1 Kings 18:3

"The famine was severe in Samaria. And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household" — who, strange to say, "feared the LORD" — feared Him "greatly." The ways of the Lord are wonderful, and we are so little ready for them. The last place in this world where we would have looked for a servant of the Lord would have been the house of Ahab. Yet so it was. Do we not do well to enlarge our thoughts? We should take in the wonderful ways of God's wisdom, as well as of His goodness. God had a purpose there.

We might think badly of the man who was over Ahab's house, because he served such a master. So, as if to guard our minds, the Holy Spirit is careful to tell us: "Now Obadiah feared the LORD GREATLY." We may well, then, pause before we pass judgment on him... And the first act recorded of Obadiah is this: "when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water." It was a noble deed. Had Jezebel learned of it, it might have cost him his life.

"Obadiah feared the Lord greatly" (v. 3). This might seem enough for a faithful walk, for "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 9:10). But we are also told: "Fear the Lord, and turn away from evil" (Prov. 3:7). And again: "The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil" (Prov. 8:13). One may fear the Lord greatly, and yet dishonour Him by being joined to the world that rejects Him.

Only — for there is an "only" — Obadiah was dependent on Ahab, and that was evil. If Ahab was his lord, how could he refuse his master's orders? And how could his life show the very opposite of what his faith taught him?

Obadiah, the governor of Ahab's house, feared the Lord in the secret of his own spirit. But he was planted in a thoroughly unholy atmosphere... This hindered his service and testimony. He did what he did for the Lord in secret. He was afraid to act openly and firmly. Yet he did quite enough to show what he would have done in better soil... It was a most precious sign of a heart devoted to the Lord — a wonderful triumph of divine principle over the most unfavourable circumstances.

It is true that he tells Elijah about it himself, and speaks of his worthy service to the prophets. But without God's own true testimony about him, we might have thought it impossible. How could a man who "feared the Lord greatly" hold such a post in the house of a king who had abandoned God for idols? ... Obadiah is a picture of that large group who are truly Christians, yet hold positions of ease and influence in the world. They fool themselves that they can use their position to help the people of God.

It would be better to have Obadiah's care for God's people and his obedience to His word through the prophet, than to find fault with the servant rashly. Let us admire the grace that could keep the man in such a king's palace, just as it did Daniel when he was made "ruler over the whole province of Babylon."