Our Undoubted King

THROUGH a number of in­stances that touch my life very closely in recent days I have been made to marvel once more at the greatness and goodness of God.

David said, "My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of un­derstanding" (Ps. 49:3).

In that great worldwide television spec­tacle, the coronation of Elizabeth the Sec­ond of England, I was struck with one phrase used over and over by the Arch­bishop of Canterbury: "Elizabeth, your un­doubted queen."

The phrase captured my contemplation. There was indeed no doubt about this beautiful girl's right to reign, for queenship was hers by right of family lineage.

It was hers by right of royal succession.

It was hers by right of the choice of the people—and how the English do love their sovereigns.

It was hers by right of early education and training.

It was hers by right of coronation and the splendor of solemn oath and ceremony.

"Elizabeth," the bishop said, "your un­doubted queen."

O that the same conviction and exulta­tion might come upon every believer in the Advent message, that Jesus is our un­doubted King! That it might be inscribed on the altar of every church dedicated to the proclamation of His soon coming—Je­sus, our undoubted King. That it might be the symbolic expression of faith that like a golden link binds the church militant to the promises of glory in the church trium­phant—Jesus, our undoubted King.

King by right of royal succession through the line of David. King by fulfillment of the prophecies of the time and place of His birth. King by recognition of the kings of the east, who came to Jerusalem crying, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" King by proclamation in the languages of the secular, cultured, and eccle­siastical world of His day on that inscrip­tion above His head on the cross: "This is the King of the Jews." King by reason of His Sonship with God, attested to by heav­enly pronouncement at His baptism, by divine glory in His transfiguration, by life-giving power in His miracles. But best of all, King by reason of choice of those who love Him and profess His name—Jesus, our undoubted King.

What is the test of kingship? The answer to that is in the meaning of the word king itself. Its Anglo-Saxon root suggests one who is pre-eminent among his fellows. A king is one who knows, who perceives, who is wise. Greater then than His power, greater than His miracles, greater than His created works, greater than His law, greater even than the sublime demonstration of His love is God's knowledge and wisdom.

Paul in speaking of God's wisdom and knowledge, cried: "How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" Yes, God's knowledge is profound. He knew of the coming of sin and made provision for it. He knew of the world's great empires, and sent prophets to foretell their rise and doom. He knew that America would be the cradle of religious liberty and a sanctuary from oppression, and chose John on lonely Patmos to be His penman. He knew that in the last days there would be a great Sabbath reform and He sent Ellen G. White as His messenger. He knew you and me before we were born, all our members being written in His book, and He numbers the very hairs of our head. He knows our downsitting and our uprising and is acquainted with all our ways.

But perhaps most wonderful of all the aspects of God's knowledge is the assurance He brings us through Jeremiah: "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil" (Jer. 29:11). "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart" (verse 13).

Isn't it strange that modern man who worships knowledge should repudiate God, the Source of all wisdom?

Dr. Wernher von Braun, director of the Development Operation Division of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, was asked recently: "Do you feel that modern man worships too much the golden calf of mate­rial progress?"

Listen to the reply of this man of science: "Nothing has probably retarded human progress more than idolatry of our own achievements. By worshiping our own sci­entific achievements we kill humility. By adoring our own technological advance­ment we kill the urge for improvement."

Then he was asked: "Do you believe that man, with all his scientific advance­ment, has outgrown his spiritual needs, and that these spiritual needs are directly con­nected with man's desire to conquer space?"

He replied, "It is true that man has not outgrown his spiritual needs, for nature around us still harbors many thousand times more unsolved than solved mysteries, and for all our scientific enlightenment we know more mysteries today than when the technological revolution began. God retains the same position in our modern world that He held before we began prob­ing His creation with telescope and cyclo­tron."

To the geologist then, with his computa­tions of evolutionary time God puts the question: "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?" Of the mete­orologist with his prophecies of storm and tempest He asks: "Canst thou loose the bands of Orion or guide Arcturus with his sons?" To the genealogist with his vast stores of ancestral lore, He declares, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." He reminds the physicist with his proud boast of nuclear power, "I form the light and create dark­ness; I weigh the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance." He confronts the economist with his theories of wealth and philosophy of statistics with the simple dec­laration, "The gold and silver is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills."

Yes, far beyond our careful sciences and profound philosophies, far beyond the self-sufficiency of our neon-lighted civilization, beyond the height of the spangled heavens and the depths of human understanding, God dwells within the mystery of His eter­nal wisdom and unsearchable judgments,sitting as King forever on His throne in a realm of light ineffable.

Our undoubted King, the One who knows.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee;

How great Thou art, how great Thou art.*

* This portion of "How Great Thou Art," composed by Stuart K. Hine, is used by special permission front Manna Music, Inc., 1595 Crossroads of the World, Hollywood 28, California.