ecretaries are called, and are bidden to
write the required instructions to the governors beyond the river, and
to Asaph, the bailiff of the forest. Nehemiah takes no credit to himself
that all has gone so prosperously, he does not praise his own courage,
or wisdom, or tact in making the request, he knows it is a direct answer
to a direct prayer, he recognises the fact that it is God's doing, and
not his.

'The king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.'

That was Ezra's motto, quoted by him again and again (Ezra vii. 6, 9,
28; viii. 18, 22, 31). In all his deliverances, in every one of his
mercies, he had seen the good hand of his God, and he had taken those
words, 'The good hand of my God upon me,' as the keynote of his praise,
and as the motto of his life. But Nehemiah had in all probability never
even seen Ezra, yet here we find him quoting Ezra's favourite saying.
Can it be that Hanani, his brother, who had been one of Ezra's
companions, had repeated it to him? Can it be that in order to cheer and
encourage his brother when he undertook the difficult task of speaking
to the king, he told him how Ezra was always repeating these words, and
how he found them a sure refuge in time of need? If so, how gladly would
Nehemiah hasten to his brother when his duties in the palace were
completed, to tell him that Ezra's motto has held good again, for 'the
king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.'

'The good hand of my God.' What blessed words! Let trouble come, or
temptation come, or death itself come, I will not fear. The good hand of
my God is over me. None can pluck me from that hand. 'All my times are
in Thy hand, O Lord,' and are safe there from even the fear of danger.
Oh, how blessed to be one so sheltered, so shielded, underneath the good
hand of my God! But the same hand is against them that do evil. I must
either be in the hand, or have the hand raised against me! Which shall
it be?

All is ready now, the preparations are ended, and Nehemiah, accompanied
by his brother Hanani, and by a royal escort of soldiers, sets forth on
his long journey. Jerusalem, the City of David--how often he had dreamt
of it, how earnestly he had longed to see it! Now, at last, his desire
is to be granted. The travellers could not sing, as they rode slowly
over the scorching desert, 'Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O
Jerusalem,' for the gates of the city were burned with fire, and only a