Jesus was a king of beauty

JESUS WAS A KING OF BEAUTY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
“Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty.” Isaiah
33:17
A PRECIOUS PROMISEFOR A PURE PEOPLE NO. 3542
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER14, 1916
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON AT THE METROPOLITAN
TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON
“Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty.” Isaiah33:17
No doubt these words originally had a timely and strictly literal meaning for
the people of Jerusalem. When the city was besiegedby Sennacherib, the
inhabitants saw Hezekiahin garb of mourning. How had he torn his clothes in
sorrow!but the day would come, according to prophecy, when Sennacherib
must fall. Those who counted the resources andestimated the strength or the
weakness ofthe city would be far away, and then there would be times of
liberty. The people would be able to travel to the utmost ends of Palestine, so
they would see the land that is very far off. Hezekiahhimself would come out
in his robes of excellencyand majestyon a joyful occasionto praise the Lord,
and thus would the people’s eyes see the king in his beauty. The passage,
however, has been frequently used with quite another import and that
properly enough if it is thoroughly understood that it is by wayof

accommodationwe take it, and that it is typically we trace it out. Have we not
by faith seenour King in His robes of mourning? Have we not seenJesus in
the sorrowfulweeds of affliction and humiliation while here below? Our faith
has gazedupon Him in the rent garments of His passion. We have beheld Him
in His agonyand bloody sweat, in His crucifixion and His death. Well, now,
another and a brighter view awaits us. Our eves will one day see the King in a
more glorious array. We will behold Him as John saw Him on Patmos. We
will behold the King in His beauty, and then we shall enter and enjoy the land
which is at present very far off. I think it meet and right to take such a word
as this tonight when there are so many in our midst who are seeking and
finding the Savior, because it is very certainthat not long after their
conversion, they will have to encounter some of the difficulties of the way.
Sometimes within a few hours of their starting on pilgrimage they are met by
some of the dragons, or they fall into some Slough of Despond, or they are
surprised by some Hill Difficulty, therefore, they ought to be stimulated with
encouragements,they need to be cheeredand consoledby the prospectwhich
lies before them. You will recollecthow Christian is representedby Bunyan
in his famous allegoryto be reading in his book as he went along concerning
the blessedcountry, the celestialland where their eyes should behold the King
in His beauty, and this beguiled the roughness of the road, and made the
pilgrim hastenon with more alacrity and less weariness. NowI am going to
turn over one of the elementary pages of this Book. I want to show the young
convert a vision pleasing and profitable for all Christians, young or old, the
glory that awaits him, the restwhich is securedby the promise of God to
every pilgrim who continues in the blessedroad, and holds on, and holds out
to the end. Your eyes, beloved, you who have lately been convertedto God, if
by divine grace your conversionprove genuine, your eyes shall one day behold
the King in His beauty. This may well inspire you with courage and dispose
you to endure with patience all the difficulties of the way. When God brought
His servantAbraham into the separatedposition of a strangerin a strange
land, it was not long before He said to him, “Lift up now thine eyes, and look
to the north, and to the south, and to the east, and to the west, for all this land
will I give to thee and to thy seedfor ever,” as if to solace andcheerhim in the
place of his sojourn by the picture and the promise that greetedhim.

2 A Precious Promise for a Pure People Sermon#3542
Volume 62 2
In like manner, you children of faithful Abraham, you who have left all for
Christ’s sake, look upon your future heritage from the spot of your present
exile, and your hearts will exceedinglyrejoice. We shallnotice, first, the
objectto be seen—the king in his beauty! Then, secondly, the nature of this
vision, for our eyes shall see the admirable spectacle, and thirdly, we shall
draw your attention to those to whom this favor will be granted. The context
will help us to discoverof whom it is the Lord speaks whenHe says, “Thine
eyes shall see the king in his beauty.” Not all eyes, but your eyes shall see the
King in His beauty. What is this vision which is here promised to God’s
people? They are to see the King. They are to see— I. THE KING IN HIS
BEAUTY. THE King—a sweettitle which belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ
as His exclusive prerogative, crownedwith the thorn crownonce, but now
wearing the diadem of universal monarchy. Other kings there are, but theirs
is only a temporary title to temporal precedence among the sons of men. I had
almost saidtheirs was a mimic sovereignty. He is the real King—the King of
kings—the King that reigns forever and forever. He is King, for He is God.
JEHOVAH reigns. The Makerof the earth must be her King. He in whose
hands are the deep places ofthe earth, and the strength of the hills, He by
whom all things exist and all things consist, He must of necessityreign. The
government shall be upon His shoulders. His name shall be calledWonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God. From the very fact that He is the Sonof God, the
express image of His Father’s glory, He must be King. BecauseHe
condescendedto veil Himself in our flesh, He derives a secondtitle to the
kingdom—He is King now by His merits. Wherefore God also has highly
exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the earth. For the suffering of death, He was made for
a little while, lowerthan the angels, but now, seeing He has been obedient even
unto death, even the death of the cross, He has obtained a more excellent
name than the angels, and He is crownedwith glory and honor. He is Head

