When pride is King, disaster can happen

Scripture Read: Esther 8:1-8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had disclosed what he was to her. ² The king took off his signet ring which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. ³ Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept and implored him to avert the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his plot which he had devised against the Jews. ⁴ The king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king. ⁵ Then she said, “If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him and the matter seems proper to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. ⁶ “For how can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people, and how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?” ⁷ So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the gallows because he had stretched out his hands against the Jews. ⁸ “Now you write to the Jews as you see fit, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for a decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring may not be revoked.”   

Application: Here is an example of the difference between our idea of authority and Your idea Lord! We humans are so full of pride that even though we know we make mistakes, in our arrogance we will not back down. So much harm has been done in history because of this terrible character flaw. Here, Esther has exposed the evil plot by Haman, and her husband the King has had his eyes opened. He punished Haman, yet due to the arrogance of one man, the dilemma remains. Lord I know You are perfect and make no mistakes – but I also know due to Your perfect integrity, if You were a flawed human with the character You have, if You made a mistake You would admit it and do what is right. I know this because the way You honor anyone that humbles themselves after a mistake and comes to You to make it right. You do not taunt them or belittle them. You lift them up and restore them. Esther’s husband the King was trapped by the arrogance of human pride, this whole standard that was prominent in so many of the world’s kings. I realize that being a King is a tremendous task, and there is much pressure if that King is truly trying to govern in a way that will promote life in his kingdom. So the authority of a King is essential for his rule, but there is a line where a King must see the difference between human kingship and divine kingship. A honest King will be able to see that when his decision is a wrong one, or what he may consider even stupid later, as King he has the right to adjust it. Too many of this world's kings forget they are only human and try to ascend to deity only to cause themselves and their kingdoms great harm. Your Word has example after example of kings that have found themselves in this situation:

Daniel 6:13–15 (NASB95) Then they answered and spoke before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the injunction which you signed, but keeps making his petition three times a day.” ¹⁴ Then, as soon as the king heard this statement, he was deeply distressed and set his mind on delivering Daniel; and even until sunset he kept exerting himself to rescue him. ¹⁵ Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Recognize, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”

This exposes the lack of REAL authority. A real King bows to no one, including himself. If he is King, then he can change any decision he desires. The real issue is not authority, but omniscience. If a King convinces himself that he is divine, then he cannot make a mistake. Human Kings should know in their heart they are not the final authority. Here, King Ahasuerus is faced with this problem. He does not want to destroy the Jews for Esther’s sake, but he cannot change a law and appear flawed. How tragic! Yet, we too are often unwilling to face our own mistakes, and either continue in them or blame others. Father, illuminate our eyes to see You are so eager to restore, lift up and even make us feel good about ourselves, if we only would be real with You. You do not delight in belittling us, the enemy loves to do that. Father direct our steps and lives to walk in a way that keeps us from tripping and falling due to our pride.


Meditation Questions: How hard is it for you to admit your wrong? What does that show you? When you are in the midst of something, but you realize your going the wrong way, how difficult is for you to change direction? What does that show you? Have you ever had someone in authority over you refuse to admit they were wrong? What did you feel? Did you respect their authority more or less? What do you think produces respect for authority?