Esther 10:1-3

Here we have the last picture of this man Mordecai. It is a singularly fine one. Whatever may have been questionable in some of the methods he adopted with regard to Esther-and here we are not able to be dogmatic - it is evident that he was of fine character. Probably all the experiences of the goodness of God had brought him to finer life. Evidently he retained the favor of Ahasuerus, for his position was next to the king. This did not alienate him from his own people. He continued to seek their good, and to speak peace to them; and therefore was held in highest honor among them, as well as trusted where he exercised authority.

Perhaps there is: no severer test of greatness of soul than advancement in the favor of kings. Too often it has meant the undoing of men who, though poor or in disfavor in high places have remained true. The man who can pass to wealth and position among the great ones of the earth, and still maintain his integrity and his loyalty to his own kith and kin, is ever a great man, and the secrets of such greatness invariably are that the man's roots are in God.