Stretch forth your hand, Lord; there are many people who need to be delivered from sin and sickness, many who need deliverance for mind and body. Dear Lord, stretch forth your hand to those with broken hearts and set them free. Lord, there are people reading this message who will never be well unless you stretch forth your hand, those with cancer working in their bodies, or diabetes. Paralysis has afflicted others, deafness, blindness, AIDS or some other disease. Lord, they won’t be free unless you stretch forth your hand; that mighty hand stretched forth will bring miracles in the name of your Child, Jesus.

It’s time to ask the Lord to stretch forth His hand; if you are ready to receive, there will be great results. By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders [not just healings, but wonders, great miracles] may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus (Acts 4:30).

There is no other name like the name of Jesus, no other name that we can use for salvation. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Stretch forth your hand to the lost today, Lord, and deliver them. Stretch forth your hand; draw them to Calvary, to your Only Begotten who died on that Cross. Stretch forth your hand, Lord; draw them close.

Wonders That Make the Heart Leap

Going back into God’s record of stretching forth His hand, I find wonders that make my heart leap within me. The Lord brought my attention to Noah’s ark. It was ready to float, but no one outside the Noah family ever thought it would have enough water to float on. No matter how many people doubt God, when one person believes Him, His hand will move. It doesn’t have to be a dozen people, a thousand people or ten thousand people, oh no; that hand moves for one person. Noah, only one man, believed God, and God gave him a plan of deliverance.

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in (Genesis 7:11-16).

For eight souls, the hand of the Lord was stretched out. That hand closed the door to the ark and it remained closed over a year. When the ark door finally opened, no other human beings were alive, only the eight souls in the ark. For such a long time, a hundred and twenty years in the building of the ark, God had given those outside the Noah family a chance to believe the flood would come. His hand was stretched to them, and yet they spewed out unbelief. How grievous is the doubt that people are spewing out throughout the world today against God’s power, against the Son of God, the Child, Jesus! Trampling the blood of Jesus underfoot, they are saying by their actions: Away with Him! We don’t believe in Him! They spit at His miracles, criticize His healings; but one day He won’t care, one day it won’t make any difference to Him. One day at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10,11).

Wherever it comes from, don’t let doubt stop you; you have to go on. Noah had to leave all his kin behind, with the exception of his immediate family. Only seven others went into the ark with him. He had worked over a hundred years without any outside help, fellowship, or encouraging words. Criticism flowed like rivers from the people in that day. The Noah family was the talk of the place, the whole civilization: Look at that Noah family! What idiots! How crazy they are!

After God’s great hand had stretched out and closed the ark door, still the people didn’t wake up. For seven days of mercy that hand had been stretched out; then the heavens and the earth opened; water gushed out from above and below. At last people were becoming believers, thousands of them by the moment. Some were beating on the ark and screaming, Let us in! Some were pounding on the door hoping it would open. They believed now; believed there was going to be a flood. Others ran for higher ground thinking the water wouldn’t get that high…but it did. The last mountain peak, the last highest place was finally covered over. God didn’t care any longer that people doubted or that they suddenly believed. It was too late.

Impossible to Please God without Faith

God despises unbelief. The Word of God goes so far as to say it is impossible to please Him without faith. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6). This verse isn’t speaking of dead faith; it speaks of divine faith, God’s faith that works.

I see the Lord stretching out His hand to a people who had given Him a lot of trouble: the Israelites. He’d worked through Moses, spent many years grooming him to lead the Israelites out of bondage. Even after all the miracles they had seen, they still didn’t completely open their hearts in belief. To open your heart to believe only momentarily is no good at all; God can’t work with that. But God honored Moses’ faith, and God went ahead in spite of Israel’s doubt and led them to the Red Sea where, because they still were not real believers, great fear took them over.

If you don’t have faith, fear will take you over in this final hour. It’s faith that conquers fear. You can’t pray that fear away, but you can “faith” it away by yielding to the Holy Spirit and letting His perfect love cast out fear. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear (I John 4:18). If you have faith in the blood, the Holy Spirit will use divine blood love and flow that fear right out of you.

