“The LORD reigns; He is robed in majesty.” (Psalm 93:1) It’s not easy for Americans to grasp the richness of that statement, since we do not live in a monarchy. But for most peoples of the earth in most ages, those who have been living under the sovereignty of a kingly dynasty, the idea of royal majesty is much more vivid. And when that monarch has been a benevolent and godly ruler, that is a marvelous blessing, with all the benefits that come to people in those conditions. “Majesty” is one of the first things we think of when we imagine a king. With that comes images of crowns, and robes, and thrones, and palaces, and guards, and great throngs of people celebrating their king and professing loyalty to him. That would certainly have been true for the people of Israel under the kingship of David. And how much more true ought that to be for those of us who live consciously and gratefully under the kingship of Jesus, the Son of David, the perfect king!
All of that comes into focus as we study and sing Jack Hayford’s chorus, “Majesty,” a song that has become a classic within a short time after its composition in 1977. Hayford, a Pentecostal minister, was born in 1934 in Los Angeles, California, but raised in Oakland. After graduating from high school there in 1952, Hayford moved back to Los Angeles to attend Life Pacific University where he received his first bachelor’s degree in 1956. Subsequently, after serving as the National Youth Director of International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, he joined the faculty of L.I.F.E. and went on to become dean of students there. During this time, he began working on his second bachelor’s degree, at Azusa Pacific University, where he graduated in 1970.
In 1969, while serving as dean of students at L.I.F.E. and finishing his degree at APU, Hayford was asked to pastor a small congregation, the First Foursquare Church of Van Nuys, California, a struggling congregation of only 18 members, with an average age of 65 years. While Hayford had initially agreed to pastor the church for only a period of six months, he later felt compelled to remain permanently. Only a few weeks from accepting an offer to pastor another Foursquare church, Hayford met with Foursquare denomination president Rolf McPherson, stating that he wanted to remain with the Van Nuys congregation.
By the early 1980s, The Church on the Way had become a pioneer of the megachurch movement and numbered among the largest churches in America, particularly within the Foursquare denomination, at one point reporting membership exceeding 10,000. Actor Dean Jones (deceased), a close friend of Hayford’s, was an elder in the church, as was Pat Boone, along with Jan and Paul Crouch, the founders of Trinity Broadcasting Network, which regularly broadcast services from the church. He is widely known for his past involvement in the Christian men’s Promise Keepers movement and for being a prolific author and songwriter, with over 600 hymns and choruses in his catalog. He is the author of the popular 1978 hymn “Majesty”, which is rated as one of the top 100 contemporary hymns and performed and sung in churches worldwide.
He tells the story of its composition here.
In 1977 my wife Anna and I spent our vacation in Great Britain, traveling throughout the land from the south country and Wales to the northern parts of Scotland. It was the same year as the 25th Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, and symbols of royalty were abundantly in evidence.
For years I have been convinced that the provisions of Christ for the believer not only include our forgiveness for sin; but provide restoration to a royal relationship with God as sons and daughters born into the family through His Majesty, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Within that relationship, as people of The Kingdom, I felt the Bible disclosed a new dimension of dominion over “all the works of the devil” bequeathed to us as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
While visiting many of the castles of the land, I began to sense the influence one might feel if raised as a child in such regal settings. For example, while at Blenheim – where Churchill was raised – it became quite credible how a person, accustomed to such an environment, might more likely conceive of themselves as being bred to influence their world. Of course, Churchill was not directly of the royal family, but the sense of regal destiny pervades many of those sites and influences many of those people.
One day, as Anna and I drove along together, the opening lyrics and melody of “Majesty” simply came to my heart. I continued driving, asking Anna to jot the words and melody line in the notebook she had beside her. (Because of this, she still laughingly insists that she “wrote” “Majesty”!) So powerfully did the sense of Christ Jesus’ royalty, dignity, and majesty fill my heart; I seemed to feel something new of what it meant to be His! The accomplished triumph of His Cross has not only unlocked us from the chains of our own bondage and restored us to fellowship with the Father, but He has also unfolded to us a life of authority over sin and hell and raised us to partnership with Him in His Throne – now! (Ephesians 2:1-6).
It would not be until returning to our home in California that I would complete the song. Nevertheless, the Spirit-borne influence bringing the concept so vividly to my soul is as described above. “Majesty” describes the kingly, lordly, gloriously regal nature of our Savior – but not simply as an objective statement in worship of which He is fully worthy. “Majesty” is also a statement of the fact that our worship, when begotten in spirit and in truth, can align us with His Throne in such a way that His Kingdom authority flows to us – to overflow us, free us, and channel through us.
He has birthed us into His eternal Kingdom, with dynamic implications for the present and for eternity. We are rescued from death, restored to the inheritance of sons and daughters, qualified for victory in battle against the Adversary, and destined for the Throne forever in His presence!
“Majesty” reflects the heartfelt emphasis of the composer. Though one might read in this quotation a slight protest against liturgical worship that focuses on the mind and not the heart, the composer’s sentiment is consistent with his tradition. The author choose a single theme and wants the singer to feel that theme in the text and the music above all else. The central theological theme is straightforward: Christ is King, and as King of all, He is the sovereign of all (“kingdom authority”) and His name is to be exalted. The music attempts to convey a majestic tone, especially in the triplet rhythms that contribute a sense of fanfare throughout the song. One can as easily hear this song played by a brass ensemble and used as a dignified instrumental processional for a stately gathering, as it would be to hear it sung in a small group setting in someone’s family room.