over all things now. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godheadbodily. We
rejoice to reflectupon Him as King by nature, and then as King by due desert
over a kingdom which He has inherited by right divine. He is King at this time
by virtue of the conquests He has made, having spoiledthe principalities and
powers of darkness. In this world He fought the battle, and so bravely did He
fight it out that He could say, “It is finished.” He made an end of sin, He made
reconciliationfor iniquity, He trampled death and hell beneath His feet, and
now He is King by force of arms. He enteredinto the strong man’s house,
wrestledwith him, and vanquished him, for He is strongerthan he, He has led
captivity captive, and He has ascendedupon high—King of kings and Lord of
lords. He reigns supremely, moreover, in some of our hearts. We have yielded
to the swayof His love. We rejoice to crownHim. We never feelhappier than
when our hearts and tongues are singing—
“Bring forth the royal diadem, And crownHim Lord of all.”
I trust there are many more among you who have not yet yielded that will yet
yield your hearts to His power. Freshprovinces shall be added to His empire,
new cities of Mansoulwill open their gates that the Prince Emanuel may ride
in and may sit in triumph there. Oh! that it may be so, for a multitude that no
man can number shall cheerfully, joyfully own His sway, and kiss the Son lest
He be angry. But mark, the limit of His poweris not according to the will of
man, for where He does not reign by the joyful consentof His people and the
mighty conquestof His love, He still exercisesabsolute dominion. Even the
wickedare His servants. They shall be made in some way or other to subserve
His glory, for He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. Why
do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The King is
anointed upon God’s holy hill of Zion. King He is. He has a bit in the mouth of
His most violent adversaries, and He turns
Sermon #3542 APrecious Promise for a Pure People 3
Volume 62 3

them about according to His own will. What though with mingled cruelty and
rage men attack the Gospelof Christ, they strive in vain to thwart the divine
decree. In ways mysterious and unknown to us, the Lord assertsHis own
supremacy. He reigns even where the rulers conspire, and the people rebel
againstHim. Beloved, the sovereigntyof our Lord Jesus Christ, to which He
is entitled by inheritance, is due to Him for His merits, and in the equitable
claim of His conquests—this reign of Christ extends over all things. He is the
universal Lord. In this world He is Regenteverywhere. By Him all things exist
and consist. WhenI think of Him, it seems to me that the sea roars to His
praise, and the trees of the woodrejoice in His presence. There is not a
dewdrop that twinkles on the flower at sunrise but reflects His bounty, there
is not an avalanche that falls from its Alp with thundering crash but resounds
with tokens of His power. The Great Shepherd reigns. The Lord is King. As
Josephwas made ruler over all the land of Egypt, even so, according unto the
word of Jesus, all the people are ruled. He has all things put under His feet,
for it was of Him the prophet sang of old, “Thouhast made him a little”—(or
as the margin has it, a little while)—“lowerthan the angels, and hastcrowned
him with glory and honor; thou hast put all things under his feet, all sheep
and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, the fish of the
sea, and whatsoeverpasseththrough the paths of the seas.” Thoughwe see
not yet all things put under man, yet we see Jesus,who, for the suffering of
death was made, for a little while, lower than the angels, crownedwith glory
and honor. At this hour He rules on earth. Deathand hell are under His
scepter. Satan, and the spirits that have followedhis leadership, bite their iron
bonds while they confess the powerof the Lord Divine to be paramount. He
can crush His enemies and break them with a rod of iron as a potter’s vessel.
His mighty power is felt and feared. But oh! yonder, up in heaven, where the
full beams of His glory are unveiled, He reigns in matchless splendor. The
angels worshipped Him when He was brought forth as the Only Begotteninto
the world. So spoke the oracle, “Letall the angels of Godworship him.”
Seraphim and cherubim, are they not His messengers? He makes them like
flames of fire. The redeemedby blood, what could they do? What is their joy,
their occupation, their delight, but to sing forever, “Worthy is the Lamb that
was slain to receive honor, and glory, and dominion, and power”? Oh! tell us
not of emperors, there is but One Imperial brow. Tellus not of monarchs, for

the crownbelongs to the blessedand only Potentate. He alone is King. As
such, we think of Him, and long for His appearing, when we shall hail Him the
King in His beauty. I love to see His courtiers. That is a happy hour in which
I can talk with one who has my Master’s ear. I love to see the skirts of His
garment as I come in fellowshipwith Him to His table. I love to tread His
courts, I love to hear His voice, eventhough I cannot yet see the face of Him
that speaks withme. But to see the King—to see the King Himself! Oh! joy
unspeakable!It is worth worlds even to have a goodhope of beholding a sight
so resplendent with glory. Note well the promise, “Thine eyes shallsee the
king in his beauty.” Does not this suggestto us that the King has been seen,
though not in His beauty? He was seenon earth as the prophet foretold,
“despisedand rejectedof men, a man of sorrows, and acquaintedwith grief.”
And as seenthen, we are told there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
There was a time when many were astonishedat Him. His visage was more
marred than any man, and His form more than the sons of men, that was in
the day of His humiliation. But we are yet to see the King in His beauty, and I
know, beloved, that in part that vision does beam, even now, upon spirits
before the throne. I would not exactly say that they have eyes, for they have
left these organs of sense behind them. They have not receivedthe fullness of
this promise, yet in a measure they see the beauty of the King, that beauty
which His Father has put upon Him now that He has ascendedup on high,
and returned to the Father, having obeyedall His precepts, and fulfilled all
His will. His Fatherhas already rewardedHim. He sits enthroned at the right
hand of the Majestyon high, He is adoredand worshipped. It is no small sight
for our dis-imprisoned spirits to behold Him and adore.
Volume 62 4
But remember the spirits in heaven, without us, cannot be made perfect, so
says the apostle. They are waiting for the adoption—to wit, the redemption of
the body—waiting for the trumpet of resurrection. It is then, I think, that this
blessedhope will be fully verified, “Thine eyes shall see the king in his

