These two verses present the dilemma of kingship. It should not be suggested that the Book of Mormon is against kingship. It is against the human abuse of the position of king. Alma declares that it is a good system as long as the person who is king is just. While Alma doesn’t define what he means by just, it is certain that he had a brass plate indicating that justice and Jehovah were inextricably linked. Therefore, one definition of a just king would be one who followed Jehovah’s laws.
Alma had personal experience with an unjust king. Although he had served that king as a priest in his court, he had been awakened to the unjust nature of King Noah. The experience with Abinadi altered everything about Alma’s future. It changed the way he understood scripture, it changed the way he understood kings, and it changed the way he understood the creation of a religious community. It was an experience so personally painful that he declined to become a king because of Noah’s bad example.