He tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes:
There was great mourning among the Jews:
Proverbs 25:19
Esther 4:4-7
Esther's maids and eunuchs came and told her:
And the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries to destroy the Jews:
Psalm 51:17
Esther 4:8-11
That he might show it to Esther and explain it to her:
Any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death:
2 Cor. 1:4
Esther 4:12-14
Do not think in your heart that you will escape:
If you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place:
But you and your father's house will perish:
Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
This principle applies to us also. God promotes us or puts in a place for a reason, and we need the courage and wisdom to see that reason and to walk in it.
"You have been wishing for another position where you could do something for Jesus: do not wish anything of the kind, but serve him where you are." (Spurgeon)
Proverbs 20:28
Esther 4:15-17
Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me: Matt 17:20
And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!