but if you return to me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.’
Parallel Translations
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but if you return to me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there.’
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But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
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but if ye return unto Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though your dispersed were in the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to cause My name to dwell there.
Cross-references (20)
Passages linked to Nehemiah 1:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 29:11-14 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You shall seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” says Yahweh, “and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Yahweh. I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.”
- Deuteronomy 30:2-5 and return to Yahweh your God and obey his voice according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that then Yahweh your God will release you from captivity, have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there Yahweh your God will gather you, and from there he will bring you back. Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you will possess it. He will do you good, and increase your numbers more than your fathers.
- Deuteronomy 4:29-31 But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Yahweh your God and listen to his voice. For Yahweh your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.
- Jeremiah 32:37 “Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries where I have driven them in my anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again to this place. I will cause them to dwell safely.
- Leviticus 26:39-42 Those of you who are left will pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers they shall pine away with them. “ ‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me; and also that because they walked contrary to me, I also walked contrary to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land.
- Deuteronomy 12:5 But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and you shall come there.
- Ezra 6:12 May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow all kings and peoples who stretch out their hand to alter this, to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree. Let it be done with all diligence.
- Psalms 147:2 Yahweh builds up Jerusalem. He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
- Isaiah 56:8 The Lord Yahweh, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “I will yet gather others to him, in addition to his own who are gathered.”
- Jeremiah 12:15 It will happen that after I have plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them. I will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
- Matthew 24:31 He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
- 1 Kings 9:3 Yahweh said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me. I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.
- Psalms 106:47 Save us, Yahweh, our God, gather us from among the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise!
- Isaiah 11:12 He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
- Jeremiah 31:10 “Hear Yahweh’s word, you nations, and declare it in the distant islands. Say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.’
- Jeremiah 50:19-20 I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan. His soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the iniquity of Israel will be sought for, and there will be none; also the sins of Judah, and they won’t be found; for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.
- Ezekiel 36:24 “ ‘ “For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
- 1 Chronicles 16:35 Say, “Save us, God of our salvation! Gather us together and deliver us from the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise.”
- Jeremiah 3:14 “Return, backsliding children,” says Yahweh; “for I am a husband to you. I will take one of you from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
- Deuteronomy 12:21 If the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to put his name is too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which Yahweh has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (6 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Neh 1:9 But [if] ye turn unto me, and…
Neh 1:9 But [if] ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, [yet] will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
Ver. 9. But if ye turn unto me] By sin men do wickedly depart from God; as by repentance they return unto him, and close with him.
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And keep my commandments] Evangelically keep them; for with a legal obedience none can: our short legs and pursy hearts cannot hold out here.
And do them] Or at least, be doing at them, do them as we can; si praecepta faciamus, etiamsi non perficiamus, sufficit.
Unto the uttermost part of the heaven] That is, of the earth, which seems to our eye terminated with the heaven, and covered as with a half globe. Jews are a dejected people to this present; and a fearful instance of God’s heavy indignation against sin. Josephus saith, that in his time they were grown so wicked, that if the Romans had not destroyed and dispersed them, without doubt either the earth would have swallowed them up, or fire from heaven have consumed them.
Yet will I gather them from thence] Else not. God’s promises are with a condition, which is as an oar in a boat, and stern of a ship; and turns the promise another way.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But if ye return unto me, and keep my…
But if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them,.... Return by repentance, and, as a proof of the genuineness of it, yield obedience to the commands of God, and continue therein:
though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven; that is, the uttermost parts of the earth, the most distant regions; so called, because at the extreme parts of the horizon, according to our apprehension, the heavens and earth touch each other; so that what is the uttermost part of the one is supposed to be of the other:
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yet will I gather them from thence and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there; that is to Jerusalem where the temple was built, and his name was called upon.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Neh 1:9. But if ye turn unto me, I…
Neh 1:9. But if ye turn unto me, I will gather them from thence, &c. — This promise made by Moses he trusted God would fulfil, as he had the threatening. It is to be observed, that Nehemiah was directed in this prayer to God, and in his efforts for the restoration of Jerusalem, by the predictions of Moses, Deu 30:1-4. And he plainly found the truth of that prophecy in the readiness of the king of Persia to grant his petition, which, no doubt, confirmed his faith in what Moses there declares.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain World. Literally, "of heaven, or the sky," (Haydock) which…
World. Literally, "of heaven, or the sky," (Haydock) which seems to the vulgar (Calmet) to rest upon the horizon. (Tirinus) See Deuteronomy xxx. 4.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. The Promise. The appeal to this promise marks…
9. The Promise. The appeal to this promise marks the crisis of the prayer.
if ye turn] R.V. return. The word, as in Deu_30:2, is stronger than to ‘turn’. It denotes a ‘return’ from a wrong road. The back is turned upon the former wrong direction. Cf. Mal_3:18.
