Esther 7:7-10 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden… This great fact of Divine government we constantly forget. The person of the Deity is invisible. His ways and plans are not governed by the principles or the expectations of men. But the government is still on His shoulders, and He upholdeth all things by the word of His power. The history of Haman shows us how completely God controls the wicked and makes their crafty and malicious plans result in their own overthrow and ruin. But we come now to consider the peculiar method which God adopted for his overthrow. It is a wonderful illustration of the Divine providence in its minuteness of application. The successive steps in this scheme of counteraction are very minute. It is a regular arrangement of mining and countermining, as in military assaults and sieges. Each successive step is taken in direct reference to the previous motion of the antagonist, and as secretly as possible from him. 1. God lays up in store for His future use Esther's unexpected relation to the king. It was a fearful trial of Mordecai's faith and Esther's piety. It seemed an unaccountable and dark proceeding. Their broken hearts both grieved in bitterness over the dispensation. But God was mercifully preparing for the evil to come. The hold which was allowed upon the affections, and the influence which was thus exercised upon the character of Ahasuerus, were very important in the train of results which was to be brought out. 2. God prepared a special obligation from the king to Mordecai. "Two of the king's chamberlains, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus," etc. 3. God interposed in the settling of Haman's lot. "They cast the lot from day to day, and from month to month to the twelfth month." This was a very peculiar interposition. It gave nearly a year's delay to the executing of the plan. 4. God gave great ease and apparent prosperity to Haman's plan. The king granted his request at once, and gave him unlimited power to fulfil his purpose. Thus Haman was enticed forward to Perfect security. His success was so flattering to his own power that it led him to an immediate publication of his whole scheme. "There was written according to all that Haman commanded, to the governors that were over every province," etc. 5. God endowed Esther with singular wisdom in arranging her scheme of argument and defence. 6. God awakens the slumbers of the king. "On that night the king could not sleep." What trifling incidents does God employ to accomplish His great results! You will sometimes hear of His providence as if it were only concerned in what men call great events; but there are no distinctions of great and little in human events before God. Never be deluded by any false schemes of men. Not a sparrow falleth to the ground without the notice of your heavenly Father, and the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 7. God remarkably employs the waking king. "The king could not sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king., This was a singular step. He might as readily have called for any other book. 8. God furnished the very agent desired for the accomplishment of His plan. "And the king's servants said unto him, Behold Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in." Every step appears to be propitious to Haman. He enters instantly, perfectly secure of the triumphant attainment of his purpose. But God had now perfectly prepared the way for Mordecai's exaltation, and Haman, who had planned his death, must be the instrument of his honour. "God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work." There is providence, and this was its course thus far. Every step is natural, voluntary, trifling in itself. No single step had any apparent earthly connection with the others, in the mind of the one who took it. The threads all seemed perfectly separate and unconnected. But it was a single hand which wove them all. How perfect is the scheme! How indispensable is every part! How clear the wisdom which has ordered the whole! With what confidence we may rely on such a Protector. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. His eyes are over the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers. (S. H. Tyng, D. D.) 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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