It’s a bit difficult for us, living in 21st-century America, to understand and accept the principle of God’s kingship, because we don’t live in a monarchy or a dictatorship, as did the people of Biblical times. We live in a representative democracy, under a Constitution. In our form of government, the people are the ultimate source of authority and power, and those whom we elect to govern us are actually subject to us, and answer to us, rather than us being subject to them, as we would be in a monarchy. That’s how it’s supposed to work, at least. That’s what we learned in Civics class.
You will recall that this principle is clearly stated in our Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
A fundamental principle of our form of government is that those who govern must do so with the permission, or consent, of the people. That’s why the preamble to the U.S. Constitution states this: that, “We, the people of the United States . . . do ordain and establish this Constitution”. It is the people, and not a king or a sovereign, who make the rules in America, through their elected representatives.
The great benefit of this form of political government is that it limits the damage that can be done by any one person. As Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1820, “I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves.” (Letter to William Charles Jarvis, 28 September 1820) And this attitude toward authority; this principle that rulers require our consent, is deeply ingrained in our minds. It makes us suspicious of any kind of unilateral power. However, the kingdom of God is not a democracy, of any kind. Nor does it need to be. Because God is not human or fallible. He is not sinful or wicked. On the contrary, he is completely wise, and good, and loving. And so it is entirely proper and just for him to rule over us as a king, as an absolute sovereign.