Bible Commentaries
Nehemiah 9

Verse 20

Ne 9:20

"You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and withheld not your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst." Ne 9:20

When we are thoroughly emptied of ourselves—when our knowledge is shown to be ignorance, our wisdom folly, our righteousness filthy rags, and our strength weakness—then we begin to long after the teachings of the blessed Spirit. We must be purged and tried before we can value and receive the treasures of grace. When we are well exercised and tried in our souls, then we begin to long after the teachings of the Holy Spirit, that he would shed abroad the love of God in our soul, visit and guide us, overshadow us with his holy presence, and drop into our hearts his secret unction.

Before we are brought here, we do not know the personality of the Holy Spirit. We have no evidence in our conscience that he is God; we cannot worship and adore him as the Third Person in the blessed Godhead. But when we are brought to this spot—that we know nothing without his teaching, feel nothing without his giving, and are nothing without his making—this makes us pant and sigh after his teachings and leadings; and we are brought to wait in the posture of holy adoration and still quietness for the dew and unction of the Spirit to fall upon our conscience.