In March, 2012 the little book of Esther received national and international press coverage as Prime Minister Netanyahu presented a copy of Esther to President Obama, although the copy was probably not as ornate as the Scroll of Esther depicted above (National Post Article). Clearly the message is that God has protected the Jews from annihilation in the past and will do so in the future. In the book of Esther God providentially ordained a series of incredible (Providential) “coincidences” which countered Haman’s evil decree by allowing the Jews to defend themselves against attackers, a message that Netanyahu obviously wanted to convey to the world as it faces the potential of nuclear annihilation at the hands of it’s “Haman-like” enemies. Beloved, we who are living in the last of the last days (Hebews 1:2-note) are witness to some amazing historical events — I would encourage you to take some time to read through Esther and be once again reminded that our great and mighty God (How Great is Our God) is in complete control, not just of the events in the Middle East but of the ups and downs in each of our lives for He alone is Mighty to Save! As one has well said “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Given our human tendency to forget, have you set up a personal and/or family memorial that commemorates the great acts of God in your life? For example, instead of celebrating your physical birthday (athough you could still do that of course), in addition, you might choose to celebrate your spiritual birthday as a memorial or time of remembrance to the glory of God.
“We must all have noticed that our memories much more readily retain evil than good. The snatch of a profane song heard in childhood will remain with us to our graves—while many a holy thought leaves scarcely an impression upon the tablets of memory. We heard it—it is gone— it would be difficult to recall it. The draft that flows down the rivers of Sodom, one retentively collects, but the goodly cedars of Lebanon that are floated down the stream pass by unheeded. We may well say, “Forget not all His benefits,” (Ps 103:2-note) for, alas, while the multitude of God’s benefits is forgotten, if there is anything to murmur at, it is pretty sure to be treasured up as though it were a priceless relic to be carefully preserved! MAY THE LORD MEND OUR MEMORIES. As He makes us new men & women in Christ Jesus, may the Holy Spirit give to our memories the power to grip the right and true—and with a loose hand to let slip that which is evil & contrary to His rule. (AMEN!) “The Psalm is “To bring to remembrance.” (This phrase is not in verse 1 but is actually part of the inspired title of Psalm 38KJV) This seems to teach us that good things need to be kept alive in our memories, that we should often sit down, look back, retrace & turn over in our meditation things that are past, lest, at any time we should let any good thing sink into oblivion…(In) Psalm 38-note…David brought to his own remembrance, the first & foremost were—his past trials and his past deliverance – Come, my Brothers & Sisters, let me stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. Let me remind you of your past battles & victories, of your troubles & conflicts & your sweet cheer & safe preservation. It will do you good to remember them—such a remembrance will prevent your imagining that you have come into the land of ease & perfect rest. We may have our time of prosperity & say with David, “I shall never be moved. Lord, by Your favor, You have made my mountain to stand strong.” (Ps 30:6-7KJV-note) But soon adversity surprises us, as it suddenly overtook him & changed his note, “You did hide Your face & I was troubled.” (Ps 30:7KJV-note) This is not the place for us to have peace & rest! We are as yet at sea—the vessel has not reached the port. We are as yet in the wilderness—we have not come to the goodly land, even to Canaan. We are not yet out of gunshot of the devil. We are not yet beyond afflictions & trials and if, for awhile, the weather has been calm & the sun has been bright—and we poor pilgrims have been trudging on along green pastures & by the side of still waters—let us remember the giants with whom we fought in days long gone! Let us remember the hills of difficulty, the valleys of humiliation, the conflicts with Apollyon—for as it was at the first, so shall it always be till we come to the city which has foundations, whose Builder & Maker is God (Heb 11:10-note). Oh, you who are making for yourself a downy nest & building up a castle in the air, remember you do this without the permission