Trust in God, and do the right!

(George Everard, "Christian Living!" 1881)

"The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people, and took food and wine from them, besides forty shekels of silver. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God!" Nehemiah 5:15

Obey God at all hazards.
A Christian has no other alternative.
There is one plan to adopt — one safe course to follow.
Set your mind against all wrong practices.
Whatever others may say or do, whatever reproach or trouble or loss it may bring to you — walk steadfastly along the highway of truth, justice, and equity. And as you endeavor to do so, be persuaded that God is on your side, that He will stand by you and befriend you, and that for any present sacrifices you may have to make, He will honor you.

It is the truest wisdom as well as your plain duty to please God rather than man, and in all things to keep the precepts of His Word.

Trust in God, and do the right!
Let this ever be the rule you follow.
It will save you from many a snare.
It will make your course plain and clear.

This was the principle that guided Nehemiah. He was a man of prayer, and trusted God in everything. Moreover, he stood out manfully and boldly against the evils of his day. He determined to act in everything as before God. Whatever evil others did, he acted in a different spirit. He said, "But I did not do so, because of the fear of God!"

The same principle guided the three Hebrew youths of whom we read in the book of Daniel. They trusted in God, and did the right. Though threatened with a cruel death, they would not flinch. "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king: O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up!" Daniel 3:16-18

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