How great is our God?
10 Then the people of Judah began to complain, "The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves."
11 Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, "Before they know what's happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work."
12 The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again, "They will come from all directions and attack us!" 13 So I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas. I stationed the people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows.
14 Then as I looked over the situation, I called together the nobles and the rest of the people and said to them, "Don't be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes!"
15 When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall. 16 But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. The leaders stationed themselves behind the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon. 18 All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeter stayed with me to sound the alarm.
19 Then I explained to the nobles and officials and all the people, "The work is very spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us!"
The task of rebuilding the walls and the gates of Jerusalem was a huge task and to make it more challenging the builders had to worry about being attacked. So now this gigantic task is being done by half as many men so that the other half can stand guard with their weapon and then for a bigger challenge the workers had to carry a weapon in one hand while they did their work with the other hand.
Maybe God was trying to tell them that they were not the ones building this wall but it was Him that was making it happen. Lest they become prideful about what they had accomplished, it becomes a job bigger than they are so that the people will "Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious."
We have an awesome God that will take care of the things that are way too big for us to handle, Nehemiah was a leader that knew where the vision came from to build this wall and he knew where the power would have to come from to make it happen. God would be faithful to his people if they would "Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious."
When the going gets tough help us to "Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious." Thank you for your faithfulness to your people, help us to be faithful to you.
