The Feast of Purim Instituted (Esther 9: 20 - 22)

Then Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the king, both near and far obliging them to celebrate the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and the fifteenth day of the same month annually. This is because on these days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and rejoicing and sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

This is in the nature of God. For important days and for important events in the lives of God's people God desires that we remember these days and events because they lead back to the love of God for those who place their trust in him. When we were previously studying the prayers of David, one of the outstanding characteristics of his prayers was repeating back to God the work and favor God had already given him and the nation. This pleases God just as a child's remembering pleases their parents. It is a demonstration of God's faithfulness.

Daily Prayer: Lord, you are a God of grace and mercy. Grace for giving us those things that I do not deserve, but need and mercy for keeping me from the other harm I seem to employ. Thank you for caring more for me than we can care for myself. I sometimes lose faith, but you are faithful in all of your ways and I desire to give my thanks. In your holy name I pray Amen.