of your God! No, you do it in the teeth of His warnings, for has not Jesus said, “In the world you shall have tribulation” (Jn 16:33)! And is it not written, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous” (Ps 34:19-note)? Bring to remembrance, then, your former struggles lest you begin to settle upon your lees & fancy that there is no more trial for you! Remember them, too, because they will refresh your memories with regard to the mercy of God & so will stir you up to gratitude. Oh, we thought when we were in trouble that if the Lord would guarantee us deliverance, He would never hear the last of it! We said to ourselves, “I will praise Him while I have any being if He brings me out of this strait and sets my feet, once again, in a large room.” (Ps 104:33-note, Job 36:16, Ps 31:7KJV-note) But our song was not quite as long as we expected & after having praised God a little the novelty of the mercy departed & our gratitude subsided. But, oh, my brothers & sisters have we not much cause to bless God? Have we not cause to bless Him that we have been delivered from the burden of guilt—a burden that once bowed us to the earth—that we have been saved in dire afflictions when it seemed as if we must be crushed, that tribulations have been averted which threatened us, or that we have been sustained under those which have actually come upon us? Oh, sing unto the LORD a new song for He has done wonderful things! (Ps 98:1-note) And weave that new song out of the remembrances of His past mercies when He appeared for His servants in the times of trouble & worked amazingly for them according to the counsels of His love! Blessed be the Name of the Lord at this time as we bring to remembrance trials past & mercies that have been received!”Brothers & sisters of the Most High God, may His Spirit put a new song of remembrance in our hearts, even giving us 10,000 reasons to remember and worship His Son’s Holy Name, JESUS. Amen
Now take a moment to worship and sing out this Matt Redman’s anthem of praise to His Holy Name…
10,000 REASONS
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore
preceptaustin
Adversity, Annihilation, Defense, Deliverance, Destruction, Esther, Feast of Purim, Genocide, Haman, Israel, Jews, Memorial, Mordecai, Netanyahu, Persia, Providence, Purim, Remember, Remembrance, Salvation, Sovereignty, Trial
ESTHER 8-10: GOD’S DELIVERANCE
REMEMBER GOD’S GREAT DELIVERANCES – Esther 8-10 Commentary (Verse by Verse) completes Preceptaustin’s commentary series on the fascinating book of Esther which ends with God’s great deliverance of Israel from complete annihilation called for by Haman’s evil edict (Es 3:13-note) & which is commemorated annually by the Jewish Feast of Purim (Es 9:23-28-notes) (Jewish Reference to Purim), a special time of remembrance of the greatness of God in rescuing (saving) His chosen people from otherwise certain extermination! Of course, in so doing, Jehovah preserved the line of the Messiah Who was to come from the Tribe of Judah.
In March, 2012 the little book of Esther received national and international press coverage as Prime Minister Netanyahu presented a copy of Esther to President Obama, although the copy was probably not as ornate as the Scroll of Esther depicted above (National Post Article). Clearly the message is that God has protected the Jews from annihilation in the past and will do so in the future. In the book of Esther God providentially ordained a series of incredible (Providential) “coincidences” which countered Haman’s evil decree by allowing the Jews to defend themselves against attackers, a message that Netanyahu obviously wanted to convey to the world as it faces the potential of nuclear annihilation at the hands of it’s “Haman-like” enemies. Beloved, we who are living in the last of the last days (Hebews 1:2-note) are witness to some amazing historical events — I would encourage you to take some time to read through Esther and be once again reminded that our great and mighty God (How Great is Our God) is in complete control, not just of the events in the Middle East but of the ups and downs in each of our lives for He alone is Mighty to Save! As one has well said “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Given our human tendency to forget, have you set up a personal and/or family memorial that commemorates the great acts of God in your life? For example, instead of celebrating your physical birthday (athough you could still do that of course), in addition, you might choose to celebrate your spiritual birthday as a memorial or time of remembrance to the glory of God.
