Julie
Esther and Mordecai succeed in saving the Jews and the Jews end up standing up for themselves and killing those that were out to destroy them. When we started this book I was reading the summary at the beginning and it explained that there are questions about the purpose of this book because there is no mention of God throughout. I hadn't mentioned it because I wanted to read through the book before I said anything. The closest that they come to even talking about faith or anything is that Esther and Mordecai fasted for three days as she decided how to handle things with the king. This might suggest that she was spending this time in prayer even though it doesn't directly come out and say that.
Singing praises to the Lord for all of the good works that he has done. Praising his name through song.
Michelle
I saw the same in the fasting as you. The preface in my bible for this book says there is not mention of God but that if you look closely you will see his fingerprints throughout Esther's story. When I read about the fasting I immediately thought they were praying as well. In the preface it also says the author is unknown, which made me wonder if there is a reason that God is not mentioned. Maybe at the time there was fear of mentioning God due to those in power, or we are meant to watch for his work even when we think he is not there. Because as we have learned, God is always with us, watching and working, even when we think otherwise. As we read about Esther, she was concerned for her people and as she won favor with the king, she was able to help them. She was one of many who were shown to the king so I could see how God would have a hand in bringing her to the front. In today's reading it kept saying that the Jews were not taking any plunder, only killing those that were against them. This is a change to what has happened before. As we read previously also, it seemed that king Xerxes allowed worship to God and that he asked for it in a previous situation, like he wanted all the help he could get I guess. The preface also references verse 4:14. It reminds me of some in past reading in which God has placed someone to do something and it will be done whether they do it or not, as he will find another to fulfill it if needed.
So I googled the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia and was brought to a site with a text discussing the book of Esther and something else came to mind while reading. This stood out when I read it earlier but I am not sure why I didn't comment on it before. It also might be God's hand in the situation. There is a point when king Xerxes is unable to sleep and it talks about what happened at that time. I thought about that being God as well. The other thing is that it never says that Esther and Mordecai meet up after she is taken to the palace, but that there is a go between passing communications between them. I don't know why but this seems significant and in the article I read it referenced the saying "where there is a will, there is a way". Which made me think about God's will being done, he will make it happen no matter the circumstances. It also references when Mordecai learned of the plot against the king and that with all the different languages in that empire at the time that the book doesn't share with you that Mordecai was fluent in all the languages of the day and so was able to interpret what was being said in order to share the information with the king. I didn't think of that being an issue, as it doesn't reference language much in the readings.
I got the same for the psalm. Praise the Lord for all he has done. Shout for joy and burst into song.
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