beauty.” As Job puts it, “I know that my Redeemerliveth, and that he shall
stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though, after my skin, worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes will behold, and not another.” Our bodies shall be raised from
the dead.
“These eyes shallsee Him in that day, The God that died for me; And all my
rising bones shall say— Lord, who is like to Thee?”
From the dark chambers of the grave we shall come forth with all the blood-
bought company of the faithful. Then we shall see the King in His beauty.
What beauty that will be! We steadfastlylook for His appearing when He
shall come the secondtime. This personalmanifestation must be welcome to
the saints. To see Him then must be to see His beauty. Our senses, relievedof
infirmity, will be endowedwith full capacity, our graces being increased, and
our spirits lively and vigorous to appreciate His wonderful person. As God
and Man we do now believe in Him, but how little canour faith anticipate the
vision! We acknowledge the mystery which is as yet unveiled. How little are
we affectedby the wonderful information which must astonishangels—that
the infinite can be joined with the finite, that the Godheadcan be in perfect
union with the manhood, the bush of the manhood burning with the glow of
the Godhead, yet not thereby consumed. ’Tis matchless that the Eternal
should link Himself with finite flesh, that He should hang upon His mother’s
breast, who bears up the columns of the universe. Strange conjunction! Till
we wake up in His likeness we shallnever thoroughly understand it. Oh! how
amazement will resolve itselfinto admiration as we gaze upon Him who has a
nature that we have been familiar with, and yet the proper divinity which no
man has seenor cansee!What grandeur to behold! What rapture to
experience when our eyes see the King in His beauty! The sight will
overwhelm us. But in other respects than that which is essentialto His Kingly
dignity, the spectacle willbe illustrious. In the hour of conquest, He will take
possessionofa throne which no rival dare dispute. Judas will be there, but he
will not think of betraying Him. Pilate will be there, but he will not think of
questioning Him. The Jews will be there, but they will not cry, “Crucify him.”

The Romans will be there, but they will not think of hauling Him awayto
execution. His enemies in that day shall lick the dust. They shall be like chaff
before the whirlwind in the day of His coming. And what will be the splendor
of His glory when He shall be proclaimed King of kings in His beauty, with all
the insignia of His royal power! He will have the beauty of state pageanttoo,
for He will assume office as Judge of the quick and the dead. Then will the
trumpet sound, and all the solemn pomp of the greatassize will encircle Him
round about. The vivid lightning will flash through the universe and the roar
of His thunder shall awake the dead, while an irresistible summons shall
compel them to appear before His dread tribunal. From His searching gaze no
creature shall be hid, and every eye shall see Him. They also who pierced Him,
and all the kindreds of the earth, shall weepand wailbecause of Him. But to
us that awful pomp will not be appalling, but a fit accessoryonwhich His
royal beauty is displayed. We shall admire the hand that holds the scepter, for
we shall recognize it as the same hand that was once piercedfor us. We shall
admire the voice that condemns the wicked, and bids them “Depart!” for that
voice shall pronounce our welcome, saying, “Come,ye blessed.” We shall
admire the Shepherd’s crook with which He shall separate the sheepand the
goats, forit will apportion us to eternal bliss, though it shall dismiss the goats
to their eternal doom. Thrice happy and most blessedshall we be in that day.
Terror and trouble shall be the lot of the world, trust and
Volume 62 5
triumph shall then be the portion of the saints. He shall be admired in all
them that believed, and when that final judgment shall have fulfilled its
destined purpose, He shall be in His beauty seenas the Conqueror of all evil,
the Conquerorof sin, of death and hell. The last enemy that shall be
destroyedis death. How shall we see Him in His beauty when death itself shall
die! I cannotattempt to describe that beauty. It is far too dazzling for me to
picture. I have dreamed of it sometimes in sacredsoliloquies. Myfaith has
tried to realize the facts which are revealedunto us by His Spirit. Still, the
tongue cannottell so much as the heart has conceived. There are unspeakable
words which greetus in seasons ofrapture which it is not lawful to utter.

