HAMAN PUNISHED. |

335

boasting of his honors, or saying | wicked Haman came in, God made
one unkind word to his enemy Ha~| the king restless and wakeful, and

Man.

put it into his heart to ask to have the

And now we can tell why God | book read which inclined him to be

had taken away sleep from the king
that night.
time was come, the right and best
time for Mordecai to be delivered.
Esther, and Mordecai, and the Jews,
had been many days praying, and
fasting, and weeping, and no deliy-
erance came; and perhaps some-
times they had thought that God
would not hear their prayers nor
save them from their enemies. But
he had heard them all the time; and
just at the right moment, before

It was because the.

kind to Mordecai. God does not al-
Ways answer our prayers how and
when we please, but how and when
He pleases. Weare very ignorant, and
cannot tell what is best for us; but
He knows what we need, and the
right time for giving it to us. Then
let us trust this kind God, and wait
patiently for His answer. to our
prayers. “Though ittarry, wait for
it; because it will surely come, it
will not tarry.” Habakkuk ii. 3.

CCXXII.

fi AMAN PUNISHED.

HE king came to the
1 feast as he promised, and
brought Haman with him.
'} Ahasuerus had not for-

gotten Esther’s petition,
and now he said to her again,

 

“What is thy petition, queen Hs-

ther? It shall be granted thee.”
You have never spoken to an earth-
ly king; perhaps you have never
even seen one; but there is a king
greater, much greater, than Ahasu-
erus, to whom you may speak every
day, and who promises to grant
your requests. You know who this
great king is ;—Christ himself. He
is the “ King of kings, and Lord of
lords.”
Him, and ask him for what you
want: and He will never send you

He invites you to come to’

away. He says, “Him that cometh
unto me, I will in no wise cast out.”
John vi. 3%. And the Lord Jesus
Christ promises to give better things
than Ahasuerus could. He can give
pardon, and peace, and the Holy
Spirit, and eternal life in Heaven.
He is willing, too, to give these
good gifts; He says, “ Ask, and it
shall be given you.” Matthew vii. 7.
“ All things whatsoever ye shall ask
in prayer, believing, ye shall re-
ceive.” Matthew xxi. 22.

But what did Esther say when
the king spoke so kindly to her?
she had now no need to fear;
Ahasuerus had promised to grant
her request, and his heart was kindly
inclined to the Jews: God had made
itso. Esther now felt that the