The Glory of the King

It would have been rare in ancient times, or even today, to have a king or ruler of a nation proclaiming the greatness, the goodness and the glory of another.  In our fallen condition, we tend to have very high thoughts/opinions of ourselves and very low thoughts of those in authority, particularly of God, whom many reject as the ultimate authority in their lives.

However, in the Old Testament book of Psalms, we have the greatest of all the kings of Israel, King David, proclaiming the exceeding greatness of his King, the eternal God who had set David as king over the nation of Israel. This King would actually come into this world as a descendent of David 900 years after David’s reign in the form of a man, namely the man Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1) (Luke 1:32-33).  Jesus, God the Son, came as David’s ultimate savior from the judgement of God, as well as of all who would believe and trust in Him as their savior.

The Bible tells us that David was acknowledged by God as a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). The reference to heart in the Bible is associated with our deepest thoughts, motivations, affections and desires. Thus, this statement likely referred to God’s recognition of David’s all consuming passion for intimacy with God; his heartfelt obsession with knowing and loving and being loved by God, and his desire to please and honor and glorify God as the object of His deepest love and the source of His greatest joy; all of which should characterize the heart of those who have submitted their lives to Jesus as Lord and King.

Throughout the Psalms we have David presenting a vision of the greatness, the goodness and the glory of God, the King to whom He had given his heartfelt allegiance, obedience and trust.

We see King David’s great passion for intimacy with God in Psalm 27:4 where he proclaims, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord  All the days of my life,  To behold the^]beauty of the Lord,  And to inquire (of Him) in His temple”.

In Psalm 84, King David acknowledges the glory and delight of just being in God’s gracious presence, going so far as to proclaim in verse 10 that he would rather be the lowest servant in the Kingdom of God rather that an honored guest in this world of sin.

In Psalm 63 King David helps us further understand his great passion for God when he writes in verse 1 of his longing for God in the midst of a world that offers nothing that will satisfy the deepest needs and desires of his heart, despite being a rich and powerful king. He proclaims in verse 3 that God’s steadfast love is better than life, more valuable, more desirable than anyone or anything else in creation.

David understood that a life submitted to, shaped, ordered and governed by the loving kindness of God was better than a king’s life, better than the life of the rich and famous of any age of human history, better than a life of health, wealth and leisure, better than a life of marital bliss and career success.  It is the life Moses was looking forward to when He rejected the throne of Egypt, choosing rather to suffer with the people of God in the wilderness (Hebrews 11:24-26).

The Apostle Paul was a rich and powerful Jewish religious leader who was obsessed with persecuting Christians when Jesus dramatically called him to serve Him (Acts 26:12-16), wherein Paul lost everything he previously valued and became one of the persecuted. Yet he writes in Philippians 3:7-8, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”

King David’s most exhaustive exposition of God’s glory, of His worthiness to be loved, trusted and obeyed as the sovereign ruler of our life, is found in Psalm 145.  In it, David proclaims both the majesty of God’s Kingdom and the glory – the greatness, magnificence, beauty and splendor of its King.

We are right to ask, even must ask, how King David came to such a personal knowledge of the glory of God such that he could proclaim the goodness, the greatness and the glory of God’s grace in such unequivocal terms?  Well, it appears from Psalm 19 that he came to know the infinitely glorious God who created Him, loved him and to whom he was accountable through the same means all men and women are responsible to come to know Him; namely through the glory of His creation (Psalm 19:1-6), and through God’s gracious self- revelation of Himself in His law – His written word (Psalm 19:7-11).  And we are told in Romans 1:18-22 that this knowledge is inherent in and available to all men and women, and that we are all without excuse and subject to His judgment if we fail to come to know and submit to Him as our infinitely glorious King.

Over the past two thousand years we have been given a more certain revelation and clear exposition of the glory of God and His infinite worthiness to be known, loved, trusted and obeyed as our King; and that is in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:16-18) (John 1:14) as He is revealed to us in the New Testament.

In the New Testament we have revealed to us Jesus’ unrivaled worthiness to be known, loved, desired, trusted and obeyed above all earthly kings and rulers, including those of us who are inclined to see ourselves as the sovereign rulers of our own lives.

Therefore, I would implore you to seek Him – entrust your life to Him – draw near to Him in faith today.  In Jesus Christ you will find a King who has conquered all that would separate you from His lovingkindness, who will fully forgive your rebellion against Him, and who is fully inclined, fully committed and fully capable of making you exceedingly and abundantly happy in Him and in His Kingdom forever.

Grace and Peace ×