Whenever we are caughtup to the third heavenin rapturous meditation, we
have but small news to tell men. But how inconceivable to us now is the glory
of Christ as it shall be when all His people are present with Him in heaven! I
have not touched upon the millennial age or the latter-day glory. Your
thoughts can fill up the vacancy. But what will be the beauty of Christ in
heaven in that day “whenhe shall make up his jewels”?Whatare the jewels
of our King but His redeemed people? What will be the ornaments of His state
but those for whom He shed His blood? And when they are all there, then we
shall see the King in His beauty with all His jewels. Beauty!A shepherd’s
beauty lies much in his simple garb, a mother’s beauty—very much of it is to
be seenas she appears in the centerof a happy and lovely family. So, beyond
all doubt, the beauty of Christ will be most conspicuous when all His saints
are with Him. I was in company with some goodpeople lately, who were
discussing the question whether we should see the saints in heaven. I do not
know whether they settled the question to their satisfaction, but I settledit
very well to mine. I expectto see and know all the saints, to recognize them,
and rejoice with them, and that without the slightestprejudice to my being
wholly absorbedin the sight of my Lord. Let me explain to you how this can
be. When I went the other day into a friend’s drawing room, I observed that
on all sides there were mirrors. The whole of the walls were coveredwith
glass, and everywhere I lookedI kept seeing my friend. It was not necessary
that I should fix my eyes upon him, for all the mirrors reflectedhim. Thus,
brethren, it seems to me that every saint in heaven will be a mirror of Christ,
and that as we look upon all the loved ones, gazing round upon them all, we
shall see Christ in every one of them, so we shall still be seeing the Masterin
the servants, seeing the Head in all the members. It is I in them, and they in
me. Is it not so? It will be all the Master. This is the sum total of heaven.
“Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty,” and they shall see the beauty of
the King in all His people. Nor does it appear that the manifestation shall be
ever withdrawn, or that we shall ever leave off seeing the beauty of our King.
There is the mercy. “Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty,” on and on,
and on still, and on, forever on, discerning more and more of the beauty, the
inexhaustible beauty and splendor of the Sun of Righteousness, worldwithout
end. The theme grows upon us. We must curb ourselves. We canbut skim the
surface as the swallow does the brook. Now, as to— II. THE NATURE OF

THIS VISION, we know it is in the future. “Thine eyes shall see the king in
his beauty.” You poor sinners must be content with seeing the King in His
majesty. Happy souls who come to see Jesus onthe cross!Oh! it is joy for
them to look unto Him and be saved. Behold the Lamb of God—behold the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Poorsin-sick soul, are you
looking to Jesus to be saved? If it be so in the present, then in the future you
shall see Him in His beauty. It will be a vision for all. Their natural sense shall
discern the real Savior, “Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty.” It is not
merely your spiritual perception, but your natural eyes. Does notJob express
this conviction, “whom mine eyes shall see”?Oh! yes, not as it now is with this
flesh and blood, but still with this body! I call you a vile body sometimes, my
poor flesh and blood, and so you are. Yet in your origin there was something
good, and in your destiny there is something better, “Bone of thy bone, and
flesh of thy flesh.” Born of a woman as you were, and fed on bread as you
must be, and though the worms devour you, yet shall you rise again.
Volume 62 6
Oh! body, you are even now the temple of God. Know you not that your
bodies are the members of Christ? Know you not that your body is the temple
of the Holy Ghost? These eyes shallsee Him. They may be weeping eyes,
aching eyes, wearyeyes, and sleepyeyes, ay, or even blind eyes, or your failing
eyes on which the curtain is being drawn about you—your eyes shall see the
King. When heaven is in sight there will be no need for glassesto assistyour
vision. Your eyes, all strengthened to bear the light, as the eagle’s eye when
the sun shines in his strength—“Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty.” It
will be a personalvision. “Whom mine eyes shall see, and not another.” It
shall not be somebody else repeating another’s testimony, “Yes, I see Him.” I
like to hear what John saw, but I like better to have John’s privilege, we shall
be like John, and shall ourselves behold Him. Can you realize it? You recollect
in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progresshow Mercy laughed in her sleep, and
Christiana askedher what made her laugh so. Mercyreplied that she had

