Not to be redundant or anything, but I am kind of obsessed with King Lamoni and all righteous kings for that matter. For example, one of the things I admire most about George Washington is that he refused to be king. I think it would be safe to say that he probably would not have abused his power, but he understood man's nature enough that he sought to figure out a way where man would be in check of his ambition rather than being completely subject to giving in to his ambitions. That said, George Washington was one awesome guy, though we know that it was in God's plan to have a free nation.
As I was reading Alma 18 in the Book of Mormon the other night, I came across a few verses that really stuck out to me and taught me attributes of a good king and more importantly, the hope we can have when Christ establishes His kingdom here during the millennium. Verse one reads, "And it came to pass that king Lamoni caused that his servants should stand forth and testify to all the things which they had seen concerning the matter." The next verse is their testimony and his acceptance of what they said.
As I read this, I realized how remarkable it was that a king during a time where so many people were so wicked, was good enough to listen to the "lowest of people." And it was not just for show, as he truly trusted their testimonies and was humble enough to really "learn" what they had to say (verse 2).
There is obviously a trusting relationship between the king and his servants. They know that they can speak and not be condemned and he knows that he can trust them. I find this to be hopeful as we live in a time where people are persecuted on so many different levels by people who profess to be their leaders. But there is not this open communication or respect on either of the parties parts; common people are subject to their leaders just because they have to.
This is what makes me so excited about the gospel and about how Christ will reign as king in the millennium. We can have a real relationship with Christ and Heavenly Father as we pray and listen to the guidance we receive. We can be honest and repent and only fear when we are not doing those things. We also can become servants of our Heavenly Father and live a life so that when we meet our Savior, he will learn and believe our testimonies of the things that we did and felt and thought.
One more point I would like to make is how in verse thirteen, the servants end up calling the prophet Ammon their great king. Although we are not to call our prophet and leaders kings, we should revere them and trust what they say. We should have an attitude of learning from them and experimenting on their words so that we are as prepared as possible for when we meet our true king, Jesus Christ.
Interesting to see what the prophet Samuel had to say about kings (he thought it was a bad, pagan idea). Of course, the kings that he hauled in were Saul and David, followed by Solomon. Not exactly righteous (and let's not even get into King Ahab).
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