Even kings have limits on their authority.
Uzziah began his reign at the age of sixteen. His father, Amaziah, had been killed by a group of conspirators (2 Chronicles 25:27-28).
His reign was incredibly successful. He won battles, fortified cities, and built innovative weapons to defend his kingdom (2 Chronicles 26:1-15). But at the height of his power, he discovered his limitations by crossing a line:
When he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
2 Chronicles 26:16-19
And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, that were valiant men:
And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God.
Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar.
Like Moses’s sister Miriam, who had been temporarily struck with leprosy when she attempted to usurp the prophet’s authority (Numbers 12), and like Saul, who lost the Lord’s support when he offered a burnt offering instead of waiting for the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 13), Uzziah experienced severe consequences when he overstepped his authority. As Moses admonished the children of Israel before they entered the promised land, God expected even their kings to recognize the limits of their authority. Each king was to study God’s law, “that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel” (Deuteronomy 17:20).
The Book of Mormon tells a story of a king recognizing such boundaries. When Alma and his people arrived in the land of Zarahemla, King Mosiah was impressed with the church that Alma had established among his people. Mosiah “granted unto Alma that he might establish churches throughout all the land of Zarahemla; and gave him power to ordain priests and teachers over every church” (Mosiah 25:19). When problems arose, Alma attempted to escalate to the king, bringing some errant church members before him to be judged. But Mosiah wisely recognized that Alma was dealing with an ecclesiastical problem, not a legal one. He recused himself, saying, “Behold, I judge them not; therefore I deliver them into thy hands to be judged” (Mosiah 26:12). He subsequently handled a related civil problem himself by forbidding persecution of church members by unbelievers (Mosiah 27:1-2).
Alma’s son would later write, “Why should I desire more than to perform the work to which I have been called?” (Alma 29:6).
Success can be exhilarating, and the exhilaration can go to our heads. Like Uzziah, our hearts can easily be “lifted up to [our] destruction.” The remedy is to recognize and respect boundaries. Kings don’t burn incense in the temple; priests do. We need to stay in our lanes, recognize our own limitations, and allow others to fulfill their responsibilities.
Today I will do my duty and support others in doing theirs. I’ll be careful not to overstep and not to let success blind me to the boundaries which God has provided for my safety.
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