December 19: The Kings
Other nations in the ancient world looked for big, strong kings to lead their armies into battle. But Israel is to be different; they must pick the king that God wants. Deuteronomy 17:15, “be sure to appoint over you a king the LORD your God chooses.”
And the king isn’t given absolute power to rule however he likes. He is not to acquire great numbers of horses for himself, and so to build a big army to show off his military might, nor is he to take many wives or accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. He must not amass wealth and status for himself at the expense of the people.
Rather, he must be a man of God’s word. “When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees.” -Deuteronomy 17:18
There’s one feature that must define the king of Israel: he needs to be a Torah man – a Bible man. He sits under God’s word to show that even he is subject to another King. He must painstakingly copy out the law word by word and meditate on it day by day, to become someone who fears God. Because the king’s most important role is to show the people how to fear God; to lead them in worshipping God alone.
From his birth to His death, and now in resurrected life, Jesus is our King. Our hymns sing of this truth. May our lives reveal, counter-culturally, who our king is and what the kingdom of heaven is all about.
Come and worship, come and worship,
worship Christ, the newborn King.
And the king isn’t given absolute power to rule however he likes. He is not to acquire great numbers of horses for himself, and so to build a big army to show off his military might, nor is he to take many wives or accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. He must not amass wealth and status for himself at the expense of the people.
Rather, he must be a man of God’s word. “When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees.” -Deuteronomy 17:18
There’s one feature that must define the king of Israel: he needs to be a Torah man – a Bible man. He sits under God’s word to show that even he is subject to another King. He must painstakingly copy out the law word by word and meditate on it day by day, to become someone who fears God. Because the king’s most important role is to show the people how to fear God; to lead them in worshipping God alone.
From his birth to His death, and now in resurrected life, Jesus is our King. Our hymns sing of this truth. May our lives reveal, counter-culturally, who our king is and what the kingdom of heaven is all about.
Come and worship, come and worship,
worship Christ, the newborn King.
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| David is anointed as king |
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