Psalms 31:1-4, 8:1, and 16:2

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in Esther. The Mind of the Spirit engaged the spirit of my mind in Esther 4:3:

Esther 4:3 And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Ahaseurus, maternal grandson of Cyrus, reigned in Iran (Persia, aka, Elam) during the days of Esther.* His palace was in Shushan.

Sushan is called Shusha today, and is located in southwestern Iran, near the border with Iraq, in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains, just north of the current city of Ahvaz, about 40 miles east of the Iran-Iraq border, and about 300 miles southwest of Tehran.

Some terrifying news had come from Shushan the Palace: a devious plot to destroy all the Jews was contrived by wicked Haman, who deceived the king Ahasueus to approve the plan (Esther 3). When news reached Mordecai, he rent his clothes, donned sackcloth, cast ashes upon his head, and walked through the city “with a loud and bitter cry.” All the Jews who heard the news were moved to “great mourning … and fasting, and weeping, and wailing,” with many laying in “sackcloth and ashes” (Esther 4:3). (Most reading this know the story; if not, read Esther, it’s a short book of only 10 chapters and very engaging.)

Along the still waters, I thought about Trump interrupting his plans for the weekend, rushing back to DC, and calling his national security principals (VP Vance, Secretary of War Hegseth, CIA Director Ratcliffe, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and the rest of the NSC (National Security Council) to convene in the White House Situation Room. Trump indicated it had to do with Iran, but we don’t know the particulars.

As I read this passage in Esther, I wondered what news from Iran had stirred such urgency, requiring immediate attention. Although this news likely originated in Tehran, 300+ miles northeast of the ancient location of Shushan the Palace, still, it seemed surreal that this is happening today, almost 2500 years later. News from this area of the globe again sets the world on edge.**

Let’s wrap our hearts in sackcloth of mourning, and say with Abraham, before the LORD, “I am but dust and ashes” (Genesis 8:27), and join Job, and abhor self, and repent before our LORD in this mortal flesh of dust and ashes (Job 42:6). We need not fear any but GOD, and perfecting holines in the fear of GOD, let us humbly emplore Him for extraordinary wisdom to be granted to our President.

In the valley, I heard my Saviour call me to embrace my cross: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). In our humility, let us plead with our LORD to foil any plot of every wicked “Haman” against God’s people (1 Peter 2:9-10).

At the table, He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with His grace. Goodness and mercy followed us into the harvest.

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live asap.

https://rumble.com/v7aamcw-shepherds-pasture.html

[*Persia is Perses, which bordered ancient Elam, the place where Daniel received the vision recorded in Daniel 8. He received this vision toward the end of the Babylonian Empire, after Nebuchadnezzar died and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Nabonidus. While he was fighting Cyrus in Elam, his son, Belshazzar, held the throne in Babylon as Second Ruler of the Empire. Daniel’s vision foretold the rise and fall of the Persian Empire. Cyrus the Persian and Darius the Mede established the Empire, represented by the ram (539 BC), and Alexander the Great ended it, represented by the he-goat (333 BC). Ahaseurus, maternal grandson of Cyrus, reigned in Shushan the Palace from 486 to 465 BC, during the history recorded in Esther. His son, Artaxerxes, reigned during the history recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah, 465-424 BC.]

[**While there is nothing to confirm, or even remotely substantiate it, a rumor has circulated saying Iran has acquired a nuke and threatened to deploy it against Israel. That would certainly be bad news out of Elam. It would also be the sort of news that would totally disrupt weekend plans, even if those plans included attendance at a beloved son’s wedding. We don’t know what news out of Iran created so much urgency, causing Trump’s sudden, dramatic change of plans, and the disruption of the plans of his entire National Security Council, but it can’t be some lame “new deal” presented by these Iraniacs. Pray, something is happening here.]