August 10, 2026 4:00 am
Ezra and Nehemiah, despite lacking experience, were called by God to supervise the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem and the city wall, and they gave credit to God's hand in their accomplishments, reminding readers that with God on their side, no one can stand against them.
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Welcome to the Days of Praise podcast, a daily devotional by the Institute for Creation Research. The Hand of the Lord. This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given, and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him. Ezra seven six. Neither Ezra, who was a scribe, nor Nehemiah, who was apparently a butler, had been prepared by either study or experience to supervise the great construction project of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem and the wall of the city.
Both had been destroyed many years before by the armies of Babylon. Yet God called them to these ministries and led them and protected them as they carried them out. They were both careful, then, to give God the credit for what they accomplished. No less than six times in Ezra and twice in Nehemiah, they reminded their readers that God's hand had been upon them as they supervised the work. There had been many difficulties and much opposition, but as Paul would later say, If God be for us, who can be against us?
We also need to be careful to give God the credit for anything He enables us to accomplish in His service. Even such a great and useful Christian as the Apostle Paul had to say, But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. We remember, however, that the hand of the Lord can be a chastening hand as well as a guiding and providing hand. When a certain false prophet tried to pervert the right ways of the Lord, Paul said, The hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind.
And so it was. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews ten, thirty one. Uh If you've enjoyed today's devotional, be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And please rate and review so more listeners can find us.
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