You don’t have to be bound by fear, don’t have to carry it around; it isn’t in the Lord’s will for you. The New Testament is the Lord’s will for His children today; all the New Testament belongs to the children of God. Isn’t that wonderful!

A Rod of Power

Moses, tell the people to stand still and see the greatness when the hand of God is stretched forth. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever (Exodus 14:13).

Stretch forth thine hand: And the LORD said unto Moses…lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea (Exodus 14:15,16). The Israelites couldn’t see the hand of God, but they could see the rod of Moses. It was more than just a rod being raised; it was a rod of power, and it brought results. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left (Exodus 14:21,22).

The waters of the Red Sea separated, and then the Lord lifted His hand again and destroyed a whole army that had come after the Israelites. And the Egyptians pursued [the Israelites], and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians. And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them (Exodus 14:23-28).

The waters separated, and the Israelites believed enough to walk across on dry ground; but then the waters crashed back together to bury the Egyptian army who had been in close pursuit. Safe on the other side, however, the Israelites were closed in again with doubt. So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee (Exodus 15:22-26).

All Power Is in the Blood

Human faith does not produce miracles. Divine faith is miracle faith, and the Israelites didn’t have it. We not only have the five physical senses, we have the six spiritual senses if we want them; they are willed to us, and that sixth sense is faith. When you cry, Stretch forth your hand, oh, Lord! and He stretches it forth, believe what He is doing. Don’t doubt the Lord after He stretches forth His hand.

Some people call on God to help and then when He helps them, they still doubt Him. Don’t doubt your miracle today; don’t doubt the blood of Jesus. Too many Christians doubt the power of the blood and fail to use the blood daily. All power is in the blood.

What can wash away my sins?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Every miracle of the Lord, every healing comes through the blood. With his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). With His stripes, His healing blood, we are physically healed.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27), Jesus said to the disciples. You have nothing to fear in this final hour if you keep your eyes on Jesus and walk in His steps.

Elijah Knew It Would Rain

Elijah took his servant up on a mountain to pray because there had been no rain for three-and-a-half years. The Lord had let Elijah know it was time for rain, and rain was what Elijah was looking for; but the Lord must stretch forth His hand. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times (I Kings 18:42,43). The servant went six times to look and returned six times seeing no sign of rain, but the seventh time he came back with the report: Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand (I Kings 18:44).

Elijah knew it was done. The Lord had stretched forth His hand and the rain was about to fall. And he [Elijah] said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not. And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel (I Kings 18:44-46).

Recognize the Hand of God

It’s exciting to recognize God’s hand. Unfortunately, a human hand means more to some people than God’s hand. When they need help, they look for that human hand to stretch out to them and give them what they need, supply their needs. They recognize that human hand right away, see that human hand at once, but when God stretches forth His hand, many children of God fail to see it.

Elijah and Elisha recognized the hand of God for their hour, and God did wonderful things because they had faith in His hand as it stretched out; they looked for it. Depending on God’s hand, not the hand of man, they found God was always there to help them, to meet their needs, they recognized His hand.

Fear Took Elijah Over

One day, fear took Elijah over, and for the moment he forgot God’s hand. He ran to the wilderness to escape Jezebel, who had sworn to take his life. He knew how vindictive she was. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers (I Kings 19:1-4).

Many times Elijah had seen God stretch out His hand for him, but in that moment of fear he didn’t see it. Had he seen it, he would have raised his sword, red from the blood of Jezebel’s prophets, and cried: Bring her on! We’ll put her to death, too! Tell her I’m waiting for her! But Elijah didn’t take time in his fear to look for the hand of God. He rushed into the wilderness, fell down under a tree and asked God to take his life.

When you don’t see the hand of God, you may find yourself praying for death, and that’s a bad idea. As long as you see the hand of God you see life, and you want life.

Then the hand of God came to Elijah in the form of an angel. And as he [Elijah] lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God (I Kings 19:5-8).

