“Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is: If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king has said” (Esther 5:7-8).
I think the longest walk Esther ever made was when she approached the throne of the king. If the king had not lowered the golden scepter for her to speak, she could have been put to death. I imagine Esther whispered a prayer as she came closer to the throne. God heard and the scepter was lowered. She weighed her words and made her request simple. She wanted to make a private banquet for the king and Haman. (Actually there were two feasts.) As proud as Haman felt concerning this special invitation, he still wanted to get rid of Mordecai, who now sat at the king’s gate. Earlier, the king had rewarded Mordecai for his seemingly unknown and long forgotten efforts in overturning an assassination plot on the king’s life. Haman decided to build a gallows and then go to the king to get permission to hang Mordecai. At the second feast, Esther spoke of Haman’s sinister plot against her and her people. The angry king ordered Haman to be hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. God is in control and horrible plots are overturned.
Sue Winchester
Missouri
PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for Christians in Kazakhstan facing greater governmental pressure and resistance as the result of tighter registration laws enacted almost a year ago.
