Pleasing the King

Sir Leonard Wood once visited the King of France and the King was so pleased with him he was invited for dinner the next day.

Sir Leonard went to the palace and the King meeting him in one of the halls, said, “Why, Sir Leonard, I did not expect to see you. How is it that you are here?”

“Did not your majesty invite me to dine with you?” said the astonished guest.

“Yes,” replied the King, “but you did not answer my invitation.”

Then it was that Sir Leonard Wood uttered one of the choicest sentences of his life. He replied, “A king’s invitation is never to be answered, but to be obeyed.”

I’ve no date for this incident except that Sir Leonard Wood lived from 1860-1927. More than one hundred years later, it becomes increasingly difficult to find this respect and response to those in authority.

In the past few months in our city, we’ve had cases of people swarming policemen. The newspapers are filled with the usual gripes, insinuations, and hatred expressed toward our leaders. Children sass their parents and teachers. Youth rebel against everything and everyone. Every time I go out I see flagrant traffic violations as if traffic laws do not exist. Of course there are exceptions, thank God. Otherwise we would be living in anarchy.

As I read Psalm 25:12-14 this morning, it outlines what seems to me as the biggest reason behind today’s lack of respect for authority. Those verses say, “Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.”

People do not fear God. Moreover, they don’t even think He exists. Lack of respect for Him means that ‘I will do whatever I please’ has become the prevailing attitude. This lack of godly fear is not true of only us mere peons; it is also true of those in authority. When politicians, policemen and others who have social and political power do not answer to any higher power than themselves, we are stuck with their self-centered focus too. This makes respect for them difficult, and leaves us with few people to look to as reliable and consistent authority figures. Each person becomes more and more inclined to do whatever pleases them, regardless of the wants or needs of those around them.

The psalmist knew that fearing God, which is not fear-terror as much as it is fear-respect, has a promise and blessings connected to it. When a person is respected, people listen to and hear them, even obey them like Sir Leonard Wood obeyed—instantly and without question. When a person is respected, they themselves are more inclined to share themselves and their assets with those who look up to them. It is about relationship, not power.

These verses say this is certainly true in relation to God. We respect Him, but He gives back. He will teach those who fear Him and I want God as my teacher. Who knows more than He does? Who is better able to help me apply that knowledge?

God will also ensure that if I fear Him, I will prosper and so will my descendants. I want that too. He will share His secrets with me and give me an understanding of His dealings with me, another plus for me.

Oh, I know that all of this is incomplete. In life, as my devotional reading says, there are many perplexities. As J. C. Philpot writes, “(My) path is very dark, very intricate, very perplexed. I cannot see the hand of God in the trial that is now resting upon me. I cannot believe that it will work together for my good. . . . But the time will come, when this dark path in which I am now walking shall be seen full of radiancy and light, when I will prove the truth of these words, ‘He brought the blind by a way that they knew not.’ When I know God to be infinitely wise, that He cannot err, that all His dealings must be stamped with His own eternal wisdom, I am silenced, I hold my peace, I have nothing to say.”

This silence and holding of my tongue must also extend to those who do things that I do not like, including politicians, policemen, the guy in that other car on the freeway, or the blaspheming youngsters on the street corner. God is God, and no matter what comes down around me, His hand can allow it and His hand can stop it. I know that He is wise and good even when I cannot understand His covenant or His dealings with us humans.

My role in this messy world is not to answer back to God, or fight against those who do what doesn’t fit with my comfort level, or leap into anything without first simply responding to the Lord’s invitation and then doing whatever He asks of me.