Esther 6:10

Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, [and] take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.

Ver. 10. Then the king said to Haman] The king had no intent herein to ensnare Haman, or cross his humour, but God had a hand in it for the effecting of his own ends, which cannot but be ever exceeding good, since his will is not only recta, right but regula the rule.

Make haste, and take the apparel, and the horse, &c.] Here was no time left him of deliberation or liberty of contradiction; dispute he must not, but despatch what was given him in charge. Had he had but the least time, that, stepping out of the presence, he might have considered with himself or consulted with his friends, he would either have feigned himself sick, or found some other excuse, that he might not have done his enemy this honour. But God had so ordered it, and the king commanded it to be done forthwith; it was not, therefore, for Haman, vel responsare, vel repugnare, to chat or chaff, unless he would run the hazard of all; for, where the word of a king is, there is power; and who may say unto him, What dost thou?

And do even so to Mordecai the Jew] This word stabbed Haman to the heart, who had run many great hazards doubtless to domineer in his undeserved dignities; and now must perforce honour him whom he had hoped to have hanged; clothe him whom he hoped to have stripped; help him up to his horse, upon whose grave he hoped to have danced; prepare a triumph for him for whom he had prepared a tree; make proclamation before him as a crier, lead his horse as a lacquey, do all offices for him as a slave or underling; oh what a cut, what a cordolium was this to a man of his mettle and making! It was a wonder his heart burst not, as did Ahitophel's, for pride so swelleth the soul many times, that it breaketh the case, the body, I mean, and endeth the life; but this had been here to have saved the hangman a labour. But base spirits will buckle and fall down to rise, crouch and creep to mount, &c.

That sitteth at the king's gate] There you shall have him, and see that you mistake him not. Haman knew him well enough by his stiffness and stoutness, and wished him, of all the men in the world, out of the world.

Let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken] Perquam hoc durum est, sed ita lex scripta est, This is extremely hard, but so the law was written, saith the civil lawyer. This was a hard saying, and as hard meat to Haman's stomach, that would ill go down, but there was no help for it, himself had advised it, and must therefore speedily execute it. Lata negligentia dolus est, This ignored is grief. says the lawyer; remissness is a kind of perfidiousness. Excuses would have been construed for refusals, delays for denials, &c.