The hand of the LORD my God was upon me

Ezra 7:28

And hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

Today we learn of a later year in Israel’s history after what we heard of yesterday, when a new king arose in Babylon. His name was Artaxerxes. He was the king under whom Nehemiah also was sent to Jerusalem thirteen years later to build the wall of Jerusalem. But here we are learning of this man Ezra, who was a ready scribe in the law of the Lord. And he had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. He was a mighty scribe and a competent leader. And the king granted him all that he wanted to do, to go up to Jerusalem and teach the law of his God to his people. Was a privilege this was! Was a great favor it was of God that the king sent him and bestowed all the money and resources that Ezra needed! How it furthered the work of God! How it encouraged and strengthened him in the work! But do you know what is much greater than this? Do you know what truly prospered Ezra? Do you know what actually gave him the favor he needed and the wisdom he needed? It was that one thing that he pointed to and alluded to time and time again—the good hand of his God upon him! Oh, my dear friends, without this we are nothing. Without the hand of God upon us we are impotent, useless, hopeless. Nothing great will happen if we do not have the Lord’s blessing. It is a wonderful and an amazing thing to have the king’s favor and his blessing, but how much more wonderful is it to have the Lord’s hand upon us! Ezra said “the hand of the LORD my God was upon me!”

And this is always and only what we need. We pray and pray and pray, and we may seek and seek and seek. But let us not just pray for change and seek the favor from our leaders that may effect that change. But let us pray for the Lord’s hand upon us. Let us pray for the good hand of our God to be upon us! Let us pray that wherever we go, God will go with us. That He will be ahead of us, and that He will be our rereward. Without Him, we truly are wasting our time! Oh, dear one, do not seek only answers to your prayers. Seek the hand of God! Do not just seek what the hand of God can do, but seek its resting upon you. All we need is His hand upon us. Let us pray fervently and faithfully that His hand would be upon all that we do. For then, we know that we shall be strengthened in our work, and we know that it shall be accomplished. And we know that we shall have the mercy and grace in the eyes of men that we need to perform that duty. Oh Lord, rest Your hand upon us!

“And now Father, we beseech You for only one thing. For this one thing will bring down from heaven every other blessing possible. And that is the hand of our God upon us. That is all we ask for this day. In all that we do today, and tomorrow, and the next, may that mighty, moving, miraculous hand rest upon us in our work. And we shall see all things prospered for Your glory. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen.”