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and keep my commandments, and do them] R.V. omits comma. These words contain the practical explanation of the ‘return.’ No distinction can really be drawn between ‘keeping’ and ‘doing’ the commandments. The words occur together with great frequency in Deuteronomy, both as ‘observe to do’ and ‘observe (or keep) and do.’
though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, &c.] R.V. though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heaven, &c. This and the next clauses are clearly taken from Deu_30:4, where the same words (except for the use of the 2nd sing. for the 2nd plur.) occur. The term ‘your outcasts’ does not occur with this usage elsewhere in the Pentateuch, while the exact phrase ‘in the uttermost part of heaven’ also only occurs there. The word ‘outcasts’ may be illustrated from 2Sa_14:13-14; Isa_16:3-4; Isa_27:13; Isa_56:8; Jer_30:17; Jer_49:36, and ‘the uttermost part of heaven’ from Deu_4:32 and Jdg_7:11. But the occurrence here side by side of these two forms can only be accounted for on the supposition that Nehemiah has here in his thoughts the passage Deu_30:1-4.
On ‘gathering the outcasts’ compare the title given to the Lord in Isa_56:8, ‘The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel.’
and will bring them] The promise to bring together ‘the outcasts’ of Israel should be compared with the metaphor of the shepherd and the scattered sheep, in Eze_34:11-18. See especially, Eze_34:13, ‘And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land.’
unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there] R.V., to cause my name to dwell there. This sentence is again characteristically Deuteronomic. The words, ‘the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,’ do not occur in the Pentateuch except in the book Deuteronomy, where they are found some 20 times. In five of these passages (Deu_12:11, Deu_14:23, Deu_16:6; Deu_16:11, Deu_26:2) the full phrase is found, ‘the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there,’ which Nehemiah here quotes.
That ‘the place’ so designated is Jerusalem and the Temple at Jerusalem is beyond all doubt. This was the place of which God had said ‘My name shall be there’ (1Ki_8:29). At Shiloh God ‘caused his name to dwell at the first’ (Jer_7:12). But Shiloh passed away. And though Jerusalem for a time seemed threatened with a like fate (Jer_7:12-15), the day came when the watchmen upon the hills of Ephraim cried, ‘Arise ye and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God’ (Jer_31:6).
The Hebrew verb ‘cause to dwell’ is that from which came the late Hebrew word ‘Shechinah’, applied to the visible manifestation in Glory of the Divine Presence.
The association of ‘the Name’ with the Temple is very frequent in Chronicles (e.g. 1Ch_22:7-10; 1Ch_22:19; 1Ch_28:3; 1Ch_29:16; 2Ch_2:1; 2Ch_2:4; 2Ch_6:5-9; 2Ch_6:20; 2Ch_6:33-34; 2Ch_6:38; 2Ch_7:16; 2Ch_7:20; 2Ch_12:13; 2Ch_20:8-9; 2Ch_33:4; 2Ch_33:7).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain But if ye turn to Me, and keep My…
Neh_1:9-11
But if ye turn to Me, and keep My commandments.
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The spiritual favourite at the throne of grace
If you turn unto Me, and keep My commandments. There is no promise of mercy but to those that turn. The Scripture is peremptory in denial of mercy to such as go on in their sins. Yet how many are there that bless themselves that it shall go well with them, though they cast off all Gods yokes. If ye turn. The holy man Nehemiah puts God in mind of His promise, and his argument is from the like, and indeed from the less to the greater. Because God would rather of both perform His promises than His threatenings, because mercy is His own proper work. These are Thy servants. Though sinful servants, yet they are Thy servants. These are Thy people. Thou hast no other people in the world but these, and Thou art their God. He pleads from former favours. Thou hast redeemed them by Thy great power and strong hand. It is a good argument to plead with God for former favours: because there is no shadow of change in Him (Jam_1:17); He is always like Himself; He is never drawn dry. And it is a great honour to go to Him for new favours upon former, because He hath an infinite supply. We may draw so much from men as they have not afterwards to make good, but we cannot honour God more than to go to Him with a large faith, to fetch largo favours from Him. The more He gives, the more He can give, and the more He is willing to give. We may much more take this argument in our mouths, and press the majesty of God. Thou hast redeemed us, not out of Egypt or Babylon, the land of the north, but with the blood of Thy Son, from hell and damnation; and therefore Thou canst redeem us from this petty misery, from these enemies. We may allege that grand favour to all other petty redemptions, whatsoever they are. Let Thine ear be attentive to the prayer of Thy servants. It is a prayer; and Thou art a God hearing prayer. They be Thy servants, and Thou regardest Thy servants. Here are but a few petitions in this large request: remember, be attentive, and give me favour. It is an excellent skill and art in prayer to have strong arguments. Then the suit comes off easily, as in Psa_90:1-17. Therefore, it is an excellent thing to study the Scriptures, and to study all the arguments whereby holy men have prevailed with God in Scripture, and to see in what case those arguments were used. It is a pitiful thing now for Christians under the glorious light of the gospel to come to God only with bare, naked petitions and have not reasons to press God out of His own Word. They cannot bind God with His own promise, nor with arguments that He hath been bound with before. They desire to fear Thy name. Empty relations have no comforts in them: to profess ones self a servant, and not to make it good that he is a servant. We must make good the relation we stand in to God, before we can claim interest in the favour of God by our relation. He goes to make it good that he was the servant of God, not from any outward thing, but from his inward disposition, the fear of God, which I will not now stand to speak largely of. God requires the heart; and religion is most in managing and turning the affections, for they are the wind that carries the soul to every duty. The devil hath brain enough, he knows enough, more than any of us all. But then he hates God. He hath no love to God, nor no fear of God, but only a slavish fear. He hath not this reverential fear, childlike fear. Therefore let us make it good that we are the servants of God, especially by our affections, and chiefly by this of fear, which is put for all the worship of God. How doth he make it good that he feared the name of God? He makes it good from this, that he had had good desires. We desire to fear Thy name. First of all, out of this, that this desire to fear the name of God is brought as an argument to prevail in prayer, we may observe that--
1. Those that will prevail with God in prayer must look to the bent of their souls for the time to come, and for the present. Regard Thy servants that desire to fear Thy name. For to come to God without such a frame of soul as this, to desire to please God in all things for the present, and for the time to come, it is to come as Gods enemy; and will God regard His enemies?
2. Religion especially is in holy desires. The greatest part of Christianity is to desire to be a sound Christian with all the heart. Why are desires such trials of the truth of grace? Because they are the immediate issues of the soul. Desires and thoughts, and such like, they are produced immediately from the soul, without any help of the body, or without any outward manifestation. They show the temper and frame of the soul, Thereupon God judgeth a man by his desires. But how is the truth of these desires known?
I will name a few signs.
1. If they be constant desires and not flashes; for then they come from a new nature. Nature is strong and firm. Art is for a turn to serve a turn. When men personate a thing they do it not long. Creatures that are forced to do so and so they return to their own nature quickly; but when a man doth a thing naturally, he doth it constantly. So, constant desires argue a sanctified frame of soul and a new creature. They argue that the image of God is stamped upon the soul.
2. And likewise, if these desires be hearty, strong desires, and not only strong, but growing desires--desire upon desire, desire fed with desire still, never satisfied till they be satisfied. Strong and growing desires argue the truth of desires; as indeed a child of God hath never grace enough, never faith enough, never love enough, or comfort enough, till he come to heaven. They are growing desires more and more.
3. Again, true desires they are not only of the favour of God, but of graces for the altering of our nature; as Nehemiah here, he desires not the favour of God so much as he desires to fear Gods name. Now when desire is of graces, it is a holy desire. You have not the worst men but would desire, with Balaam, to die the death of the righteous, etc. (Num_23:10), that they might enjoy the portion of Gods people. But to desire grace, that is opposite to corrupt nature as fire and water, this is an argument of a holy principle of grace in us, whence this desire springs, when we desire that that is a counter poison to corrupt nature that hath an antipathy to corruption.
4. True desire is carried to grace as well as glory, and the desire of heaven itself. A true spirit that is touched with grace, with the Spirit of God, it desireth not heaven itself so much for the glory, and peace, and abundance of all contentments, as it desires it that it is a place where it shall be freed from sin, and where the heart shall be enlarged to love God, to serve God, and to cleave to God for ever, and as it is a condition wherein he shall have the image and resemblance of Jesus Christ perfectly upon his soul.
