Thoughts for the Day

Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is the King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Psalm 24 was sung by pilgrims as they ascended the hill to the Temple in Jerusalem, but it reminds us today of one of the names for the Messiah. He is the King of the nations ('Rex Gentiam', in Latin), or as we might say 'The King of kings'. Today's antiphon sung at Evensong says this:

'O King of the nations,
the ruler they long for,
the cornerstone uniting all people:
Come and save us all,
whom You formed out of clay.'

God's servant will come to save not just the Jewish nation, but we who are gentiles. He will rule the whole world. No wonder that 2,000 years ago the people thought that the Messiah would be another military leader like King David. Few people imagined He would be the 'suffering servant' mentioned in Isaiah who would come to rule our world through the power of love, not violence. It is this Messiah, Jesus, whose birth we look forward to celebrating at Christmas.

O Wisdom,
O Adonai,
O Root of Jesse,
O Key of David,
O Dayspring,
O King of the nations,
come to Your world again
and renew us with Your Spirit.
May we not get swamped
by the commercialism of Christmas,
but put Christ back into Christmas,
while also enjoying the festival.
Amen.