"By Me Kings Reign"
Proverbs 8:15

Arthur Pink, 1937
 

How blessed to be assured of this! It is not political influence, the will of the people, nor the personal caprice of royalty (whether they shall reign or abdicate), which is the determining factor. No—the King of kings is the One who fills and empties the thrones of earth! "All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: What have you done?" (Dan. 4:35).

It is true that He uses means and employs instruments in the executing of His will—yet they are but clay in the hands of the Divine Potter. We press this point because our lot is cast in a day when men's thoughts are so engaged with secondary causes and influences, that He who directs all causes and regulates all influences is largely lost sight of.

To submit to God's sovereign dispensation and "honor the king" (1 Peter 2:17) because of his office, irrespective of his character, is our bounden duty at all times. A wicked Nero was the emperor of Rome when that precept was first set down in writing! Nevertheless, it cannot but gladden the hearts of the righteous when the Lord is pleased to give a monarch who honors Him, outwardly at least, and sets before his subjects an example of regal piety. For the greater part of last century, and for most of the present one, Great Britain has been blessed with first a queen, and then a king, who reverently bowed the knee before the Most High. And now God has again exalted to the throne a king and his royal consort who are not ashamed to own Him both in their public and private lives. This is a mercy for which we cannot be sufficiently grateful.