| “He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” |
| —Isaiah 9:7 |
The Prophet Isaiah’s word promised a King of Kings and a Lord of Lords—forever! We sing about it, we say we believe it, and yet, we find it so very hard to live in the truth of it!
All of us are born with the compunction to create our own mini-kingdoms—places where we have control of our comforts, conveniences, desires, happiness, schedules, career paths, and more. Just notice how we respond the next time we have to wait in a line of Christmas shoppers! As confounded as we sometimes are about the condition of our world, Psalm 99:1 reminds us of God’s eternal place:
The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.
Jesus often spoke about His Kingdom, and set patterns for life in His Kingdom that turned on its head the methodologies of the natural world and turned on its head our natural inclinations controlled by our sinful bent. Here’s how author Paul Tripp explains it:
Jesus had to rescue us from our bondage to our little kingdoms of one and usher us into his kingdom of loving authority and forgiving grace. He came to destroy our self-oriented kingdoms and dethrone us as kings over our own lives. In violent grace he works to destroy every last shred of our allegiance to self-rule, and in rescuing grace he lovingly sets up his righteous rule in our hearts. In grace he patiently works with us until we finally understand that truly good rule in our lives is his rule. 1
I return to Psalm 99:5:
Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.
Here, we can clearly see our place. In modern jargon, “He’s God and I’m not.” Or, in the words of “The Lord’s Prayer”:
Your kingdom come, your will be done. —Matthew 6:10
This Season of Advent, as we hear the beautiful text of Handel’s Messiah, please allow those words to remind us of His place and ours. Let us determine, once again, to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ, as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords over all of our lives, and bow at His footstool in worship.
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| 1 Tripp, Paul David. Come, Let Us Adore Him: A Daily Advent Devotional. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017. p. 56. |
