Failure of Nerve by Edwin Freidman,“Whenever a ‘family’ is driven by anxiety, what will also always be present is a failure of nerve among its leaders.” In Esther 5, Esther emerges as the leader with nerve to save her family. The Meekness of Esther (5:1-8) Esther 5:1 (NLT), On the third day of the fast, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the entrance. 2 When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter. 3 Then the king asked her, “What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!” 4 And Esther replied, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet I have prepared for the king.” Esther 5:5 (NLT), The king turned to his attendants and said, “Tell Haman to come quickly to a banquet, as Esther has requested.” So the king and Haman went to Esther’s banquet. 6 And while they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “Now tell me what you really want. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!” 7 Esther replied, “This is my request and deepest wish. 8 If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I ask, please come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for you. Then I will explain what this is all about.” • Esther is in a dangerous position. The first queen was in trouble for not coming when the king invited, now she is in danger for coming when the king has not invited. • For the 5th time, in the book, Esther finds favor. Favor carries with it the idea that God is providentially directing these events behind the scenes. The king addresses her as Queen Esther! That’s a first! NOTICE the IRONY/SATIRE: Recall that in chapter 1, the king gave a decree that all the women everywhere should listen to their husbands. Ironically, the king takes orders from his wife. NOTICE the MEEKNESS: Esther is strong to invite her enemies to her table. • Baker's Evangelical Dictionary defines Meekness as “…an active and deliberate acceptance of undesirable circumstances that are wisely seen by the individual as only part of a larger picture… Meekness is not weakness or a resignation to fate… but strength under control and perseverance against all odds.” NOTICE the DIPLOMACY: Esther is in the lead and they don’t know it. • Isaac Newton, “Diplomacy is the art of letting somebody else have your way.” The Malice of Haman (9-14) Esther 5:9 (NLT), Haman was a happy man as he left the banquet! But when he saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up or trembling nervously before him, Haman became furious. (Mordecai refused to bow again) 10 However, he restrained himself and went on home. Then Haman gathered together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, 11 and boasted to them about his great wealth and his many children. He bragged about the honors the king had given him and how he had been promoted over all the other nobles and officials. 12 Then Haman added, “And that’s not all! Queen Esther invited only me and the king himself to the banquet she prepared for us. And she has invited me to dine with her and the king again tomorrow!” Esther 5:13 (NLT), Then he added, “But this is all worth nothing as long as I see Mordecai the Jew just sitting there at the palace gate.” 14 So Haman’s wife, Zeresh, and all his friends suggested, “Set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it. When this is done, you can go on your merry way to the banquet with the king.” This pleased Haman, and he ordered the pole set up. • Queen Esther was full of nerve, meekness, and skill. Haman is full of wine, pride and malice (ad nauseam). Haman thinks he is the queen’s favorite! • Haman is like Humpty Dumpty, he has to be put back together again every time he sees Mordecai. • Ironically, Haman takes this order from his wife! • Zeresh, “Never go to bed mad. Stay awake all night and plot horrible revenge.” APPLICATION: In the Presence of my Enemies (Esther 5) With God as our Shepherd, we must grow in meekness and not allow our enemies rob us of God’s favor and joy. • Psalm 23, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” • A.W. Tozer “In the moral conflict now raging around us whoever is on God’s side is on the winning side and cannot lose; whoever is on the other side is on the losing side and cannot win.” The person who maliciously seeks to destroy others, destroys themselves. • Psalm 7:14–16, “The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies. 15 They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves. 16 The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads.” Take a Stand • Ephesians 6:14, Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. • Sometimes the most heroic thing we can do for the Lord is just to stand for what is right.