Ezra 7 … Consider His Good Hand Upon Us

Originally posted: 6/29/2020

For on the first of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him, (7:9).

His Good Hand. What a beautiful description that captures a multidimensional facet of our infinite and fathomless God. In Scripture, the word, Hand…

“metaphorically signifies strength or power, authority or right of possession,” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.

And Upon those who belong to Him by faith, He wraps up His strength and power in…

“all that is Good, well-pleasing, fruitful, morally correct, proper; useful and profitable; abundant and plentiful; kind and benevolent…” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance emphasis added.

The image of a strong and loving Father emerges. The Father Who intimately places His Hand of strength and authority Upon His children for Good, to bring abundance and provide His benevolence. His Good Hand Upon Us draws His children to Himself to be lovingly placed under His strong and benevolent care.

Consider His Good Hand Upon Us

• His Good Hand Upon Us grants our requests.
  • This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all he requested because the hand of the Lord his God was upon him, (7:6).

• His Good Hand Upon Us guides our way.
  • For on the first of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him, (7:9).

• His Good Hand Upon Us extends His lovingkindness.
  • Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to adorn the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, ²⁸ and has extended lovingkindness to me before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty princes… (7:27-28).
    

• His Good Hand Upon Us strengthens our service.
  •  …Thus I was strengthened according to the hand of the Lord my God upon me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me, (7:28).

What more needs be said? Well, Scripture has much so more to say about His Good Hand. Below are just a few more verses to consider.

• His Good Hand Upon Us shatters our enemy.
  • Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power,
    Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy, (Exodus 15:6).

• His Good Hand Upon Us redeems us from slavery.
  • “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, ⁸ but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery…” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8).

• His Good Hand Upon Us leads us to unity.
  • The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded by the word of the Lord, (2 Chronicles 30:12).

• His Good Hand Upon Us provides His deliverance.
  • And brought Israel out from their midst,
    For His lovingkindness is everlasting,
    ¹² With a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
    For His lovingkindness is everlasting, (Psalm 136:12-13).

• His Good Hand Upon Us accomplishes what concerns us.
  • The Lord will accomplish what concerns me;
    Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;
    Do not forsake the works of Your hands, (Psalm 138:8).

• His Good Hand Upon Us satisfies our desires.
  • You open Your hand
    And satisfy the desire of every living thing, (Psalm 145:16).

• His Good Hand Upon Us upholds us in times of uncertainty.
  • “Do not fear, for I am with you;
    Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
    I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
    Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand,” (Isaiah 41:10).

• His Good Hand Upon Us compassionately and willingly makes us clean.
  • And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” ⁴² Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed, (Mark 1:40-42).
    

• His Good Hand Upon Us communicates the extent of His love.
  • They nailed his hands and feet to the cross, (Mark 15:24 TPT).

• His Good Hand Upon Us reveals His Sovereign and Eternal Victory.
  • When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades,” (Revelation 1:17).

How do we respond to His Good Hand Upon Us?

His Good Hand Upon Us is undeserved and cannot be earned.

…God, ⁹ who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, (2 Timothy 1:8-9).

So while we cannot work to merit His favor, as we line up our hearts with His truth, to study, practice and then teach others, we open our own hands to receive all He desires to impart by His Good Hand Upon Us.

For on the first of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him. ¹⁰ For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel, (7:9-10).

Oh, that we would commit our entire lives to knowing and following God as revealed in His Word, that others will see His Good Hand Upon Us. And as others see what we inexplicably possess, the undeniable truth will emerge: any good we are now privileged to hold in our hand, is only because His Good Hand is Upon Us.

“For as much as you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God which is in your hand… ²⁵ You, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the River, even all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them, (7:14, 25).

As we commit to study His Word, we will grow in our understanding of all we have because His Good Hand is Upon Us. And surely, as we grow in our understanding, we will not be able to stop the overflowing praise.

For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done,
I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands, (Psalm 92:4).

Oh, let us live as those who know His Good Hand Upon Us and whose lives boldly declare His Truth, that others would also turn to Him and be lovingly placed under His strong and benevolent care.

And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord, (Titus 2:7-8).

Let’s Grow Together!