The Walk of Enoch

“I say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him. Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” – Ecclesiastes 8:2-4

A few days ago I was watching The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers when the scene of Gandalf and his companions entering the presence of King Théoden caught my attention. If you are not familiar with it, in this scene Théoden, the King of Rohan has an advisor named Grima Wormtongue. Wormtongue is in fact a servant of one of the antagonist of the story, Saruman, and is whispering lies into the ear of the king and in doing so is twisting the kings mind. As a result, the king seems to be severely aged and decrepit and is being possessed by Saruman himself as the scene portrays. What caught my attention however was how despite the situation and the fact that all of the soldiers and guards in Rohan seem to know exactly what is going on, none of them seem to disobey their king.

This caught my attention largely because I have recently been reading and studying the story of David. Specifically the years in which he was on the run from King Saul. As I was contemplating on these stories, I couldn’t help but wonder what it must have been like to pledge your fealty to David as your king, ride with him into battle, run from Saul and Israel with him, protecting him all the way. And then every time Saul, the source of your kings troubles and thus yours, is within your power to kill, David tells you no. Why? Because your king has gotten it into his head that Saul is anointed by God and therefore you aren’t allowed to touch him. I can image David’s men feeling frustrated with what must have seemed to them at the time as a foolish command. Nonetheless, they obeyed him and did not kill or touch Saul. (1 Sam. 24:1-7, 26:7-11)

Fast-forward a bit and we see how Saul has died by his own hands while fleeing from the battle with the philistines. (1 Sam. 31). A young Amalekite man arrives in the city of Ziklag to inform King David of King Saul’s death. He lies to David claiming that Saul had asked him to kill him and that he did as Saul had asked. He then shows to David the crown and bracelet that he took from Saul’s body as evidence, presumably to earn favor or a reward of some sort. Perhaps he thought he would be a hero if they thought he had struck down David’s enemy. Instead, David asked, “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” Then David ordered his men to kill the Amalekite for killing the LORD’s anointed. (2 Sam. 1:1-16) I mention this part of the story because I wish to point out how these soldiers were not just loyal and obedient to David regarding his command to not touch King Saul, but now they are also told to kill a man for having done so. They had to withhold violence against the man who caused them so much trouble and pain, and now that he is finally dead, they have to unleash violence on the man claiming responsibility for ending Saul’s reign of terror. These commands most have seemed so contrary to what they thought was right. And yet, they obeyed their King.

Sometimes kings make bad decisions or are just simply evil and corrupt, like Saul. Sometimes they are tricked into making wrong decisions, like Théoden. David, for all his shortcomings, was a righteous king. His commands seemed nonsensical at the time, but we know looking back that what he did was out of wisdom and knowledge acquired from intimacy with God. Sometimes a command born out of divine wisdom makes no sense in our sin-riddled minds and shortsighted perceptions. But David in doing this exemplified a truth about God that we need to take to heart. I know that today we live in a world where very few kings still exist. We now have congresses, parliaments, or some other form of group-led governments ruling most of the world. It is difficult for us to fully comprehend or appreciate what it is like to have a king who wields absolute authority over us. And yet, that is what we have in our God. Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is our Sovereign and our King. And we are expected to serve Him with obedience. We are to show Him fealty and allegiance. We are merely stewards of His kingdom, though we behave as if we are our own masters. Though He is patient and longsuffering, He will not tolerate this faithlessness forever. We have to learn how to submit to our King and stop behaving as if we can lay hands on God’s anointed and not suffer judgement for it. For Jesus is God’s anointed King. The title of Christ literally means ‘Anointed’!

So let us not approach Him foolishly as the Amalekite man did. Recognize Jesus is your King, the LORD’s Anointed, and obey His commands. Has God asked something of you that you struggle to understand the wisdom of? Don’t question Him, if He commands it then we must do as He has ordered. If it means that you will suffer more trouble and tribulations for obeying His voice, then listen to Him over the pleading of your flesh which is always leading down a carnal path. You are either obeying God or your own fleshly nature. We are told “If you love Me, keep My commandments” by the King Himself in John 14:15. But if we listen to our own desires, we are putting our own interests over His. We are showing that we love ourselves more than Jesus. And what we are doing is showing Him that we do not acknowledge Him as our King and that we do not care about what He wants.

“I say: keep the king’s command”. To obey the King of kings, we must sacrifice our own interest. Let this be a reminder and encouragement to obey the Lord, your Sovereign, no matter the cost, for He is a faithful and righteous King. Show your faith in Him by obeying His commands even when you don’t understand why He is commanding it.

Jesus, forgive us for our disobedience to Your commands and will. Lord, strengthen our hearts and will to resist the flesh and obey Your commands. Holy Spirit, convict our souls so that we will turn away from our rebellion and return to our King. Thank You King Jesus for Your many mercies as we struggle to remain faithful to You. Amen.