Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1968
“Let the children of Zion bejoyful in their King.” Psalm 149:2
YOUR streets will ring with joyous acclamations when the Queen and court pass through them to the Abbey—and well they may! The jubilee of a good and great Queen is an event to be celebrated with enthusiasm. Our hearts are fully in accord with those who bless and praise God for His goodness to this country in giving us 50 years of the peaceful reign of Victoria.
God save the Queen! None pronounce these words with a more emphatic meaning and fervor than we do this day. We not only do not grudge our fellow countrymen all the joy they have in their Queen, but we share with them to the fullest their loyalty and gratitude. Had we known what some countries have known of tyranny, war, or anarchy, we would have a much more vivid sense of the benefits bestowed upon us through the long and happy reign of our well-beloved Sovereign. Let us take care to blend a holy gratitude to God with our fervent patriotism. Be it ours to praise and bless the God who has sent us these favors! Wishing boundless blessings upon our earthly Queen, we ascribe all her prosperity and ours to that higher King from whom all blessings flow. Religion must always sanctify loyalty. It would be idolatrous to think of the human and forget the Divine. “Why should the heathen say, Where is now their God?”
But, Brothers and Sisters, let us learn from the citizens of an earthly kingdom to rejoice in our heavenly King. Let us elevate our fervor into the higher sphere. There is another King, one Jesus and, as believers in Him, we are more truly citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem than of any city or country upon earth. Our Divine Lord has called out Believers from among the sons of men to make them a peculiar people, a nation set apart unto Himself. The text, under the term, “children of Zion,” indicates all who fear God, put their trust in Him and yield joyful service to His crown. Are we “children of Zion?” Do we glory in the one living and true God? Are we loyal to His Anointed, whom He has set as King upon His holy hill of Zion? This is the question for each man’s heart and conscience. We must be “born again” before we can be the happy subjects of the King of Kings, for He is King of a spiritual nation and by nature men are not spiritual. The carnal mind is enmity against God and to become His friends, we must receive new hearts and right spirits. We must be born into His kingdom by a heavenly birth, by the work of the Holy Spirit upon us! And the token of this new birth is a childlike faith in the Lord Jesus. Let us ask ourselves whether we have kissed the scepter of Jesus, the Anointed Son of God. Do we believe and trust in Him who is Prophet, Priest and King to His people? Is He our bosom’s Lord, sole monarch of our hearts? If so, we are called upon by the words of the text to be joyful in our King!
There have been kings in whom nobody could be joyful. They have been tyrannical, cruel, selfish—and their rule has oppressed their people. England has no such burden to bear. Under God, our forefathers delivered us from despotism and our Queen has faithfully observed those covenants which harmonize monarchy with liberty. For this may God be praised! Looking, however, to the higher sphere, we are joyful that Zion’s King is of such a sort that His government is an un-mingled blessing. There are many gods whom the nations have set up over themselves, but in none of them can their votaries rejoice. The worship of these false deities is one of dread and terror—and their adoration is more fitly paid in dirges than in songs. Our God is known as, “the blessed God.” He would have His people happy and, by His Grace, He makes them so! We rejoice in our King because our King makes us rejoice! He bids us “come before Him with thanksgiving and show ourselves glad in Him with Psalms.” And we willingly do so because He is “our exceeding joy.” Blessed religion, in which happiness has become a duty! Such is the Character of our God and King, that—
“His Nature and His works unite
To make His praises our delight.” I pray that the Holy Spirit may shed abroad the perfume of the “oil ofjoy” this morning. May the beauties and glories of our King charm us into delightful praise! Away with care and sorrow! Away with doubt and despondency! Let us praise the Lord upon the loud cymbals! Let us praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals! I pray the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to produce in us the fragrant spikenard of holy joy—and may that holy joy, like the precious ointment of the woman who loved much—be all poured upon the Person of our Lord and King!
I. In order that we may carry out the exhortation of the text, LET US BEGIN BY FEELING THAT THE LORD JESUS IS OUR KING. Alas, many who should be of a better mind are forgetful of this Truth of God—they are not joyful in their King for they have not yet learned His sovereignty.