PUT. ME IN REMEMBRANCE.
By W. B. White
While Nehemiah was a captive in the kingdom of Persia, and cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, the Lord laid a burden upon his heart in connection with the cause of God, a burden which he in nowise sought to lay aside or evade. It was that he should return to Jerusalem and fully accomplish the restoration of the city, which Ezra previously had been hindered from doing. But how could Nehemiah do this? He was a slave, a captive, and from the human standpoint, he belonged to another, even the king, being one of his personal attendants. But in a higher sense, he belonged to God, whose child he was; and as God had laid the burden of this work on the heart of His servant, this was an assurance that no earthly obstacle would, or could, hinder its accomplishment; for when God gives men a work to do, He pledges himself to assist them in making it a success. But while this is so, He desires us to seek Him for wisdom for the work, that no mistakes be made, and that we may move according to His will. How earnestly Nehemiah did this! Feeling that he must have help from the Lord, he “wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven.” Chap. 1: 1-4. This was an excellent preparation for the work the Lord had given him to do, and reminds us of an exhortation in “Testimony,” No. 31, that “our work should be accompanied with deep humiliation, fasting, and prayer.” In this first chapter we read of Nehemiah’s prayer to God, how he laid before the Lord the condition of his people, and pleaded that He would pardon and forgive all their sins. But now comes quite an interesting point. About a thousand years before this time, God had told Israel that if they would not obey Him, nor keep His law, they would be scattered among the nations of the earth. They did transgress, and He fulfilled His word. But at the same time He promised (Deut. 30: 1-10) that even then if they would turn to God, confess their sins, and keep His commandments, He would bring them back to their own land, whence they had been392driven out. That promise was still good, though one thousand years old; and Nehemiah knew and believed it. Notice now, in Neh. 1: 8, 9, he puts God in remembrance of that promise, in these words: “Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandest thy servant Moses, saying,” etc. That promise was as sure that day as when He made it to Moses; and when Nehemiah and his people fulfilled its conditions, God fulfilled the promise to them. Do we not have the same privilege as did this servant of God, to put the Lord in remembrance of His promises? In Isa. 43: 25, 26, the Lord tells us to do this, in these words: “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.” But has God forgotten His promises, that we should put Him in remembrance of them?—No, He does not forget; but we do many times, and slight His most precious assurances, and He desires that we show our faith in them by coming and putting Him in remembrance of them. May we learn better how to use the promises of God. They are as fresh to-day and as reliable as when first given; for the Lord says: “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.”