Endow The King With Justice, O God - Psalm 72 - Sermon For The Death Of Queen Elizabeth Ll

September 11, 2022 - Psalm 72 - Sermon for the Death of Queen Elizabeth ll

Today I want to acknowledge the event this past week that consumed a lot of radio time, television time and that was all over the Internet.

Of course I am referring to the death of the most well-known person on the planet in contemporary times, Queen Elizabeth ll.

I was on a video call with William, when my sister texted me that the Queen had just died.

Depending on your age perhaps, depending on your view of the Monarchy, depending on how deeply you struggle or how conflicted you might be about the colonial past and present impact on our world, the death of the queen of Canada, the queen of England and the commonwealth will affect you differently.

Comments I read online ranged from deep sorrow and grief to absolute glee, such is the variety of opinions about the monarch.

She was a committed, faithful follower of Jesus. She once said “Jesus Christ lived obscurely for most of his life and never travelled far. He was maligned and rejected by many though he had done no wrong. And yet, billions of people now follow his teachings and find in him the guiding light for their lives. I am one of them because Christ example helps me see the value of doing small things with great love“

You likely don’t know or perhaps care, but I am a loyalist - probably a soft loyalist, much preferring the model of our constitutional parliamentary monarchy over the republican system that dominates the lives of our neighbours to the south.

No government is perfect because all governments are run by people who, like us, are far from perfect.

Very briefly, I appreciate the continuity, the blend of connection with the past and the embrace of the new that the monarchy brings.

There perhaps is also something to be said for having a head of state who is broadly respected and non-politically biased as the chief global representative of our country. That’s already too much detail.

So I just want to knowledge the passing of Canada‘s queen, which of course also entails acknowledging Canada‘s and the commonwealth’s new king, King Charles lll.

When he was the Prince of Wales, King Charles visited the mission as part of his global work through the Prince’s Trust, which works to help youth and veterans, the young and the old.

A number of community members including mission staff met him and spent time with him.

Of course opinions about him cover the full gamut from respect to outright loathing, but I personally choose to give him the benefit of the doubt, particularly given that he was tutored in kingship for 70 years by the Queen, who in my view was an outstanding and admirable human being.

Our first scripture passage today, you might’ve noticed, is a prayer for the king, But as we will see it has strong implications for us as the people of God.

I thought it would be good to spend some time in this passage reflecting on how we, perhaps can pray for the new king of Canada, and also reflecting on the heart of God, as we learn what God expects from a king.

We’re going to look at these 3 truths:

The King should love justice, judge rightly and care for the afflicted and the children of the needy.

The King should command respect by his character, not only by His office.

All nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.

The King should love justice, judge rightly and care for the afflicted and the children of the needy.

There is a story that can be helpful in understanding this.

A man guilty of a serious crime stood in front of the judge. He was there for the pronouncement of his sentence.

The judge pronounced him guilty, as all the evidence led to this conclusion. The judge then sentenced him for his crime, and his crime being very serious, the penalty was death.

Upon the pronouncement of this sentence, the full impact of his crime,

its impact on others and now its consequences on his old life hit him fully in the face.

He understood that what he did was worthy of death, and now indeed that sentence was passed.

But then something very unusual happened. The judge stood up, took off his royal robes, and walked down to the man and stood beside him.

“I will pay the penalty for your crime”, said the judge to the convicted man. “Justice must be served, and I choose to serve it. You are free to go“.

The judge was handcuffed and taken to a cell to await the consequences. The man who went free, went rejoicing. But he never forgot the price that was paid for his freedom.