Esther 6 – Deceit to Conceit

This chapter reads like a familiar novel. The irony is so thick it’s humorous. The bad guy gets what he deserves. And the good guy wins.

"Go at once," the king commanded Haman. "Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended."

So Haman got the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, "This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!" – Esther 6:10-11

Lesson learned. Or was it? I feel like I’m warned. Yet if we don’t take note, truly take note, any one of us could find ourselves in a similar position as Haman. Each of us has enough blinding pride to set ourselves up for some major disappointment.

Matthew Henry wrote: “See how men's pride deceives them. The deceitfulness of our own hearts appears in nothing more than in the conceit we have of ourselves and our own performances: against which we should constantly watch and pray. Haman thought the king loved and valued no one but himself, but he was deceived. We should suspect that the esteem which others profess for us, is not so great as it seems to be, that we may not think too well of ourselves, nor trust too much in others. How Haman is struck, when the king bids him do honour to Mordecai the Jew, the very man whom he hated above all men, whose ruin he was now designing!”

Father, don’t let us think more highly of ourselves than we should. Protect us from ourselves. It’s always a scary prayer to ask for you to keep our pride in check, but that’s what we need. Not only do we take credit for things others have done, we mostly take credit for things you have done. Forgive us. Amen.