THE KING’S BUSINESS
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guarded the weak""places. Nehemiah’s plan of campaign is one that we should pursue. We, too, have a desperate battle on, and we tod should see to it that we are fully armed (Eph. 6:11-18) and we should find out what our weak places are and especially guard them. v. 14. "And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not afraid of them; remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, (omit ,) and your daughters, and your Wives, (omit ,) and your houses." Why should God’s children ever be afraid of God’s enemies? (Rom. 8:31). Nehemiah took in the whole situation. He saw all of the perils, but instead of being discour aged, he “looked” the facts square in the face and then “rose upland said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not afraid of them.” How constantly that refrain “be not afraid,” or “fear not,” occurs in the Bible. Take your concordance and look up all the places where God through His servants uttered these words to His-people. No matter how numerous or how strong our enemies may be, no matter how threatening circum stances may be, God has but one message in apparent danger for His people, if they are right with Him, and that message is, “Be ye not afraid.” Under no circum stances would God have His people fright ened, but note carefully Nehemiah’s cure for fright in the presence of our enemies, “Remember the Lord.” That is the great cure for fear! "Remember the Lord," who He is and what He is and what His rela tion to us is, and fear will forever take its flight (John 14:1). We might well be frightened if we thought of ourselves; but don’t think of yourself, think of Hfm. And what were they to remember about the Lord? .That He was “great and terrible.” He has always proven Himself “great and ^terrible” on the side of His people, when they are true to Him. If they are impeni tent and wander away from Him, He often gives them over to severe chastisement by
their enemies, but if they are repentant and humble and obedient and trustful, He appears most “great and terrible” against their enemies. If the Allies at the present time would confess their sins and humble themselves before God and give themselves to Him, God would soon prove Himself “great and terrible” against all their foes and the' war would soon end. Nehemiah said something further than merely “Be not ye afraid,” he went on to say “fight for your brethren, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your houses.” Our remembrance of the mighty God should not lead us to sit down, but should give us courage to “fight.” It is to a war rior’s life that God calls us (2 Tim. 2:3) and we are to get strength and courage for the fight, not by thinking upon ourselves, but by thinking upon Him. v. 15. “And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that il was known unio us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work." The enemies of God’s people soon found out that their plots were known and foiled. But it was not Nehemiah who had brought their counsel to nought, but it was God. If the counsel of our enemies today is to be brought to nought we should not look to generals or statesmen, but to God. God may do it through generals and statesmen, but it is He that must do it. Nehemiah’s words had their intended effect. They had found out for themselves that “there is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD” (Prov. 21:30). When the enemies were foiled “everyone” “returned” “unto his work.” Note carefully that each one returned to his own work and not to the work of someone else. v. 16. ' “And it came to pass from that time forth, that the _( that) half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other (omit, the other) half of them held both (omit,: both) the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons (coats of mail); and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah." Half fought and half
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