For such a time as this (Esther’s Song)

Until I met and became friends with Linda Hardy, I’d never heard of Marty Goetz. But once she told me about his music- the psalms put to the music in his head, I listened to many of them, often more than a few times.

One day, while discussing our mutual vocations, I told Linda that I was working on the story of Esther. Later that day she texted me this glorious song by Marty and his daughter Misha. Scroll back up and listen to Marty and Misha sing, For Such a Time as This.

I’ve listened to it at least twenty times.

And checked out his online newsletter.

Here is a snippet from his latest.

“Jenny and I are returning to Nashville, TN from Austin, TX after witnessing, along with family and friends, the ‘Brit Milah’—covenant of circumcision—performed on the newest member of our ‘tribe,’ Samuel Andrew Hoyt.’

Everyone gathered to join in this ‘mitzvah’—this good and godly blessing—was blessed to be a part of it. (Everyone except Samuel, that is!) Our precious daughter, Misha and her amazing husband, Joshua, stood close by the ‘mohel’—the man appointed to perform the ritual—as Caleb, now ‘promoted’ to ‘big brother’ sang over and comforted his new, little sibling.

We were ‘kvelling’—swelling with pride to be Samuel’s grandparents—as well as agonizing over his plaintive pleas for it all to stop; or at least that’s how I heard it! (Grateful are we all for a skilled surgeon instead of a flint knife, used by Abraham back in the days when this all began.)”

I can hear the joy, love and gratitude for life, family and his Lord bursting out of Marty’s words, can’t you?

The title of the song is a direct quote from The Book of Esther.

‘These words of Esther were reported to Mordecai, who sent back the following reply, ‘Do not suppose that, because you are in the king’s palace, you are going to be the one Jew to escape. No; if you persist in remaining silent at such a time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but both you and the House of your father will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to the throne for just such a time as this.’

The Book of Esther

This past Sunday, while praying the Dvivine Office, I was- to put it mildly- thrilled to find her in the daily office readings.

“It was in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus whose empire stretched from India to Ethiopia and comprised one hundred and twenty-seven provinces….”

How many times have I read these words mindlessly?

Never once stopping to ask myself any of the hundreds of questions that filled my mind when I began writing The Reluctant Queen.

Never stopping to consider that woman, Esther…to wonder about the miracle wrought through her.

But after my year-long immersion in the ancient Persian kingdom and the Babylonian exile while writing Esther’s story, no longer are they words on a page. Instead, the names of these people have heft and weight. Their struggles vary only superficially from our own. The hope and consolation from those simple six words: For just such a time as this is not imagined.

This current darkness, that at times is so oppressive and feels so heavy will not win. His two-edged sword of Truth will cut through the lies and hypocrisies. The Book of Esther, just like all these Bible “stories” are not myths.

Rather they are a call, opportunity– even a command.

The Plans I have for you-Jeremiah.

This one below was the first of Marty and his daughter Misha’s songs I heard.

Enjoy!