Gospel Reflections #978: There is the True and Greater Ruler

1 Samuel 22:17 ‘He ordered the guards standing by him, “Go and kill the priests of the Lord. They have sided with David and, though they knew he was a fugitive, they did not inform me.”But the king’s servants would not lay a hand on the priests of the Lord to kill them.’

This is a deeply significant scene depicting King Saul’s madness and the conscientious refusal of those who feared God.

King Saul orders the guards standing by him to execute Ahimelech the priest—whom he (mistakenly) believed had aided his rival David—and his family (the priests of the Lord).

This goes beyond a mere conflict between human beings; it demonstrates that Saul has begun to openly rebel against God.

It depicts how Saul’s own obsession with the throne has completely overridden his fear of God.

Furthermore, the latter part of this verse records that, despite it being the king’s command, the guards refused to carry it out.

They feared the invisible God more than the king, the most powerful ruler on earth.

This contains the lesson that ‘the fear of God is the only deterrent against unjust commands’.

In other words, this passage is an episode that warns us of the attitude those who truly fear God should adopt when ‘obedience to human rulers’ conflicts with ‘obedience to God’, and of how cruel a ruler who has forgotten God can become.

We, too, will ultimately be faced with such a choice.

We should strive to have a faith in which our trust in and obedience to God outweigh the fear, anxiety and tension we face in the moment.

We cannot do this in our own strength, but God responds with love to our requests at all times.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.