C H SPURGEON reminds us (See full sermon – Things to be Remembered) of the vital role that times of remembrance have in each of our lives…
“We must all have noticed that our memories much more readily retain evil than good. The snatch of a profane song heard in childhood will remain with us to our graves—while many a holy thought leaves scarcely an impression upon the tablets of memory. We heard it—it is gone— it would be difficult to recall it. The draft that flows down the rivers of Sodom, one retentively collects, but the goodly cedars of Lebanon that are floated down the stream pass by unheeded. We may well say, “Forget not all His benefits,” (Ps 103:2-note) for, alas, while the multitude of God’s benefits is forgotten, if there is anything to murmur at, it is pretty sure to be treasured up as though it were a priceless relic to be carefully preserved! MAY THE LORD MEND OUR MEMORIES. As He makes us new men & women in Christ Jesus, may the Holy Spirit give to our memories the power to grip the right and true—and with a loose hand to let slip that which is evil & contrary to His rule. (AMEN!) “The Psalm is “To bring to remembrance.” (This phrase is not in verse 1 but is actually part of the inspired title of Psalm 38KJV) This seems to teach us that good things need to be kept alive in our memories, that we should often sit down, look back, retrace & turn over in our meditation things that are past, lest, at any time we should let any good thing sink into oblivion…(In) Psalm 38-note…David brought to his own remembrance, the first & foremost were—his past trials and his past deliverance – Come, my Brothers & Sisters, let me stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. Let me remind you of your past battles & victories, of your troubles & conflicts & your sweet cheer & safe preservation. It will do you good to remember them—such a remembrance will prevent your imagining that you have come into the land of ease & perfect rest. We may have our time of prosperity & say with David, “I shall never be moved. Lord, by Your favor, You have made my mountain to stand strong.” (Ps 30:6-7KJV-note) But soon adversity surprises us, as it suddenly overtook him & changed his note, “You did hide Your face & I was troubled.” (Ps 30:7KJV-note) This is not the place for us to have peace & rest! We are as yet at sea—the vessel has not reached the port. We are as yet in the wilderness—we have not come to the goodly land, even to Canaan. We are not yet out of gunshot of the devil. We are not yet beyond afflictions & trials and if, for awhile, the weather has been calm & the sun has been bright—and we poor pilgrims have been trudging on along green pastures & by the side of still waters—let us remember the giants with whom we fought in days long gone! Let us remember the hills of difficulty, the valleys of humiliation, the conflicts with Apollyon—for as it was at the first, so shall it always be till we come to the city which has foundations, whose Builder & Maker is God (Heb 11:10-note). Oh, you who are making for yourself a downy nest & building up a castle in the air, remember you do this without the permission of your God! No, you do it in the teeth of His warnings, for has not Jesus said, “In the world you shall have tribulation” (Jn 16:33)! And is it not written, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous” (Ps 34:19-note)? Bring to remembrance, then, your former struggles lest you begin to settle upon your lees & fancy that there is no more trial for you! Remember them, too, because they will refresh your memories with regard to the mercy of God & so will stir you up to gratitude. Oh, we thought when we were in trouble that if the Lord would guarantee us deliverance, He would never hear the last of it! We said to ourselves, “I will praise Him while I have any being if He brings me out of this strait and sets my feet, once again, in a large room.” (Ps 104:33-note, Job 36:16, Ps 31:7KJV-note) But our song was not quite as long as we expected & after having praised God a little the novelty of the mercy departed & our gratitude subsided. But, oh, my brothers & sisters have we not much cause to bless God? Have we not cause to bless Him that we have been delivered from the burden of guilt—a burden that once bowed us to the earth—that we have been saved in dire afflictions when it seemed as if we must be crushed, that tribulations have been averted which threatened us, or that we have been sustained under those which have actually come upon us? Oh, sing unto the LORD a new song for He has done wonderful things! (Ps 98:1-note) And weave that new song out of the remembrances of His past mercies when He appeared for His servants in the times of trouble & worked amazingly for them according to the counsels of His love! Blessed be the Name of the Lord at this time as we bring to remembrance trials past & mercies that have been received!”Brothers & sisters of the Most High God, may His Spirit put a new song of remembrance in our hearts, even giving us 10,000 reasons to remember and worship His Son’s Holy Name, JESUS. Amen
Now take a moment to worship and sing out this Matt Redman’s anthem of praise to His Holy Name…
10,000 REASONS
Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore
Play the great new song 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman
Here is the completed commentary on the Book of Esther:
Esther 1-2 Commentary on Preceptaustin.org
Esther 3-4 Commentary on Preceptaustin.org
Esther 5-7 Commentary on Preceptaustin.org
Esther 8-10 Commentary on Preceptaustin.org
Sermon by C H Spurgeon: Things to Be Remembered
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