The Righteous Appeal
Dear Sovereign Redeemer and other friends,
In last week’s sermon, the following was quoted from Matthew Henry in relation to Queen Esther’s appeal to the king in Esther 8:
“Even when we have the utmost reason and justice on our side, and have the clearest cause to plead, yet it becomes us to speak to our superiors with humility and modesty, and all possible expressions of respect, and not to talk like demandants when we are supplicants… A soft answer turns away wrath (Proverbs 15:1), so soft askings obtain favor.”
All of us have God-given authorities (Ephesians 5-6, Romans 13, Hebrews 13). I encourage us to take the time to review this quote with our families and have a discussion on how to make righteous appeals. What does it look like for a child to appeal to parents, for us to appeal to work and government authorities, and to appeal to church authorities? You could get the family involved in role playing to demonstrate what this could look like and how to respond if the appeal is either not heard or still the same answer.
Your brother,
James