She did as she liked
And ruled with an iron hand
And when her husband was depressed
She claimed another’s land.
She had him stoned and slain
And boasted about his death
Then she said to her husband
You can add that to your wealth.
She found it rather strange
That a king could be depressed
And that something that he wanted
Could give him so much stress.
She even scared a prophet
And made him run and hide,
He had slain her false prophets
That her table had supplied.
She set a watch upon his life
He must die within a day
And when he heard the dreadful news
He took to his heels and ran away.
It still remains a mystery
After his victory at Mount Carmel
How the faith of this great prophet
To such staggering depths fell.
Such was the fear for this woman
She could frighten any man,
Even her husband seemed to fear her
Though he benefitted from her plan.
Her husband was very wicked
But she was incomparably worse,
To come up on her wrong side
Was to be afflicted with a curse.
She stirred the king to wickedness
The description the Bible used
And all who dared to oppose her
Their life they were sure to lose.
She even killed some of the prophets
And planned to exterminate more
Such that a hundred had to be hidden,
This queen was vexing sore.
But the end comes for all
Whether they be good or bad
And the end for this Old Testament queen
Turned out to be very sad.
It was prophesied how she would die
A very horrible death indeed,
How as her body lay in the street
The dogs would on it feed.
That’s exactly how she died
Confirming the prophecy in full,
All that was left after the dogs did eat
Were her feet, her palms and skull.
Let me hasten to establish
As in the Old so in the New,
We shall learn of a New Testament king
That like this queen had a similar view.
This king was no different
And ruled with an iron hand
He lived an adulterous life
With the wife of another man.
The thing that made it worse
Was that it was his brother’s wife
And the prophet of that time
Rebuked him for this strife.
He wanted to kill the prophet
But decided to have him imprisoned,
He feared what the people would do
If such to this prophet should happen.
It happened on his birthday
While watching his niece dance
He was so enthralled by her
That he took a reckless chance.
He impetuously offered her
Anything for which she wished,
She requested that he give to her
The prophet’s head on a dish.
This was her mother’s wish,
She wanted the prophet dead
And though the king showed sorrow
He called for the prophet’s head.
The prophet’s head was removed
And paraded on a platter,
You could well imagine at that time
The astonishment and the chatter.
It was this very same king
Before whom the Lord had stood
That mocked him and arrayed him
In royal kingly duds.
He had hoped to see a miracle
Because of the things he had heard
And he questioned him repeatedly
But the Lord answered not a word.
This king attacked the fledgling church
At its very early stage,
He was bent on wiping it out
In his anger and his rage.
He sought to kill the apostles
And succeeded in the case of one,
Another whom he had imprisoned
Escaped before the light of dawn.
So perplexed was he at this
That he left for another territory,
The embarrassment was so much
That it bruised his dignity.
One day while arrayed in royal apparel
He sat upon his throne
The people regaled him with praise
That should have been God’s alone.
They, speaking of this king
Said his was the voice of a god,
He made no attempt to stop them
But basked in the glory like a fraud.
Immediately he was struck
By the angel of the Lord,
According to the Word he was punished
For not giving the glory to God.
He was eaten of worms
Of such there was nothing to boast
And eventually according to the Word
He had given up the ghost.
The word to us all is to remember
We’re not a law unto ourselves,
God is the only sovereignty
Not an amulet on our shelves.
This life is not ours forever
Whether king or pauper we may be,
The lesson of these two should teach us
To live life accordingly.
Stewart Russell © April 2018
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