5. True desires are likewise to the means of salvation, and to the means of salvation as they convey grace, as sincere milk; as you have it, 1Pe_2:2, As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word. Where a man hath holy desires of any grace, and hath them in truth, he will desire those means whereby those graces may most effectually be wrought in his heart. Use: The comfortable observation hence is this, that weak Christians that find a debility, and faintness, and feebleness in their performances, hence they may comfort themselves by their desire to fear God, and to worship God, and to serve Him, if their desires be true. The reason why God accepts them is partly because they spring from His own Spirit. These desires they are the breathings of the Spirit. And because they are pointed to heavenward, to show that a man is turned; for it is put here instead of turning, Turn ye to Me, saith the Lord (verse 9); and he answereth here instead of turning, My desire is to fear Thy name. And prosper, I pray Thee, Thy servant this day. Now he comes to his petition, Prosper I pray Thee, Thy servant this day. He doth not capitulate with God for particular matters much--for he knew he had to deal with an all-wise God--but he commends his petition in general. He comes again with his relation of servant, to teach us alway when we come to God to look in what relation we stand to Him, whether we be true servants or no. What work we do for Him, in what reference we do what we do; whether we do it to please Him as servants or no. In all our services we should look to God; for our aim in our works shows what they are, whether they come from servants or no. As the stamp upon a token makes it, if there be a good stamp on it; it is not the matter that makes it current. A stamp on silver makes it current as well as gold, though the metal of gold be better, So when things are done, because God commands them, to please God, as a service to Him, this makes it good that we are servants indeed, that the relation is good. When we go about the service of the Church or country, or place we live in, to think I do God service here, and do it as a service to God, who will be honoured and served in our service to others, herein I am a good servant. Prosper Thy servant this day. What is included in this word prosper? It includes not only success, which is the main upshot of all, but all that tends to good success. In that he saith Prosper Thy servant, it includes these things. First of all, that in ourselves there is neither direction, nor wisdom, nor ability enough for success. We have not power in ourselves to bring things to a comfortable issue.
2. And then again, to attribute to God all, both wisdom and strength, and goodness, and all. Here is a giving to God the glory of all, when he saith, Prosper Thy servant this day.
3. Then in the third place, here is a dependence upon God, not only acknowledging these things to be in God, but it implies a dependence upon God for these: Prosper me, Lord. I cannot prosper myself.
4. Again, in the fourth place, here is a recommendation of all by prayer; a recommendation of his inward dependence upon God for all. Now, Lord, prosper Thy servant. So that when we come to God for any prosperity and good success, let us remember that we bring self-denial, and an acknowledgment of all excellency to be in God, to guide, and direct, and assist, and bless us. Who can see all circumstances that stand about a business? Who can see all circumstances of time, and place, and persons, that are hindrances or furtherances? It must be an infinite wisdom that must foresee them; man cannot see them. So that unless God in a particular business give success, who is infinitely wise and powerful to remove all hindrances, there will be no success. As it is in the frame of the body, it stands upon many joints; and if any be out of tune, the whole body is sick. And as it is in a clock, all the wheels must be kept clean and in order, so it is in the frame of a business. There must all the wheels be set a-going; if one be hindered, there is a stop in all. It is so with us in the affairs of this world. When we deal with kings and states, if all the wheels be not kept as they should, there will be no success or prosperity. Nehemiah knew this well enough, Prosper Thou, therefore. He meant not to be idle when he said this, Prosper Thou, for he after joined his own diligence and waited. Use: Its should teach us to make this use of it, when we deal in any matter, to go to God to prosper it, and give success and direction and assistance and a blessed issue. Let us learn by this a direction to piety and holy walking with God; in all things to pray to God for a blessing. And to that purpose we must be in such a condition of spirit as we may desire God to prosper us; that is, we must not be under the guilt of sin when we come to God to prosper us. And we must be humble. God will not prosper a business till we be humble. Do we think that God will give strength to an ill business? This is to make Him a factor for mischief, for the devils work. Then come with a purpose to refer all to His service. Lord, if Thou wilt bless me in this business, the strength and encouragement I have by it, I will refer it to Thy further service. Prosper now Thy servant. What is the reason that God blasts and brings to nothing many excellent endeavours and projects? Men set upon the business of God, and of their callings, in confidence of their wit and pride of their own parts. Men come as gods to a business as if they had no dependence upon Him for wisdom, or direction, or strength. They carry things in a carnal manner, in a human manner, with human spirits. Therefore they never find either success, or not good success. Now when we deal with things in a holy manner, we may, without tempting God, trust Him. And grant him mercy in the sight of this man. He comes more particularly to this request, Grant me mercy in the sight of this man. We see that, a king is a great organ or instrument to convey good things from God, the King of kings to men. Therefore he prays that God would give him favour in the sight of the king. For a king is the first wheel that moves all other wheels, and as it were the sun of the commonwealth, or the first mover that moves all inferior orbs. Therefore in heavenly wisdom he desires God to give him favour with him; for if he had that, the king could turn all the inferior orbs to his pleasure. And when God means to do good to a Church or state, He raiseth up nursing fathers and nursing mothers (Isa_49:23). A wise and holy prayer! He begins at the head; He goes to the spring of all good. Therefore the observation hence is this, that when we have anything to do with great men, with kings, etc., however, begin with the King of kings, and do all in heaven before we do it in earth; for heaven makes the laws that earth is governed by. Let earth conclude what it will, there will be conclusions in heaven that will overthrow all their conclusions. Therefore in our prayers we should begin with God. And when we have gotten what we would in heaven, it is easy to get in earth. You see what great good a good man may do in a state. The innocent man delivers the land, as it is in Job_22:30. (R. Sibbes.)
