Matthew Henry Commentary Esther 6:4-11

"And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king`s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. And the king`s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor? Now Haman said in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself? And Haman said unto the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honor, let royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and on the head of which a crown royal is set: and let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king`s most noble princes, that they may array the man therewith whom the king delighteth to honor, and cause him to ride on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor. 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. Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and caused him to ride through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor." — Esther 6:4-11 (ASV)

See how people's pride deceives them. The deceitfulness of our own hearts appears in nothing more than in the conceit we have of ourselves and our own performances. Against this, we should constantly watch and pray.

Haman thought the king loved and valued no one but him, but he was deceived. We should suspect that the esteem which others profess for us is not as great as it seems, so that we may not think too well of ourselves or trust too much in others.

How Haman is struck when the king instructs him to honor Mordecai the Jew, the very man he hated most of all, whose ruin he was now plotting!