Esther 6:6-11 So Haman came in. And the king said to him, What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?… Haman's answer reveals the insatiableness of vanity. No sooner was honour mentioned than his heart cried, "Let me have it I Make me a king, though it be only for an hour; if without the power, yet with all the pomp and trappings." Will this man never have enough? Never; the food is so light and the appetite so strong that there must be a constant supply. Give him this, and to-morrow he will seek something more. The craving is a disease, an atrophy, a cancer. To enjoy honour and to be satisfied with it, a man must be healthy — that is, humble. Mark the strong delusion: "Now Haman thought in his heart." A man cannot have a worse guide than the thought of his heart, unless God has broken and newmade it. Twice within this single minute Haman was cheated by the thought of his heart. He thought others must esteem him as highly as he esteemed himself; but it is never the case that when a man has a lofty opinion of himself other men have an opinion equally flattering. And he thought that all was going well with him, that this sudden honour would only postpone his revenge for an hour, that by the time he returned from the queen's banquet he would be the happiest man in Persia; but he was just on the brink of perdition. The water is always smooth above a cataract. (A. M. Symington, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself? |
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