Gracious Grants
“Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.” Nehemiah 2:7-8 NKJV http://bible.com/114/neh.2.7-8.nkjv The combination of grants for promotion, protection, and provision in one shot is rare in life, especially before a king who could choose trial the likes of Nehemiah for treasonable transgression. Apparently, Nehemiah had challenged the sensitivity of the king by alluding to the previous actions of the nation of Babylon, being responsible for his sadness and the desecration of his fathers' sepulchre. And while the response of the king ...