Chapter I: CAN imagine nothing better calculated to make a people calm, peaceful,

and courageous, than to be able to say in faith, “Our God shall fight for us.” If we can say this, we may think on our country and rest assured that, whatever happens, all is safe. If we can say this, we may look upon God’s people struggling for His truth, sometimes sorely pressed and sometimes quite disheartened; but when we look on Him whom God has given to be a Leader and Commander of the people, we may take courage that all will be well, for He is our God, and He will fight for us. Or, we may look at our own personal difficulties, at the temptation without by which we are surrounded, and the proneness to yield within, which renders us perpetually liable to its power; and sometimes we may be ready to ask the question, Can such as we are ever gain the victory? But, if we can but say in faith, “Our God shall fight for us,” then, weak as we are, we may look forward to a triumph, and say even beforehand, “Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory.”

But there are few cases in which this language of faith was more appropriate than when originally spoken by Nehemiah. Nehemiah was one of the most beautiful characters to be met with in all history. I know of no one in whom there was a greater combination of practical, business-like habits, with true, simple-minded, childlike faith. When acting as cup-bearer to the King of Babylon, he heard of the desolation of Jerusalem, and obtained permission to return thither in order to rebuild the walls and restore the city. The Jews at the time were so exceedingly feeble, that the onlookers laughed them to scorn. But, when once the work was begun, contempt was exchanged for indignation, and Sanballat with others “conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.” Then it was that Nehemiah used these words for the great encouragement of all who were working with him, and said, “Our God shall fight for us.”

But while he thus spoke with the full assurance of confiding faith, he was not led by that faith to negligence. True faith never leads to negligence. It always stimulates exertion and rouses men to hopeful energy. So it did in the case of Nehemiah, for the same verse which contains the assurance contains also the spirit of active preparation. We will study the conduct of Nehemiah as furnishing an illustration of the union of faith and effort, examining first his effort, then his faith.