found of the practice of heathen nations, Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, Arabians, of applying tenths derived from property in general, from spoil, from confiscated goods, or from commercial profits, to sacred, and quasi-sacred, and also to fiscal, purposes, viz. as consecrated to a deity, presented as a reward to a successful general, set apart as a tribute to a sovereign, or as a permanent source of revenue.… The first enactment of the law in respect of tithes is the declaration that the tenth of all produce, as well as of flocks and cattle, belongs to Jehovah, and must be offered to him. 2. That the tithe was to be paid in kind, or, if redeemed, with an addition of one-fifth to its value (Leviticus 27:30-33). This tenth is ordered to be assigned to the Levites, as the reward of their service, and it is ordered further, that they are themselves to dedicate to the Lord a tenth of these receipts, which is to be devoted to the maintenance of the high priest (Numbers 18:21-28). This legislation is modified or extended in the Book of Deuteronomy, i.e. from thirty-eight to forty years later. Commands are given to the people— 1. To bring their tithes, together with their votive and other offerings and first-fruits, to the chosen centre of worship, the metropolis, there to be eaten in festive celebration, in company with their children, their servants, and the Levites (Deuteronomy 12:5-18). 2. After warnings against idolatrous, or virtually idolatrous, practices, and the definition of clean as distinguished from unclean animals, among which latter class the swine is of obvious importance in reference to the subject of tithes, the legislator proceeds to direct that all the produce of the soil shall be tithed every year (Nehemiah 10:17 seems to show that corn, wine, and oil, alone are intended), and that these tithes, with the firstlings of the flock and herd, are to be eaten in the metropolis. 3. But in case of distance, permission is given to convert the produce into money, which is to be taken to the appointed place, and there laid out in the purchase of food for a festal celebration, in which the Levite is, by special command, to be included (Deuteronomy 14:22-27). 4. Then follows the direction, that at the end of three years, i.e. in the course of the third and sixth years of the Sabbatical period, all the tithe of that year is to be gathered and laid up “within the gates,” i.e. probably in some central place in each district, not at the metropolis; and that a festival is to be held, in which the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, together with the Levite, are to partake. 5. Lastly, it is ordered that after taking the tithe in each third year, “which is the year of tithing,” an exculpatory declaration is to be made by every Israelite that he has done his best to fulfil the Divine command (Deuteronomy 26:12-14). From all this we gather— 1. That one-tenth of the whole produce of the soil was to be assigned for the maintenance of the Levites. 2. That out of this the Levites were to dedicate a tenth to God, for the use of the high priest. 3. That a tithe, in all probability a second tithe, was to be applied to festival purposes. 4. That in every third year, either this festival tithe or a third tenth was to be eaten in company with the poor and the Levites.… Ewald thinks that under the kings the ecclesiastical tithe system reverted to what he supposes to have been its original free-will character. It is plain that during that period the tithe system partook of the general neglect into which the observance of the law declined, and that Hezekiah, among his other reforms, took effectual means to revive its use (2 Chronicles 31:5; 2 Chronicles 31:12; 2 Chronicles 31:19). Similar measures were taken after the Captivity by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 12:44), and in both these cases special officers were appointed to take charge of the stores and store-houses for the purpose. The practice of tithing especially for relief of the poor appears to have subsisted even in Israel, for the prophet Amos speaks of it, though in an ironical tone, as existing in his day (Amos 4:4). But as any degeneracy in the national faith would be likely to have an effect on the tithe-system, we find complaint of neglect in this respect made by the prophet Malachi (Nehemiah 3:8; Nehemiah 3:10.) Yet, notwithstanding partial evasion or omission, the system itself was continued to a late period in Jewish history, and was even carried to excess by those who, like the Pharisees, affected peculiar exactness in observance of the law (Hebrews 7:5; Hebrews 7:8; Matthew 23:23; Luke 18:12). Among details relating to the tithe payments mentioned by Rabbinical writers may be noticed: (1) That in reference to the permission given in case of distance (Deuteronomy 14:24), Jews dwelling in Babylonia, Ammon, Moab, and Egypt, were considered as subject to the law of tithe in kind. (2) In tithing sheep the custom was to enclose them in a pen, and as the sheep went out at the opening, every tenth animal was marked with a rod dipped in vermilion. This was “the passing under the rod.” The law ordered that no inquiry should be made whether the animal were good or bad, and that if the owner changed it, both the original and the changeling were to be regarded as devoted (Leviticus 27:32-33; Jeremiah 33:13). (3) Cattle were tithed in and after August, corn in and after September, fruits of trees in and after January. (4) “Corners” were exempt from tithe. (5) The general rule was, that all edible articles not purchased were titheable, but that products not specified in Deuteronomy 14:23 were regarded as doubtful. Tithe of them was not forbidden, but was not required.—Rev. H. W. Phillot, M.A., in Smith’s ‘Bible Dictionary.’ FROM OLD WRITERS Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah the Tirshatha.—“He is first mentioned, not as a priest, but as a provost; and one that held it an honour to be first in so good a matter. The life of the prince is the load-star of the people, upon which most men fix their eyes and shape their courses. Great men draw many by their examples; they are as looking-glasses by which others dress themselves. And hence Nehemiah’s forwardness here to seal first.” “Those that are above others in dignity and power should go before them in the way of God.” The priests.—“They that lead in prayers should lead in every other good work.” The chief of the people.—“Great men never look so great as when they encourage religion.” “They that have interest must use it for God.” All they that had separated themselves.—“In St. Paul’s sense ‘come out from among them;’ from such stand off; stand up from the dead; save yourselves from this untoward generation; shun their sins, lest ye share in their plagues. These holy separates, or proselytes, sealed the covenant, and became free denizens of the commonwealth of Israel.” Entered into a curse.—“The more to confirm the oath, and to keep their deceitful hearts close to God.” “If he that firmly purposeth often faileth, what shall he do that seldom purposeth any thing, or with little resolvedness?” To walk in God’s law.—“To walk accurately and exactly by line and by rule in all the commandments so far as God should assist them. The bowls of the candlestick have no oil but what droppeth from the olive branches. Condition with the Lord for his strength and grace.” That they would, not intermarry.—“In our covenants with God we should engage particularly against those sins that we have been most frequently overtaken in and damaged by. They that resolve to keep the commandments of God must say to evil doers, Depart.” “By the rib, as by a ladder, Satan oft climbs to the heart and corrupts it.” “Every man when he marrieth, brings either a good or an evil spirit into his house, and so make it either a heaven or a hell.” If the people of the land bring ware on the Sabbath day, &c.—“The Sabbath is a market day for our souls.” And the exaction of every debt we would leave.—“Those are stubborn children indeed that will not mend the fault which they have been particularly corrected for.” Also we made ordinances for us.—“Having covenanted against the sins they had been guilty of, they proceed in obliging themselves to revive and observe the duties they had neglected. We must not only cease to do evil, but learn to do well.” The temple service.—“Let not any people expect the blessing of God unless they make conscience of observing his ordinances.” The third part of a shekel.—“Thankfulness is measured, both by God and good men, not by the weight, but by the will, of the retributor. God doth highly accept the small offerings of his weak servants when he seeth them to proceed from great love.” The wood offering.—“They provided the fire and the wood as well as the lambs for a burnt-offering.” The first-fruits.—“God required to be honoured with the firstlings of all; to show how he sets by our young services.” To bring to the house of our God unto the priests.—“No man might offer his own sacrifice, though it were never so good, but present it to the priest, who was to offer as well the poor man’s lamb as the rich man’s ox.” NOTES.] “This chapter is intimately connected with Nehemiah 7:4, showing Nehemiah’s plan of increasing the population of the city. The genealogies and then the confession and covenant come in parenthetically—the former as part of the process in the plan, and the latter as chronologically happening while Nehemiah was maturing the plan.”—Crosby. 1. “The first sentence, Nehemiah 11:1, ‘And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem,’ cannot be so closely connected with the next, ‘And the rest of the people cast lots,’ &c., as to place the rulers in direct contrast to the rest of the people, but must be understood by its retrospect to Nehemiah 7:4, which gives the following contrast: The rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem, but few of the people dwelt there; to this is joined the next sentence: ‘And the rest of the people cast lots.’ The ‘rest of the people’ does not mean the assembled people with the exception of the rulers, but the people with the exception of the few who dwelt at Jerusalem. These cast lots to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem.”—Keil. The holy city] “The predicate, the holy city, occurs here and Nehemiah 11:18 for the first time. Jerusalem is so called, on the ground of the prophecies (Joe 3:17 and Isaiah 48:2), because the sanctuary of God, the temple, was there.”—Keil. Nehemiah 11:3. The chief of the province] i. e. Judea. “Nehemiah speaks of it as it then was, a small appendix of the present empire”—Jamieson. Israel] “This general name, which designated the descendants of Jacob, before the unhappy division of the two kingdoms under Rehoboam, was restored after the captivity, the Israelites being then united with the Jews, and all traces of their former separation being obliterated. Although the majority of the returned exiles belonged to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, they are here called Israel; because a large number out of all the tribes were now intermingled, and these were principally the occupiers of the rural villages, while none but those of Judah and Benjamin resided in Jerusalem.”—Jamieson. Nehemiah 11:11. The ruler of the house of God] “Assistant of the high priest (Numbers 3:32; 1 Chronicles 9:11; 2 Chronicles 19:11).”—Jamieson. Nehemiah 11:16. The oversight of the outward business of the house of God] Building, furniture, and things necessary for temple worship. Nehemiah 11:17. The principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer] The precentor. Nehemiah 11:23. It was the king’s commandment] The king is not David, but the Persian king Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:12, seq.). Nehemiah 11:24. Pethahiah … was at the king’s hand in all matters concerning the people] “This can scarcely be understood of a royal commissioner at Jerusalem, but certainly designates an official transacting the affairs of the Jewish community at the hand of the king, at his court.”—Keil. Nehemiah 11:25-36. “The heads, who with their houses inhabited country districts, are here no longer enumerated, but only the towns, with their adjacent neighbourhoods, which were inhabited by Jews and Benjamites; and even these are but summarily mentioned.”—Keil. Nehemiah 11:36. Of the Levites, &c.]—“Rather for the Levites, i. e. those who were not resident in Jerusalem were distributed in settlements throughout the provinces of Judah and Benjamin.”