The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 48

“Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon,

Because the Lord hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them.’’- — 2 Chronicles ii. 11. I THINK that you must have been struck with the deeply religious tone of the communications which passed between Solomon and Huram. I am inclined to think that Huram must have been a proselyte to the faith of Israel. At any rate, the despatches between these two neighbouring kings contain very gracious references to Jehovah and his dealings with his ancient people. Not that I recommend that the despatches which are sent now between kings should be of a similar character, for that would be a piece of beggarly hypocrisy. What has God to do with the most of them; and what has he to do with the transactions of modern times, in which the invasion of countries by the more powerful is perpetually being justified by the laws of politics which seem to be the very reverse of the laws of God? Oh, that better times might come, when kings would rule in righteousness! One almost despairs of them; but, at any rate, there is a King coming who will rule in righteousness. Make no tarrying, O our God!

In the letter which was written by Huram, we note that he declares his belief that Solomon was of such a character that his reign was a special blessing from God to his people. That is the meaning of our text: “Because the Lord hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them.” Such was the character of Solomon, in those early days before he began to decline from the splendour of his first estate, that even this heathen monarch could see that he was bound to be a blessing to the people. 1 wish that your life and mine, dear friends, might always have that about it which should make even the worldling say, “That young man is likely to be a blessing to his family; that woman is sure to be a blessing to her husband, and to her children.” I would to God that our character were so transparent, so true, and pure, and good, that all who knew us might feel that we were a blessing to those among whom we dwell.

I want you to notice, also, that Huram here distinctly recognizes that every blessing comes from God. If Solomon is a blessing to his subjects, Huram attributes that to the fact of God having placed him where he was. Now, if one, who had been a heathen, could thus trace a blessing back to God as its source, what heathen must those be who never do anything of the sort, but trace it to what they call “good luck”, or to “chance”, or to anything rather than to God! O beloved, whenever there is aught of good, aught of excellence, aught of happiness, that comes to our door, let us praise and bless the God who gave it. We are all too apt to complain of him when we suffer, and ready enough to attribute our afflictions to him. Surely, then, when mercies come to us plentifully, we should magnify and glorify the name of the Lord our God from whom they come. We should say of every mercy, in somewhat similar fashion to that of Huram when he wrote to Solomon, “Because the Lord hath loved his people, therefore hath he done this and that for them.”

I purpose, however, to take our text right away from Solomon; for, true as it was in his case, it is more emphatically true in reference to our King. It is still true, as was said in Thessalonica in Paul’s day, “There is another King, one Jesus;” and many here present, I am thankful to know, are his loyal subjects. King of kings is he to us, and our soul loves to worship and adore him. Well, now, God has been pleased to make Christ our King, so my text shall run thus: “Because the Lord hath loved his people, he hath made Jesus to be King over them.”

I. That shall be our first division, — THE LOVE OF God HAS MADE JESUS TO BE OUR KING.

If we believe that, does it not prove that we do not regard the dominion of Jesus Christ as any burden whatsoever? It is a proof that, in our esteem, his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. Those who look on from the outside say, “We would rather be perfectly free, — free thinkers and free livers;” and when they hear any one of us say, with the psalmist, “O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds;” they feel that they do not want to share any such servitude with us. But we are living and truthful witnesses to the fact that we do not look upon the rule of Christ over us as any hardship. On the contrary, we take delight in it; we trace it to the love of God, not to his anger; not even to his justice, or to any necessity that may constrain him, but to his infinite love, and to his gracious thought that he could not do any better thing for us than to give us Jesus Carist to be our King; and we devoutly thank and bless the Lord, this day, that he hath set him over us, to vule us, and to have dominion over our spirit, soul, and body, henceforth and for ever.

But, beloved, there was an urgent necessity that we should have Jesus as our King. We are such poor creatures that we cannot live without some form of rule and government. Men have tried to live in anarchy, but their experiment has proved to be a disastrous failure. Think of the French Revolution, at the end of the eighteenth century, and see what awful abominations resulted from it. A den of tigers, all let loose upon one another, would be peacefulness itself compared with a mass of men living without any law or order. We are such creatures that we need to be under authority of some kind. God has frequently compared us to sheep; but what can sheep do without a shepherd? I do not know that there has ever been a discovery made of really wild sheep anywhere. There are certain wild animals that are somewhat like sheep; but sheep like those with which we are familiar, — what shiftless, hopeless, helpless, defenceless creatures they would be without a shepherd! They would soon die out altogether if it were not for man. The rule, and leadership, and the kingly shepherdry of man are good for sheep; and Christ’s rule is absolutely necessary for his sheep. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture, if we have believed in him; and we as much need Jesus, our Shepherd-King, as the sheep need their shepherd. If you demur to that figure, let us think of ourselves under a higher aspect. As many of us as have been born again are the children of God. Now, a family without rule, — I venture to say very boldly, is not a happy family. Children, who are always allowed to do just as they like, will very soon be exceedingly unhappy. A father’s gentle sway over the various members of the household, which is, I take it, the first type of kingship, is absolutely necessary for their good; for disorder soon breeds unhappiness, envy, strife, malice, and all kinds of evil. Every house needs to have a “house-band” to keep it together. Every family needs to have someone as its head; every thinking person feels that it must be so; and, therefore, how thankful we ought to be that our glorious God, seeing that his own brightness unveiled might have been too much for our feebleness, hath given us his Son, “whom he hath appointed Heir of all things,” and made him to be the firstborn among many brethren, that he might sweetly rule the whole household! Because the Lord loved his people, therefore he gave Jesus to be King over them.

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