The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 441

promise us this in the case of Obadiah. There are times when religious principle itself dictates that men should refuse to relinquish positions of peculiar dnnger nnd di.filcully; but 'l"l"hen fidelity to an earthly master is absolutely incompatible with fidelity to God, an upright spirit will not long hesitate. 3. God may have some great pu1'J)ose for Bis servant in such a case to fulfil. Obadinh'emission may have been to mitigate as far as possible t.he horrors of Lhe famine, to snve as he did the lives of the sons of the prophets (ver. 13) ; to exert, perhaps, some kind of restraining in.fluence over the conduct of the king. At nil events the presence of such a man in one of the high places of the land would be n standing proof that God had not utterly abandoned His people. Every situation in life has its grand cpportnnities ; when there is no possible way of turning it to good account we may well forsake it. II. His FEAR. " What have I sinned? " &c. Faithful as Obadiah was there was an element of timidity in his nature. He shrank from the 1isk the com~ission of the prophet imposed on him. His timidity has two aspects. 1. So far as it meant distrus·t of Ahab it was natural. He knew only too well his capricious and despotic temper, nnd could not rely either on his justice or his clemency. "The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel" (Prov. xii 10). "Let me not fall into the hands of man," &c. (2 Sam. xxiv. 14). 2. So far as it meant distrust of Elijah or of the protective providence of God it was wrong. Could he think that the prophet would abuse bis confidence, or that God would be unmindful of him, and aftw allowing him, for no fault of bis own, to be involved in danger, would leave him to his fate? This shows weakness, and wns unworthy of the character he bore. The best of men have their seasons of weakness, and fail sometimes under the pressnre of unwonted circumstances to maintain the very vu-tues for which they are most distinguished. The meek-spirited Moses is impetuous ; the saintly David falls a prey to grovelling passion; the brave Peter proves a coward. III. THE TRIUMPH OF HIS FIDELITY OVER HIS FEAR. The solemn asseveration of Elijah (ver. 15) rom;es the braver spirit in him, and he responds to the call and goes to meet Ahab. When there is true nobility of character in a man, a word, a flash of light upon the realities of the situation, will often be enough to move him to put forth all his strength and shake off the spell of meaner feeling that may for a, while have fallen upon hirn.-W. Ver. 21.-.A aoumn alternative. It must have been by special Divine direction that Elijah was mo,ecl thus to put the relative claims of God and of Baal to a, public test. The co=nnd to ,gather the priests and people together on Carmel was one that Ahab, defiant as he was, dared not resist. We may suppose these words to have been uttered just before the crisis of the tragedy, when the people were waiting in breathless silence and suspense upon the issue. Nothing is more impressive than a paUEe like this before some expected catastrophe. The prophet improves it by making one brief pointed appeal to the judgment and conscience of the people. " How long? '' &c. His voice of stern, yet sorrowful, rebuke must have struck deep into many hearts; but "they answered him not a word." "Halting be- tween two opinions '' was probably a true description of the mental condition of the great mae:s of the people. Some, no doubt, were blind devotees of the reigning idolatry ; others consented to its rites, and practised them through fear of the penalty of resistance, or in hope of some form of secular reward. But the greater part of them were just in this state of moral hesitancy, leaning sometimes to one side and sometimes to the other, swayed by the influences that happened to be strongest upon them at the time. It was the fatal defect of their national character, the sad heritage of earlier days-the "forty years' provocation in the wilderness." What hnvc we here but a true P.icture of religious indecision ? Learn from the prophet's remonstrance- I. TnE RESP0NSIDILI'.rY OF EVERY MAN AS REGARDS ms OWN RELIGIOUS OPINIONS, That the people are rebuked for '' halting between two" implies their power and obligation to decide. "Opinions," mentaljudgments, convictions (marg. "thoughts''), these are the root from. which the fruits of all religious feeling and action grow. Here CB. :ir.vm. 1-46.] THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS.