Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. John 18:37

OUR LORD'S Royalty is suggested by the opening paragraphs of St. Matthew's Gospel, which emphasizes His descent from David; the wise men asked for Him who is born King of the Jews, and Herod feared His rivalry. All through the Gospel narrative, stress is constantly laid on the fact that He was King of the Jews and King of Israel, and it ends with the regal claim that all power and authority in heaven and earth had been entrusted to Him.
Jesus never abated His claim to Kingship, but always made it clear that His ideal was very different from that which was current among the Jews. His conception of Royalty was borrowed from Psa_72:4, where the King is said to judge the poor of the people, and save the children of the needy. It was the collision between His idea of Kingship and that of the Pharisees, which brought Him to the Cross.

Psa 72:4  He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. 

For us the lesson is clear. We must begin with the recognition of the royal claims of Christ to our homage and obedience. He only becomes Saviour, in the fullest meaning of the word, when He has been enthroned as King in our hearts. With invariable precision He is described, first as Prince, then as Saviour, and that order cannot be altered without injury to our soul-life (Act_5:31; Rom_10:9; Heb_7:2). The whole content of the New Testament is altered when we view the Royalty of Christ as the chief cornerstone, not only of that structure, but of the edifice of character.

Act 5:31  Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. 
Rom 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 
Heb 7:2  To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; 
Heb 7:3  Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. 

Let us not be afraid of Christ as King. He is meek and lowly, and full of understanding of the problems of our life. He shared our life, and was so poor that He had to trust in the kind offices of a friend to supply His physical needs, and in the palm branches of the peasant crowd for His palfrey and the carpeting of His royal procession; but as we watch it pass, the lowly triumph swells in proportions until it represents the whole race of mankind; and the generations that preceded His advent, and those that follow, sweep down the Ages of human history, proclaiming and acclaiming Christ as King. (Rev_15:3-4, R.V).

Rev 15:3  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 
Rev 15:4  Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. (Our Daily Walk)

The imagery in the magnificent scene with which this chapter opens is perhaps borrowed from Pharaoh’s overthrow in the Red Sea, which, as the rich lines of an Eastern dawn illuminated its waters, seemed like a sea of glass mingled with fire. So, beside the crystal sea of Time, from whose surface all traces of storm will have been removed and on which the eternal morning will be breaking, we, who by grace have overcome, shall celebrate the final victory of God. We shall sing an anthem in which the Hebrew and the Christian, the children of the old dispensation and of the new, the souls who have seen through a glass darkly and those who have beheld face to face, shall rejoice together.
One day we shall see the rightfulness of all that God has done, Rev_15:4. All His ways are just and true, whether our poor human sense detects this or not. Let us dare to affirm it even now. Ponder that great name-King of the ages, Rev_15:3, R.V. He only is holy; we need the perfect cleansing and righteousness which He gives us, that we may dare to stand in His presence. From this radiant vision, we turn sadly to the fate of the godless, Christ-rejecting world. See Rev_15:1-8; Rev_14:1-20; Rev_13:1-18; Rev_12:1-17; Rev_11:1-19; Rev_10:1-11; Rev_9:1-21; Rev_8:1-13.
(F.B. Meyer)

The Song Of Moses with Lyrics by Paul Wilbur
https://youtu.be/Rwx0NxMX3bQ?si=S2cDaWj8xziszFum

Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low. And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. Isa 25:5-9

​THIS SONG of praise was composed by Isaiah to be sung when the proud city of Babylon, which for so many years had menaced the liberty of the Hebrew people, should be overthrown. The prophet is so certain that the oppression of evil will ultimately come to desolation, and that the world shall be relieved of the awful incubus of its tyranny, that he prepares the song which was presently to break out in joyful thanksgiving. As certainly as the torrid heat of the meridian sun is reduced by the interposition of the shadow of a cloud, so should the pride and boast of the terrible ones be brought low.
The full significance of this song of praise will be realized only in Heaven, when we sit down at the Marriage-Supper of the Lamb (Isa_25:6-8).

Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 
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All the Babylon's which have menaced the well-being of mankind will have been destroyed then. The veil of unbelief and uncertainty, which now lies so heavily over the world, will have been torn from top to bottom. Death will have been swallowed up in life; tears will have been wiped away, and our reproach will be over. What abounding joy will be our portion them. Let the anticipation of it excite our thanks.
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Are you poor? Make God your stronghold. Are you needy and in distress? Make Him your hiding-place. Does the storm beat on you? Flee to Him for refuge. Are you scorched by the heat of temptation? Stand beneath His shadow. God your Father will not leave you alone. Your need is your best argument; your helplessness an all-sufficient plea. For you, too, there shall be song and feasting (Isa_25:4-6).

Praise is our highest exercise. In prayer we often approach God for more or less selfish reasons; in praise we adore Him for what He is in Himself. However tired and weary you may be, see to it that the morning hour of devotion begins with the key-note of thanksgiving and adoration. It is marvelous how this quickens the pulse of the soul, and reacts upon every moment that follows. "Awake, psaltery and harp," said the Psalmist; "I myself will awake right early."   (Our Daily Walk)

​Here is a song of thanksgiving at the fall of Babylon. When she fell, a sigh of relief passed over the whole world, and strong, terrible nations over which she had exerted her tyranny gratefully recognized the goodness and righteousness of Jehovah. We may anticipate, as we read these glowing words, what that song will be when the spirited Babylon is overthrown, Rev_19:1-7.
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Rev 19:1  And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 
Rev 19:2  For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 
Rev 19:3  And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. 
Rev 19:4  And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. 
Rev 19:5  And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 
Rev 19:6  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 
Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 

