Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
Nehemiah Ch.11 / 13 Ch.s
NE:11
* The distribution of the people.
- In all ages, men have preferred their own ease and advantage
to the public good. Even the professors of religion too commonly
seek their own, and not the things of Christ. Few have had such
attachment to holy things and holy places, as to renounce
pleasure for their sake. Yet surely, our souls should delight to
dwell where holy persons and opportunities of spiritual
improvement most abound. If we have not this love to the city of
our God, and to every thing that assists our communion with the
Saviour, how shall we be willing to depart hence; to be absent
from the body, that we may be present with the Lord? To the
carnal-minded, the perfect holiness of the New Jerusalem would
be still harder to bear than the holiness of God's church on
earth. Let us seek first the favour of God, and his glory; let
us study to be patient, contented, and useful in our several
stations, and wait, with cheerful hope, for admission into the
holy city of God.