Nehemiah 9:19

19 You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.

Nehemiah 9:19 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 9:19

Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the
wilderness
Where no supply could be had, if he had cast them off, see ( Nehemiah 9:17 ) ,

the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in
the way;
which, if it had, they would have been scorched by the heat of the sun:

neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way
wherein they should go;
or otherwise they would have lost their way, and not have known which way to have gone.

Nehemiah 9:19 In-Context

17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

18 Even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and when they committed terrible blasphemies,

19 You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.

20 You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.

21 For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.