Nehemiah 9:19

19 Yet thou in thy great compassions didst not forsake them in the wilderness: thou didst not turn away from them the pillar of the cloud by day, to guide them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to enlighten for them the way wherein they should walk.

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 and refused to listen, and remembered not thy wonders which thou wroughtest with them; and they hardened their neck, and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt: but thou, O God, merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and abundant in mercy, and thou didst not forsake them.

18 And still farther they even made to themselves a molten calf, and said, These the gods that brought us up out of Egypt: and they wrought great provocations.

19 Yet thou in thy great compassions didst not forsake them in the wilderness: thou didst not turn away from them the pillar of the cloud by day, to guide them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to enlighten for them the way wherein they should walk.

20 And thou gavest thy good Spirit to instruct them, and thou didst not withhold thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water in their thirst.

21 And thou didst sustain them forty years in the wilderness; thou didst not allow anything to fail them: their garments did not wax old, and their feet were not bruised.