18:26 And say, Thus saith the king, Put this [fellow] in the prison, and feed him with bread of {r} affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace.
(r) Keep him in prison, and let him feel hunger and thirst.
18:26 This fellow, and c. - How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers, to be hated and ill treated, merely for being true to God: and just and kind to the souls of men! But that day will declare who is in the right, and who is in the wrong, when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted, and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors.
18:1-34 Jehoshaphat's alliance with Ahab. - This history we read in 1Ki 22. Abundant riches and honour give large opportunities of doing good, but they are attended with many snares and temptations. Men do not know much of the artifices of Satan and the deceitfulness of their own hearts, when they covet riches with the idea of being able to do good with them. What can hurt those whom God will protect? What can shelter those whom God will destroy? Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes, Ahab killed in his armour; for the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. We should be cautious of entangling ourselves in the worldly undertakings of evil men; and still more we should avoid engaging in their sinful projects. But, when they call upon him, God can and will bring his faithful people out of the difficulties and dangers into which they have sinfully run themselves. He has all hearts in his hand, so that he easily rescues them. Blessed is the man that putteth his trust in the Lord.
