The king's command is supreme

*2*I say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him. *3*Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. *4*For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 
Ecclesiastes 8:2–4.

Who can say to the king, let alone God - “what are you doing?”! 
I think we forget that. We often question authority and the decisions of our leaders, yet what gives us any right to do so?

The verses above show that we should be obedient and honouring of an Earthly king - of the monarchy, government and those in authority - we should honour and respect them, but do we?

How often do you hear people bemoaning the current leaders? Grumbling about government? How often are our leaders scrutinised and found to be lacking?
Yes, leaders may let us down, those in authority may abuse their power or make poor decisions, but they are the ones who have been given the authority by Almighty God. They have been put in their position of power for purpose. We have no idea of the difficulty of governing and ruling, our leaders have to make big, difficult decisions and they do it to the best of their ability and knowledge. They will, at times, make mistakes, just like the rest of us do in our everyday lives. I don’t know why we place those in authority on a different level to ourselves - they are just as human as we are and we should honour and respect them, if for no other reason than, ‘because of God’s oath to him’. God has ordained those in leadership, therefore if we believe and trust in God, we should believe and trust in Him for those in authority. God has ordained their position, who are we to question, “what are you doing?” Some may seem like they are the most ungodly characters around, appear stupid or irresponsible, yet God has His plan. He has allowed them in that position for a time, so, even we disagree with our leaders, their policies or decisions, what benefit is it to moan about it? What good does it do to question, “What are you doing?” Instead, trust in Him, the ultimate King as He has all power and authority.

As God is the highest king, and, ‘the word of the king is supreme’ - Are you following what God has asked you to do?

Are you being obedient to His instructions in your life? The words of the king are supreme - That’s an interesting concept isn’t it? God’s word is supreme - it is unchanging, unchallengeable and is of the highest authority. I guess that ties in with the previous verse where it talks about honouring our leaders and being obedient. The kings word outweighs any other agenda. God gives us commands and words to follow - He is the supreme authority, so what do you do when He asks you to do something?

Often, when God asks me to do something I feel fearful and try to back out of it, but I need to live more with the recognition that His words are supreme, they are the ultimate authority, outweighing any kind of excuse or emotional response that I may have. My feelings are not supreme, fear is not supreme, worry, joy, sadness, - these things are not supreme, but the words of our King are supreme. They matter, they have significance and power. Recognising the supremacy of His words should help us to, ‘Keep the king’s command’.

In summary then, God is ultimate, He is control and even has authority over the leaders in this world. We have no right to question the supremacy of God’s words, works or wisdom. When God speaks, when God acts, we should trust completely in who He is. The truth is, He is not just a King, but also a gentle, loving father. Whatever He does, He does with purpose, whoever He places in positions of power, He does for purpose, whatever he speaks or commands you to do, He does for purpose.