Prayerful Insomnia
Notes
Transcript
God’s Providence
God’s Providence
Thomas Watson said of God’s providence
There is no such thing as blind fate, but there is a Providence that guides and governs the world. Providence is God’s ordering all issues and events of things, after the counsel of His will, to His own glory. The wheels of the clock seem to move contrary one to the other, but they help forward the hands of the clock.
Henry Law wrote two centuries later
No sparrow falls, no leaf decays, but in accordance with God’s ordering mind. Chance is a figment of a dreaming pillow. Chance never was and it never can be. Thus, to the child of God there is no trifle or unimportant event. Momentous issues often hang on quick words, on sudden looks, on unintended steps.
God has been at work in the shadows behind every situation. This has not been an opportunity of chance. The ink is barely dry and God is already strategically moving the pieces on the board.
We look at this from Esther’s point of view, but imagine for a minute Esther the Queen has offered to risk her life to confront the danger of the edict.
All she has asked in return is for you to fast and pray… Do you sneak a chip? Christ has offered to sacrifice on our behalf… should we try to sneak a sin?
There are still some twists and turns to go this rollercoaster isn’t over yet.
Honor Of A Lifetime
Honor Of A Lifetime
Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house. And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.
This seems too easy because it is too easy. Esther just interrupted the business of the the state in complete
The Jewish scholars who translated the Old Testament into Greek (called the Septuagint, written a century before Jesus’ birth) added their own commentary to the original text in an attempt to make this story a little more believable:
Esther’s heart was pounding with fear. When she had passed through all the doors, she stood before the king. Raising his face, flushed with color, he looked at her in fiercest anger. The queen stumbled, turned pale, and fainted. He sprang from his throne in alarm, and took her up in his arms until she revived and comforted her with reassuring words.
And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.
This was truly a harrowing moment for Esther. The tilting of the scepter made all the difference. Without she is dead. No words are exchanged only a moment at the whim of the mood of the king. Maybe the even bigger shock is that the king doesn’t even reprimand her for bringing the affairs of state to a halt.
Archeologists have confirmed that standing just below the throne of that Persian monarch would have been a man holding an axe in his hands.
No doubt Esther expected to lose her head and the only reason she didn’t was God.
Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.
This was definitely not the expected answer.
And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.
This was a a great bit of strategry. If Haman had heard that Esther had asked for a dinner with the king in this manner it certainly would have raised his suspicions. But instead she stroked his ego and he was distracted from the game.
She initially intended, at least it seems, to confront the king and ask plainly for her people. But maybe during the times of prayer and fasting God had given her abetter plan.
Ahasuerus had already lost one wife by listening to poor counsel. He would soon learn he was listening to poor counsel again. The privacy would make it much easier to change his mind without embarrassment.
And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.
The king was not a fool he knew Esther had ulterior motives.
Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is; If I have found favour 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 to morrow as the king hath said.
Why not pop the question? Maybe because you have the king and Hitler sitting across the table. Demonically inspired, terribly intimidating—he was the cold-blooded enemy of her people.
Whatever the reason we know it was God’s timing was the true reason for the delay. There was much about this situation that was beyond both Esther’s knowledge and her control. Just like there is much in our lives that is beyond our knowledge and power.
Little does Mordecai orEsther know that Modecai is just a day away from hanging.
But you know who does know… God!!!
Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai.
When Haman leaves the dinner to head home Mordecai is outside… maybe because he is trying to stay close to the situation. But it makes Haman crazy.
Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.
But Haman decides no one is going to ruin the high he is on from having been exclusively invited to dine with the King and Queen.
Narcissus Reincarnate
Narcissus Reincarnate
And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
In the original language it is sounds like, “Yada, Yada, Yada”.
Haman was like the legendary Greek character Narcissus who loved his own reflection more than anything else. He was so enamored of himself that he became the object of his own devotion. The world—his world—revolved around him.