seena beautiful vision. Is it not enough to make us laugh in our sleep, to think
that “thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty”? To think that this head shall
weara crown, that these hands shall graspthe palms, that these feetshall
stand on the transfigured globe, that these ears shall hear the symphonies of
eternity, and that this tongue shall help to swellthe everlasting chorus. Oh!
who would not rejoice? This is the wine which, as it goes down, makes the lips
of him who drinks to speak. Oh! that we may all have a personalsight of the
King in His beauty! And it will be a near sight, because it will be clearand
distinct. “Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty.” This does not imply a
distant view of a remote object, a dim vision of the dazzling splendor, but you
will behold Him in such close proximity that you candiscern every feature of
His person, every phase of His comeliness. You shall discernall the insignia of
His offices, His conquests, His titles, His dominion, and His glory. Now you
only see a picture of Him reflectedas in a glass darkly, then you shall see Him
face to face. Oh! that the curtain might be drawn up, the veil rent, the vision
unfolded! It will be a delightful sight. When He shall appear in His beauty, we
cannot wearthe vestments of our mourning and sorrow. As He is, so are we in
this world. As He shall be revealed, so shall we be also in that world. “It doth
not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we
shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Thus we shall be beautiful
when we shall see Him in His beauty. He shall sayto us, “Thouart all fair, my
love; there is not a spot in thee.” Oh! the delight, the pure unclouded joy,
reflective as the light of heaven. What an introduction to eternal felicity this
will be when your eyes shall see the King in His beauty! There is no period, no
finale, no end put to it. This is no transient spectacle. His beauty never fades.
Our festival cannever terminate. As long as He appears in His beauty we shall
see Him, and be enamored of His loveliness. Is it not written, “Because Ilive,
ye shall live also”? Without His people, without the complement of His saints
with Him, He would not be a full Christ at any time. “Know ye not that the
church is the fullness of him who filleth all in all?” So all His disciples must be
forever with Him, and they must forever see His face, and be partakers ofHis
glory. III. TO WHOM IS THIS VISION GIVEN? We find a remarkably full
description of these people. Read the fifteenth verse. Their ordinary gait
distinguishes them. “He that walkethrighteously.” “The pure in heart shall
see God,” but if your deportment disgraces you, how deep will be your

dishonor! Unholy creatures will never see a holy God. It is not possible. Oh!
sinners, what think you of this? You must be changed, you must be cleansed,
you must be converted, the Holy Ghostmust regenerate you, otherwise, you
cannot walk uprightly or stand in the presence of the King in His beauty.
Next to this they are known by their tongues, “andspeakethuprightly.” No
liar shall enter into heaven. Those who talk lasciviously, those who swear
profanely, the singers of idle songs, those who lend their lips to slander,
backbite their neighbors, and circulate evil reports in malice—these andsuch
as these can have no inheritance in the kingdom of God. Oh! may the Lord
washyour tongues, rinse your mouths, and make them sweetand clean, else
you will never sing the songs of heaven.
Volume 62 7
“He that walkethrighteously and speakethuprightly” is so far approved. But
let him take heed to his commercialcharacter, forit is further said, “He that
despiseththe gain of oppressions,”oras the margin has it, of deceit. A man
that gets money by squeezing others, by oppressing the poor by hard
bargains, shall not enjoy the beatific vision. If you buy and sell, and getgain
by lying, by false pretenses, by tricks of trade—ay, even by the customs that
are commonly allowed, though they would look fraudulent if thoroughly
exposed, you shall have no inheritance in the kingdom of God. How can you
be gracious when you are not honest? He that is not able to hold the scales
lightly, measure out an even yard, or make out a bill equitably, may well
tremble at being poised in the balances ofthe sanctuary. When such as these
are weighed, they will be found wanting. Thorough integrity must stand the
test of disinterestedness. “He that shakethhis hands from holding of bribes.”
Some men cannot help preferring coin to conscience. This is the way of
bribery. Palm oil was largelyused when Isaiahwrote. It is much in vogue still,
perhaps not so much in this country as in others, but there are plenty of ways
of receiving bribes besides selling one’s vote at the polling booth. How many
men are bribed by a smile or a crown—bribed to Sabbath breaking—bribed
to the follies of the world—bribed to I know not what of error! But drop a
shilling into a conscientiousman’s hand, and he shakesit from his hand, he

does not like the touch of it, he is like Paul, who shook off the viper into the
fire. So the man who is to see the King in His beauty shakes his hand from
holding bribes. Moreover, “He stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood.” He
does not like to hearof cruelty, of outrage, or wantonly causing pain. He stops
his ears, he will not listen to any proposaleither to gratify a resentment or to
seek a personaladvantage whereby his neighbor would be injured. In this
wickedworld it is often wise to stopone’s ears. A deaf ear is a greatblessing
when there is base conversationin the neighborhood. The goodman who thus
keeps guard over his hands and his feet, his tongue and his ears, is likewise
known by his eyes. “He shutteth his eyes from seeing evil.” He shuns the
temptations to which a vain curiosity would expose him. Oh! if our mother
Eve had shut her eyes when the serpent pointed out yon rosy apple on the
tree! Oh! that she had shut her eyes to it! Oh! that she had said, “No, I will not
even look at it.” Looking leads to longing, and longing leads to sin. Do you
say, “There can be no harm in looking, just to see for yourself, are we not told
to prove all things?” “Justcome here, young man,” says the tempter, “you do
not know what life is, one evening will suffice to show you a little gaiety, and
let you see how the frolic is carried on. You need not share in it, you know.
You may learn a thing or two you never dreamed of before. Surely a man is
not to go through the world a baby. Just come for an hour or two and look
on.” “Ah! no,” says the man whose eyes are to see the King in His beauty,
“the tree of knowledge ofgoodand evil never brought any man goodyet, so
please let me alone. I shut my eyes from the sight of it. I do not want to
participate, even as a spectator. I do not care to look upon that which God will
not look upon without abhorrence. I know that His love has put my sins
behind His back, what, then, He puts behind His back shall I put before my
face. That were ingratitude indeed!” Perhaps you say, “Well, if this is the
characterof such as shall see the King in His beauty, I shall never come up to
the standard.” “Nay, but you must, else you will never enjoy the beatific
vision.” “But I cannot convert myself after this fashion.” I know you cannot,
but there is One who can. Has not Jesus Christ come into the world to make
us new creatures? It is His objective and intent. “Behold, I make all things
new.” He changes a man, gives him new desires, new longings, and new hopes.
And He can change you. Let me ask you, have you ever seen, by faith, the
King? Have you ever lookedto Jesus on the cross, and did you ever recognize