Seeing the hand of God changes you. When you by faith touch that hand, fear leaves; deliverance and full assurance come, grace abounds and the joy of the Lord becomes yours. The Spirit of the Living God is in operation for you when you recognize that hand.

Oh, Child of God, never forget the hand that brought salvation, the hand that was nailed to Calvary for you. Not only were both hands of Jesus nailed to Calvary for you; the hand of God was there, too. God had stretched out His hand to bring salvation through His Son, Jesus. Lord, stretch forth your hand so that miracles, healings and deliverances will take place in the name of your Child, Jesus. And what a hand stretched out, that hand of love! No love has ever been as great as Heaven’s love for you, and you need every bit of it.

Daniel Opened His Windows toward Jerusalem

Consider how the Lord stretched out His hand for Daniel when he was to be eaten by the lions, destroyed. The presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree (Daniel 6:4-9).

The men who sought Daniel’s life didn’t recognize the hand of God, but Daniel knew it: That’s the reason he went ahead and prayed, the reason he wasn’t afraid. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime (Daniel 6:10). Daniel didn’t hide in a closet to try to keep his prayers from being heard by people; he wanted everyone to know he was praying. The Lord had given him holy boldness. He opened his window toward Jerusalem as usual and began to talk to God. His trust was in the hand of God, not in the hand of man.

Daniel, don’t you know the king can put you to death? Daniel wasn’t looking at that; he was looking at the hand that gives life, the hand that has all-protective power, the hand that can do all things for one of God’s children.

Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions (Daniel 6:11-16).

Although Daniel was thrown into the den of lions, the hand of the Lord had stretched out, and the lions were helpless to harm him. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God (Daniel 6:19-23).

That same hand that was stretched out to Daniel is being stretched out to you today. Death was close to Daniel, but it didn’t matter; and it doesn’t matter how close death is to you today; God’s life-giving hand is stretched out to you: Grace has made it possible, blood grace.

No Compromise in the Three Hebrew Boys

What about the fiery furnace? Were the Hebrew boys going to compromise? No. Why? Because they knew a hand greater than the hand of the king was stretched out to them. Looking beyond the fiery furnace they saw God’s hand of love, care, goodness and mercy. They knew that hand of the Lord, knew the power of that stretched-out hand. If the Lord wanted to save them, they had no doubt He could do it; if not, they were ready to die. They told the king, Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God (Daniel 3:18-25).

Some had been very pleased that the three Hebrew boys were about to be put to death, pleased when they were bound and thrown into the furnace. Imagine their astonishment when they saw not only three, but four walking in the midst of the flames! They had been looking at the hand of flesh, the hand of weakness, the hand that dies and doesn’t live forever, but what they saw was the miracle work of God’s outstretched hand. The Fourth Man, Jesus, was in the furnace before the Hebrew boys were cast in.

When you see four instead of three, you see the hand I’m talking about today. But if you see just three in your furnace of life, you don’t see that stretched-out hand, and you’re in trouble. The Lord has given you the privilege to look wherever you want to. You can look to the hand of man or you can look to the hand of the Lord. The choice is yours. If you don’t have faith in God’s hand, the human hand will be easier to see, to trust. But there are things that will never be served to you by the hand of flesh, tears that can never be wiped away, broken hearts that can’t be healed.

When you without compromise keep your eyes on that eternal hand, God will be in control. My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). My God will supply if you look to His hand instead of looking elsewhere. When you’re looking to Jesus, you’re looking at the Lord’s hand.

The Miracle at the Gate Beautiful

Consider how the Lord stretched forth His hand for the disciples after Jesus had ascended back to Heaven. Peter and John by now knew that hand, knew it had all power to heal any disease, any affliction, any deformity. At the gate Beautiful there was a man, forty years old, who had never walked in his whole life. He had been at that gate day after day, begging. Seeing Peter and John, he expected them to give him something. But Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God (Acts 3:6-8).

Through the stretched-out hand of the Lord, an impossibility became possible. Peter knew that within his own spirit, his own power, he couldn’t give the man a miracle. The power was in the hand that Peter loved, the hand of the Lord. That hand stretched out, and up the man came, miraculously healed. Now because of that great miracle, Peter and John were in all kinds of trouble with the authorities. They were put in prison overnight and would have been punished even further, but their accusers were afraid of the people. Everyone was saying, We know that man! That’s a miracle!

