“Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish”—Esther 4:1616Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. (Esther 4:16).
AT first Esther did not realize the terrible danger to which her people and she herself were exposed, but when Mordecai made it all clear to her she undertook to act in a manner that has excited the admiration of all who have pondered the record throughout the years. She knew she was really taking her life in her hands by going into the king’s presence uninvited, but realizing her responsibility to her people and with implicit confidence in the God whose name is not even mentioned in the book of Esther, she declared, “If I perish, I perish.” It was the spirit of Christ seen in this daughter of Israel—a spirit that should actuate all believers who are found at any time in perilous circumstances. The body may perish, but all is well for eternity for the one who trusts the living God.
“Come humble sinner, in whose breast
A thousand thoughts revolve.
Come, with your guilt and fear oppress’d,
And make this last resolve: —
I’ll go to Jesus, though my sin
Like mountains round me close:
I know His courts I’ll enter in.
Whatever may oppose.
Prostrate I’ll lie before His throne.
And there my guilt confess;
I’ll tell Him I’m a wretch undone
Without His sov’reign grace.
I can but perish if I go—
I am resolved to try;
For if I stay away, I know
I must forever die.”
—Jones.