The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1905-11-16

nina MIN are gOOdly palaces, and
IN the more distant background
the mountains of Elam. Hard by
is the tomb Of Daniel. But Nehe-
miah's mind is far away. He is
thinking Of the sepulcher of his
fathers and the mountain of the
Lords house. Hark, Can it be?
He hears the accents of his own
loved dialect. Returning to the
parapet, he sees a company of
travel-stained Jews. He greets
them with Oriental demonstrations
One is his own brother. He does
not stop to ask his brother S health
or fortune, or to narrate his own
remarkable prelerment at court.
His first question is as to the state
of the Jews in Jerusalem and of
the temple The tale the trav-
elers tell is of the nature of a terri
bic surprise. In the absence Of
any news, he had thought all was
we'll. To him personal property
is no substitute for the welfare of
Zion. Surges of sorrow sweep his
soul.
But, better than that, he also
prayed. He showed those traits
which God delights to honor-per-
sistency and Importantly. He
prayed probably three times a day,
and every day for a week. There
was no answer; but, nothing daunt-
ed, he began the second week, and
50 continued for seventeen weeks
and q day. One hundred and
twenty days--just the time it
would have required to measure
with his footprints all the way
from Susa to Jerusalem. God was,
IN fact, answering Nehemiah s
prayer while he seemed to be with
holding the answer. In this pc
Rod of suspense a plan of proce-
dure was being developed in the
mind of the suppliant, its general
principles, its minutest details.
With the growth of the plan grew
the conviction that he himself
must put it into execution and the
resolution to do so.
Study of this incident reveals
Nehemiah as one of the most illus
trious examples of disinterested
patriotism which history, sacred
or profane, affords. He had a life
tenure upon an Office of high rank
and many emoluments. He stood
next to the monarchy ofthe world.
A palace was at his disposal. with
all its luxurious appointments.
But for the sake ofhis countrymen
he relinquished all. What en-
hances the deed is that it was not
done in a burst of enthusiasm, but
after a considerable period, in
which every element and phase of
the situation was passed in review.
Nehemiah knew that his life might
be the forfeit of his plea for his
fellow COuntrymen to the tickle
tyrant with whom he had to deal.
Ease and safety must needs be
thrown aside and thousand miles
journey across a bedouin- infested
desert undertaken. Plots and
counter-plots were in the way of
his herculean task. But in spite
OF all, with splendid del1beratlOr
and persistency, he made choice
of God and his country.
The Teachers Lantern.
Granville Moody, when asked
to lead students in chapel prayers,
took a bit of chalk and turning TO
the blackboard behind him, wrote,
in bold hand. "Adoration, Depre-
cation, Thanksgiving, Confession,
Supplication," then saying, Let
us pray" he followed closely in
his petition the formula on the
board. Thus on the sensitive
plate of memory, in five hundred
young minds, the parts that go to
make a perfect prayer were inn
printed forever. All these parts
will be found in Nehemiah's pray
er.
y
Nehemiah s is one of the model
prayers of the Bible. It furnishes