Esther 8:3-4 And Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet… It requires earnest and vigorous efforts on the part of the pious to undo the evil wrought by the wicked, and left by them as a legacy to the world. How much thought and research have been expended in this way in answering the works of such men as Voltaire and Paine! The evil cannot be sufficiently deplored, but may it not, in the providence of God, be overruled and sanctified for good? In nature we have opposing forces at work, which issue in greater stability and permanence; and somewhat the same result is secured by the opposition and conflict of minds. By the strain to which the truth is subjected it is put to the test, and whilst what cannot be maintained falls away, all that is founded on reliable evidence is retained, and made on every side more perspicuous, as the pressure of a great need has stimulated the inventive genius of a people to provide appliances to meet it. So has one infidel book or wicked action occasioned the writing of treatises in defence of Divine revelation, or the performance of holy and generous deeds, and the evil of the former has been more than counteracted, and the result proved an absolute boon. In this direction also we may see the hand of God, and praise Him for His goodness. (T. McEwan.) Parallel Verses KJV: And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews. |
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