December 11 God the King
“Praises sing to God the King”
Pray
Sovereign Lord, in humility I bow before You, anxious not to offend You any more than I have already done. Yours is the glory and the majesty, the wisdom and the power, yet even as I bow I find You stooping to wash my feet. Now, my Sovereign is my Savior, and I dare to call You “Friend”. Amen.
Read – Psalm 145:1
“I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.”
Reflect
The people of Israel knew all about kings. God had warned them not to bother with kings, but they would not listen. Leaving behind the “judges” who had served them well, they envied other nations for their princes, and ended up with Saul. Now and then, Israel would be blessed with a good king, a Hezekiah or a Josiah or a David. But even these leaders were flawed and, with the notable exception of David, they did not seem to live long.
The people of Israel knew even more about foreign kings, the tyrants from Assyria or Babylon who had oppressed them for years. Even local rulers terrorized them; the kings of Edom or Moab were every bit as avaricious as Pharaoh. Later, educated Greeks still conquered with cruelty then extracted absolute obedience. Wherever they turned the people of Israel were overrun and overruled by kings.
Essentially, the Kingdom of God was no different. Like earthly fiefdoms its central tenet was power. An absolute king rules absolutely. God spoke, and a world came into being. He desired something, and it was done. If we do not grasp the sheer immensity of the power of God, we will not give Him the praise that is His due. And if we do not understand how God’s Son willingly gave up that power, taking the powerlessness of a child, then we will not love Him as we ought. Is it any wonder that the angels sang?
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