Remembering God’s Faithfulness
BRD REFLECTIONS
Esther 9:1-19 and Psalm 72 (NIV)
(Cassandra Leung, Pastoral Team Member, Children’s Ministry)
READ:
Esther 9:1-19, Psalm 72 (NIV)
OBSERVE:
The Jews did not take advantage
King Xerxes agreed to a new law through Mordecai’s cleverness, as the old law signed by a king could not be repealed, giving the right to the Jews to fight back. There was much fighting over 2 days and the Jews:
- killed only those who wanted to kill them;
- did not take their enemies’ possessions;
- did no additional slaughter.
They merely wanted to defend themselves and their families from those who hated them. They were clear in their minds of what was actionable. They achieved their purpose and stopped.
Primary intention of celebrating an event
Sometimes, people tend to forget God’s faithfulness, so Mordecai wrote down all the events and purposefully encouraged an annual holiday of feasting, celebrating and exchanging of gifts to remember God’s goodness and graciousness. To this day, this event is appropriately observed by the Jews.
Rule the nation justly and wisely
The author of Psalm 72 is King Solomon. He asked God to help his son to rule the nation righteously so that all the people under his reign would enjoy good peace, in the likes of defending the afflicted, saving the children of the needy, taking pity on the weak and the needy, and rescuing them from oppression and violence, etc. In turn, he would be respected and loved by the people. ‘May people ever pray for him and bless him all day long’ (v15b).
APPLY:
Not to take advantage of goodness and graciousness extended to us. Let me share a simple analogy. I remember as a child, a teacher at school bought for all packets of jelly ingredients. Perhaps it was troublesome to do the work, so many packets were not taken. I took home the remainder, not realising the expiring date was soon. I did not get to make the jellies quick enough and had to throw them away. Food for thought: Should I have just taken my own packet?
DO:
1. Special events marked are meant to be remembered for their intent, like Christmas for celebrating the gift of Jesus, and Easter for celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ who died and was raised in victory. It is not about mere feasting, exchanging of presents and meeting up to have a good time together. Sadly, the commercial side of the world may have overly branded these very significant events in a different light. I will remember the original intent of significant events and not allow my celebrations to overshadow the meaning of these great events.
2. Don’t we all wish our leaders to be just, righteous and wise, just as what King Solomon prayed for in Psalm 72? That will provide the perfect peace that we can all enjoy. Let us use this Psalm to pray for our leaders and trust God to put the right people in position.
PRAY:
Dear Father God, as we choose to walk with you in this intentional discipleship journey, may we draw close to you to do and say what is right and pleasing by character. Sometimes, our fallen human nature gets the better of us and we do not shine for you like we should. Correct us, oh Lord. We repent and surrender our wrongful deeds. Help us to make every wrong right. We pray in Jesus’ precious Name, Amen.
