September 26, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 28, 54, 99
Esther 5:1-14
Acts 18:12-28
Luke 3:15-22

II. Selections
Psalm 28:8
The LORD is the strength of his people;
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

Esther 5:14
Then [ Haman's] wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, "Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go with the king to the banquet in good spirits." This advice pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.

Acts 18:27
And when [ Apollo] wished to cross over to Achaia, the believers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who through grace had become believers ...

Luke 3:19-20
But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by [ John] because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done, added to them all by shutting up John in prison.

III. Meditation: Encouragement-good or not? ;

We appreciate encouragement,
not criticism or rebuke.

Mordecai's silent disapproval
was enough to sour Haman's day,
a day that till then had gone propitiously.
Only when Haman's friends advocated that
Mordecai be hanged could Haman be consoled.

Encouraging words for Haman, but ...
with dreadful import for Mordecai.
Herod accepted John's rebuke
in a spirit similar to Haman's
and threw John into prison.

Encouragement can be salutary, too.
Witness Apollo, who benefited greatly
from the encouragement of fellow believers.
In this case encouraging words for Apollo
smoothed the spreading of the gospel.

But no words encourage like the assurance
that you are the strength of your people.