Esther 7:7-10 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden… Here is an Oriental courtier, about the most offensive man in Hebrew history. I. THAT WHEN THE HEART IS WRONG THINGS VERY INSIGNIFICANT WILL DESTROY OUR COMFORT. Who would have thought that a great prime minister, admired and applauded by millions of Persians, would have been so nettled and harassed by anything trivial? The silence of Mordecai at the gate was louder than the braying of trumpets in the palace. Thus shall it always be if the heart is not right. Circumstances the most trivial will disturb the spirit. It is not the great calamities of life that create the most worriment. I have seen men, felled by repeated blows of misfortune, arising from the dust, never desponding. But the most of the disquiet which men suffer is from insignificant causes; as a lion attacked by some beast of prey turns easily around and slays him, yet runs roaring through the forests at the alighting on his brawny neck of a few insects. You meet some great loss in business with comparative composure; but you can think of petty trickeries inflicted upon you, which arouse all your capacity for wrath, and remain in your heart an unbearable annoyance. If you look back upon your life you will find that the most of the vexations and disturbances of spirit which you felt were produced by circumstances that were not worthy of notice. If you want to be happy you must not care for trifles. Do not be too minute in your inspection of the treatment you receive from others. Who cares whether Mordecai bows when you pass or stands erect and stiff as a cedar? That woodman would not make much clearing in the forest who should stop to bind up every little bruise and scratch he received in the thicket; nor will that man accomplish much for the world or the Church who is too watchful and appreciative of petty annoyances. II. Again, I learn from the life of this man THAT WORLDLY VANITY AND SIN ARE VERY ANXIOUS TO HAVE PIETY BOW BEFORE THEM. Haman was a fair emblem of entire worldliness, and Mordecai the representative of unflinching godliness. When, therefore, proud Haman attempted to compel a homage which was not felt, he only did what the world ever since has tried to do, when it would force our holy religion in any way to yield to its dictates. Paul might have retained the favour of his rulers and escaped martyrdom if he had only been willing to mix up his Christian faith with a few errors. His unbending Christian character was taken as an insult. Faggot and rack and halter in all ages have been only the different ways in which the world has demanded obeisance. Why was it that the Platonic philosophers of early times, as well as Toland, Spinoza, and Bolingbroke of later days, were so madly opposed to Christianity? Certainly not because it favoured immoralities, or arrested civilisation, or dwarfed the intellect. The genuine reason, whether admitted or not, was because the religion of Christ paid no respect to their intellectual vanities. Blount, and Boyle, and the host of infidels hatched out during the reign of Charles II., could not keep their patience, because, as they passed along, there were sitting in the gate of the church Christian men who would not bend an inch in respect to their philosophies. Reason, scornful of God's Word, may foam and strut with the proud wrath of a Haman, and attempt to compel the homage of the good, but in the presence of men and angels it shall be confounded. When science began to make its brilliant discoveries there were great facts brought to light that seemed to overthrow the truth of the Bible. The archaeologist with his crowbar, and the geologist with his hammer, and the chemist with his batteries, charged upon the Bible. Thus it was that the discoveries of science seemed to give temporary victory against God and the Bible, and for awhile the Church acted as if she were on a retreat; but when all the opposers of God and truth had joined in the pursuit, and were sure of the field, Christ gave the signal to His Church, and, turning, they drove back their foes in shame. There was found to be no antagonism between nature and revelation. The universe and the Bible were found to be the work of the same hand, strokes of the same pen, their authorship the same God. III. Again, learn THAT PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL. Was any man ever so far up as Haman, who tumbled so far down? Yes, on a smaller scale every day the world sees the same thing. Against their very advantages men trip into destruction. When God humbles proud men, it is usually at the moment of their greatest arrogancy. If there be a man in your community greatly puffed up with worldly success, you have but to stand a little while and you will see him come down. You say, "I wonder that God allows that man to go on riding over others' heads and making great assumptions of power." There is no wonder about it. Haman has not yet got to the top. The arrows from the Almighty's quiver are apt to strike a man when on the wing. IV. Again, this Oriental tale reminds us THAT WRONGS WE PREPARE FOR OTHERS RETURN UPON OURSELVES. The gallows that Haman built for Mordecai became the prime minister's strangulation. Robespierre, who sent so many to the guillotine, had his own head chopped off by the horrid instrument. The evil you practise on others will recoil upon your own pate. Slanders come home. Oppressions and cruelties come home. When Charles I., who had destroyed Stratford, was about to be beheaded, he said, "I basely ratified an unjust sentence, and the similar injustice I am now to undergo is a sensible retribution for the punishment I inflicted on an innocent man." Haman's gallows came a little late, but it came. Opportunities fly in a straight line, and just touch us as they pass from eternity to eternity; but the wrongs we do others fly in a circle, and however the circle may widen out, they are sure to come back to the point from which they started. They are guns that kick! Furthermore, let the story of Haman teach us how quickly turns the wheel of fortune. So we go up, and so we come down. You seldom find any man twenty years in the same circumstances. Of those who, in political life, twenty years ago were the most prominent, how few remain in con. spicuity! Of those who were long ago successful in the accumulation of property, how few have not met with reverses! while many of those who then were straitened in circumstances now hold the bonds and the bank-keys of the nation. Of all fickle things in the world, Fortune is the most fickle. Every day she changes her mind, and woe to the man who puts any confidence in what she promises or proposes! She cheers when you go up, and she laughs when you come down. V. Again, this Haman's history shows us THAT OUTWARD POSSESSIONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES CANNOT MAKE A MAN HAPPY. There are to-day more aching sorrows under crowns of royalty than under the ragged caps of the houseless. Much of the world's affluence and gaiety is only misery in colours. Many a woman seated in the street at her apple-stand is happier than the great bankers. The mountains of worldly honour are covered with perpetual snow. Tamerlanc conquered half the world, but could not subdue his own fears. Ahab goes to bed sick because Naboth will not sell him his vineyard. The soul's happiness is too large a craft to sail up the stream of worldly pleasure. As ship-carpenters say, it draws too much water. This earth is a bubble, and it will burst. This life is a vision, and it will soon pass away. Time! It is only a ripple, and it breaketh against the throne of judgment. Mordecai will only have to wait for his day of triumph. It took all the preceding trials to make a proper background for his after successes. The scaffold built for him makes all the more imposing and picturesque the horse into whose long white mane he twisted his fingers at the mounting. You want at least two misfortunes, hard as flint, to strike fire. Heavy and long-continued snows in winter are signs of good crops next summer. So many have yielded wonderful harvests of benevolence and energy because they were for a long while snowed under. We must have a good many hard falls before we learn to walk straight. It is on the black anvil of trouble that men hammer out their fortunes. Sorrows take up men on their shoulders and enthrone them. Tonics are nearly always bitter. Men, like fruit-trees, are barren unless trimmed with sharp knives. They are like wheat — all the better for the flailing. It required the prison darkness and chill to make John Bunyan dream. Mordecai despised at the gate is only predecessor of Mordecai exalted. (T. De Witt Talmage.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king. |
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