The prayer of Nehemiah
I. God has his servants in all conditions and occupations of life. We behold Zenas the lawyer, Erastus the Chamberlain, Paul the tentmaker, Luke the physician, Zaccheus the publican, Peter the fisherman, Joseph the carpenter, Amos the herdsman, Daniel the minister of state, Nehemiah the cup-bearer--all standing in the same relation, swayed by the same influence. Let it teach us two things.
1. Not to condemn bodies and professions of men indiscriminately.
2. Let us not make our business an excuse for ungodliness.
II. If we have access to superiors, we should use it for good. Let us remember that we are answerable for all our talents, and one of them is--the influence which in various degrees we have over others. How are we using it?
III. The best way to succeed in any enterprise with men is to commend the matter to god. Our intercourse with God will best prepare us for our dealings with men. It will repress every unhallowed purpose; it will give decision and vigour to good resolutions: it will inspire rectitude and dignity in action; it will enable us to bear disappointment or success. When we have thus commended a concern to God, the mind is set at liberty, and feels satisfaction and composure. When we have thus addressed ourselves to God, difficulties vanish. We know that if the affair be injurious, He can easily hinder it; and if it be good for us, He can as easily promote it. His kingdom ruleth over all. Every event is under His direction, and every character under His control. Solomon has told us, and not without reason, that the kings heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will. Eastern monarchs were absolute: they consulted nothing but their own pleasure: yet God had them more under His command than the husbandman has a direction of the water in a meadow. There is a twofold dominion which God exercises over the mind of man. The one is by the agency of His grace. Thus He can enlighten the most ignorant understanding, and subdue the most rebellious will. We see this exemplified in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, on his way to Damascus. But there is another empire which He exercises over mankind--it is by the agency of His providence. History is full of this. He can give another heart, when He does not give a new one. Where He does not convert He can check. Jacob was convinced of the dominion and influence of God over the affairs, and even the dispositions, of men.
IV. How nehemiah speaks of the governor of one hundred and twenty-seven provinces. This man. Let us not however suppose that Nehemiah despised dominion, or spoke evil of dignities. But Nehemiah was now before the God of heaven and earth; and what is the greatest monarch in the world compared with Him? Less than nothing and vanity. This is the way to reduce worldly impressions; the world strikes and conquers you when it meets you absent from God. Bring it into His presence--view it there--and what is it? What are the smiles of men to the favour of God?
V. Observe how this good man characterises himself and his brethren. Thy servants who desire to fear Thy name. Modest, diffident language best becomes us, especially before God. There are many who must derive their satisfaction from their desires, rather than anything else. They cannot say they do fear Him, or love Him, or depend upon Him--but they desire to do it. These desires are proofs of something good and pledges of something better. They are evidences of grace and forerunners of glory. Desires are the pulse of the soul, by which we may judge of our spiritual life and health. In some respects they are more decisive than actions. Actions may be counterfeited, desires cannot; we may be forced to act, but not to will. All the desires of the Christian, in proportion to their degree, will necessarily excite him to strive, to wrestle, to fight, and to use all the means which lead to the end he has in view. Desires are nothing without endeavours, Balaam, etc. (William Jay.)
Now these are Thy servants, and Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed by Thy great power.
