And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put out their hand to strike the priests of the LORD. 18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.”
The sad defense of many SS officers after WWII was that they were simply following orders. Indeed, it was a dangerous thing to defy the Nazis. As we see here, it is dangerous to defy any evil ruler like King Saul, who made decisions based on worldly wisdom rather than God. It was the priests who defied his order to disobey the priests of the Lord that were brave. Doeg, however, had no defense. He seemed to relish the task of obeying King Saul and sinning against the Lord.
Just as the priests obeyed the Lord and paid with their lives, many in the global church today refuse to deny their Lord to save their skin. Sadly, there are also many “Doegs” who would gladly put Christians to death today because they think their god wants them to. It is one thing to say we would emulate the priests of the Lord, but it is another to do it. Only by faith in what Jesus Christ did will we be able to emulate his suffering. Let us plead with him for more faith so we can withstand the will to survive in sin.
Dear Lord, thank you for the call to stand up for Jesus and his gospel. We pray for those who are paying the ultimate price in the world today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church