God’s Word equips us to prevail even over those in authority over us. This is so because the Author of the Word is in authority over all. Here we learn that patience and forbearance do more than overpower a ruler; they persuade him. If we show self-control when someone deliberately angers us, and we speak soft but true and fitting words, it often breaks the hardest resistance. That gentleness, which is a fruit of God’s Holy Spirit, make our cause and us great (2 Samuel 22:36; Psalm 18:35), because the grace of God can only effectually be used in the cause of God. By gentleness we show that neither our cause nor we are threatening tyrants, but rather servants of salvation.
15 With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.