that Jesus Christ, if He is to be your Savior, must be your King? You sayyou
have believed in Jesus. Yes, but did you take Him to be your King? Did you
mean to obey Him as well as to trust Him? Did you intend to serve Him as
well as to lean upon Him? Remember, you cannothave
Volume 62 8
a half of Christ. You cannot have Him as your Redeemer, but not as your
Ruler. You must take Him as He is. He is a Savior, but He saves His people
from their sins. Now, if you have ever seenChrist as your Savior, you have
seenbeauty in Him, He is lovely in your eyes, for the loveliestsight in the
world to a sinner is His Savior. “What is the latest news,” saida certainsquire
to a companion, accustomedto hunt with him, who had come up to the
Metropolis— “whatis the latestnews you have heard in London?” “The latest
news, and the best news I have ever heard,” was the quick reply, “is that Jesus
Christ came into the world to save sinners.” “Tom,” says he, “I think you are
mad.” “William,” said Tom, “I know you are. I only wish you were cured of
your insanity as, by the grace ofGod, I have been.” Oh! that we did but all of
us know Jesus Christin His beauty, and could, every one of us, rejoice in Him,
as those do that are charmed by the sight. If you have not your eyes opened,
you cannotsee the King in His beauty. But if they are opened now, so that you
greetJesus as your King, and see beauty in Him, then, whateveryour former
life may have been, its sins are forgiven—they are blotted out. Your Savior’s
sacrifice, that offeredsuch satisfactionto God for your sins, shall give sweet
solace to your conscience.Bythe gracious help of the Holy Spirit, you shall
start a fresh career, and begin a new life. Be it so, and you will henceforth
shut your eyes from seeing, stopyour ears from hearing, shake your hands
from all iniquity, and turn aside your feet from it, to live the life you live in the
flesh by the faith of the Son of God, to His honor and glory! So shall your eyes,
poor sinner—weeping, sorrowing, mournful eyes as they may now be—your
eyes shall see the King in His beauty. The Lord grant that we, all of us, may

have a present earnestand a future fruition of this delightful promise, for His
name’s sake. Amen
The King in His Beauty
Author: Ray C. Stedman
Readthe Scripture: Psalm45
At Christmastime it is very fitting that we should examine some of the psalms
we have completely bypassed till now -- the Messianicpsalms, i.e., the psalms
which look forward to the coming of Messiah. There are a number of them
among these folksongsoffaith which we call "psalms," and both Jewishand
Christian commentators agree that they do indeed portray the Messiah.
Some of them are well known. They cover various facets of the life and
ministry of Messiah. Psalm22, for instance, is one of the most striking and
graphic descriptions we have in the entire Bible of the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ. There we are told that they would pierce his hands and his feet, and
part his garments and gamble for them. All of this was fulfilled, as you know,
at the foot of the cross. Psalm16 is a wonderful description of the resurrection
of Jesus. On the Day of Pentecost, whenthe apostle Peterstoodup and spoke
to the gatheredmultitudes after the manifestation of the Holy Spirit's
presence there, he used this psalm to prove to them that the Scriptures had
foretold that Jesus wouldbe raisedfrom the dead. Psalm69 tells us of the
betrayal of Judas, and how the Lord would reactto that betrayal. These
Messianic psalms give us facts about the ministry of Christ that we would not
have known otherwise -- even from the Gospels. Psalm110 is a wonderful
description of his presentministry with us -- what the book of Hebrewscalls
the "Melchizedek priesthood" ofJesus.

You remember that Jesus himself told us that the psalms spoke ofhim. In the
twenty-fourth chapter of Luke's gospel, as Jesus appearedto the disciples in
the upper room after his resurrection, he said to them, "These are the words
which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be
fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, andin the prophets, and in
the psalms, concerning me," (Luke 24:44 RSV). As he had read the psalms he
had noted in them various things concerning himself, and these were fulfilled
in his ministry.
There are three psalms which portray the King:
Psalm2 is a picture of the King in his authority: "Why do the nations rage,
and the peoples imagine a vain thing?" (Psalms 2:1 RSV). Here are the
nations of the world, all upset. God says, in the midst of this, "I have set my
king upon my holy hill of Zion," (Psalms 2:6). And he warns the nations,
"Kiss the Son...lestyouperish from the way," (Psalms 2:12).
Then in Psalm 72 you have another beautiful description of Messiahas King.
This is a wonderful picture of the day which is coming, when Messiahshall
reign throughout the earth. All the earth shall be restoredin beauty and
splendor, and peace shallfill the earth as the waters fill the sea.
And here in Psalm 45 we will be looking at the King in his beauty. It is a
beautiful glimpse of the perfection of the characterand the beauty of Jesus
Christ.
As were all the psalms, this one was built around an historic occasion. It
evidently was originally written on the occasionof the marriage of a king,
probably King Solomon, many scholars feel, atthe time of his marriage to the
daughter of the king of Tyre, which is mentioned in the book of Chronicles.
But here is a description which goes far beyond the earthly wedding service.
These words could never be limited to an earthly king; they clearlygo beyond
that. Even the Jewishcommentators on this passagerecognize that this is a
picture of Messiah.
The first nine verses describe to us the King in his beauty. They open with a
personalnote from the author:

