King of saints

“Light in the darkness” Advent 2022 banner, Scots International Church Rotterdam, designed and made by members of the congregation

 

Great and marvelous are your deeds,
      Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
      King of the nations.
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.

 
I was working on some lyrics based on this passage from Revelation 15:3-4 when I discovered something curious.

The phrase “King of the nations” in verse 3 is sometimes translated as “King of the ages” or alternatively as “King of saints”.
 

As we cross the threshold of another year, what a comfort to know God is King – of the nations, of the ages, of the saints.

 


A prayer

Lift up our hearts, O Christ,
above the false shows of things,
above laziness and fear,
above selfishness and covetousness,
above whim and fashion,
up to the everlasting Truth that you are;
that we may live joyfully and freely,
in the faith that you are our King and our Saviour,
our Example and our Judge,
and so long as we are loyal to you,
all will ultimately be well.
 

by Charles Kingsley (1819-1875)
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #136
 


From the blog
3 Prayers for endings and beginnings
On the threshold of tomorrow
On writing prayer poems
 

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