Esther 5:5

It must have puzzled the king that such a request came from Esther. But she made the petition because she wanted Haman present when she uncovered the plot to the king. And the king urged haste upon Haman. He was hurrying to his doom.

He had to go to the banquet at once. He probably went with some ray of hope that Esther's invitation would help settle his problem with Mordecai. He did not know that Esther was a Jewess and also related to Mordecai.

God gave her wisdom. She does not at once bring out what was such a heavy burden on her heart. "Whoever believes will not be in haste." The unseen God who was the object of her trust enabled her soul to wait. She asks not only the king to the banquet, but the king and Haman. How constantly this is the case. So with the Lord when He gives Judas the piece of bread even before that terrible betrayal which led to the cross. Little did Haman know what the God who did not appear was preparing for him.

Among the kings of the East, it was the custom to bring requests at a banquet, where the king granted them easily.

But as long as the Enemy is powerful, the prudence of a serpent must go together with the simplicity of a dove. Esther postpones her request to a later time and invites the king and Haman to her feast. In this way she gives the king the occasion to confirm his promise. Now a confirmed promise, one that bound the king alone, could not be cancelled.

She does not ask for half the kingdom. She does not ask at once for the head of the great Amalekite. She asks that the king and Haman come to a banquet of wine that she had prepared for them. Strange indeed! ... It was the way of leading the great adversary onward to the full ripening of his rebellion. It brought him to that great height of pride and self-satisfaction from which the hand of God had prepared from the beginning to cast him down.

For judgment to fall on Haman, his pride and hatred must reach their full measure. He must also stand in the presence of the race he wants to wipe out — the race whose defence God Himself has taken up. Esther's first meal only feeds his pride. ... What Satan offers people to draw them in is always like this. Once they have it, as Haman had the satisfaction of his pride, it is worth nothing to them until some new craving is fed.

But we do well to consider how Esther was led to put off the request that filled her heart. Nature would have spread it before the king at once, since her charm had moved him so deeply. And what a trial even a day's delay must have been to the Jews, and perhaps to her cousin too! But the Unseen was guiding in secret. He would use that dangerous-looking delay to work for her and for all, and for His own deep and good purposes.