1 Kings 18:7

Obadiah takes his orders from the apostate king. Elijah takes his directions from the Lord and moves and acts according to the commands of the Lord. Obadiah, though he may indeed fear the Lord, is not used in the service of the Lord, and gets no directions from the Lord. Ahab is his master, Ahab he has to serve, and from Ahab he takes his directions. So in this time of natural disaster he wastes his time on the trivial work of looking for grass for his master's animals.

Although the one was a high government official and the other a humble villager, Obadiah trembled before Elijah. He fell on his face and said, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?" Fellowship with God and obedience to His will give moral dignity to anyone... Obadiah lacked this. With all his honours and high salary, he felt that the man who stood before him in rough clothing was his superior. Otherwise, why would he address Elijah as "my lord"?

He had a higher regard for Elijah than Ahab did — in fact a too exaggerated regard, for Elijah was not his lord. Still, he knew that Elijah was a true prophet of God. Obadiah was trying to serve two masters: he knew he ought to serve the Lord, but Elijah considered Ahab to be Obadiah's master.

Obadiah knew the prophet. As if troubled at the meeting, he fell on his face. He showed no sign of gladness at seeing the Lord's faithful messenger — a man who also feared the Lord greatly and proved it by holy obedience. Fear seems to have taken hold of his soul instead, as if he expected a warning or a rebuke. Elijah, too, showed no pleasure in meeting one who had not bowed his knees to the idol Baal. Was this because Obadiah's company, and his failure to separate himself from the world, had destroyed his testimony?

Perhaps the awe-inspiring solemnity of Elijah's appearance and manner caused all this. Still, the thought forces itself on you: there ought to have been more holy openness between two servants of the Lord. Elijah too seems to keep this distance. "I am," he said; "go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here." Elijah felt he was the keeper of the Lord's secret — a secret this fellow servant of God knew nothing about.

He feared the Lord greatly, yet despite this he was in the service of Ahab's house and did not testify against its evil. He did not bear the reproach of Christ. He was not like Elijah, pursued and chased from country to country. He did not know what it was to be fed by the ravens or by the widow; that is to say, he lived little by faith, and knew little of the ways of God. He lived at ease in the world. Ahab was his lord. But who was Elijah's? The Lord. Oh, what a difference! Obadiah knew the good things of the earth; Elijah, the good things of heaven.

He feared the Lord, but was too timid to confess Him. He sympathised with the hunted prophets, but lacked the faith to identify himself with them in their sufferings. His kindness will no doubt be rewarded in the day of Christ. But God would have been better pleased if he had stood with His servants, instead of being content to support them from a distance.