Reading: – Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? – Psalm 24:7-10 NIV
Reflection: Well, who is he, this King of Glory? He’s the King of kings, the King of Israel, King Jesus, from the Royal line of David, and the King above all other kings.
Have you ever met a king? What is it you are supposed to do when you meet a king? As we enter the new Carolean age where, once again, we have a king on the throne, should we be prepared? When we next bump into Charles down at the Coop, what do we say?
And, have you ever met a deity? Charlie boy isn’t a deity, as far as I know, but according to ancient Mexican culture Fran and I have a deity living in our house. Lottie the Axolotl is cute, but she doesn’t inspire much awe, if I’m honest. At one time sea eagles were worshipped by the Picts in Scotland. This makes a bit more sense perhaps because they are awe-inspiring We were once hill walking on Scotland’s west coast, and as we came to the top of a hill, we heard a swishing noise. Looking up we saw 2 sea eagles 15-20 feet or so above our heads, slowly and majestically passing over us. We just stood there gawping, bottom jaws somewhere around our knees. Looking at these incredible birds, much bigger than me, I understood a bit about why they had been regarded as deities.
But we know someone who is not only a king, but a High King: And we know God, who is above all other gods.
There’s a song I love, where the lyrics describe somebody reading the bible for the first time. The lyrics go like this: “I Opened up the pages, And what did I find? A black and white portrait Of a King Who’s a friend of mine.” So now we’ve got another new thought to process; a High King, God above all gods, and yet a friend. Our High King is not hiding in a palace, he is here, Emmanuel, God with us.
In our Sanctuary meetings, our desire is to explore expressions of worship that help us to meet with, and respond to, God. So how should we worship this High King?
When we met in Eckington the other week for our Celebration meeting, I noticed people kneeling during the worship. I love that – I truly believe that we should be expressing our love and worship to God in any way we can, and singing, dancing, lifting our hands in worship, kneeling, whatever, can all be a part of that.
Historically, even the worst kings and queens in history were honoured by bowing and kneeling. But how much more deserving is our perfect and infinite Lord! Jesus Christ is God Himself, the second Person of the Trinity; He is our great High Priest; The Lamb of Sacrifice, and He is the King of the Universe. The apostle Paul, writing about Jesus, said: “… God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…” (Philippians 2:9-11).
Let’s worship this amazing King.
If you use the YouVersion Bible App (or if you don’t but would like to) click on this link and join us this week as we read the 5-day plan: ‘Christ as King’ following on from the Sanctuary theme: https://bible.com/p/64395532/204af5a64b520b3f0534bf2612fc3a53