My heart overflows with a goodly theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. (Psalms 45:1 RSV)
You can see from that that this psalm is indeed what the superscription says:
a love song, a song inspired by the love of this writer for the King he sees.
And, as the superscription also tells us, it is a Maskil, a teaching psalm. It is
designedto teach us something about the beauty of the King.
So, as we read this psalm through, let us see that it is inspired by a heart
which overflows with a sense oflove and adorationfor One with whom he has
fallen in love. There is no other way to interpret this but to see it as applying
to and being fulfilled in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This writer confessesaneagernessto write. Words flow easilyand "my
tongue," he says, "is like the pen of a ready writer." When my son-in-law,
Steve Kappe, left for Vietnam just one week afterhis marriage to my
daughter, we started receiving letters every day. Week after week, dayafter
day, there came a letter from Steve. Unfortunately they were not addressedto
the family, so I don't know what was in them! But I was struck by this
remarkable phenomenon. Steve had never been a letter writer before, but now
the words just flowedfrom his pen. That is what love does to you. And here is
one who has fallen in love with the King in his beauty, and now he describes it
to us -- first of all, the generalimpression that he creates:
You are the fairest of the sons of men;
grace is poured upon your lips;
therefore God has blessedyou for ever. (Psalms 45:2 RSV)
"What an incomparable personthis is," says the writer. There is no one like
him, no one who can compare to him. We geta hint here of the physical
appearance ofJesus Christ. I know there are many who have tried to guess
what Jesus lookedlike, but it is amazing that in the Gospels we are never told
what he lookedlike. No hint is given to us of his physical appearance. Many
painters have tried to portray how he looked. Some have felt that perhaps he

was very ugly, marred, disfigured, unattractive. They draw that conclusion
from the words in Isaiah 52 and 53:
As many were astonishedat him --
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the sons of men -- (Isaiah 52:14 RSV)
he had no form or comeliness thatwe should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despisedand rejectedby men; (Isaiah53:2b-3a RSV)
But I have never belongedto that schoolof thought, because Ifeel those words
are a descriptionof what happened to him on the cross. But our Lord in his
lifetime was evidently a most attractive person. Everywhere he went children
flockedto him, and the multitudes followedhim -- not only to hang upon his
words, but also because theywere drawn by his beauty. As this writer says,
"He was fairer than the sons of men."
Incidentally, I do not think it can be establishedfrom the Scriptures that he
had long hair. I know there are many today who saythey want to look like
Jesus, so they let their hair grow down to their shoulders. But Jesus did not
look that way. I am sure of that, because Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says
that it is a shame for a man to have long hair, that it is basicallya denial of his
masculinity, that evennature teaches us this. Now, Jesus undoubtedly had a
beard, and there is nothing at all wrong with a beard or a mustache or long
sideburns. But long hair is a different matter. It is interesting that statues dug
up from Greek and Roman ruins of that period all depict men with short hair.
The reasonwhy artists depict Jesus with long, shoulder-length hair is that this
convention was establishedduring the Middle Ages by artists who simply
adopted the style of their own day. But there is no basis for this in the
Scriptures.
Jesus did not have long hair, but he was fairer than the sons of men. We
capture this in a hymn which is a favorite of many: "FairestLord Jesus".
That captures this very thought: "Thou art fairer than all the sons of men."

But most remarkable and impressive, says the writer, are the words which
came from his lips: "...grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has
blessedyou for ever." Luke tells us that on one occasionJesus wentinto the
synagogue in Nazareth, his home town, and there among the people who had
watchedhim grow up as a boy, he stood up and askedfor the roll of the
prophet Isaiah. He openedit up and read to them the words from the sixty-
first chapter which are predictive of him and his ministry:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to preach goodnews to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the acceptable yearof the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19;Isaiah61:1-3a
RSV)
Then he closedthe roll and said, "Todaythis scripture has been fulfilled in
your hearing," (Luke 4:21b RSV). And then he went on to preach other
things. At the close ofthe messageit is recordedthat "all spoke wellof him,
and wonderedat the gracious words which proceededout of his mouth,"
(Luke 4:22a RSV). These words captivatedmen, as they saw that here was
One who held the secrets oflife, who understood what life was like. This is
what made the crowds follow him and the multitudes seek him out, forgetting
their work, their lunch, and everything else, in order that they might hang
upon his words. No wonder they said of him, "Neverdid man speak like this
man!" He himself said that his words would have this power. He said to his
disciples, "If you continue in my words, then you shall be my disciples indeed.
You shall know the truth, and the truth will setyou free," (John 8:31-32
RSV). That has been the experience of millions through the generations since,
as they have listened to the words of Jesus and have been setfree to be the
men and womenGod intended them to be.

