Songs of the Heart: Royal

***A novel sight for us: The sight of a king, beginning his reign

Our hearts sing a song longing to live in a certain kind of land, led by men and women of character

A song of justice

Psalm 72:1–2 NRSV

Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son. May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.

Psalm 72:12–14 NRSV

For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight.

Justice: The uplifting and promoting what’s right, the deterrence of and prevention of the wrong and the oppressive

Righteousness: The characteristic of doing right, the quality of a person inclined toward sound morality

Evolving stability

Order v. chaos

Creation itself is God’s act of bringing order from chaos

Order—of nature, society—is a blessing, but the forces of chaos always threaten to upend order

The effective leader leads well, and his or her people benefit from a godly leader’s good, long life

Psalm 72:5 NRSV

May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

Psalm 72:15 NRSV

Long may he live! May gold of Sheba be given to him. May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all day long.

***Photo QEII 1st and last photos

Evolving stability

There is a persistent need not to leave things alone, but to commit continually to a vision of the world God intends.

“[There is this] idea that if you leave things alone you leave them as they are. But you do not. If you leave a thing alone you leave it to a torrent of change. If you leave a white post alone it will soon be a black post. If you particularly want it to be white you must be always painting it again; that is, you must be always having a revolution. Briefly, if you want the old white post you must have a new white post.” (G. K. Chesterton)

A song of joy in the world

***NS: An idea at work that when there is good leadership, creation itself flourishes

Psalm 72:3 NRSV

May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness.

Psalm 72:16 NRSV

May there be abundance of grain in the land; may it wave on the tops of the mountains; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field.

The king:

Is righteous and promotes justice

Maintains order, but an evolving order that remains committed to God’s vision for the world

Under a good king, the earth itself prospers and yields blessing for God’s people

***NS: Transition to rule of Jesus, the “coronation” as he enters Jerusalem in Luke

Luke 19:33–40 NRSV

As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

We yearn for a just and righteous King, maintaining order and keeping the destructive forces of chaos at bay, whose reign makes the earth fruitful and blessed.

For this the ancient psalmists broke into song.

For this the followers of Jesus sang, “Hosanna!”

For this our hearts cry out.

And if we don’t cry out, the stones themselves will lift their voices in praise of Jesus the King.