”Mercy and truth preserve the king: And his throne is upholden by mercy.“
Proverbs 20:28
A beautiful word picture is employed in the passage to give an illustration which defines the presented idea. The words paint a scene of a king with guards flanking him. These guards are Mercy and Truth. They are shielding the king from external forces and are also keeping a vigil eye over his proceedings to verify his compliance with the authority entrusted to him from his (the seated king’s) Authority or empowering entity. In this manner, Mercy and Truth are preserving (or watching and keeping guard) over the king.
The lens pans out showing a larger picture with the king not only being blockaded by Mercy and Truth, now we can see the throne he is seated on is on a platform supported by robust pillars of Mercy (goodness, kindness, faithfulness).
The word picture is describing a fallible human ruler which has been entrusted with power and authority which is greater than himself, reinforced by Mercy and Truth, ensuring his position (and therefore his rule) is solid and secured because its foundation is Mercy and Mercy, along with Truth, are watching and guarding the king.
It is imperative to understand authority is entrusted to the person holding and wielding it. None of us humans are superior or inferior to another. The choices we make, the actions we take and the ideas we allow to indwell us will separate us from each other but those do not grant us the ability or the position to be or think one human is superior to another. The ones with authority have been granted the responsibility to enforce the laws and uphold the ideals of the entity supplying the authority. They must therefore rule well or be judged by the entity which empowered them. Mercy and Truth are the safeguards of such power or authority.