—Jamieson. OF CHAPTER 11 Neh 11:1-19. The Holy City Replenished.Nehemiah 11:1. The Holy City.Nehemiah 11:16. The Secular in Sacred Service.Nehemiah 11:22-23. The Service of Song in the House of the Lord.THE HOLY CITY Nehemiah 11:1-19. And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, &c. is called here the holy city, because there the temple was, and that was the place God had chosen to put his name there. Upon this account one would think the holy seed should all have chosen to dwell there. They declined, however. Either— 1. Because a greater strictness of conversation was expected from the inhabitants of Jerusalem than from others, which they were not willing to come up to. Those who care not for being holy themselves are shy of dwelling in a holy city. They would not dwell in the New Jerusalem itself for that reason, but would wish to have a continuing city here on earth. Or— 2. Because Jerusalem, of all places, was most hated by the heathen, their neighbours, and against it their malicious designs were levelled, which made that the post of danger, as the post of honour uses to be, and therefore they were not willing to expose themselves there. Fear of persecution and reproach, and running themselves into trouble, keeps many out of the holy city, and makes them backward to appear for God and religion; not considering that as Jerusalem is with a special malice threatened and insulted by its enemies, so it is with special care protected by its God, and made a quiet habitation. Or— 3. Because it was more for their worldly advantage to dwell in the country. Jerusalem was no trading city, and therefore there was no money to be got there by merchandises, as there was in the country by corn and cattle. “All seek their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ’s.” It is a general and just complaint, that most people prefer their own wealth, credit, pleasure, ease, and safety before the glory of God and the public good. People being thus backward to dwell at Jerusalem now it was poor, we are here told— I. By what means it was replenished. 1. The rulers dwelt there. That was the proper place for them to reside in, because there were set the thrones of judgment, and thither in all difficult matters the people resorted with their last appeals. And if it were an instance of eminent affection to the house of God, zeal for the public good, and of faith, and holy courage, and self-denial, to dwell there at this time, the rulers would be examples of these to their inferiors. Their dwelling there would invite and encourage others to dwell there too: “the mighty are magnetic.” When great men would choose the holy city for their habitation, it brings holiness into reputation, and their zeal will provoke very many. 2. There were some that “willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem,” bravely postponing their own secular interest to the public welfare. It is upon record, to their honour, that when others were shy of venturing upon difficulty, loss, and danger, they sought the good of Jerusalem, because of the house of the Lord their God: they shall prosper that thus love Zion. It is said the people blessed them. They praised them, they prayed for them, they praised God for them. Many that do not appear forward themselves for the public good will yet give a good word to those that do. God and man will bless those that are public blessings, which should encourage us to be zealous in doing good. 3. They, finding that yet there was room, concluded, upon a review of their whole body, to bring one in ten to dwell in Jerusalem; and who they should be was determined by lot, the disposal whereof all knew was of the Lord. This would prevent strife, and would be a great satisfaction to those on whom the lot fell to dwell at Jerusalem, that they plainly saw God appointing the bounds of their habitations. The proportion they observed of one in ten, as we may suppose it to bring the balance between the city and country to a just and equal poise, so it seems to refer to the ancient rule of giving the tenth to God. And what is given to the holy city he reckons given to himself. II. By what persons it was replenished. A general account is here given of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, because the governors of Judah looked upon them as their strength in the Lord of Hosts their God, and valued them accordingly (Zechariah 12:5). 1. Many of the children of Judah and Benjamin dwelt there. Originally part of the city lay in the lot of one of those tribes and part in that of the other; but the greater part was in the lot of Benjamin; hence more families of that tribe abode in the city. Those of Judah all descended from Perez or Pharez, that son of Judah “of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came.” The men of Judah were valiant men, fit for service, and able to defend the city in case of an attack. Judah has not lost its ancient character of a lion’s whelp—bold and daring. Of the Benjamites that dwell in Jerusalem we are here told who was overseer and who his second (Nehemiah 11:9); for it is as necessary for a people to have good order kept up among themselves as to be fortified against the attacks of their enemies from abroad,—to have good magistrates as to have good soldiers. 2. The priests and Levites did many of them settle at Jerusalem. Where else should men that were holy to God dwell but in the holy city? Most of the priests we may suppose dwelt there; for their business lay where the temple was. It is well those labourers were not few (Nehemiah 11:12-14). It was said of some of them that they were mighty men of valour (Nehemiah 11:14); and so they had need, for the priesthood was not only a work which required might, but a warfare which required valour especially now. Of one of these priests it is said he was “the son of one of the great men,” and it was no disparagement to the greatest man they had to have his son in the priesthood; he might magnify his office, for his office did not in the least diminish him. Some of the Levites also came and dwelt at Jerusalem; yet but few in comparison. Much of their work was to teach the good knowledge of God up and down the country, for which purpose they were to be scattered in Israel. As many as there was occasion for attended at Jerusalem; the rest were doing good elsewhere.—Matthew Henry. THE HOLY CITY Nehemiah 11:1. Jerusalem the holy cityA sacred temple and a holy city—aids to faith in history of chosen people. Consecrated worshippers befit consecrated place. I. The sacred city. Names.—Jerusalem, “the foundation of peace;” Ariel, “the unconquerable;” or, as others, “the hearth of God,” i, e. the sacred hearth on which the unquenched fire burnt. “The Holy City.” As here. In later Arabic names. In Matthew’s Gospel. Central position.—“I have set Jerusalem in the midst of the nations and countries round about her” (Ezekiel 5:5). In Hereford Cathedral there is a map of the world with Jerusalem as literal centre. “The world is like to an eye; the white of the eye is the ocean surrounding the world; the black is the world itself; the pupil is Jerusalem, and the image in the pupil, the temple.”—Rabbins. Central to the people of the country. The mother-city. The seat of government. The home of the priests. “Thither the tribes go up.” Its “elevation,” says Dean Stanley, “is remarkable; occasioned not from its being on the summit of one of the numerous hills of Judea, like most of the towns and villages, but because it is on the edge of one of the highest table lands of the country. To the traveller approaching the city from the east or west it must always have presented the appearance beyond any other capital of the then known world—we may say beyond any important city that has ever existed on the earth—of a mountain city; breathing, as compared with the sultry plains of Jordan, a mountain air; enthroned, as compared with Jericho or Damascus, Gaza or Tyre, on a mountain fastness.” An impregnable city. Ravines and mountains. Natural position accounts for compactness. Hence Scripture references to the Mount of God; the kings are higher than the kings of the earth; the mountains are round about Jerusalem; Zion stands for ever. Illustrations: “I have set Jerusalem in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.” “In later times this passage was taken in the literal sense that Palestine, and Jerusalem especially, was actually the centre of the earth; a belief of which the memorial is yet preserved in the large round stones still kissed devoutly by Greek pilgrims, in their portion of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is one of the many instances in which the innocent fancy of an earlier faith has been set aside by the discoveries of later science. In the East probably there are still many points of this kind which have been long surrendered in the more stirring West. But there was a real truth in it at the time that the prophet wrote, which the subsequent course of history makes it now difficult for us to realize. Palestine, though now at the very outskirts of that tide of civilization, which has swept far into the remotest West, was then the vanguard of the Eastern, and therefore, of the civilized world; and, moreover, stood midway between the two great seats of ancient empire, Babylon and Egypt. It was on the high road from one to the other of these mighty powers, the prize for which they contended, the battlefield on which they fought, the lofty bridge over which they ascended and descended respectively into the deep basins of the Nile and Euphrates.”—Stanley.“Upon the broad and elevated promontory within the fork of the valleys of Jehoshaphat and Hinnom, lies the Holy City. All around are higher hills; on the east, the Mount of Olives; on the south, the Hill of Evil Counsel, so called, rising directly from the vale of Hinnom; on the west, the ground rises gently, to the borders of the Great Wady; while on the north, a bend of the ridge connected with the Mount of Olives bounds the prospect at the distance of more than a mile. Towards the S. W. the view is somewhat more open; for here lies the plain of Rephaim, commencing just at the southern brink of the valley of Hinnom, and stretching off S. W., where it runs to the western sea. In the N. W. too the eye reaches up along the upper part of the valley of Jehoshaphat, and from many points can discern the mosque of Neby Samwil, situated on a lofty ridge beyond the great Wady, at the distance of two hours.”—Robinson.The Mount of Olives overtops even the highest part of the city by rather more than 100 feet, and the Temple Hill by no less than 300. Its northern and southern outliers—the Viri Galilæi, Scopus, and Mount of Offence—bend round slightly towards the City, and give the effect of standing round about Jerusalem. Especially would this be the case to a worshipper in the temple.”—Grove.II. The sacred city a sacred symbol. “The Holy City.” “The City of our God.” What is the all-time significance? A consecrated commonwealth. City and temple sacred. Festivals and fast-days, working-days and worshipping-days—all God’s. “Her merchandise shall be holiness to the Lord.” “There shall not a hoof be left behind.” On all things look for the image and superscription of God. Will the City of Vision descend? Or shall we ascend to it? The city lieth four square. Its twelve gates are open continually. It has no temple. There is no sacred spot because the city is the Lord’s; and all it contains. Bernard sings of “Jerusalem the golden.” Illustrations: “Narrow as are its boundaries, we have all a share in the possession. What a church is to a city “Palestine is to the world.”—‘Crescent and the Cross.’“Not only has the long course of ages invested the prospects and scenes of the Holy Land with poetical and moral associations, but these scenes accommodate themselves to such parabolical adaptation with singular facility.… The passage of the Red Sea—the murmurings at the ‘waters of strife’—the ‘wilderness’ of life—the ‘Rock of Ages, Mount Sinai and its terrors—the view from Pisgah—the passage of the Jordan—the rock of Zion, the fountain of Siloa, and the shades of Gehenna—the lake of Gennesareth, with its storms, its waves, and its fishermen—are well-known instances in which thelocal features of the Holy Lands have naturally become the household imagery of Christendom.”—Stanley.“The Gospel Church is called Jerusalem: in her is the peculiar presence of God; in her the tribes of holy men meet and serve him. O how beautiful and compact her form!—how firm her foundation!—how strongly fortified and protected, by the laws, perfections, and providences of God!—how rich, wealthy, and free her true members!—how readily they welcome others to reside with them! The heavenly state of glory is called Jerusalem, or the new Jerusalem”—Wood.THE SECULAR IN SACRED SERVICE Nehemiah 11:16. The outward business of the house of GodOutward and inward—a law of life as of temple service. In the temple of this world some of us must have the oversight of the outward business of the house of God. “The priests were chief managers of the business within the temple gates, but this Levite was intrusted with the secular concerns of God’s house, that were ‘subservient to its spiritual concerns;’ the collecting of the contributions, the providing of materials for the temple service, and the like, which it was necessary to oversee, else the inward business would have been starved and stood still. Those that take care of ‘the outward concerns’ of the Church, the serving of its tables, are as necessary in their place as those that take care of ‘its inward concerns,’ who give themselves to the word and prayer.”