Bridge to Esther

Esther 8:3-6

Esther’s Plea

3. And Esther spake yet again before the king, probably a short time later, and fell down at his feet, and besought, or begged him with tears to put away the mischief, or the harm of Haman the Agagite, and his evil plan, or device that he had devised against the Jews. Even though Haman was dead, the law was still in effect and would soon be carried out.

4. Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther, as the sign that he was willing to hear her petition. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,

5. And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse, or undo the letters of commandment about this terrible law devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king’s provinces:

6. For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred, my relatives?

Something to think about:

Esther couldn’t rest. The date when the Jewish people were to be killed was still on the calendar. So she risked her life once again by coming before Ahasuerus without invitation. In her request, Esther added the words, “if I be pleasing in your eyes.” With these words, she tried to convince the king to grant her the petition.

I hope you pray. God encourages you to come to Him in prayer. He stretches out His golden scepter, even before you come. “Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10) is His encouragement to come to Him with all your needs.

But how do you plead with God for His mercy and grace? Do you have to be like Esther and hold yourself up on a silver plate? Should you say, “Lord, if I am pleasing in Thy sight, have mercy on me?”

Such a prayer will not be answered, because we can never be pleasing in His sight. Even our best actions or words have stains of sin on them. Do you see the stain of pride when you’ve done something well? At other times, maybe you have acted kindly, but it was stained with insincerity.

Many people think, If I try harder to be obedient, and if I be more diligent in praying and reading the Bible, then the Lord will surely hear me. Or, if I would feel more humble and sorry about my sins, then there would be more hope.

That thinking is wrong. In the prayers recorded in the Bible, we read something else. David prayed, “For Thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity [sin]; for it is great.” David asked the Lord to pardon him for the Lord’s Name’s sake. That means David pleaded not on his own doing, but on the truth that the Lord is gracious and merciful. In another psalm, David asked the LORD, “Deliver me in Thy righteousness.” Righteousness means ‘to be right and to do right.’ But notice that David didn’t plead his own righteousness before God. He didn’t ask, “Lord, if my righteousness is pleasing in Thy sight, hear me.” He had no righteousness of his own; instead, he pleaded on the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ask God to teach you to pray like David!