Gods doings in grace are as the links of a chain
The whole of Gods doings in grace are as the links of a chain, not lying apart, but united together, and the first through an unbroken series leading to the last. Hence Nehemiah finds a plea in what the Lord has done for His people, that He will still show them mercy. (W. Ritchie.)
Pleading former favours
Plutarch tells us that the Rhodiaus appealed to the Romans for help, and one suggested that they should plead the good turns they had done for Rome. This was a plea difficult to make strong enough, very liable to be disputed, and not at all likely to influence so great a people as the Romans, who would not readily consider themselves to be debtors to so puny a state as that of Rhodes. The Rhodians were, however, wiser than their counsellor, and took up another line of argument, which was abundantly successful. They pleaded the favours which, in former times the Romans had bestowed upon them, and urged these as a reason why a great nation should not cast off a needy people for whom they had already done so much. Nehemiah here pleads Gods former favours to His people. (Signal.)
For I was the kings cup-bearer.--
The kings cup-bearers
This is a suggestive text. There is another King, and He, too, speaks of a cup which is His, and a cup which we may bear, not for Him, but from Him to others. Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of water only, etc. We are cup-bearers of our King, Jesus.
I. Cup-bearers of the great King should remember what the cup contains. The cup of blessing is communion with Christ. By His Cross He has reconciled the world to God, and now He invites the race to taste and see that the Lord is good. In the East there are various costly drinks. Some were supposed to have a healing, and others a life-preserving, element in them. The worlds salvation is in that cup which Christ has filled for the life of the world.
II. Cup-bearers of the King should remember the loyal mandate they have to obey. Come is the first word of Christianity. Come to Christ for life, for ourselves. Its next word is Go. Go ye into all the world, etc. If we do not believe in the healing water we shall not give it. Have you ever noticed how heartily people recommend their doctors? During the memorable illness of the Prince of Wales hundreds of people from all parts of the empire forwarded their nostrums for the disease; they felt quite sure that if these special remedies were tried the Prince would recover. Selfishness probably lay at the bottom of some of those recommendations, but in the main these people believed in their prescriptions; they had tried them or seen them tried, and had rejoiced in their success. We must believe, then, before we can give. And then we shall each do it in our own way.
1. Quietly, perhaps, as falls the dew, our influence will rest on others hearts.
2. Suggestively, perhaps, by a spirit of reverence and a devout habit of daily walk, which tells of a life hid with Christ in God.
3. Communicatively, perhaps, as when we gather our classes in Sunday school, etc.
4. Distributively, perhaps, by means of the printed page. Every cup that God has placed in our hands--whether filled with wealth or knowledge--we ought to raise to the lips of others.
III. Cup-bearers of the king should re member the work of the enemies of God. We are not the only cup-bearers in the world. Other visitants are here with other cups, which seem as if they ought to hold sweet and satisfying waters: pleasure, beauty, ambition, etc. Some of these cups are filled with deadliest poison. The cup of knowledge--degrading literature, the cup of companionship, the cup of pleasure, are often so many cups of poison presented to the young..
IV. Cup-bearers of the King should remember that it is a post of honour. Christians are the representatives of Christ. They are doing what Christ would do ii He were here.
V. Cup-bearers of the King anticipate the day of Divine reward. Let us notice--
1. That Christs rewards are ours now.
2. That the cup-bearer will be rewarded in the redeemed history of those to whom he has borne the living water, and who will welcome him to glory.
3. That the cup-bearer will be welcomed and rewarded also by the King of kings Himself. (W. M. Statham.)
The kings cup-bearer
I. Now, observe, this must be by divine appointment. I presume that this absolute monarch would not have allowed any one to have been cup-bearer to him but the man he approved of; nay, he would give the appointment him self, and insist that it should be so. No man has a right to assume the Christian ministry but by royal appointment. There are thousands of impostors in these days that the King of kings and Lord of lords never appointed to the work. Now this office is one in which both Prince and people are deeply interested. I presume that Nehemiah--and I may turn to him for illustrations as I go on--was concerned, in his official capacity, to present the cup, not only to the prince, but to the people who were guests with the prince. I pass on, just to notice the official responsibility involved in this. A cup-bearer A very responsible position this. And a cup-bearer must at his peril look well to all that is contained in the cup, as well as to his promptitude in presenting it. So solemn is the responsibility that according to the view we have just taken of the Lords servants, if there be any foul and poisonous ingredient found in the cup, the blood of the injured person will be required at his hand. Then, if we observe whence this cup-bearer alluded to in the text was taken, I think we shall find a striking correspondence. He was taken from among the captives, by an act of sovereign grace. What say you to this humbling view of the subject? Are you really aware that you were captives, slaves and bondsmen, in the lowest degradation to sin and Satan, when God took possession of you? Now do not talk about your pedigree any more.
