2 Kings 6:8-12
"8 Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.” 10 And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice.
11 And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” 12 And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”"
There are times when the Lord delights in demonstrating His sovereignty - here is an ex- cellent instance - and in displaying His easy superiority over His foes. It must have been un- nerving for the king of Syria to be subjected to this kind of supernatural offensive. It mad- dened him, no one likes his enemy to get the better of him, least of all, an unseen enemy and he was determined to requite Elisha dearly for being the mouthpiece of his God, There are two things to be said about this. The first is, people should not be 'taken in' by this almost in- variable tendency to make a scapegoat of the Lord's servant and make him the butt of all their venomous rage, for this is simply clouding the real issue. It is God himself they are really op- posing; but it is too uncomfortable to admit this even to oneself in the earlier stages of rebel- lion against Him, and consequently a good deal of self-deception comes into play. It is very discomfiting, however, to have this pointed out to us. The second thing is that there is another alternative to maddened rage at God's dealings with us. It is to bow humbly before Him, ac- knowledging His Lordship and our own sinfulness. And when the rebel lays down his arms in surrender, no king could be so merciful and royally generous in His pardon and bounty as the living Lord of the Scriptures.