—Matthew Henry. I. It is possible to secularise the sacred. When sacred service is entered upon from secular motives; when it is performed in a perfunctory manner; when any object less than God is regarded in its performance, we must needs pray for the forgiveness of the iniquity of our holy things. Eli’s sons were in the tabernacle. Priests of all religions have worshipped at an altar desecrated by their presence. An unhallowed hand may not bear up an ark. The grimmest pages of history are associated with holy service marred by unholy ambitions—by envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness. A cowl does not make a monk. High office cannot elevate a base man. “The churl in spirit howe’er he veilHis want in forms for fashion’s sake,Will let his coltish nature breakAt seasons through the gilded pale:For who can always act? but he,To whom a thousand memories call,Not being less but more than allThe gentleness he seemed to be.”“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” II. It is necessary to make the secular sacred. “He can who thinks he can.” Paul’s application of the old fable in 1 Corinthians 12:14-26, “I had rather be a doorkeeper,” &c. The Christian members of one of our religious communities annually covenant with God thus—“Make me what thou wilt, Lord, and set me where thou wilt; let me be a vessel of silver or gold, or a vessel of wood or stone, so I be a vessel of honour; of whatsoever form or metal, whether higher or lower, finer or coarser, I am content. If I be not the head, or the eye, or the ear, one of the nobler and more honourable instruments thou wilt employ; let me be the hand or the foot, one of the most laborious, and lowest, and most contemptible, of all the servants of my Lord.” Application. 1. The secret of contentment. “Self-humiliation is full of truth and reality.” The hidden life more secure than the outer life. Circumstances change, character is permanent. Look within. “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound,” &c. 2. The law of growth. Develope thyself. “To be,” differs from “to have.” Be thy ambition to become pure in thought and feeling, strong in resolve and deed. Serve. Care not how, mind not where. “Inasmuch as ye have done unto one of the least of these, my brethren,” &c. And we may add—and inasmuch as ye have rendered the least service to the least of these, my brethren, ye have rendered it unto me. But, like the angels, let us serve our brethren “all for love, and nothing for reward.” THE SERVICE OF SONG IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD Nehemiah 11:22-23. Of the sons of Asaph, the singers were over the business of the house of God. For it was the king’s commandment concerning them, that a certain portion should be for the singers, due for every day. Music is the hand-maid of religion. Were we treating of music in general, and not of it in relation to religious life, we must treat of the science of music as developed in the East and West, as it has been affected in Catholic countries, and influenced by the Reformation. But our text-book is the Bible. The theme is the service of song in the house of the Lord. Music in the sanctuary is the music of the Hebrews, as it has come down to, and been developed in, the Christian Church. Those who have deeply studied this subject inform us that the science of music amongst the Hebrews is only conjectural. But the practice of music meets us on almost every page of Hebrew history. In Genesis 4. we have an account of the first poet; the first dweller in tents; the first forger of metals; and the first musician—all descendants of Cain. “Jubal was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ”—the harp standing as the representative of all stringed, and the organ of all wind, instruments. Attempts have been made to explain how this discovery of Jubal’s was handed down till after the Flood. But, as Mr. Aldis Wright, to whose article on music in Smith’s ‘Bible Dictionary,’ I am indebted for these historic facts, says, “Conjectures are worse than an honest confession of ignorance. The Flood did not wash away every musical instrument, and for ever deprive the world of the solace which music gives. The shepherds of the uplands of Syria knew how to chase away care with songs, and thrill the emotions with tabret and harp. ‘Wherefore didst thou fly away secretly?’ said Laban to Jacob, ‘and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret and harp.’ On the banks of the Red Sea, Moses and the children of Israel sang their song of triumphal deliverance, and Miriam led a procession of women chanting in chorus: ‘Sing ye to Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.’ The song was accompanied by timbrels and dances; probably Miriam sang the solos, and the women took up the chorus; for it is said, ‘Miriam answered them.’ ” Music was early employed in the service of idolatry. You will recall the musical instruments when the image of gold was set up in the plains of Dura. An earlier instance is in connection with the golden calf which Aaron made. As Moses and Joshua came down from the mountain on which they had received the two tables of the law, a strange sound saluted their ears. To Joshua it seemed like a war-shout, but Moses said, “It is not the voice of them that shout for the mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry being overcome, but the noise of them that sing do I hear.” Rude and uncultivated must such music have been. Could much variation have been played on those silver trumpets which were used to intimate the striking of the tents and resuming of the wilderness journeys? Would those rams’ horns with which the priests brought down the walls of Jericho, or those trumpets which Gideon’s three hundred men blew, have been like the sound of one that had a pleasant voice and could play well on an instrument? The song of Deborah and Barak is metrical, and was probably intended to be sung with musical accompaniment as one of the people’s songs, like that with which Jephthah’s daughter and her companions met Jephthah on his victorious return. The song with which the women of Israel hailed David after the slaughter of the Philistine was perhaps struck off on the excitement of the moment. “They came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul with tabrets, with joy, and instruments of music. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” So far there appears, to have been no systematic cultivation of music. When, however, the schools of the prophets were instituted music was taught. Professional musicians were attached to the king’s person. David played before Saul. And when David became king he had about him singing men and singing women. Solomon says, “I gat me men singers and women singers.” He composed songs. When the ark was brought from the house of Obed-edom there must have been many skilled musicians in the country. With Chenaniah, the master of the song, at their head, David and the Levites brought up the ark with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps. Probably the Levites had all along practised music. Living a peaceful life they would be attracted to this peaceful art. It is likely that some SERVICE OF SONG was used in the tabernacle. But be this as it may, David was the patron, and the temple was the school, of music. The three divisions of the tribe of Levi had a representative family in the temple choir. David composed and taught them a chant. For ages it was used as David’s, and was sung on three great occasions—before the army of Jehoshaphat; on laying the foundation of the second temple; and by the army of the Maccabees. The chant is Psalms 136. Women were in the temple choir. We read of Heman’s three daughters. Among those who returned from the captivity with Zerubbabel were two hundred singing men and singing women. Amongst the instruments played before the ark were trumpets, which appear to have been reserved for the priests. Being also employed in royal proclamations they set forth by way of symbol, the royalty of Jehovah, and sounded the alarm against his enemies. At the dedication of Solomon’s temple one hundred and twenty priests blew the trumpets, while the Levites with their instruments made one sound to be heard in praising the Lord. And in the restoration of worship by Hezekiah, when the burnt offering began the song of Jehovah began also, with the trumpets, and with the instruments of David, King of Israel. And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded all until the burnt offering was finished. The altar was, in Scripture phraseology, the table of Jehovah, and the sacrifices were his feasts. And as at kings’ tables the musicians play, so at the table of the King of kings was this service rendered. The temple was God’s palace, and as the Levite sentries guarded the gates they sang, “Bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.” Many of the psalms we know were temple-songs. Of David’s influence on Hebrew song let an English poet speak— “The harp the monarch-minstrel swept,The king of men, the loved of Heaven,Which music hallowed while she wept,O’er tones her heart of hearts had given,Redoubled be her tears, its chords are riven!“It softened men of iron mould,It gave them virtues not their own;No ear so dull, no soul so cold,That felt not, fired not to the tone,Till David’s lyre grew mightier than his throne!“It told the triumphs of our king,It wafted glory to our God;It made our gladdened valleys ring,The cedars bow, the mountains nod;Its sound aspired to heaven, and there abode!“Since then, though beard on earth no more,Devotion, and her daughter Love,Still bid the bursting spirit soar,To sounds that seem as from above,In dreams that day’s broad light cannot remove.”Solomon provided for the singers with the same munificence with which he adorned the temple. But although music was consecrated in the temple it was not confined to the temple. Whatever adorns God’s service reacts on the homes and haunts of men. Music was enthroned in the temple, but it made its familiar abode in the homes of the Hebrew people. Kings had court musicians. And in the degenerate days of the later monarchs, the prophet tells us of the effeminate gallants of Israel stretched on beds of ivory, covered with perfumes; and as Nero fiddled whilst Rome was in flames, so they amid their nation’s wreck chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David. But because music may minister to vice that is no reason for deriding it. What may not? Many a Hebrew home was made joyous after a day of sultry heat, spent among the vines or in the sheep-folds, by family songs. Only when national sin had brought God’s curse upon the land could it be said—“All the merry-hearted do sigh. The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. They shall not drink wine with a song.” It was when heavy hearts sat by the waters of Babylon that joy-inspiring harps hung on the willows, and cunning hands no longer discoursed sweet music. Their bridal processions were accompanied with music and song. Love had its songs to embody its passion. Sorrow had its funereal chants. The grape-gatherers sang as they gathered in the vintage, and the wine-presses were trodden to the march of music. Women sang as they toiled at the mill. And as long as God smiled approval on the land of the Hebrew people, they were a people of song. Their land was a field which the Lord had blessed. Music passed into the early Christian Church. Our Lord is found with his disciples singing a hymn. The Man of Sorrows was acquainted with song. “Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,” is the burden of more than one New Testament passage. Changes it has undergone. By the inroads of barbarians; by the upgrowth of the Reformation; by modern revolutions; by persecutions; and by the misguided opposition of conscientious men, the service of song in the house of the Lord has been affected. It has been “chastened, but not killed;” “cast down, but not destroyed.” Bring song into the sanctuary. The temple choir were Levites. The priests were of the same tribe. Pulpit and choir-gallery both have place. When the preacher fails with the Bible, the choir may succeed with the Hymn Book. When we pass through the gate into the city we shall sing in. John looked, and lo! a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with him an hundred and forty and four thousand redeemed from the earth. And he heard a voice as of the voice of many waters, as the voice of a great thunder, and as the voice of harpers, harping with their harps. Let us honour every faculty. Let us cultivate and consecrate our gifts. Let us all use the service of song to praise the Lord, whose mercy—according to David’s chant—endureth for ever. ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 11 PRIESTS AND THE “It is very worthy of notice that in the numbering of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, not the priests but the tribes of Judah and Benjamin take the lead, and only then follow the priests and Levites; so much the more worthy of notice, because in the new congregation, following the captivity, according to the entire direction which its development took, and according to everything which was considered as of the greatest moment, the high priests, and the priesthood in general, had a particularly high significance. It is as if the consciousness were indicated, that the priest and Levites, in spite of their distinction, which the Lord hath appointed to them in the affairs of Israel, had been nevertheless nothing at all if they had not had a congregation near and around them, and if they had not succeeded in obtaining satisfactory fruit for their activity, namely, a genuine and true piety, which should substantially prove they were not there in vain. Would also that Christian priests, that is, preachers of the gospel, might preserve a lively consciousness that it is not enough for them to have fellowship with their brethren in office, that they are nothing, and can profit and signify nothing, if not some, if only a small congregation stand by them, in whom the seed which they sow springs up, grows, and bears fruit.” HOLY PEOPLE ON SACRED SOIL “When one looks at the space which the Jewish congregation inhabited round Jerusalem, how very small was the territory occupied by the people of God, the only race which possessed a clear knowledge of the only true and holy God! A few miles, from three to six, north and south, east and west, comprised the entire district. Compared with our countries; yes, even with our provinces; this district appears to us almost as a vanishing nothing. And nevertheless what powers for the subjugation of entire humanity, for the transformation of all its relations, and for the subduing of all circumstances, has God the Lord been able to put in the people of this oasis, in the, at the same time, insignificant, and in many respects miserable race, which cultivated the ground there, or raised cattle! If anywhere, surely here arises a testimony for Paul’s word, ‘God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty’ (1 Corinthians 1:27). A consoling promise also for Christendom in those times, in which it appears as though it were being compressed on all sides, and when it is in truth losing position after position. Let it lose in length and breadth in order afterwards to gain so much the more in height. Even the gates of hell cannot swallow up the Church of the Lord.”—Dr. Schultz, in Lange. NOTES.] “The list of the inhabitants of the province (chap. 11) is followed by lists of the priests and Levites (Nehemiah 12:1-26). These different lists are, in fact, all connected with the genealogical register of the Israelite population of the whole province, taken by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 7:5) for the purpose of enlarging the population of Jerusalem … Nehemiah 12:1-9 contains a list of the heads of the priests and Levites who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel and Joshua. The high priests during five generations are next mentioned by name (Nehemiah 12:10-11). Then follow the names of the heads of the priestly houses, in the days of Joiakim, the high priest; and finally (Nehemiah 12:22-26), the names of the heads of the Levites at the same period, with titles and subscriptions.”—Keil. According to Keil, “the difference between the names in the two lists of chapters 10, 12, is to be explained simply by the fact that the names of those who sealed the covenant (chap 10) are names neither of orders nor houses, but of heads of houses living in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Of these names a portion coincides, indeed, with the names of the orders and houses, while the rest are different. The sameness of names does not, however, prove that the individuals belonged to the house whose name they bore. On the contrary, it appears from Nehemiah 12:13; Nehemiah 12:16, that of two Meshullams, one was the head of the house of Ezra, the other of the house of Ginnethon.” Nehemiah 12:27. Out of all their places] The Levites were scattered through the province. Nehemiah 12:30. Purified themselves … people … gates … wall] This was probably done by the sprinkling of water (Numbers 19:18), and the offering of sacrifices. (Compare 2 Chronicles 29:21.) “The central point of the solemnity was a procession of two bands of singers upon the wall. Nehemiah brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies and two processions. These went each upon the wall all in different directions, and stopped opposite each other at the house of God.… At the head of one procession went Ezra, the scribe, with one-half of the nobles; at the head of the second, Nehemiah with the other half.”—Keil. (See topography of the book of Nehemiah, pages 87–89.) Nehemiah 12:43. Great sacrifices] i. e. “thank offerings which were eaten by the offerers in a happy feast, after the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord (Leviticus 3).”—Crosby. With Nehemiah 12:44, according to Keil, Nehemiah’s Later Reforms begin, “at that time being used in a general sense.” Crosby differs, referring the phrase to the time of the dedication. Others postpone the dedication, making it one of the Later Reforms. Nehemiah 12:44. Portions of the law] That is, portions prescribed by the law for the priests and Levites. (See Numbers 18:20-24; Deuteronomy 18:1-8.) That waited] Literally, the ones standing; that is, standing to minister before the Lord. (Compare Deuteronomy 10:8.) Nehemiah 12:45. Kept the ward] Cared for all that concerned the temple; did their duty faithfully. Nehemiah 12:47. Sanctified unto the Levites] “To sanctify, said of the bringing of gifts and dues to the ministers of the sanctuary” (comp. 1 Chronicles 26:27; Leviticus 27:14). On the matter itself, comp. Nehemiah 10:38 seq., and Numbers 18:26-29.—Keil. OF CHAPTER 12 Neh 12:27-43. The Dedication of the Wall.Nehemiah 12:23. A Book.Nehemiah 12:24. Posthumous Influence.Nehemiah 12:30. Beginning at the Right Place.Nehemiah 12:43. A Great Rejoicing.Nehemiah 12:43. True Joy.Nehemiah 12:44-47. Thanksgiving and Thanksliving.Nehemiah 12:46. The Good Old Times.THE OF THE WALL Nehemiah 12:27-43. And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication, &c.WE have read of the building of the wall of Jerusalem, with a great deal of fear and trembling; we have here an account of the dedicating of it, with a great deal of joy and triumph. They that sow in tears shall thus reap. I. We must inquire what was the meaning of this dedication of the wall. We will suppose it to include the dedication of the city too—the thing containing for the thing contained; and, therefore, it was not done till the city was pretty well replenished. 1. It was a solemn thanksgiving to God, for his great mercy to them in the perfecting of this undertaking, which they were the more sensible of, because of the difficulty and opposition they had met with in it. 2. They hereby devoted the city in a peculiar manner to God, and to his honour, and took possession of it for him, and in his name. All our cities, all our houses, must have “Holiness to the Lord” written upon them; but this city was (so as never any other was) a holy city, the city of the Great King. It had been so ever since God chose it to put his name there, and as such, it being now refitted, it was afresh dedicated to God by the builders and inhabitants, in token of their acknowledgment that they were tenants, and their desire that it might still be his, and that the property of it might never be altered. Whatever is done for their safety, ease, and comfort, must be designed for God’s honour and glory. 3. They hereby put the city and its walls under the Divine protection, owning that, unless the Lord kept the city, the walls were built in vain. When this city was in possession of the Jebusites, they committed the guardianship of it to their gods, though they were blind and lame ones. With much more reason do the people of God commit it to his keeping who is all-wise and almighty. The superstitious founders of cities had an eye to the lucky position of the heavens, but these pious founders had an eye to God only, to his providence, and not to fortune. II. We must observe with what solemnity it was performed, under the direction of Nehemiah.1. The Levites from all parts of the country were summoned to attend. The city must be dedicated to God; and therefore his ministers must be employed in the doing of it, and the surrender must pass through their hands. When those solemn feasts were over (chaps. Nehemiah 8:9), they had gone home to their respective posts to mind their cares in the country; but now their presence and assistance were again called for. 2. Pursuant to this summons there was a general rendezvous of all the Levites. Observe in what method they proceed. (1) They purified themselves. We are concerned to cleanse our hands, and purify our hearts, when any work for God is to pass through them. Themselves they purified, and then the people. They that would be instrumental to sanctify others, must sanctify themselves, and set themselves apart for God with purity of mind and sincerity of intention. Then they purified the gates and the wall. Then may we expect comfort when we are prepared to receive it. “To the pure all things are pure” (Titus 1:15); and to them who are sanctified, houses and tables, and their creature comforts and enjoyments are sanctified (1 Timothy 4:4-5). This purification was performed, it is probable, by sprinkling the water of purifying or of separation, as it is called (Numbers 19:9), on themselves and the people, the walls and the gates; a type of the blood of Christ, with which our consciences being purged from dead works, we become fit to serve the living God, and to be his care. (2) The princes, priests, and Levites walked round upon the wall in two companies, to signify the dedication of it all to God, the whole circuit of it. This procession is here largely described; one end of the ceremony being to affect them with the mercy they were giving thanks for, and to perpetuate the remembrance of it among them; 3. The people greatly rejoiced. While the princes, priests, and Levites testified their joy and thankfulness, by great sacrifices, sound of trumpet, musical instruments, and songs of praise, the common people testified theirs by loud shouts, which were heard afar off, farther than the more harmonious sound of their songs and music; and these shouts coming from a sincere and hearty joy are here taken notice of: for God overlooks not, but graciously accepts, the honest zealous services of mean people, though there be in them little of art, and they are far from being fine. It is observed that the women and children rejoiced; and their harmonies were not despised but recorded to their praise. All that share in public mercies ought to join in public thanksgivings. The reason given is, that “God had made them rejoice with great joy;” he had given them both matter for joy and hearts to rejoice: his providence had made them safe and easy, and then his grace made them cheerful and thankful. The baffled opposition of their enemies no doubt added to their joy, and mixed triumph with it. Great mercies call for the most solemn return of praise, “in the courts of the Lord’s house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem!”