Do you know anybody like that or maybe it is you? Have you ever worked with someone like that?
• They get invited somewhere and you have to hear all about why they were chosen.
• They get a promotion and you have to hear every reason why they deserved it.
• They purchase something new and you have to look at it, admire it, tell them how much you wish you had the same thing, etc.
• They come back from a trip and everyone in the office has to endure the endless play-by-play … and a few dozen pictures.
There’s a little song kids learned when I was a boy:
Oh, it’s so hard to be humble
When you’re perfect in every way;
I can’t take my eyes off the mirror
‘Cause I get better lookin’ each day.
Haman was self-conceited, self-promoting, self-applauding, and self-absorbed and just like anyone including us who fall prey to this type of thinking he was a fool.
Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.
Haman is living in the best moment of his life… but he needs just one more thing.
Sound familiar? It sounds just like Nathan Cook and you can probably think of some times when it has sounded just like you.
Hold two quarters at arms length and you can see what is around them… hold them even further and you can see much more, but the closer you bring them to your eyes the less you can see.
This was Haman’s problem he was so self centered all he could see was his own desires.
This is the same issue we often experience. The more we think about and talk about ourselves the less we can see of the world around us.
We are the single biggest obstacle to our own happiness.
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
Haman desire for just one more thing for self was his demise and his friends and family were no help.
Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.
This is no doubt this is the bleakest point in the story. Mordecai will be hanged, the king has issued what seems to be an irrevocable edict against the Jews. The Persians would impale you on a pole that is which is very possibly what it was to be hanged.
In effect what Zeresh told her husband Haman was, “Make sure everyone can see Mordecai hanging, so everyone knows your power over life and death; make certain that everyone knows that to refuse to bow before you will bring them to their end.”
Insomnia From God
Insomnia From God
On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.
So get this the king can’t sleep… wonder why?… wink, wink. He tried warm milk, counting sheep then it hit him. Let’s read the kings record book that should put him to sleep. Then wonder of wonders of all the record books the one chosen is five years old and happens to have the story of this guy who uncovered a plot to kill him.
And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.
And the king just happens to ask what was done for this guy… and this guy just happens to be Mordecai. Whaaaat.
This was entirely out of character with Persian customs. Ahasuerus’ father and grandfather had rewarded faithful citizens with jewelry and garments. His great-great grandfather Cyrus had even given a loyal general a horse with a solid gold bridle and a dagger, along with a beautiful Persian robe. Those loyal recipients were even given a special title in the kingdom—they were the “King’s Benefactors.”
Ahasuerus, like his forebears, rewarded noble servants as well. He had already gifted faithful admirals with plots of land, and he had made one man the Governor of Cilicia as a reward for saving his brother’s life. So by his own high standards of governance, failing to reward Mordecai for his service was an exceptional blunder.
No doubt the king , also, knew that Mordecai was a jew and now he is in predicament with his number 2 man because he needs to honor Mordecai before the Jews all die or he didn’t even know that Haman had written the edict against the Jews with no help from the king by all indications.
So picture this Haman has been up all night building a gallow to hang Mordecai on, but he didn’t need sleep this was going to be the best day ever… Mordecai is going to die and everyone will finally see how powerful he truly is and the cherry on top is he will be honored by having dinner with the king and queen for the second night in a row and then he walk through the doors at work and is hit with this question,
So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?
Of course to a narcissist this is obviously about him,
And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:
This is all just off the top of his head… because like most narcissists they think about how they deserve to be treated 24 hours a day and God help you if you don’t treat them that way.
So make sure you get this… here is the second to the king he has all the money, power, and prestige. He just doesn’t have the throne. So what does he really want… he wants it all just for a day.
You have to understand that your garments meant something in the Middle East. It is a little like getting a game jersey from a professional player.
• Aaron’s priestly garments were given to his son to wear when he inherited the priestly office (Numbers 20).
