The King's Heart Is in the Hand of the Lord

When the sisters asked me to bring a meditation, the book of Esther and the life of Esther, Queen Esther, came to mind. The connection I make in my mind is the fact that in the book of Esther there is a dynamic in which politics and governmental events are flowing in a specific direction. But suddenly another dynamic also arises parallel to it, and that is the dynamic of the spirit and of prayer.

In fact, the entire book of Esther, which I invite you to read if you have not read it, is a chronicle of how prayer and spiritual processes prevail over human processes and governmental processes. And that is why we are here tonight, because we believe that God is more powerful than any direction men may want to impose upon the affairs of government.

Proverbs chapter 21, verse 1, came to mind as a theme verse for this meditation. It says here:

“…As the channels of water, so is the king’s heart in the hand of the Lord…” Hallelujah! Beiner’s heart is in the hand of God. The heart of the Tea Party… And the hearts of those who seem to be doing one thing but are actually doing something else—even their hearts are also in God’s hands for Him to direct.

And what verse 21 also says, in its second part, is that God turns the heart of the king, or of the authority, wherever He wishes; wherever He wishes, He turns it.

Again and again, the Bible emphasizes the fact that the course of nations, the course of history, the course of any moment in history is, first and ultimately, under the control of the God who is the King of history. And on that foundation, throughout history, in moments of urgency, in moments of need and crisis, Christians have bent their knees as a community to ask for God’s intervention. That is what we are doing tonight, and we believe that it has irresistible power.

Human beings scheme and try to carry out their own will, and there are always intrigues in places of power and government. And governments are almost always pursuing other interests; they are pursuing their own power, personal interests, or the interests of their party instead of pursuing the interests of justice, which is what is good and right.

And in the book of Esther we see this character named Haman, a politician who is pursuing his own power and personal things, using improper schemes. He respects neither life nor justice. He is pursuing his own interests and his own greatness; he does not care about the deaths of thousands of people. He only wants to expand his own power, and he tries to manipulate the instruments of power to move things in his direction.

And he manages to do so up to a point; he manages to manipulate the king himself into being obligated to implement evil and false policies against the Jews, to the point where perhaps it seems that there is no way out.

And then we see a person arise—Esther—whom the Lord has placed in Persia, in a strategic position, to carry out an intervention that God had already ordained from the beginning of time.

I believe that, in a sense, the Christian and Latino people have an Esther-like place, a role to play at this moment in the history of our larger people. It is a role of intercession; it is a role of making use of that energy, that blessing, that gift, that spirituality that Esther had and that God has given to us Hispanics, who pray and believe in an almighty God.

I definitely believe that we have to do all the things that Alfa and the other community agencies do, as well as the political efforts being made on behalf of the Latino community. We have to work hard, and we have to intervene at the political and governmental levels.

I firmly believe what that Bible verse says: God helps those who help themselves. It is not in the Bible. Do not go thinking that the pastor is illiterate. I love that other one that says, pray to God while swinging the hammer.

Despite those efforts on the human level, we know that this battle must also be fought, and perhaps above all, in the realm of the spirit world and spiritual warfare. That is why we must always place our hope in the God who changes the unjust hearts of all men, whatever party they belong to, because there is injustice in every party at this time.

Brothers and sisters, let us not place our hopes in a party, a man, or a woman. Our first and ultimate hope is in the almighty God, who truly can change hearts and the direction of political parties. I believe that we have to approach things in that way, and then, by doing so, we glorify God, and this moves the Lord to intervene on the historical level and do what He has to do.

And you know the outcome of the story: Esther sends word to the entire Hebrew nation to pray and fast for her while she herself also remains in fasting and prayer. It was a desperate situation. The king had issued an irreversible edict that the Jews were to be destroyed on a certain particular day.

Esther could not enter the king’s chamber, his inner chamber; she did not have an appointment, and although she was the king’s concubine and the principal queen, under the government’s rules she had no right to initiate contact with the king to request an intervention from him.

In other words, everything was closed off, tightly closed like the walls of Jericho. And perhaps we could say that at this time—in the same way, the matter has been at a standstill for many years because of both parties. President Bush wanted to pass something for immigration reform, but there was political resistance, and the Democrats, perhaps not wanting—not perhaps: they did not want him to get the credit for doing it—prevented the reform he wanted to pass from being enacted. And now the Democrats seem to want to do it, and President Obama seems sincerely committed, but the Republicans, in the madness, in the neurosis of the Tea Party—we could talk a great deal about that, but I am not going to go into that detail right now, about why it exists—are also opposing it and cutting off both their own hands by preventing these people, who could bring great renewal to the very values they support, from being welcomed.

Now we see the situation reversed: now it is the Democrats and President Obama who want to pass immigration reform, but many Republican conservatives want to prevent it, not recognizing that many of the Latino people they are resisting represent the same values they hold in the social sphere. Yet in a kind of neurosis, they are resisting something that would, in many ways, be for their own good.

It seems that everything is blocked right now. Brothers and sisters, the only one who can break this impasse is the almighty God, the God of history. We know the story: Esther prays, her maidservants pray, the Hebrew people pray, and the Lord takes all of that and leads and directs it in such a way that God’s people obtain a great victory, their lives are preserved, they get their way in a very great manner, and there is a great blessing for the Hebrew people.

Even today, in the twenty-first century, the Hebrews celebrate the day of Purim, the festival of Purim, precisely in remembrance of that great event and that great victory.

Let us believe in the God of history, place our hope in Him, and cry out to Him, and the Lord will bring justice, because I believe that this is from God and that this is the time for it to happen. Glory to the Lord.

Let us stand. I know that we are going to have a time of prayer right now. Allow me to begin the time. We ask, Lord, that You move the heart and move the levers of government and of society itself, of the different segments of society, Father—the unions that oppose it and the groups with different interests, Lord, the ethnic and cultural groups that oppose this immigration, Lord—and address the pettiness in the hearts of many as well, Father.

May You break those bonds, beloved Lord, and may an anointing of grace and mercy fall upon the places of power, holy Father, and may You move in a supernatural way so that a transformative change may take place, Father. In the name of Jesus, we cry out to You and declare that this is a spiritual process, Lord.

Right now we send waves of power and authority over Washington, over every legislature in this nation, Lord, over every pulpit, Father, and we ask You to move with power, Father, and bring about change.

We worship You, Lord; we bless You. Thank You. We declare Your lordship. To You be the glory, the honor, and the power, Father. And the people of God say, amen. Glory to the name of the Lord. Hallelujah!