—Matthew Henry. A BOOK Nehemiah 12:23. The chief of the fathers were written in the book of the chroniclesTHE BOOK OF THE A book is a marvel—why not say a standing miracle? I. A book unites the ages. Brings the past into the present: borrows the future to give the present significance. The “sceptred spirits of history” rule us still. “The world’s grey patriarchs” thought for us. With books the poorest enters the highest society: the loneliest need not be solitary. A good book the truest guide, philosopher, friend. II. A book reveals life’s importance. A book gives permanence to thought, because thoughts sway the world: gives permanence to deeds, because if good they encourage, if bad they warn. Life is a writing. And with deeper than Pilate’s meaning, “What I have written, I have written.” III. A book silently anticipates the judgment. It is written. A record may be appealed to. Is this thy handwriting? God’s “Book of Remembrance.” Nehemiah 12:24. The chief of the Levites … with their brethren over against them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God. A man’s influence after he is dead. He is still present with his people. I. By his will. “The commandment of David.” The grip of the dead is on our fields and churches; schools and hospitals. II. By his writings. Immortality of genius. David’s Psalms. Solomon’s proverbs. And outside the circle of sacred history, Shakespeare and Milton, Bunyan, and a thousand others. “Being dead, they yet speak.” III. By his example. “David the man of God.” Goodness is greatness. Kind words; good deeds never die. “Let your light shine before men.” Intentional influence may fail: unconscious influence cannot. For good or evil a man lives. For good or evil his deeds will live after him. “The memory of the just is blessed.” AT THE RIGHT PLACE Nehemiah 12:30. And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, and the gates, and the wall. I. A pure Church may make a sound commonwealth. “They purified themselves.” Like priest, like people. And as with the people so with the priest. Cleric and laic act and react on each other. Pulpit and pew not two but one. All history testifies that an impure priesthood means an impure people. “Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.” Eli’s sons. Uzzah may not sustain the ark. Jesus swept the temple of the traffickers. II. To a pure people all things are pure. “They purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.” Citizens and city: sanctuary and house: God’s work and their own. “All things are sacred.The eye of God is on them allAnd hallows all.”Jesus revealed God in the minutest. Peter’s vision. The present preparatory. “I think our fathers had a better, a grander, a diviner idea even of common life than we have, when they spoke about the trades and professions of men as being their calling. We sometimes use the word yet, though it has almost passed out of use. It is a pity, for there is a great thought in it. Why, it makes all the men, streets, shops, and warehouses to me, as I walk along, Divine objects. I feel that I am in a Divine place when I think of the men about me as following their calling. I feel that there is a God above men; that there in a God in human society; a God in the shops and counting-houses of London, touching and teaching every human being; and that every man is occupying the place, and putting his hand to the work, to which God has called him. Sometimes you may see a man at a certain calling which is but preparatory. He is meant for something else. Providence opens the way, and he goes up higher and does another thing. God has given us a spiritual vocation—a Divine calling in Jesus Christ, and we are to walk worthy of that vocation, here—doing all worldly things in a spiritual manner, preparatory to a higher calling which shall come one day, when we shall enter upon other forms of duty and service, to which the present inferior forms of duty and service faithfully fulfilled shall gradually prepare and fit us.”—Binney. A GREAT Nehemiah 12:43. That day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. A great rejoicing as it should be. I. Associated with the rites of religion. “Sacrifices.” Holy-day and holiday united. Holy-days joy-bringing times. Holidays not to be dissevered from the sacred nature of those who share them. II. The outcome of a great deliverance. From captivity to freedom: exile to home: heathen surroundings to heaven-chosen city and divinely-built temple. The memory of God’s great goodness should awaken joy—a joy that all may share. “The wives also and the children rejoiced.” III. The preparation for strong adhesion to the sacred cause. “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” And you must be strong to labour. Sacred festivals not an end but a means to an end. Get to give; know to communicate; experience to declare; rest to toil; share to serve—this is the will of God concerning us. TRUE JOY Nehemiah 12:43. That day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoicedI. Its right. The God who has given us life, wishes also that it shall move joyfully; the God who always anew overwhelms us with favours wishes that they should fulfil their mission; that is, make us happy, in the end holy. II. Its occasion. God’s grace, which has strengthened, protected, assured or elevated our lower or higher life. The chief sites in Jerusalem testified to this, and in the Christian Church; yes, indeed, in our lives, all the heights testify thereof. III. Its kind. It raises itself to God, is a joy in him, that is, becomes a service to God and our neighbours.—Dr. Schultz. AND Nehemiah 12:44-47. And at that time were some appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the offerings, for the first-fruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities the portions of the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited. And both the singers and the porters kept the ward of their God, &c. We have here an account of the remaining good effects of this universal joy that was at the dedication of the wall. When the solemnities of a thanksgiving-day leave such impressions on ministers and people, as that both are more careful and cheerful in doing their duty afterward, then are they indeed acceptable to God, and turn to a good account. So it was here. I. The ministers were more careful than they had been of their work. The respect the people paid them upon this occasion encouraged them to diligence and watchfulness; “the singers kept the ward of their God,” attending in due time to the duty of their office; the porters too they “kept the ward of the purification,” this is, they took care to preserve the purity of the temple, by denying admission to those that were ceremonially unclean. When the joy of the Lord thus engageth us to our duty, and enlargeth us in it, it is then an earnest of that joy which, in concurrence with the perfecting of holiness, will be our everlasting bliss. II. The people were more careful than they had been of the maintenance of their ministers. The people, at the dedication of the wall, among other things which they made matter of their joy, rejoiced “for the priests and the Levites that waited.” They had a great deal of comfort in their ministers, and were glad of them; when they observed how diligently they waited, and what pains they took in their work, they rejoiced in them. The surest way for ministers to recommend themselves to their people, and gain an interest in their affections, is to wait on their ministry, to be humble and industrious, and to mind their business; when these did so, the people thought nothing too much for them, to encourage them. The law had provided them their portions; but what the better were they for that provision, if what the law appointed them either was not duly collected or not justly paid them? 1. Care is here taken for the collecting of their dues. They were modest, and would rather lose their right than call for it themselves; the people were many of them careless, and would not bring it unless they were called upon; and therefore “some were appointed” whose office it should be “to gather” in to the treasuries, “out of the fields of the cities, the portions of the law for the priests and Levites,” that their portion might not be lost for want of being demanded. This is a piece of good service both to ministers and people, that the one may not come short of their maintenance, nor the other of their duty. 2. Care is taken that, being gathered in, it might be duly paid out. They gave the singers and porters their daily portion, over and above what was due to them as Levites; for we may suppose when David and Solomon appointed them their work, above what was required from them as Levites, they settled a fund for their further encouragement. Let those that labour more abundantly in the word and doctrine be counted worthy of this double honour. As for the other Levites, the tithes, here called the holy things, were duly set apart for them, out of which they paid the priests their tithe according to the law. Both are said to be sanctified. When what is contributed, either voluntarily or by law, for the support of religion, and the maintenance of the ministry, is given with an eye to God and his honour, it is sanctified, and shall be accepted of him accordingly; and it will cause the blessing to rest on the house, and all that is in it.—Matthew Henry. THE GOOD OLD TIMES Nehemiah 12:46. The days of oldThe aged regret, the young despise, these good old times. The old feed on memory, the young on hope. These place the golden age in the future, those in the past. I. Nothing is necessarily good because it is old. “Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?” Habit, education, tradition, prejudice play an important part in history. II. That which is old is presumptively valuable. Good lasts. Truth is as old as the hills. Application. Prove all things. Despise nothing. Gather treasures wherever they can be found. Be not blinded by passion. There is a soul of goodness in things that at first sight seem only evil. The present is a huge borrower from the dead past. Reverence the true word, the saintly deed whenever found. God is all, and in all things bright and good. Notes.] Nehemiah 13:1. On that day] This is to be understood in the same sense as at that time, in chap. Nehemiah 12:44. But no doubt public readings of the law took place frequently during Nehemiah’s administration. Found written] “The part of the law which forbade mingling with the other nations was specially read on the dedication-day. Deuteronomy 23:3 would naturally be read, as also Deuteronomy 7:1-6.… No Moabite or Ammonite family could be admitted to the privileges of Jewry until in the tenth generation after quitting heathenism and formally allying itself with Israel”—Crosby. Nehemiah 13:3. They separated from Israel all the mixed multitude] Non-Israelitish people who followed the Israelites at their departure from Egypt. Here transferred to strangers living among them.Nehemiah 13:4-5. Eliashib … Tobiah] Nehemiah left for Persia. Irregularities were permitted. Amongst them this desecration. Nehemiah 13:6. In the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon] “Probably the ‘time set’ by Nehemiah and approved by the king (chap. Nehemiah 2:6), was twelve years. At the expiration of this term he was obliged to leave the superintendence of affairs at Jerusalem and return to the court. Artaxerxes is called ‘king of Babylon,’ instead of ‘king of Persia,’ probably because at this time of Nehemiah’s return the court was removed to Babylon for some special state reason.”—Crosby. After certain days] No definite interval. Some expositors think a year. No proof. Nehemiah 13:8. I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah] Nehemiah a man of decision. Nehemiah 13:10. The Levites and the singers … were fled] Their allowance had been withheld. They fled to their own fields for livelihood. Nehemiah 13:11. Then contended I with the rulers] They had soon forgotten their vow (chap. Nehemiah 10:39). I gathered them] The Levites. Nehemiah 13:13. I made treasurers] Managers of the stores. Four faithful men appointed. Nehemiah 13:14. Wipe not out] Conceives of his deeds as written in a book. Nehemiah 13:15. In those days] When he returned to Jerusalem. Sabbath had become desecrated. Work was done and produce brought in. Nehemiah 13:17. The nobles] Nehemiah reminded them of the unchanged law and the sufferings its visitation had brought upon their fathers (Jeremiah 17:20-27). Nehemiah 13:20. Lodged without] The traders forbidden to enter hoped the people would come out to buy. Nehemiah 13:22. Cleanse themselves and keep the gates] Increasing the sanctity of the Sabbath by making Levites responsible. Nehemiah 13:23. Jews that had married] Borderers who by living near the heathen nations had formed alliances. The children’s speech was affected. Nehemiah 13:25] The action of a governor acting officially. Nehemiah 13:28. I chased him from me] Forced him to leave Jerusalem. Nehemiah 13:30. Thus cleansed I them … and appointed the wards of the priests and Levites] So important did he deem the temple. Nehemiah 13:31. Remember me] A repeated supplication. Nehemiah was great and good. OF CHAPTER 13 Neh 13:1-3. Renewed Purification.Nehemiah 13:1-2. The Irrevocableness of Wrong-doing.Nehemiah 13:2. Good out of Evil.Nehemiah 13:4-8. Reformation a Slow Work.Nehemiah 13:17-18. Profanation of the Sabbath.Nehemiah 13:22. Nehemiah.Nehemiah 13:26. Solomon.Nehemiah 13:31. Divine Remembrance.Nehemiah 13:31. A Life’s Work Reviewed.RENEWED Nehemiah 13:1-3. On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever; because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing. Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude. The duty of the Church to purify itself constantly anew. I. In regard to those with whom they assimilate themselves. In the Old Testament, in regard to the Ammonites, &c. In the Church, in regard to those who not only go astray, but also who will not allow themselves to be bettered, and who thus exclude themselves. II. Whereon it grounds itself. Not only on the right of self-preservation, but also upon God’s word. III. What it aims at. That the Church set forth more and more what it should be as Christ’s spotless bride.—Dr. Schultz. Illustrations: The true and grand idea of a Church is a society for the purpose of making men like Christ—earth like heaven—the kingdoms of the world the kingdom of Christ.—Arnold.THE OF WRONG-DOING Nehemiah 13:1-2. On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever; because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them. “The severe exclusion of the Moabite and Ammonite was an enacted token against sin. Even these blood relations of Israel were to be kept away as polluted, because they showed no sympathy with Israel, and made a deliberate and vile attempt to plunge Israel into sin. A permanent horror was to be erected between Israel and these monsters of iniquity. The key to many of the stern Mosaic statutes is to be found in the necessity of holding up the heinousness of sin, which men are ever ready to make light of.”—Crosby. The immortality of evil. I. It is done—cannot be undone. An act has passed into the irreparable past. It has become part of the constitution of things. Man may forget it, and God forgive it—but it is done. The doer may plead ignorance, prejudice, habit, custom—excuse may busy itself, and regret plead for pity, but the deed is done. Let inexperience remember and hardness ponder this. II. It has moulded you—you can never again be the same. The dyer’s hand is subdued to what it works in. A man’s trade, profession, or calling is indicated in his features. Habit is a second nature. The beauty of the soul touches the form and face. Vice makes the doer unlovely; stamps its image and superscription upon the otherwise divine form. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked,” &c. III. It has warped others. Their task is rendered more difficult. Their steps will henceforth be more faltering. An Ammonite may thwart Israel. “Ahab made Israel to sin.” That is his title to remembrance—he has an immortality. I am my brother’s keeper. His path and mine meet. I cannot throw off my responsibility. Doing wrong is ruinous. Sin is the great foe. The wages of sin are duly paid even to the uttermost farthing. GOOD OUT OF EVIL Nehemiah 13:2. Howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing. Nevertheless Balaam’s memory is infamous. Evil was intended though God averted it. So in life. I. Sin. Sin is still sin albeit the sinner is forgiven. God loves not sin. “God hath turned the curse of sin into a blessing. And here it is proper to reflect upon the profound and incomprehensible wisdom of God, who hath made an advantage to us even of our sin and misery. It was truly said by one of the ancients, upon this account, that Job was a happier man upon the dunghill than Adam was in paradise. His holiness indeed was perfect, his happiness was great; but neither of them permanent and indefeasible, as our happiness by the Mediator is. So that in the same sense we may call Adam’s fall a happy fall, because ordered and overruled by the wisdom of God to our great advantage. And to this purpose Austin somewhere sweetly speaks: ‘O how happily did I fall in Adam, who rose again more happily in Christ!’ Thus did the Lord turn a poison into an antidote; thus did that dreadful fall make way for a more blessed and fixed state. Now we are so confirmed and established by Christ in the favour of God, that there can be no more such fatal breaches and dreadful jars betwixt God and his reconciled ones for ever. The bone that’s well set is stronger where ’tis knit, than it was before. Blessed be God for Jesus Christ!”—Flavel. II. Sorrow. “God has turned the curse of sorrow into a blessing. Sweet are the uses of adversity! In God’s hand indeed they are: when he puts his children into the furnace of affliction, it is that he may thoroughly purge away all their dross. A great writer has spoken with great beauty of the resources which God has placed within us for bringing good out of evil, or, at least, for greatly alleviating our trials in the cases of sickness and misfortune. ‘The cutting and irritating grain of sand,’ he says, ‘which by accident or incaution has got within the shell, incites the living inmate to secrete from its own resources the means of coating the intrusive substance. And is it not, or may it not be, even so with the irregularities and unevenness of health and fortune in our own case?’ We too may turn diseases into pearls. But how much more wonderful are the wisdom and mercy of God, in making the spiritual trials and distresses of his people their necessary discipline for their highest good, the means for the greatest perfection and stability of their characters! This is indeed a wonderful transformation. ‘God,’ says holy Leighton, ‘hath many sharp cutting instruments, and rough files for the polishing of his jewels; and those he especially esteems and means to make the most resplendent, he hath oftenest his tools upon.’ ”—Cheever. III. Death. “God hath turned the curse of death into a blessing. It were a waste of words to attempt to prove that death is indeed a curse: it was the woe specially denounced against men as the result of transgression—the ill inflicted on the workers of iniquity. But, through the obedience and death of Christ, the Redeemer, the sting of death has been destroyed, the uncertainty of the future has been dissipated, and, by the destruction of guilt, separation from the world has been revealed, as the beginning of a perfected happiness and an enlarged blessedness to the believer. If it is indeed a blessed thing, for a spirit, weighed down with a sinking mortality, and groaning beneath the load of unnumbered ills, to flee away from its troubles, and soar amid the cloudless light of immortal day, then death has been turned into a blessing, since it merely cuts asunder the chains whereby we are bound to earth, and admits the spirit to a land of peace and joy. If it is indeed a blessed thing for a being long pent up amid the closeness of a dungeon, to exchange its pestilential air for the fragrant breath of paradise, then death has been turned into a blessing, since it serves to dissociate the children of the covenant from the pollution of this world, and advance them to the regions beyond the grave, where the Lamb shall feed them and guide them to fountains of living water, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. I say, if God hath made death the very instrument of exchanging earth for heaven, of ending the warfare and strife of time, and crowning believers with the unspeakably precious reward, then undoubtedly, while they exultingly proclaim, ‘O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?’—they must not cease to remember that death was indeed a crying evil, a bitter curse, but that our God turned the curse into a blessing.”—M‘Naughton. A SLOW WORK Nehemiah 13:4-8. And before this, Eliashib the priest, &c. When Nehemiah returned to Persia he left the people penitent and devoted; the temple restored; the priests and Levites at their posts. All were loyal to conscience and God. When Nehemiah came back again to Jerusalem he found Tobiah in the temple, Levites in the fields, tithes in the people’s hands, the house of God forsaken, and the Sabbath of God desecrated. And it grieved him sore. He had to build again from the foundations. I. Reformers are sanguine men. They see the evil, and the needs-be for its removal. Too often they overlook the herculean task that lies before them. II. Reformation meets with opposition. The reformers propose to destroy. They confront the selfishness of human nature, and war against the passions of men. III. Reformation must build up after it has destroyed. Building up is slower than pulling down. All reformers have been disappointed. Those whom they have striven to help have been their most determined hinderers. Faith, hope, and courage are indispensable. OF THE SABBATH Nehemiah 13:17-18. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath. . Historical. Nehemiah absent; disorder ensued. Among other irregularities profanation of the Sabbath became frequent and flagrant. It moved the spirit of Nehemiah not so much that the men of Tyre sold their fish and wares on the Sabbath, which in consideration of their being heathen they might be expected to do, as that they sold them to “the men of Judah,” the visible worshippers of God, and “in Jerusalem,” the seat of his worship; coming up to the very threshold of his house with their merchandise, as if in contempt of his presence and authority. But we have a more serious concern in this matter than merely to vent our indignation against “the men of Tyre.” Our first and main concern is to see that our own garments are clean. Nor is it sufficient that our own habits in respect to our personal observation of the Sabbath are correct. In this respect the nobles of Judah, for aught that appears, were without fault. Yet Nehemiah did not hesitate to charge them with the guilt of the profanations which they witnessed. “What evil thing is this that ye do,” said he, “and profane the Sabbath day?” He said this on the assumption that they had the power to prevent the sin, and were answerable for the consequences of their neglect. Hence I derive the sentiment that— MEN OF AND INCUR GREAT GUILT, AND BRING WRATH UPON THE , BY AT OF THE SABBATH. Men of authority and influence, because in all countries where the people are the source of power, men in authority can do but little unsupported by men of influence. As men of all classes have their share of influence the responsibility rests in a measure upon all. By whatever means the influence of individuals is increased, their responsibility also is enhanced. I. Profanation of the Sabbath is a great sin. The Sabbath is a Divine institution. At the creation, God by His express appointment set it apart from a common to a sacred use. This appointment He confirmed and renewed at Mount Sinai. Our Saviour, by the authority vested by him in his apostles, added his sanction to the appointment and made it a law of his kingdom, after the obligation of the Jewish ritual had ceased, with only the circumstantial change of the first instead of the seventh in the series, as the day of rest, in commemoration of his resurrection. Consecrated peculiarly to God’s service. Wantonly to profane the Sabbath is open contempt of God. This is not a sin of ignorance. A few men there may be who seriously disbelieve in the moral obligation of the Sabbath, and others are blinded by custom in regard to the guilt of certain common violations of it, but the great mass know what they do. This sin is an outrage on the rights of men. It opens the door to universal licentiousness; enfeebles the laws of society; tends to destroy our best blessings and blot out our dearest hopes. The Sabbath is necessary to the perpetuation of true religion. Some, while they think lightly of religion, profess highly to value free institutions. They boast of liberty, and of the sciences, the arts, the enterprise, the universal education of the people, and the general prosperity and happiness which they claim to be its fruits. And what is liberty? The unrestricted enjoyment of our rights, so far as this is consistent with the wellbeing of society. What liberty then can there be among depraved men, without law to restrain their appetites and passions? or what efficacy can there be in law, without a corresponding moral sentiment in the community to sustain it? or what efficacious moral sentiment without religion? or what religion without the Sabbath? Turn your eyes on those regions of the earth where the Sabbath is unknown, and what do you find the moral, social, and civil condition of men there? See also those portions of the world where the Sabbath is now abandoned, or given up to pastime. 2. Civil laws to protect the Sabbath from open violation, are just and proper. In Jewish national code the law of the Sabbath was enforced by civil penalties. On this ground it was that Nehemiah went to the magistrates of Jerusalem and charged them with guilt in forbearing to exercise the authority which God had vested in them to restrain profanations of the day. Equally incumbent is it on every other community, which has authority over its own members, whether it be a family or an empire, to protect the Sabbath from desecration. Nor is there anything in this unjust. To enforce a spiritual observation of the Sabbath is not indeed the province of civil authority. With duties appropriately religious it has no direct concern. These it must leave to the higher authority of God, and the conscience of every individual. But to protect those who are disposed religiously to observe the Sabbath, in the peaceful enjoyment of the privilege, is no less just and proper, than it is to protect them in the enjoyment of any other right or privilege. They too are the mass of the community. Ninety-nine hundred probably would consider a general disregard of the Sabbath destructive to their best interests. Such being the fact, to require that no laws for the protection of the Sabbath be made, or that having been made, they be a dead letter; to require that the mass of our citizens yield to the few, and be governed by their wishes, is a position which, on any other subject of legislation, would not for a moment be tolerated. 