This is a good point at which to pause to further consider a biblical philosophy and theology of worship, and how it compares to common practices in western evangelicalism today. One way of looking at corporate worship is to recognize the importance and value (and biblical prominence) of two complementary and necessary realities that need to be demonstrated and experienced in worship … both the transcendence and the immanence of God. These have long been acknowledged and pursued in the historic liturgies of the church, and will be conspicuous in all of the standard books and articles about worship revitalization and practice.
The transcendence of God refers to His being the sovereign king of the universe, seated in majesty and ruling over all His creation and creatures. It means that He is high above us in the heavens (figuratively speaking), and that when we approach Him, we should come on bended knee. This is the picture we find in Isaiah’s vision of the Lord’s glory in chapter six of his prophecy. He saw the LORD, high and lifted up, with seraphim surrounding His throne, singing, “Holy! Holy! Holy! is the LORD of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of His glory.” And that is the same picture of His glory and majesty that we find in Revelation, first when the Apostle John saw Him and “fell at His feet as though dead;” and second in the glimpse into heaven’s throne room where the triune God is the object of worship of saints and angels in concentric circles as the scroll is brought to the Lamb, and all sing as He opens it, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive glory and honor.”
Surely we ought to be faithful to Scripture to communicate that sense of God’s exalted majesty in our worship. Rather than wandering into His presence casually with a loose and careless informality, we need to be conscious of coming into the presence of the King of kings and Lord of lords. And not only should we prepare our hearts for that sense before we enter worship, we should also have worship that is planned, in both structure and leadership style and music and preaching and praying, that communicates that dynamic, teaching our people the whole truth about the God who has made us and redeemed us and is worthy of the greatest praise.
It is a question worth asking ourselves, both those who lead worship and those who participate in worship. Does our worship service lift people’s hearts and attention to such a God as this? Does the attitude that pervades the service communicate that to their minds? Are the prayers offered to such a glorious, royal sovereign reflective of that? Is our music conveying in words and harmony that greatness of the Lord? Will people leave the service saying, “What a majestic God we serve?”
The other, equally important dynamic in worship historically, biblically, and practically, ought to be the immanence of God. By this we mean the nearness, openness, and welcoming attitude from a God who delights to have us draw near, a God like the prodigal son’s father who was anxiously looking for the return of his son, a God like the Son who said, “Come unto Me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest,” a God who is actively seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. If we only present a God who is high and exalted above us, people may not understand that He has drawn near to us in the Lord Jesus and implores us to come near to Him, and a God who truly loves us.
Surely we ought to be faithful to Scripture to communicate that sense of God’s approachable majesty in our worship. Rather than coming timidly and hesitantly into worship, afraid to get too near this God who is holy and a consuming fire, we ought to come finding His open arms and smile, and ready to join in jubilant celebration of His greatness and faithfulness. And not only should we prepare our hearts for that sense before we enter worship, we should also have worship that is planned, in both structure and leadership style and music and preaching and praying, that communicates that dynamic, teaching our people the whole truth about the God who has made us and redeemed us and is worthy of the greatest praise.
It is a question worth asking ourselves, both those who lead worship and those who participate in worship. Does our worship service draw people to such a God as this? Does the attitude that pervades the service communicate that to their minds? Are the prayers offered to such a loving and welcoming God to whom we are invited to draw near? Is our music conveying in words and harmony that dimension of the greatness of the Lord? Will people leave the service saying, “What a majestic God we serve,” knowing that His majesty involves both His transcendence and His immanence? Will our worship be described as “reverent exuberance”?
Having reviewed all that, what can we conclude about Jack Hayford’s chorus, “Majesty?” Does it not teach us of both God’s transcendence and of His immanence? We certainly sing very conspicuously and repeatedly of His majesty. And we also sing of coming into His presence where we are welcomed to magnify and glorify Him. In that, it offers a simple but effective lesson in singing biblically with a balanced biblical theology of worship that will please Him.
Such worship will require sacrificial effort to override the self-centered default setting of our hearts, with which we approach worship as a form of entertainment or instruction and evaluate it on the basis of, “What did you get out of the service today?” All biblical worship is characterized by sacrifice, giving to God, rather than getting from God. We read quite appropriately in Hebrews 13 of “the sacrifice of praise,” it’s something that takes work! We even hear it spoken of wrongly, tragically, from those leading worship when they call corporate worship a worship “experience” rather than a worship “service,” the first focusing on ourselves and the second focusing on God.
And so, although monarchy has never been the political structure of the United States, this metaphor continues to resonate with certain faith traditions as a primary means for envisioning God and Christ. While there is certainly substantial biblical support for this perspective of deity, it is only one of many images offered in the Bible and by hymn writers about our relationship to God. “Majesty” is now one of the classic songs of the contemporary Christian genre, approaching 30 years of continuous use, a long time for songs in this style.
Majesty, Worship His majesty;
Unto Jesus, be all glory, honor and praise
Majesty, Kingdom authority
Flows from His throne, unto His own, His anthem raise
So exalt, lift up on high the Name of Jesus;
Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus the King.
Majesty, worship His majesty,
Jesus who died, now glorified, King of all kings
Jesus who died, now glorified,
Jesus who died, now glorified,
King of all kings.
Here is a recording to watch and sing along with this powerful chorus.