II. Now let us look at the understanding the cup-bearer ought to have of what the cup contains. This is a matter of vast importance. I shall guess after this manner--that the cup-bearer, in the presence of a Persian monarch, would be required to know that the cup contained approved old wine, of the purest and best character. But how was he to know that? Why, by tasting it for himself. Well, but what would be the effect? Why, there would be a very cheering effect. All must come from the Kings own stores. We must get it from above--from the fulness treasured up in the covenant. Bring me the cup that is full of the atoning blood, pressed from the merits of Christ, acceptable before God, and that the eternal cup-bearer Himself has entered into the Kings presence to present before God.
III. Now let us look at this cup-bearer, As taught how to enter the presence of the monarch; because this is a very essential part of the business. He must be a living man. It will not do to bring an automaton, much less a putrid corpse; he must be a living man, with the life of God in the soul, whether he be intended for a public pastor or a more private labourer. Then as regards the cleanliness. Oh, how sad that there should be persons pretending to be ministers of Jesus Christ whose lives are impure! And oh, the importance of a steady hand! If the cup be full, and the cup-bearer have a trembling, tottering hand, he is likely to create alarm, at least, as he goes round, and to spill over some of the precious liquor he has to dispense. What do you mean by this steady hand? I mean the steadfast confidence of faith. A word more respecting the cup-bearers qualifications. He must not go to the king vauntingly, Please, your majesty, see what choice wine I have brought for you--that would not do at all. Now you know that this must be repeated as often as called for. I presume that Nehemiah was called for, when he was to bring his majesty the cup. Be sure you are always ready, that whenever you are called for, you may go in, whenever Jehovah-Jesus, the King of kings, summons you. Now this will make the cup-bearer very familiar with his majesty, as well as with his guests. If a man were only admitted once to a large feast, like a hired waiter, and never had anything to say to the company before or after, he could not be supposed to be very familiar with them; but if he is appointed day by day to hand round the same old wine to the same guests, under the same orders, and in the same position, as a graceful cup-bearer, will not he become very familiar? A word more. When the soul has become so familiar with the monarch, has been admitted so frequently into the banqueting-house, and has partaken so freely of this good old wine, his must be an exalted station. (J. Irons.)
The kings cup-bearer
It is remarkable that Nehemiah performed the great work of his life without receiving any supernatural communication from heaven. Other eminent servants of God, in their labour for the Church of Israel, enjoyed special direction and encouragement from above. Moses heard the voice of God at the bush, and saw His wonders at the Red Sea. Elijah met the Lord in Horeb, and received words of comfort at the brook Cherith. Daniel beheld visions of God in Babylon, and enjoyed the visit of an angel in the hour of his earnest prayer. We have not now inspired prophets among us, to direct us in the trying situations of life. We are appointed to learn duty from studying the Word of God, and considering the operation of His hands. In this dependence on the ordinary means of grace for counsel and help in our way of life, we have Nehemiah for an example of fidelity, of patience, and of wisdom.
I. His service. He was the kings cup-bearer. The monarch whom Nehemiah served in this capacity is generally supposed to have been Artaxerxes Longimanus. Artaxerxes reigned on the throne of Persia forty-one years, from 466-425 b.c. This king had conceded important favours to the Jewish people; and now in the twentieth year of his reign, Nehemiah filled the high office of the kings cup-bearer. It was a situation this of distinguished honour and emolument in the Persian court. It belonged to the person holding it, not only to bear the royal cup to the sovereign on high festivals, but also to intro duce all persons who had business to transact into the kings presence. It is a remarkable circumstance that one of the captive people of Judah should be invested with this high dignity in the kingdom of their conquerors. We may regard it as an illustration of Gods faithfulness to His promise, and as a testimony to the power of religion in commending its possessors to confidence. Then, while the faithful providence of God is here illustrated, the religion of these Israelites is also signally attested. Their piety must have been instrumental in elevating them to situations of such responsibility and trust. And what is this but an exemplification of the Scripture, Godliness is profitable for all things, having a promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. True religion fits its possessors for better performing all the duties of social life; and men find it valuable in the integrity it inspires. Thus was Nehemiah elevated to high office in the Persian court; yet to a man of his lofty principle it was a place of peculiar trial. He was called to serve his royal master in that which is perilous to the character of princes, and to the comfort of all about them. His office was to bring wine before him, and to give it to the king. And who can tell what power for good the pious Israelite thus exerted over the prince whom he served, as well as in the court where he moved as a witness for God.
