The Pulpit Commentary — Esther — Section 33

It iR most timid and craven when it assumes the loudest bravery, Its bristling feRthers of authority ere often the signs of an inward distrust. Conscious rectitude of purpose and action is the true spring of courage. A hem that is pure in its nffections and intents is bold and strong in all circumstances. It is an evil conscience that "makes cowards of us all." A good conscience will make heroes of the humblest. Ill. WHEN UNJUST TO OURSELVES WE ARE IN GREAT DANGER 011' llEING UNJUST TO OTHERS. If the king had been himself true to the law which he had promulgated he would never have thought of subjecting Vashti to a humiliating exposure. When men recognise their own obligations to righteous law, and submit themselves unto Go~, they are careful t? observe ~he duties they ?we ~o their friends and neighbo1irs, Indifference to the feelmge and nghts of others implies a want of self-subordination to holy and honourable rule. It is only the unregulated, whose moral and spiritual nature is not braced by habitual subjection to principle, who are willing to trample on the sensibilities of those over whom natural or social ties give them power. IV. THE EXCITEMENTS PRODUCED BY UNGOVERNED PASSIONS OR ARTIFICIAL STIMU• LATION DO NOT EXCUSE THE EVILS OR CRIMES TO WHICH THEY MAY LEAD. An un- bridled temper, a blinding lust, or vinous intoxication, has often been pled in miti- gation of the gravest offences. But one sin cannot justify or excuse another and consequent sin. If a man allows his reason and conscience to be unseated, whether by anger, or lust, or strong drink, he is responsible for every evil result that may follow. There is no sin which does not carry within it the seeds of other sins. Thie is a solemn thought, and one which should put all men on their guard against the first beginnings of sin.-D. Ver. 12.-Justi.ftahle disobedience. The commission of the seven chamberlains to the queen was in vain. Vashti refused to appear before the king and his guests, Why this disobedience ? Several considerations, favourable and unfavourable, may be suggested. I. CONSIDERATIONS UNFAVOURABLE TO VASHTI. 1. She knew the absolute authority with which the king was invested. In this knowledge she had become his wife and queen. Ought she not, therefore, to have obeyed him, even at personal sacrifice, when he commanded her, with befitting circumstance, to come to him, that her beauty might be seen and ad.mired? 2. She knew the importance of the occasion, and the disappointment and humiliation that would fall on the king, her husband, if she ventured to dll!obey his command. Should she not have been willing to suffer pain herself in order to save the king from the pain of a public manifestation of revolt against his declared will? Such self-denial is sometimes good, and, whenever good, is praiseworthy. 3. She may have been influenced merely by the wilfulness of pride. .All reflection on the claims of duty, on the requirements of the occasion, and on the effects of her conduct on the king's dignity and peace, may have been rendered impossible by the flushings of a resentful pride. Nothing more easily drowns reflec- tion, nothing is more unreasoning and unreasonable, than a haughty and self-exalting disposition. Pride is a bad helm for the guidance of life. 4. Whatever the queen's motive, her answer to the chamberlains may have been given in an abrupt and defiant manner. It is a good quality, and a proof either of self-discipline or of a kindly and sympathetic nature, to be able to express even strong feelings in ways that will not kindle wrath or breed discord. "A soft answer turneth away wrath." We must observe, however, that nothing is said of the manner in which the queen responded to the king's messengers. All we are told is that she refused. . II. CoNSIDERATIONB FAVOURABLE TO VASHTI. 1. The king's command showed a want of sympathy with her in her faithful diligence as entertainer of the women. Inside the palace she was doing the work which the king was doing in the garden court. Why should she be called away from this real and appropriate work to pose herself as the central figure of an idle and foolish pageant? The command was in- considerate and frivolous. Honest work, however secretly performed, is to be pre- ferred at all times to showy ostentations which minister only to the gratification of self. A. humble mind and a diligent hand are better in a woman than the most lauded beauty that courts the gaze of the world, 2, The king's command WIiii a en. 1. 10-22.) THE BOOK OF ESTHER. !H