As I write this study, the world is transfixed with matters of royalty related to the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Her astonishing reign of 70 years has ended with worldwide displays of extraordinary affection for this human monarch. It is estimated that billions watched the broadcast of her state funeral from Westminster Abbey. The sights of regal pageantry have been awesome, with carefully choreographed processions involving more than 6,000 uniformed military moving through the streets of London. And following the funeral, as the hearse carried her coffin into the country estate of Windsor Castle, we saw crowds of admiring citizens coming to honor her, lining the miles-long approach to the castle, numbering more than 50 people deep on either side of the roadway!
Add to that the magnificence of the Anglican worship services in multiple locations, including St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, culminating in the final service in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. What was so thrilling in those service was not just the pageantry and magnificence of the music. Much more than that, it was the fabulous, clear gospel testimony that was sent throughout the world. In the comforting Scriptures that were read, the carefully crafted prayers that were offered, the wisely chosen anthems that were performed, and the powerful hymns that were sung, we heard the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed for all the world to hear.
And how wonderful to hear that all of these things were meticulously planned ahead of time by the Queen herself, a testimony to the genuineness of her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Many have been the quotes from her lips of her honoring the Savior as the guiding factor of her entire life. One example is this from one of her Christmas addresses to the nation. “For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose birth we celebrate today, is an inspiration and an anchor in my life. A role model of reconciliation and forgiveness, He stretched out His hands in love, acceptance and healing.” For decades, Brits have sung in their national anthem, “God save the Queen.” And He did, through the atoning sacrifice on Calvary, by the blood of the Lamb of God! Now as King Charles III ascends to the throne, we should join them as the song has changed to “God save the King.”
We have seen a deeply moving quote on social media, wrongly attributed to Queen Elizabeth. It was actually spoken more than a century earlier by Queen Victoria, but could certainly have been the sentiment of Elizabeth as well. One of the chaplains of her late Majesty, Queen Victoria, had been preaching on the Second Coming of the Lord, and afterward, in conversation with the preacher, the Queen exclaimed: ” Oh! how I wish that the Lord would come in my lifetime! “Why,” asked the chaplain, “does your Majesty feel this very earnest desire? The Queen replied with quivering lips, and her whole countenance lighted up by deep emotion as she answered, “I should so love to lay my crown at His feet.” Doesn’t it thrill your heart to read that? And to think that she did! And now so has Queen Elizabeth.
Next in time and sequence will be the coronation of the next monarch of that island nation, her son, King Charles III. What pageantry and rejoicing can we anticipate on that day when he proceeds down the aisle of Westminster Abbey, as his mother did 70 years earlier. Approaching the throne, to the sound of the Abbey’s mighty five-manual Harrison and Harrison organ and the royal trumpeters heralding his arrival, we will watch the new monarch, attired in royal robes as he ascends the steps, takes his seat, and has the imperial crown placed on his head, along with the royal orb and scepter being laid in his hands. And all of that will surely culminate in choir and congregation singing lustily, “God save the King.”
But if we thrill at such sights and sounds of earthly monarchs now, what must be our rejoicing at the celebration of the coronation of our Savior as King of kings and Lord of lords. Yes, in a sense that has already taken place at the time of His resurrection and ascension. But when He returns, as Paul wrote in Philippians 2, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. And in 2 Thessalonians, the apostle wrote of the day when the trumpet will sound, and with the shout of the archangel the Lord will appear, and every eye will see Him, accompanied by the hosts of heaven.
Among the many hymns that acknowledge Jesus as king is this well-known hymn by Charles Wesley (1707-1788), “Rejoice, the Lord Is King.” This is one of the best-known of his more than 6500 hymns, which include “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” and “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.” He wrote this text in 1744 for Easter and Ascension Sundays. The repeated refrain, “Lift up your hearts, lift up your voice. Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!” is a combination of two elements. First is the sursum corda (“Lift up your hearts”) which is a millennia-old (3rd century) Latin prayer recited before communion. And second is the jubilant exclamation of Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, Rejoice.”
Born at Epworth, Lincolnshire, England on December 18, 1707, Charles Wesley was the eighteenth of nineteen children born to a poor Anglican clergyman and his wife. Nine of the couple’s previous children had died in infancy. They feared for little Charles since he was born several weeks premature. The family was not a healthy one, as his mother suffered from her abusive husband. And yet his mother managed to spend at least one hour per week in focused attention with each child.
Young Wesley moved from London’s Westminster School to Christ Church College, Oxford. He joined with a handful of other students (including his brother John and George Whitefield) to form “The Holy Club,” devoting themselves to personal disciplines of godliness. While this sounds very commendable, he later came to realize this, along with his readiness to be ordained as an Anglican priest, were attempts to merit salvation by his good deeds. In 1735 he traveled to the colony of Georgia as private secretary and personal chaplain to Governor James Oglethorpe. On the return voyage, he and his brother encountered a violent storm (a hurricane?) at sea, and were astonished by a group of Moravians who, unlike himself, showed no fear of death.