• Elisha received Elijah’s mantle/cloak, which represented the designation of prophet (2 Kings 2).
• The army commanders spread their clothes on the stairs for Jehu to walk on, which signified he had authority over their lives (2 Kings 9).
• Luke’s Gospel tells us that when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the people spread out their garments on the road for Him to ride over, symbolically submitting their lives to Jesus (Luke 19).
This day could not be going better as far as Haman is concerned.
The Great Disappointment
The Great Disappointment
Suddenly all Haman’s dreams turn to ash.
Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.
The haughty was about to be abased and the lowly exalted in a moment of time.
This reminds us just how fast God can swing the pendulum in our favor if that is His will. God can have the most wicked and evil individuals in authority lead his people around in honor.
Haman’s demeanor changes as he struggles with the right strategy in this situation.
And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.
As we survey the landscape of this chess game… only God could have timed this with this kind of precision.
“God can move a king as easily as He can move a pawn, and He can move a queen as easily as He can move a bishop. The game belongs to Him.”-Anonymous
Consider all the moves we have seen so far:
• a queen who risked her life to invite the king to a banquet;
• a prime minister who determined to use a hanging to enhance his power;
• a queen who delayed in making her petition until a second banquet;
• a king who was plagued with insomnia;
• a servant who picked up just the right scroll to read to the sleepless king;
• a hero who saved the king’s life but wasn’t rewarded until the day he was unknowingly going to be executed;
• a killer at the top of the food chain who was forced to honor and reward his mortal enemy—the man he had intended to hang instead.
And all of this in just 12 hours and one sleepless night.
We learn three unforgettable things about God from this passage:
Even when things seem uncontrollable God is still in control.
God was still in control even as the gallows are under construction in the middle if the night and the end seems unavoidable.
Even when life is unpredictable God is consistent.
Mordecai has been on for the past five years? Think about it:
he was a nobody from nowhere;
he was promoted to work directly for the king inside the administrative wing of the palace, thanks to Esther’s crown;
he was sentenced to death, along with all the Jews, by Haman’s irreversible edict;
he lamented in sackcloth and ashes and turned back to his long-forgotten God;
he saw the shadow of a gallows being built for him and had no recourse;
he was not hanged but was rewarded by the king and dressed in his royal robes.
Life is unpredictable; if you are looking for stability it can be found only in God.
Even when seem overwhelming God is can still overcome.
The edict had been written. It was the Law of the Medes and Persians—which means that it was unchangeable. The nearby gallows was seven stories high. A murderer was in control of the kingdom. A callous dictator was on the throne. Sin reigned while sanity had evidently been exiled.
But don’t forget
Behold, he that keepeth Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
God is never off duty-Anonymous
We sleep in peace because God never slumbers.
You don’t have to be in control of every situation, because God is...
The events of life are His horsemen riding upon the winds of His will. His actions and counteractions, His plans and counterplans, are moving with perfect precision and perfecting power.- S. Davey
John Newton, the author of the famous hymn Amazing Grace, discipled a young man named William Cowper. But this close relationship didn’t keep Cowper from struggling with bouts of suicidal depression.
One evening in 1774, Cowper called for a carriage and ordered the driver to take him three miles away to the Ouse River in England, where he planned to throw himself from a bridge.
The driver, discerning Cowper’s suicidal intention, breathed a prayer of thanks when a thick fog suddenly moved in and enveloped the area. He purposely lost his way in the dense fog, driving up one road and down another, while Cowper fell into a deep sleep.
Several hours passed before the driver returned to Cowper’s house. Cowper woke up and said, “How is it that we’re home?” The driver answered, “We got lost in the fog, sir … I’m sorry about that.” Cowper paid his fare, went inside, and pondered how he had been spared from harming himself by the clear providence of God.
There, that night in the solitude of his home, William wrote what would become one of his most famous hymns for the Church:
God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning Providence
He hides a smiling face.