3. For a due execution of these laws, men clothed with the authority and the influence to do this, are answerable to God, and incur great guilt by neglecting it. They are ministers of God. They have taken official oaths. The fact of their being clothed with office, binds them to discharge its duties. . 1. To the friends of Sabbath. 2. To fathers and mothers. 3. To the young.—Noah Porter, D.D.; abridged. Illustrations:—“Each should do what his talent and influence in society enjoin and permit. It is the principle upon which I insist. If we cannot absolutely shut the gates of our great cities to the entrance of merchandise, we may do something to lessen the evil. We may shut the door of our houses—we may prohibit the purchase or reception of articles of consumption by our servants and dependants—we may encourage those upon whom we have any influence, to observe the sacred day. Let only the zeal, the courage, the firmness, the disinterestedness of Ezra and Nehemiah be connected with their piety and love to the house of their God, and much would be done.”—Bishop Wilson.“We find from the beginning of the Christian Church that all days were not alike to Christians, but that one day, the first-day of the week, was singled out and separated from the others as their day of worship. The end of the Paschal Lamb was accomplished in the sacrifice of our Lord; the end of the one Temple has been accomplished; but the end of the Sabbath has not been accomplished, and will not be till toil, and trouble, and sin, and sorrow shall cease. Then it will be merged in the eternal Sabbatism which remains for the people of God. But till then the solemn words of our Lord are as a wall of fire around it, to protect its sacredness and integrity. ‘Verily I say unto you. till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.’ ”—John Kennedy, D.D.“The Sabbath is the guardian of every other Divine institution. The sin of profaning the Sabbath stamps in the individual, the family, or the nation, which is guilty of it, the character of irreligious, and speedily ripens them for the judgments of God. This is the danger of being any way concerned in this iniquity, we are furthering an evil which would ultimately destroy religion itself, and which will assuredly prove as ruinous to the temporal renown, as the spiritual interests, of our country.”—Rev. J. A. Wylie.“It is a most important sentiment, and ought to be kept constantly before the public mind, that religion is the most direct and powerful cause of national comfort, prosperity, and security, and that in its absence all their other causes must be limited and transient in their effects. If religion were a mere abstraction of devotion, confined to the closet and the sanctuary, and restricted in its influence to the imagination and the taste, but not having any necessary control over the conscience, the heart, and the life, and not intended to regulate the intercourse of society; if it consisted merely in attendance on the rites and forms of the Church, and began and ended upon the threshold of the house of God, then it would be difficult to point out what a connection such a religion had with the welfare of a country. It would, in that case, resemble the ivy, which, though it add a picturesque effect to a venerable fabric, imparts neither stability to its walls, nor convenience to its apartments. But if religion be indeed a principle of the heart, an element of the character, the habit of thinking, feeling, and acting aright in all our social relations, the basis of every virtue, and the main prop of every excellence; if it be indeed the fear of the Lord by which men depart from evil; if it be faith working by love; if it be such a belief in the gospel of Christ as leads to a conformity to his example, religion being such as this must secure the welfare of any country. There is not one single influence, whether of law, of science, of art, of learning, tending to the well-being of society, which true religion does not guard and strengthen.”—James.The Lord’s Day.—Stations on the line of your journey are not your journey’s end, but each one brings you nearer. Such are our Lord’s Days. A haven is not home, but it is a place of quiet and rest, where the rough waves are stayed. Such is the “Lord’s Day.” A garden is a piece of common land, and yet it has ceased to be common land. It is an effort to regain Paradise. Such is “The Lord’s Day.” A bud is not a flower, but it is the promise of a flower. Such is “The Lord’s Day.” The world’s week tempts you to sell your soul to the flesh and the world: “The Lord’s Day” calls you to remembrance, and begs you rather to sacrifice earth to heaven and time to eternity, than heaven to earth and eternity to time. The six days not only claim you as captives of the earth, but do their best to keep the prison-doors shut that you may forget the way out. “The Lord’s Day” sets before you an open door. Samson has carried the gates away. “The Lord’s Day” summons you to the threshold of your house of bondage, to look forth unto immortality, your immortality. The true Lord’s Day is the Eternal life; but a type of it is given to you on earth, that you may be refreshed with the anticipation and foretaste of your rest.—John Pulsford.. Nehemiah 13:22. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercyI. Historical. Every part of Nehemiah’s short history shows that the fear and love of God formed the principal motive with Nehemiah. Here is, first— I. An appeal to God’s approbation. “Remember me, O my God, concerning this also.” Nehemiah often makes appeals of this kind. This manner of speaking was an appeal to God— 1. From man’s judgment. His distinguished abilities had hitherto recommended him to notice in the royal palace, notwithstanding the disgrace of his Jewish faith. But he had now engaged in an undertaking which was likely enough to appear enthusiastic and contemptible in the eyes of his Persian acquaintance. But what then? It was for God’s honour, and therefore he despises this shame, casting himself upon the approbation of God. This principle it was that influenced Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Paul. It is the principle of faith rendering an unseen God visible. Such men look for a future “recompense of reward,” promised by Him who cannot lie. When misunderstood, and undervalued, and misrepresented by the world, they can appeal to God. “Let them curse, but bless thou.” Nehemiah makes his appeal to God, secondly— 2. From man’s enmity. While one party satisfied themselves with despising, there was another party in Jerusalem itself, who hated and opposed, his proceedings. These were they who, being Jews, had connected themselves by marriage with heathen families—or the offspring of such marriages. To such persons, the revival of pure Jewish manners was very provoking. Others found that their worldly interests were interfered with by Nehemiah’s strict enforcing of the Sabbath. It is in reference to their enmity that the appeal in the text is made. Modem enmity. Nehemiah appeals, thirdly— 3. From man’s ingratitude. It was here that this zealous servant of God found his greatest trial. He might easily have disregarded man’s judgment; or have endured man’s enmity. But how painful, when the very persons, whom in God’s name he sought to benefit, were cold, reluctant, unfeeling! Nehemiah’s was no solitary case. Is there no danger lest appeals of this kind should lead us to trust in ourselves that we are righteous, and despise others? Not if we make them in the spirit of Nehemiah: for you find in close connection with this appeal— II. A contrite prayer for God’s forgiveness. “Spare me, according to the greatness of thy mercy.” Every real believer, while he habitually labours to have a conscience void of offence, maintains at the same time a deep feeling of humility and of his need of unsparing mercy. Let us endeavour to trace the course of this feeling. 1. After all that he has done for God’s service, Nehemiah cannot forget that there is a load of original and actual sin recorded against him, for which no subsequent obedience can make satisfaction. 2. Nehemiah finds even his religious actions so stained with sin, that though he may appeal from man, he cannot make them a plea of merit before God. 3. He casts himself, with a steadfast faith, on the free grace and covenanted mercies of the Lord.. If the despised believer may thus appeal from man to God, what hope can there be for those who compel him so to do? If the repenting and believing sinner is so graciously spared, how active should he be in serving the Lord, amid a gainsaying and perverse generation!—Rev. Joseph Jowett, M.A.; abridged. SOLOMON Nehemiah 13:26. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God. “It may appear remarkable that one who fell so grievously should contribute at all to the Book of God, nor is there any other instance of the kind; but his sad history adds a peculiar weight of warning to his words; nor are there any books more strongly marked by the finger of God.” “Solomon was chosen of God, and afterwards rejected as Saul had been; he was full of wisdom and understanding, and, what is far more, of holiness and goodness. There is perhaps no one of whom the early promise of good seemed so decisive.” “It has been said, as by St. Augustine, that Solomon was more injured by prosperity than profited by wisdom. Yet we may observe, that his falling away is not in Scripture attributed to his wealth, his power and honour.” “We cannot conclude that Solomon himself did not at last repent; but this has always been considered by the Church as very doubtful, to say the least. All we know is, that Scripture has fully made known to us his falling away from God, but has said nothing of his repentance. The very silence is awful and impressive.” “What more melancholy than the fall of one so great—so wise? What words could have been spoken to him more powerful than his own? What eloquence could describe his fall with more feeling and beauty than his own words? What could more powerfully paint the loveliness of that holiness from which he fell? What the overpowering sweetness of that Divine love which he has consented to give up to feed on ashes? Who can describe the temptations to those very sins by which he was ensnared in a more searching manner than he has done?… How must his own sweet and Divine words sound to him like music of Paradise to the lost spirits; yea, as songs of heaven would come back to fallen angels in sad remembrance?.… It is very awful to think how God may use men as instruments of good that his Spirit may teach them, and through them teach others, and guide them to the living fountains of waters, yet they themselves at last fail of the prize of their high calling. What a warning for fear.”—From Rev. Isaac Williams’ ‘Characters of the Old Testament.’DIVINE Nehemiah 13:31. Remember me, O my God, for goodOur Protestant forefathers were fond of the maxim—“They who observe Providences shall never want Providences to observe.” The truth of this is eminently seen in the rescue of the Church from the Babylonish Captivity; in the rebuilding of the temple; and in the restoration of the people to the Holy Land. High political considerations rather than religious ones no doubt actuated Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, but “the hearts of kings are in the hand of God.” So in the Reformation it has been said that God put little thoughts into Henry VIII’s mind for great purposes, just as the preservation of the Church in Esther’s time was brought about by a single sleepless night of Ahasuerus the king. “This also cometh from the Lord of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.” The Life and Times of Nehemiah are of much more consequence to the history of the Jewish Church than ordinary readers suppose. Great men are born for great occasions, and eventful times form the training school for public men. Our text is Nehemiah’s last recorded prayer, showing us the secret of his strength. It expresses much, but it implies more. I. Nehemiah’s delight in the remembrance of God. The remembrance of God the habit of his life. Note the instructive occasions on which the prayer was uttered. Not in the closet for private devotion; not in the family for domestic contemplation; not in the sanctuary for public worship; but in the daily walks of life—amidst the toils of his office, amidst the reforms he was carrying on, amidst the hot enmity of the world, amidst the plots that were formed against his life. Again and again he prays, “Remember me, O God.” He was in the habit of remembering God, or such a prayer would not have risen spontaneously to his lips. 1. A test of religious character. The manner and degree in which devout thoughts mingle with daily thoughts and incorporate themselves with worldly employments the special mark of a child of God. Nehemiah specifies this as the distinctive mark of those holy ones who were associated with him—“thy servants, who desire to fear thy name.” And Malachi tells us that “a book of remembrance was written for those who feared the Lord, and thought upon his name;” and were thus the patterns of distinguished excellence in most degenerate times. Throughout Scripture the remembrance of God is set forth as the active principle of all vice. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” 2. A voluntary remembrance. Not enforced. The result of a principle. When Solomon says, “Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth,” he appeals to the first and best affections of the human heart, under the impressions of early piety. “In the days of thy youth” some render “in the days of thy choice.” Religion is choice. “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” Not an appeal to fear. God might have compelled our remembrance—by awful judgments; by outward demonstrations of his power. He asks where he might command; entreats when he might enforce. “My son, give me thine heart.” So when Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me,” he appeals to the more generous emotion of inward piety which disposed them to obey at a touch, and yield to the gentler insinuations of Divine grace. Nehemiah’s remembrance of God was spontaneous and free: it sprang up on all occasions; like water from a fountain, or music from a bird, or light from the sun. It was part of a life—the life of faith and devotion; a life hid with Christ in God. In your best moments you say, “The love of Christ constraineth us.” 3. A blessed, though difficult, exercise. It is difficult amidst the active duties of life to keep up a devout remembrance of God; but the blessedness more than compensates its difficulty. It is the advantage of any useful habit that when once formed it becomes easy and spontaneous; and would require an effort to forego or counteract it. “Use is second nature.” Same law holds in Christian life. That which we have once determined upon by principle and by choice we continue to do by preference and by affection. Well for us when the remembrance of God is the solace and delight of the mind in active and in solitary hours. “Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.” Not an easy attainment. All good men are painfully conscious how great an effort it requires, whilst sedulously engaged with the concerns of time, to give their best hopes and affections to heaven; to carry the spirit of the sanctuary into the cares and vexations of each returning day. It is difficult to mind the business of two worlds and to do justice to both: to be in the fear of God all the day long. Difficult: not impossible. God enjoins nothing which his strengthening aids will not enable the faithful to achieve. “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” The history of the long cloud of witnesses attests the practicability of the religious life amidst all the agitation of this world’s cares. Patriarchs, prophets, reformers, and martyrs had as many hindrances in their way to heaven as we have in ours. II. Nehemiah’s devout desire for God’s remembrance of him. 1. He set a very high value upon the friendship of God. Not a matter of indifference to him whether he possessed it or not. It was vital to his enjoyment, vital to his prosperity, vital to his existence. Like a crust to a starving man; like a plank to the shipwrecked is the love of Christ to a Christian. “Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, therefore my soul seeketh thee.” The Psalmist prayed, “Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation.” Luther protested that he would not be put off with common things. Much emphasis is in the words, “That I may see the good of thy chosen, and rejoice with thine inheritance”—that I may see it, and partake of it; have the vision and the fruition of this great goodness. 2. He had nothing to claim in the way of merit, but everything to hope for in the way of mercy. Not a touch of the Pharisee in Nehemiah. The deepest humiliation characterized his first prayer and his last; a spirit of self-renunciation and dependence. “I beseech thee, O Lord, the great and terrible God, that keepest covenant and mercy.” The only word that seems to look the other way is Nehemiah 13:14, “Remember me, O my God, for good, and wipe not out the remembrance of my good deeds:” but this was only an earnest appeal to God for his integrity in resisting the tyranny of the nobles of Judah, and maintaining the cause of the poorer among the Levites. As there is a book of remembrance written before God, Nehemiah would not be wiped out of that book. He only says, Remember me—not reward it, not record it—yet he was remembered and rewarded too, and his good deeds were recorded as well as remembered. As says Matthew Henry, “Deeds done for the house of God and the offices of it, for the support and encouragement of religion, are good deeds; there is both righteousness and godliness in them; and God will certainly remember them, and not wipe them out.” 3. He possessed a happy consciousness of his personal interest in the Divine regards. Again and again he utters the words, “My God.” 4. He attached much importance to the service of the sanctuary. He maintained altar and priest. . HOW to attain amidst the business of life this pervading principle of spiritual piety. No fixed and invariable rules. Every man with the Bible before him must in some respects be a law to himself. Generally— 1. Stated seasons of retirement ought to be appointed. 2. Occupy the thoughts in the morning with some leading truth or text of Scripture. 3. Form the habit of ejaculatory prayer. 4. Make conscience of your thoughts.—Thodey. A LIFE’S WORK Nehemiah 13:31. Remember me, O my God, for goodI. The review is coming. All days point on to the day of judgment. II. A review is desirable. It elevates a man to take a retrospect of his life, judge his motives, broaden his field of vision. To realize the grace of God within him, to mark the purpose of God towards him, and note the work God has given him to do; all this is well. But here is no elation. Rather is he humbled. God is great, and we know him not. That he should employ me—such a man may say—is not matter for pride or self-boasting. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies which he has shown unto his servant. And so he prays for mercy and grace to be found faithful. Reverence and trust, fear and hope, are in the man who thus pleads with God.—Enlarged from Dr. Schultz. THE END.INDEXAccusing cry of humanity, 114 Adversaries of the Church, craft and cruelty of, 101 Anger, 96 et seq., 117 Bad men praised, 170 Beginning again, 103 Benevolence, 13, 40 Bible—preciousness of, 201 et seq.; how to read 203; read, and expounded, 204 Boldness, 150 Book, the marvel of a, 244 Bribery, 161 Brotherhood, of man, 182 Certitude, value of, 152 Christians criticized by the world, 123 Church—common service of, 190; an edifice, 225; requires a ministry, 226; a missionary institution, 226; a brotherhood, 226; dwelling-place of God, 227; place where God and man meet, 228 Church revival, prayer for, 22 Church, enemies of, 63 Cities, 185 City, Holy, replenished, 234 et seq.; symbolism of the, 236 City of God—Christ the door of, 79; spaciousness of, 178; emptiness of, 179 Classes, fusion of, 84 Clergy, origin of the Christian, 76 Conviction, courage from, 149 Courage, Christian, 92 David, the Jewish hero, 85 Day-book, the workmen’s, 87 Debt, 116 Derision, 60, 67 Deserters, 169 Detraction, 147; sin of, 148 Devotion, habit of, 152 Elect—place and people, 30; people, 38 Equality of men in the sight of God, 34 Ezra’s preaching, effect of, 192 Ezra reading the Law, 194 Faithful Promiser, the, 216 Family, idea of, 180; family history, 181 Fasting, the duty of, 18 Fasting and Feasting, 220 Faults, 139 Fear and Faith, 150 et seq. Festivals, 203 Foes—140; foiled, 173 Forethought, prudence of, 48 Genealogies, 186 Generation, a—history of, 217; task of, 217; responsibility of, 217 Generosity, enthusiasm of, 181 Gifts, 155 God—majesty and mercy of, 23; interposition of, 42; the hand of, 49; faith in, a condition of success, 62; the overruling, 165; world’s acknowledgment of, 167; Hebrew conceptions of, 206; in history, 207; in nature, 208; in lives of men, 208; a personal, 209; mercy of, 214, 215 Good out of evil, 249 Goodness, modesty of, 33, 40 Greatness, perilous, 135 Greed and its corrections, 108 Handicraft, honourable, 81 Hananiah and Hanani, 177, 178, 188 Hearers, 193 Hebrew character, Egyptian influence on, 210 Hebrew history, God in, 209 et seq. Honour, responsibility of, 219 Hostility active, frustrated, 93 House of God—resolve concerning the, 229; importance of attending the, 230 Idleness, a life of, 81 Imprecations, 100 Inconsistency, 121 et seq. Influence, baneful effects of, 167 Injustice, social, 114 Integrity, 131 James, St., 222 Jealousy, 53 Jerusalem, modern, 89 Joy—defined, 200; Christian, 195 et seq.; strength of the Christian, 197; supporting virtue, 198, 199; result of faith, 200; within our power, 201; God its object, 205; true, 245 Judah, defection of, 106 Kingdoms ruined by sin, 35 Labour—division of, 72, 74; sacredness of, 73; duty of, 74; rewarded, 75 Language, origin of, 71 Life—work and warfare of, 103 et seq.; review of, 133, 256 Man, a true, 86, 177 Memory—forgotten sins recalled to remembrance, 26, 37, of God, 27, 221; work and anticipation, 82 Moses, 224 et seq. Nation’s prayer, a, 211 Names—significance of, 69; Hebrew, 70; marking periods in Hebrew History, 70 Nehemiah—biographical sketch of, 1; the reformer, 5 et seq.; unselfish sorrow of, 16 et seq.; his love for the Church, 43; honouring the king, 44; the secret of his presence of mind, 45; retirement of, 54; inspecting the decayed walls, 55; appealing for help, 57; praying, 106; his watchfulness, 106; his policy and appeal, 107; his loyalty to conscience, 129, 130; an inspired man, 189; a general view of his motives, 253 Nehemiah, Book of, 2 et seq.; topography of the, 87 Opponents, 171 Opposition, the laws of, 95 Panic, 154 Past, the, 247 Persistency, 137 Piety and position, 9 et seq. Poor, the—the work of, 81; claim of, 182 Possessions, the meaning of, 113 Posthumous influence, 244 Power, the passion for, 113 Prayer—intercessory. 20; importunity in, 25; why unanswered, 33; submission in, 40; ejaculatory, 46, 153 Praying and working, 99 Prescience, human, 160 Priesthood, ideal, 75, 77 Prophets, false, 172 Prosperity, 217 Providence, world preserved by, 212 Public worship, divine ordination of, 227 Punishment and penitence, 28 Purification, 244, 248 Reformation—the difficulty of beginning a, 50; slow growth of, 250 Rejoicing, a great, 245 Remembrance, Divine, desired, 254 Resolution, clenching a good, 125 Responsibility, 157 Rest, 183 et seq. Retirement, the importance of, 65 Revivals, hindrances to, 142 Rich and poor, 81 Rich man, empire of the, 113 Rights and duties, 128 Rival classes, 80 Sabbath, 250 et seq. Sacred and secular, 237 Sacred service, 205 Saint’s support, 132 Sanballat, 106, 173 Sanctuary, zeal for, 226 Satan, subtlety of, 102, 160 Secrecy, importance of, 56 Secular power, place of the, 52 Self, communion with, 119 et seq. Self, respect for, 159 Sepulchres, 86 Service of song, 238 et seq. Shemaiah, 172 Silence and speech, 146 Singularity, 129, 130 Sin, the destructiveness of, 15, 254 Sinners, an assembly convoked against, 120 Slander, 143, 146 Small things, day of, 98 Solitariness, 152 Steadiness, the secret of, 153 Sundays—a year of, 162; needed by busy men, 228 Taxation, voluntary, 225 Testimonial, the best, 172, 176 Thanksgiving, 64; thanks-living the best, 246 Tithes, 231 Tobiah, 106, 173 Tongue, the, its use and abuse, 145 et seq. Union, strength of, 59 Unknown future, working for the, 80 Unrighteousness, doom of, 106 Unworldliness, 169, 223 et seq. Vocation, life a, 77 Wall—the Church a broad, 82; completion of the, 188; dedication of the, 242 Warrior builders, 94 Wealth, 110 Women, famous, 83; influence of, 83 Work, conditions of success in, 78 et seq.; the great, 140; Divinely inspired, 163; finished, 174; unfinished, 175 et seq. Workers Divinely helped, 164 Worship Christian, 75 Wrong-doing, inexcuseableness of, 124; irrevocableness of, 248