Back in London, he came to understand the gospel for the first time on May 20, 1738, a date he memorialized later with his hymn to celebrate the anniversary of one’s conversion, “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.” Not only did he compose more than 6500 hymns, he also compiled more than 50 hymnals! Before long he was joining his brother, John, as an evangelist, traveling across England on horseback, calling people to the need to be born again, and not assume they were in good standing with God merely because they had been baptized. They preached outdoors because the bishops of the Church of England barred them from pulpits, regarding them as extreme “enthusiasts.” They were among those who were the human agents of “The Great Awakening.” The Methodist churches trace their origins to the Wesleys, although neither John nor Charles supported the idea of a new denomination. They both remained as Anglican priests to the time of their deaths. Unlike his brother, whom he dissuaded from marrying, Charles had a happy marriage. He had two sons and a daughter. One of his grandsons, Samuel Sebastian Wesley, became a prominent English composer and church musician in the 19th century.
The theme of royalty which has been so prominent during the time of the commemoration of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and then to the beginning of the reign of King Charles III, can serve to remind us of the great privileges we enjoy by having the Lord Jesus Christ as our sovereign, our King. He does for us what no earthly king could every do, and with a degree of majesty reserved for Him alone as the glorious eternal Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Not only has He saved us by shedding His precious blood as our substitute to redeem us, He rules over us in His ascended position with power and wisdom and compassion, causing all things to work together for His glory and our ultimate good.
Here’s how the Westminster Larger Catechism summarizes His role as king.
Q. 45. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in calling out of the world a people to Himself, and giving them officers, laws, and censures, by which He visibly governs them; in bestowing saving grace upon His elect, rewarding their obedience, and correcting them for their sins, preserving and supporting them under all their temptations and sufferings, restraining and overcoming all their enemies, and powerfully ordering all things for His own glory, and their good; and also in taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God, and obey not the gospel.
Each of the stanzas (originally 6 of them) begins with a powerful, concise statement of faith, expressed with the eloquence of Charles Wesley’s incredible poetic skills. Wesley’s extraordinary poetic skill is evident in many of his enduring hymns
- Rejoice, the Lord is King
- Jesus the Savior reigns
- His Kingdom cannot fail
- He sits at God’s right hand
- He all His foes shall quell
- Rejoice in glorious hope
In stanza 1, we announce His royal title twice, and call for the appropriate response of thankful adoration, pointing to the glorious triumph of this, our King. Four times in this first stanza, we have they central theme: “Rejoice!”
Rejoice, the Lord is King: your Lord and King adore!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing, and triumph evermore.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice! Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
In stanza 2, we summarize the gospel narrative of the heart of the gospel, as this reigning King “purged our stains” and then ascended to His throne, where He remains seated at the right hand of the Father.
Jesus the Savior reigns, the God of truth and love;
When He had purged our stains, He took His seat above.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice! Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
In stanza 3, we celebrate our security as His redeemed subjects, having been made citizens of a kingdom that “cannot fail.” He not only “rules o’er earth and heav’n,” He has put death to death so that the keys to death and hell now belong to Him, and He has unlocked the doors for us!
His kingdom cannot fail, He rules o’er earth and heav’n;
The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus giv’n.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice! Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
In stanza 4, we visualize His present position, seated “at God’s right hand,” His atoning work having been completed. All that remains is for the appointed day to arrive when He shall arise from that throne to appear in victory, summoning every created being “to bow beneath His command, and fall beneath His feet.” Those who have rejected Him will do so in anger and terror. But in contrast, we whom He has redeemed will do so with indescribable joy.
He sits at God’s right hand ’til all His foes submit,
And bow to His command, and fall beneath His feet.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice! Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
In stanza 5, we look forward to that day when “our Lord, the Judge, shall come, and take His servants up to their eternal home.” We do not know when that day has been set on God’s calendar, but we look longingly for that day. As the Bible ends, so we cry “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.”
Rejoice in glorious hope! Our Lord, the Judge, shall come,
And take His servants up to their eternal home.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice! Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
Frequently omitted stanza, not usually found in 20th century hymnals. It adds to the sense of conquest that our King will complete at His return, and when all creation joins in celebration “with pure seraphic joy.”
He all His foes shall quell, shall all our sins destroy,
And every bosom swell with pure seraphic joy;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice, Rejoice, again, I say, rejoice.
The tune most often used today with these lyrics, DARWALL, was composed by Anglican clergyman John Darwall. Born in 1731, he attended Oxford before being ordained and assigned duties at St. Matthew’s parish, Walsall. There he became vicar and served until his death in 1789. He was an accomplished amateur musician. He composed metrical setting of all 150 Psalms for the “New Version of the Psalms of David” that Nahum Tate and Nicolas Brady had originally published in 1696 without any music.
Of all the tunes he composed, only DARWALL continues to be widely sung today. He wrote it as a setting of Psalm 148 for the dedication of a new organ in the parish church at Walsall. This is often known as DARWALL’s 148th. The tune moves along quite briskly, pausing only at the end of each line, as was typical of the “old style” of metrical Psalm versions. The rhythm also slows on the words, “Lift up your voice” at the beginning of the refrain. The most striking feature is the rising notes of the melody of the last line, spanning a full octave plus one step. It suggests letting our eyes and hearts rise with the melody to behold and extol our King.
Here is a setting of the hymn, as sung on a Sunday morning by choir and congregation.