Links for today’s readings:
Read: 2 Samuel 6 Listen: (3:34) Read: Revelation 15 Listen: (1:29)
Scripture Focus: Revelation 15.1-8
15 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. 2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:
“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the nations.
4 Who will not fear you, Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
5 After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. 6 Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
Reflection: Long For the Day of the True King
By John Tillman
What a contrast from the stumbles, errors, and sins of Israel’s kings from Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles to Revelation’s images of God as king.
God is a king with no mixed motives. This King takes no half-measures with evil. This King is not stingy with the wealth and blessings of the kingdom. This King pours out his wrath on wickedness. This King mercifully welcomes the repentant respondents to his voice.
God, the King of Heaven, is not like the kings of the earth. Even the best of them cannot approach God’s majesty. Even the most righteous of them wears robes filthy with wickedness. Even the most generous of them is a miserly grinch compared to God’s magnanimous beneficence. Even the wisest of them covers his mouth, lest foolish blather spill forth in the presence of God’s wisdom. Even the strongest of them cannot rise from the floor. Even the boldest of them dare not raise their eyes.
Stand in awe of God, the King of Heaven, today. Compare God, King of the Cosmos, to earthly kings who command fealty to their confederations of dust. Compare God’s wisdom to human kings’ foolishness. Compare God’s strength and honor to their fragility and desperation. And do not forget to compare God to the monarch nearest to us, the emperor of self, sitting on the throne of our hearts.
We, like the kings of our past and present, are undone in the presence of God. Like Isaiah, we know we are unclean of lips, heart, and actions. Yet we are called, purified, and made part of the throng of God’s people. We are armed with harps rather than weapons and readied for worship rather than warfare.
Revelation shows us the scene. The Temple of God’s covenant is opened, ready for his people. The wrath of God is carried from the Temple and poured out, never to return. The Temple is filled with the smoke of the Lord’s presence. One day, we will enter it.
Every year, my longing for that day is greater. Every time an earthly king disappoints (including the despot of my own heart), I long for that day. Every time an atrocity shakes the ground, the sky, and the news cycle, I long for that day.
Let your longing for that day grow. “…we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4.17b-18)
Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. — Psalm 85.9
– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle
Read more: Kingly Qualifications
You are the king. These principles are for you. The reason our leaders don’t match them is decades of us not matching them.
Read more: Dethroning Kings and Powers
The regime change we need is to dethrone the sinful powers in our hearts…drag them out…the seed of Eve will crush their heads under his feet.