Notice how God suits Himself to our need, whether for strength, or refuge, or shadow. Take from Him what you are needing most. As the cloud draws its veil over the burning sunshine to mitigate its heat, so does God interpose to reduce the sufferings of His own. The branch, that is, the exulting song of the terrible ones, their song of triumph, shall be hushed. From Isa_25:6 we learn that the hunger of man for God can only be satisfied in Jesus; and from Isa_25:7, that the dread of death and the hereafter, which has lain heavily on humanity as a pall shall be forever ended, when Jesus comes the second time unto salvation. Compare 1Co_15:54. God will not only wipe tears from our eyes but the fountains of tears shall be dried up, Rev_21:4.  (F.B. Meyer)

Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. ​

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. Mat 2:1-2

We have, as it were, three classes gathered about us in this narrative, and the central figure of them all is Christ Himself. As we think of this story in connection with our Master, the first thought that strikes us is that we have here a distinct fulfilment of prophecy. It had been prophesied that to Him should the gathering of the people be. The Gentile and the Jew were found by His cradle; in Him all national distinctions are, as it were, wiped out; there is to be neither Barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free. Round His cradle are not only the representatives of various lands, but they are brought to do homage to Him as a Child. Out of the childlike King there would arise a childlike character of all His followers.

​Turn next from the spiritual to the temporal king. When the news of the new-born Christ was brought to Herod, "he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." He feared for the stability of his throne. His heart was centred in the kingdom which he ruled, the possessions that were brought under his control. The man whose mind is fixed upon possessions as such is troubled at the thought of a righteous ruler. The man whose thoughts are fixed upon the abundance of things that he possesses, necessarily quakes when he thinks of Him whose return must strike every one of them into the abyss away from Himself.

Look at the character of the wise men. They were great men. But their greatness is magnified by the greatness of their faith and their moral courage. Faith is, after all, a kind of heaven-born insight. These men saw the star. There were thousands about them who looked upon the same star, and saw no meaning in it. It led them through the long desert to kneel before the Satisfier of their hopes. So it is with Christ’s children in this world. They see by an insight of faith what other men do not see. There is a light that others do not see, there is a hand that others cannot perceive, there is a voice that others cannot hear, that calls them to go forward.
(Bishop Boyd Carpenter, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 36.)

The expectation of the advent of a great king was far-spread at the time of the Nativity. It was probably founded, so far as the East was concerned, on the prophecies of Balaam and Daniel. See Num_24:17; Dan_7:13-14. There are evidences of the same expectation in the classic literature of the West. Our Lord was the desire of all nations; and the corruption and anarchy of the Roman Empire made the longing still more intense.
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God comes to men in the spheres with which they are most familiar; to Zacharias in the Temple, to the shepherds in the fields, to the Wise-Men by a portent in the heavens. He knows just where to find us. “Lift the stone, and I am there.” Be sure to follow your star, whatever it be; only remember that it must ultimately receive the corroboration of Scripture, as in the present case, Mat_2:5. A miracle may be wrought to awaken and start us on our great quest, but the miraculous is withdrawn where the ordinary methods of inquiry will serve. The news of Jesus always disquiets the children of the world; they know that it means division. (F.B. Meyer)

​But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 1Pe 2:9

It is impossible to read the Scriptures and not to see that there are some persons predestinated to glory. There are persons who, in the words of St. Paul, are vessels which God hath aforetime prepared unto glory. It is a fact—we see it with our eyes—that God makes a distinction between the heathen who have never heard the name of Christ and the Christian. The latter has high privileges which the former has not. The Christian has God’s word to guide him, but not only this: he has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him; he can reach to higher degrees of excellence here; and reason would surmise that he is intended for higher enjoyments hereafter. What reason surmises, revelation asserts. This, then, is the first, the foundation blessing of Christianity, in which we may humbly rejoice, and according to which all spiritual blessings are to be dispensed; it is the first link in the golden chain of glory which is to raise man from earth to heaven, the first round of that ladder up which man is to ascend to God, as angels descend to man.

But we may proceed yet farther. Our blessed Saviour tells us that there are many mansions in His Father’s house, comparing the house that is to be to that which existed on earth while He yet tabernacled with men. In the temple of the first Jerusalem there was a variety of chambers or mansions, employed for different purposes, though all relating directly or indirectly to the services of the sanctuary. In the new Jerusalem, which will itself be the temple of the universe, there will in like manner be many mansions or chambers. It is very possible that we are not only each of us predestined to heaven, but predestined also each to our particular place in heaven, that our very mansion is fixed. Let the glory which is awaiting us, and to which we are predestined, elevate our characters, ennoble our thoughts, extend our views. Co-heirs we are with Christ Himself, who is our Head; vessels we are designed for high honour; we are of the household of the King of kings; we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, called out of darkness into His marvellous light.
(W. F. Hook, Sermons on Various Subjects, p. 48.)

"But ye - Who believe in Christ Are - In a higher sense than ever the Jews were. A chosen or elect race, a royal priesthood - "Kings and priests unto God," Rev 1:6. As princes, ye have power with God, and victory over sin, the world, and the devil: as priests, ye are consecrated to God, for offering spiritual sacrifices. Ye Christians are as one holy nation, under Christ your King. A purchased people - Who are his peculiar property. That ye may show forth - By your whole behaviour, to all mankind. The virtues - The excellent glory, the mercy, wisdom, and power of him, Christ, who hath called you out of the darkness of ignorance, error, sin, and misery."
(John Wesley)