Proverbs 20:2 (ESV)
The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion;
whoever provokes him to anger forfeits his life.
Since we do not live in a monarchy society it is hard to imagine the truth of this proverb. In Solomon's day the King was Sovereign. He ruled. Sometimes in grace but mostly with an iron fist. Pity the poor man who angered the King!! For us to grasp the truth of the verse (and, despite the fact we don't have any king, the proverb is still truthful and practical), we could make our application in today's work place. The leader is not feared like a sovereign king but the leader still can carry terror and growl like a lion. When we do something to provoke the owner of the business, the coach of the team or the supervisor of the shift we can get a sense of the terror of the King. It is not necessarily a bad thing that Solomon is referring to. The king was to be feared. He was to be revered. Obviously the leader should not lead or rule in such a way that we can not respect him, but he is there to rule. When we provoke the righteous indignation of the leader we should see his terror. When we provoke him in such a way as to stir his anger we must realize we put our life into his hand. Poor leaders and ungodly leaders are not to have our respect. However, if we provoke them we, too, may be forfeiting our life. A good leader uses his "terror" correctly. A bad leader uses his "terror" wrongly. Either way, we suffer for it if we stir it up.
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