161. Princes have persecuted me without a cause. Such people ought to have known better; they should have had sympathy with one of their own rank. Moreover, if honor be banished from all other breasts it should remain in the bosom of kings, and honor forbids the persecution of the innocent. Princes are appointed to protect the innocent and avenge the oppressed, and it is a shame when they themselves become the assailants of the righteous. It was a sad case when the man of God found himself attacked by the judges of the earth, for eminent position added weight and venom to their enmity. It was well that the sufferer could truthfully assert that this persecution was without cause. He had not broken their laws, he had not injured them, he had not even desired to see them injured, he had not been an advocate of rebellion or anarchy, he had neither openly nor secretly opposed their power, and therefore, while this made their oppression the more inexcusable, it took away a part of its sting. But my heart standeth in awe of thy word. He might have been overcome by awe of the princes had it not been that a greater fear drove out the less, and he was swayed by awe of God’s Word. We are not likely to be disheartened by persecution, or driven by it into sin, if the Word of God continually has supreme power over our minds.
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