And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon us.
The power of God in the individual Christian
The secret of success is to have God with us, and what we want in our day is not more machinery or new methods of work, but more of the power of God in individual Christians. Nehemiah, in his prolonged prayerfulness, shows us how this power is to be obtained, for itis when we know God in His fulness and have enlightened communion with the Lord, that we are fitted to become “workers together with Him.” (W. P. Lockhart.)
God’s hand
I. A spirit of dependence. There breathes forth a feeling of insignificance. The speaker feels scarcely able to trust himself.
1. Man’s technical skill. Having arrived at so high a standard in design, construction, and art, we are very apt to think very highly of ourselves. We gaze on the railway, the steam-engine, the ocean-steamer, the tunnel under the hills, and the canal through the land, and fancy we can do anything.
2. Man’s natural conceit. There is a great tendency to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. Satan employs this tendency to induce man to lift up his hand against God.
II. A spirit oftrust. This spirit of reliance will save us from many trials. It will prevent--
1. Anxious care. If we leave our concerns in God’s hand, we shall not be careful and cumbered about many things. It will prevent--
2. Worldly-mindedness of disposition. The spirit that leaves its cares in God’s hand will leave its joys there also.
3. All bitterness of sorrow. (Homilist.)
The recognition of God
He recognised God in all. Not to his favourable circumstances, nor to the opportunity of presenting his petition, nor to the good mood the monarch was in, nor to all of these combined, did he ascribe his success. Secondary causes would not explain the result; it must be traced to its true source--God and God alone must have all the glory. (W. P. Lockhart.)
