Esther (Greek) 1:9-13: a reflection

9Also Vashti the queen made a banquet for the women in the palace where King Ahasuerus lived. 10Now on the seventh day, the king, being merry, told Haman, Bazan, Tharrha, Baraze, Zatholtha, Abataza, and Tharaba, the seven chamberlains, servants of King Ahasuerus, 11to bring in the queen to him, to enthrone her, and crown her with the diadem, and to show her to the princes, and her beauty to the nations, for she was beautiful. 12But queen Vashti refused to come with the chamberlains; so the king was grieved and angered. 13And he said to his friends, “This is what Vashti said. Therefore pronounce your legal judgment on this case.”

At a great feast, the king, merry with wine, commands that Queen Vashti be brought before his guests to display her beauty. She refuses. And the king, we are told, was grieved and angered; his mood turned in an instant from merriment to fury. He at once summons his advisers to pronounce judgment on the matter, ready to act on a decision made in the heat of his anger and his wounded pride.

Notice how quickly the king's mood turns, and how his anger drives him at once toward a rash decision. A moment before he was merry; now, crossed and his pride wounded, he is furious, and immediately he is ready to act, consulting others not to reconsider but to justify a judgment his anger has already reached. Anger and wounded pride are poor counselors, pressing us to act at once, in the heat of the moment, before the anger has cooled.

That is a caution worth heeding. When we are crossed, when our pride is wounded, anger rises and presses us to act at once, to make a decision in the heat of the moment that we may later regret. But decisions made in anger, driven by wounded pride, are rarely wise; the heat distorts our judgment. When you are angry and your pride is stung, be slow to act; do not make decisions in the heat of anger. Let the anger cool before you decide, lest you act rashly, as this king was ready to do, and regret it later. Wisdom waits for the heat to pass; do not let anger and wounded pride press you into a rash decision you will wish undone.

Lord, at his feast the king, merry with wine, turned in an instant to grief and fury when Vashti refused him, and at once summoned his advisers to justify a judgment his anger had already reached. Let that caution me. When I am crossed, when my pride is wounded, anger rises and presses me to act at once, to make a decision in the heat of the moment that I may later regret. But decisions made in anger, driven by wounded pride, are rarely wise; the heat distorts my judgment. When I am angry and my pride is stung, help me be slow to act, and not to make decisions in the heat of anger. Let the anger cool before I decide, lest I act rashly, as this king was ready to do, and regret it later. Wisdom waits for the heat to pass; keep me from letting anger and wounded pride press me into a rash decision I will wish undone. Give me a slow and steady heart, Lord.