The authorities conferred among themselves, Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it. But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:15-18).

There stood that man with his amazing miracle. The authorities couldn’t get rid of him, so they decided the least they could do was to threaten Peter and John. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done. For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed (Acts 4:21,22).

Peter and John went forth praising the Lord, praying to God. They gathered with others in the Early Church and prayed for great holy boldness from the Lord. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus (Acts 4:29,30). Notice the words thy holy child, Jesus. That Child born of the Virgin Mary had no human blood in His veins; it was divine blood, and divine blood made the difference; Jesus was very man and very God.

The Miracle Hand Is Stretched Out to Save and Heal

We’re contacting Heaven daily for God to stretch out His loving hand to a lost world, to stretch out His hand to sick and afflicted, helpless, hopeless people throughout the whole Earth. Untold multitudes are at death’s door today; they’re going to die unless they take hold of that stretched-out hand through faith. We must make real to all who will hear that they can have the faith of the Lord.

You can’t buy faith, can’t receive it by wishing: It’s a gift from God. Yield your spirit to His Spirit; deny yourself, and through faith take up the Cross of Jesus. Sinner, He’s stretching that hand out to help you today, but you have to recognize that it is divinity reaching to you, that divine blood is being used for you. Nothing less than divine blood is always in that hand, and all the powers of Heaven are in the blood.

Decide right now that God loves you so much that He gave His Son, Jesus, for you, and reach for His hand, that stretched out hand, right now.

Sinner, will you do that? If you truly want the Lord, say this prayer today. Oh, God, I’m so glad you love me. I’m so glad you have stretched out your hand to me, and I recognize your hand now; it has salvation in it for me through the shed blood of your Son, Jesus. Forgive me of my sins; I’m so sorry I sinned against you! I believe that the blood of Jesus washes away all of my sins. Come into my heart, Jesus! Come on in, Jesus!

If you meant that prayer, now you can say: Hallelujah, Jesus has come! I have been saved by the stretched-out hand of the Lord!

That hand is stretched out to you who need a miracle or healing. Are you going to recognize it? Are you going to receive it? He’ll stretch His hand out to you through His Son, Jesus Christ; and you can be healed, delivered.

Some of you reading this message have death working in your body now. If you don’t receive the help of this stretched-out hand of the Lord, you’ll soon be dead. Why sit you there until you die? Why not reach for the stretched-out hand?

You who are sick and afflicted: The Lord has sent me to you by way of the printed page to tell you He is stretching out His hand to you. Will you believe and receive? Jesus said, “Only believe”; believing makes all things possible. It doesn’t matter how close to death you are; you might have leprosy or any one of a number of death diseases. It might be that awful death-disease called AIDS that millions and millions are afflicted with. Medical science has no cure for AIDS, but thousands are being healed through the shed blood of Jesus. Thousands have been healed through this Jesus ministry of other incurable diseases. The mail comes in saying that people have been back to their doctors, who verify their healing, their miracle, verify that they have absolutely been made well.

Lord, here they are. Your hand is stretched out and we love you for it. I’m your witness that your hand is stretched out to them right now. Lord, let them see not only salvation in that hand for them this day, but let them see the miracle that they need, the healing they need. Lord, it’s in your stretched-out hand. Heal! in the mighty name of Jesus. Heal! in the blood name of Jesus. Heal! Heal! with miracle blood power.

Be thou made whole of your diseases. The stretched-out hand holds health for those who will believe and receive His deliverance.

You who reached out to receive from that stretched-out hand, watch yourself get well and watch your children get well. See the stretched-out hand and don’t even think about what man says about the disease, how deadly it is. It doesn’t matter; in that stretched-out hand you’ll find the remedy for sin and sickness. It’s all there; Jesus paid it all, the whole price so you could have deliverance. How wonderful! God be with you. Write and tell me what happened to you today.

Lord, stretch forth thy hand!