Musar zu Könige I 18:11

And the third is that the holy people who are servants of God, may He be blessed, should not humble themselves to flesh and blood. So it is not fitting that the fear of flesh and blood be upon them except for the sake of the Heavens. As it is stated (Leviticus 25:55), “For it is to Me that the Israelites are servants” - [they are] My servants, and not the servants of servants. And it is stated (Exodus 19:6), “But you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The expression, priests, is [to mean] masters and officers; and like this [usage] is (II Samuel 8:18) “and David’s sons were priests.” And the whole nation is called a kingdom, from [the usage] (I Kings 18:10), “there is no nation or kingdom”; (Isaiah 60:12), “For the nation or the kingdom.” The explanation [of Exodus 19:6] is that you shall be a kingdom that is all officers, such that the yoke of flesh and blood shall not be upon you. And it is stated (Isaiah 51:12), “What ails you that you fear man who must die”; and it is [also] stated (Isaiah 51:7), “Fear not the insults of men.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Sotah 47b), “From the time when those who say to evil, good; and to good, evil,” proliferated, [they removed the yoke of the Heavens from upon themselves, and the yoke of flesh and blood was thrown upon them].” And King David, peace be upon him, said (Psalms 9:20-21). “Rise, O Lord; let not men have power; let the nations be judged in Your presence. Strike fear into them, O Lord; let the nations know they are only men. Selah.” We have learned from this that at a time when a man has power, he does not recognize that he is [only] a man. For dominion is not fitting for man, except for the sake of the Heavens.

And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said about the matter of talebearing (Niddah 61a) [that] even though it is forbidden to accept it and hate one’s fellow as a result, yet one should not belittle the matter. Rather he should guard himself and be concerned about the matter. They, may their memory be blessed, said (Yerushalmi Peah 1:1) [that] the generation of Saul had informers like Doeg and the Ziphites. And as a result, they went to war and fell. [But] the generation of Ahab did not have informers - as you know from the matter of the prophets that hid from Jezebel, as it is written (I Kings 18:22), “I am the only prophet of the Lord left.” Yet Obadiah hid a hundred prophets, but no one revealed that there was a prophet besides Elijah. And as a result of this, they would go to war and be victorious - even though Ahab worshipped idolatry.

And thus have we found in Midrash Shocher Tov and in Yerushalmi Peah 1:1, that in the days of Achav, even though they served idols, they were victorious in war because there was no lashon hara among them. The proof: They did not slander Ovadiah [to Achav] for hiding a hundred prophets in two caves, and no man of them revealed that there was a prophet in Israel aside from Eliyahu, as it is written (I Malachi 18:22): "I alone have been left as a prophet to the L-rd" — even though everyone knew of it. For they would give Ovadiah bread and water to Ovadiah to feed them with. And in the end of the days of Saul, there was slander among them as with Doeg and the Zifim. But there was no idolatry among them as there was in the days of Achav. And there were young children among them who were conversant in forty-nine facets of Torah, [and yet] they went to war and were defeated.