We have a hard time understanding what it means that God is King.
We think of kings and kingdoms in terms of the fancily-adorned and often-photographed queens and princes who have positions in the world today. These royal persons often have merely a ceremonial function, opening public buildings and putting their rubber stamp on documents, but not possessing a true authority.
Yet Scripture speaks repeatedly about the reality of the LORD’s kingship. And God has a position of truly universal power and effective dominion.
That is what Psalm 145 celebrates: God as the Great King, whose heavenly rule is glorious. Israel had her earthly kings, of course, those men in David’s line who were chosen to rule and protect the nation. However, these were only weak and earthly representatives of the true and mighty King who reigns not just over his people Israel, but over all creation.
This God has been king forever. Verse 13 praises him with a profound declaration:
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
This means there never was a time when God did not reign. Even before He created anything, the LORD was sovereign. And this fact is a great comfort.
Thrones may totter, governments will change, and earthly glory fades, but God the King reigns forever. Even when the devil launched his rebellion against God so long ago, he was going up against a kingdom that had been established from eternity.
And the good news is that a perfect son of David is now reigning. Jesus Christ, who laid down his life to defeat the dominion of darkness, holds all authority in heaven and on earth. His eternal kingdom is advancing today through the spread of his rule in every place and among every people. Every square foot is being contested and claimed, for Christ will be king over all!
There is a rich comfort in Christ’s kingship, and there’s also a high calling. His kingship means that it it impossible for us to be neutral. We dare not try have a kingdom-loyal life of going to Sunday church and reading the dinner-time Bible, while also a world-loyal life of being daily captivated and consumed by the attractions all around us. It simply will not work.
As King Jesus himself says, we are either for him, or we’re against him.
So what do you show by your conduct? Does being part of Christ’s eternal kingdom determine who you are? Do you submit to the King’s rule in all of life, as you listen to and obey his Word?
May Christ help us do so, for his everlasting kingdom is soon going to come in all its glorious fullness.
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