II. His sadness. It is a mistake to suppose there is any religion in morose or sombre looks. It is true, religion interdicts the frivolous mirth which the world calls pleasure, and it inspires its possessors with a prevailing seriousness of mind. But so far from forbidding any true enjoyment, piety towards God opens the wellspring of all satisfying felicity. Is not this manifest from the blessings it imparts to the soul? While Nehemiah, therefore, here makes mention of his sorrow of spirit, he is careful to note that he had not been beforetime sad in the kings presence. He owed it in courtesy to his sovereign, and he owed it also in justice to his religion, to stand in his place with a cheerful countenance. But sorrows at time press on the spirit which cannot be concealed; and seasons, too, occur when they should be known to others. Still there was peril in that look of anguish, for no token of grief was allowed in the royal presence. Several reasons may be assigned for this exclusion of all signs of mourning from the royal presence. It is flattering to the vanity of kings to have all looking and acting before them as if the light of their countenance chased away sorrow; and it may therefore be accounted an affront to contravene this fiction of their power. Hence the proverb, In the light of the kings countenance is life, and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain. Then, again, princes and nobles of earth are loath to look on any memento of the evanescence of their grandeur. They are fain to shut out of view sights of sorrow that might send an arrow to their conscience, or constrain them to think of their dying hour. And surely this is the bitterest drop in the cup of the exile and the bondman, to demand from him looks of cheerfulness while his very heart is wrung with anguish. How different it is with our Saviour King! His heart is the seat of compassion for the afflicted, the wellspring of sympathy for the sorrowful in their distress.
III. His reasons for sorrow. Men are sometimes sad when they cannot give an adequate reason for their sorrow. They perhaps brood over imaginary woes, and sink into melancholy which has no assignable cause; or they fall into distress, the reason of which they dare not allow even to their own hearts. It may be disappointed pride, or vexation at the success of others, that occasions their griefs, and such reasons will not bear to be expressed as the cause of a sorrowful countenance. But the sadness of Nehemiah was a look of sublime sorrow, whose expression was an honour to his heart. Yet we mark his self-possession and wisdom in that trying moment. There is with him no con-fusion--no undue excitement; he quails not, nor speaks with stammering tongue. He addresses the king with earnest deference, and yet with manly dignity. Having thus conciliated the kings regard, Nehemiah frames his plea for sorrow with consummate skill and delicacy. Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? This is powerful and effective pleading. He speaks not of Jerusalem as the city of the worship of his God, though this view of it rendered it dearest to his heart, and awakened his deepest sorrow over its desolation. The mention of it, however, in this relation, would eider not have affected a heathen prince at all, or it might have aroused his anger to find the temple of God so praised above the altars of his own idols. Neither does Nehemiah speak of Jerusalem as the ancient metropolis of a great nation, the capital of a long line of illustrious kings, though the memory of its past greatness made his bosom swell with grief at its overthrow, and inspired his soul with unquenchable desire for its restoration. Any reference, however, to the history of the fame and power of the city of God might have inflamed the jealousy of the Persian king, and fixed his resolution to leave it in its present ruin. But the human heart naturally softens into tenderness at the graves of the dead, and here the appeal is made to the place of the sepulchres of the departed ancestors of the exile. In these touching and powerful words of Nehemiah we remark the almighty aid God gives His servants in pleading for, and bearing witness to, His cause. The man of God here stood up before the Persian monarch a solitary witness for Divine truth; and the welfare of Judah for ages to come seemed to depend on the manner he would testify for the Lord. But the great Counsellor gives him a mouth and wisdom in this trying hour, that honour his fidelity, and crown his petition with success. It has been so with all faithful witnesses for God in every age. When Luther, at the Diet of Worms, was arraigned before the Papal power, and called to retract the truth of the gospel, it appeared as if the whole cause of the Reformation was suspended on his utterance of Yes or No. But there, too, the Lord stood by him, and enabled him to hold fast the profession of the faith without wavering. So, when our own Knox was required to preach before the lords of the Congregation, amid the wavering zeal of some, and the warping policy of others, the very existence of pure religion in Scotland appeared to depend on the courageous faithfulness with which he should preach the Word.
IV. His request to the king.
V. His preparation for departure. (W. Ritchie.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.