Nehemiah 7:2-3 That I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man… : — This book may almost be called the Book of the Busy Man, telling as it does of the multifarious duties and responsibilities of one who acted as governor of the Jewish people in a very difficult and anxious time, and who had the rare and excellent faculty of leading every one else to work also. The picture which this book presents is almost that of a beehive, the murmur of whose work rises from every page. It is in entire sympathy with the general strain and tenor of the book that our text speaks when it shows us "every one in his watch." Consider — I. THE INDIVIDUAL DEALING OF GOD WITH US — "every one in his watch." We often resist the thought of having to do individually with God; it becomes too solemn, too oppressive, too terrible for a soul that is not reconciled to Him. This is partly at the root of the preference which many have for the Church life rather than the individual life, for the idea of the multitude in which we may hide rather than that of solitude in which we must be seen. There is much in which we can have no companionship. We are born alone ; every great disease or pain finds us in the deep places of a loneliness which none can share with us ; and it is in utter solitude that each of us dies. In all such cases it is individual dealing between the Lord and us. We never come right, we never come to the Pardoner of sin, or the trust of daily life, or real work for Christ, till we have had the individual dealing with God which brings us into the position of those whom God has accepted for Christ's sake, and for whom henceforth He will provide. II. The text is also UNIVERSAL IN ITS REACH. EVERY MAN means ALL MEN, which gives us the thought that there is a post for every man which God has appointed for him. III. THE WORK OF THE CHRISTIAN may be regarded as military service. In this aspect of life three things are required. 1. Strict discipline. 2. Instant obedience. 3. Perfect obedience. IV. THE PART OF MILITARY SERVICE WHICH FALLS TO US ALL IS SENTINEL DUTY. V. THE OBJECT OF THE WATCH WHICH IS LAID UPON EVERY CHRISTIAN. 1. It is a watch against attack. 2. It is a watch for reinforcement and succour. (T. Elder Cumming.) Parallel Verses KJV: That I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many. |
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