Many writers have tried to capture, in one way or another, the incomparable
characterof Jesus Christ. Not all attempts are successful, but here is one
which has always struck me as being very realistic and true:
More than 1900 years ago there was a man born contrary to the laws of life.
This man lived in poverty and was rearedin obscurity. He did not travel
extensively. Only once did he cross the boundary of the country in which he
lived, and that was during his exile in childhood. He possessedneitherwealth
nor influence. His relatives were inconspicuous and had neither training nor
formal education. Yet in infancy he startled a king, in childhood he puzzled
doctors, in manhood he ruled the course of nature, walkedupon the billows as
if pavements, and hushed the sea to sleep. He healedthe multitudes without
medicine and made no charge for his service. He never wrote a book. Yet all
the libraries of the country could not hold the books that have been written
about him. He never wrote a song. Yet he has furnished the theme for more
songs than all the songwriters combined. He never founded a college. Butall
the schools put togethercannot boastof having so many students. He never
marshaled an army nor drafted a soldiernor fired a gun. Yet no leaderever
had more volunteers, who have, under his orders, made more rebels stack
their arms and surrender without a shot fired. He never practicedpsychiatry.
And yet he has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors far and near.
He stands forth upon the highest pinnacle of heaven's glory, proclaimed of
God, acknowledgedby angels, adoredby saints, fearedby devils, as the living,
personalLord Jesus Christ -- my Lord and Savior.
There also is one whose tongue is like the pen of a ready writer, and who has
written a goodlytheme concerning the King.
Next the Psalmistgoes onto give us another picture of the victories of the
King:
Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one,
in your glory and majesty!
In your majesty ride forth victoriously
for the cause of truth and to defend the right;

let your right hand teachyou dread deeds!
Your arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king's enemies;
the peoples fall under you. (Psalms 45:3-5 RSV)
This seems to be a complete about-face. Here is One who has been extolled as
gracious in his words, but now he is pictured as mighty in his enmity, and he
fights and destroys all his enemies. We must remember that in these psalms
we have figurative language. This is not a descriptionof actualbloody
warfare. The enemies spokenof here are not flesh and blood. Rather, as the
apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6, "We do not wrestle againstfleshand
blood, but againstprincipalities, againstthe powers, againstthe world rulers
of this present darkness, againstthe spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places," who hold humanity enslaved. And when this writer is
picturing the victories of the King, he is not talking about battles won and
bodies slain; he is talking about powers destroyed, and forces made to loosen
their grasp, and powers of darkness driven back, and men and womenset free
to be what God intended them to be. These are the victories of the King.
And he accomplishes them with the weapons of truth and righteousness,Verse
4: "In your majesty ride forth victoriously," and not: for the cause oftruth
and to defend the right; literally it is: "by means of the truth and humble
righteousness."Humble righteousness,i.e., meekness -- that is the quality of
Jesus Christ. You know, there is another kind of righteousness --self-
righteousness. Jesus neverhad that. What the writer is talking about here is
that unselfish righteousness whichJesus Christ always manifested, which
never made anybody feeluneasy, or feel that he was "holierthan thou", but
which was perfectly right and true to the characterand the being of God.
Those are the weapons by which he destroys his enemies: truth and humble
righteousness.
Yesterday our Board of Elders met at Dr. Lazier's home. We were sharing
some of the things we were thinking about and experiencing lately. Dr. Lazier
told us that he had been struck by the factthat in any gathering of

businessmentoday there are expressions of fearfor what is happening in the
world. They do not understand why people actthe way they do. They canno
longeraccountfor the behavior of people, in public or private, on the basis of
the old explanations, but people act in strange and unusual ways today. Why
is this? Well, it is because, as Paulsays, "we do not wrestle againstflesh and
blood, but we are striking out againstthose dark powers which hold humanity
enslaved," (Ephesians 6:12 KJV). Dr. Charles Malik, former Presidentof the
GeneralAssembly of the United Nations, said, "We must remember that we
are still living, as the Germans say, zwischenden zeiten (betweenthe times)
when demonic forces canquickly soarvery high, and can bring about
conditions wherein men are no longerable to control the events of their lives."
This is what we are facing.
And, you see, this is what the writer is celebrating -- the mighty powerof
Jesus Christ to open men's eyes, and to stroke them free from the shackles
which bind them -- these illusions that clamp an iron grip on the minds and
hearts of people, young and old alike, and hold them in enslavementto do
things which destroy themselves and others, and yet which they can seemingly
do nothing about, because they do not even see how mixed up their thinking
is, how confusedthey are. What a King is, who rides out in majesty!
The next sectiondescribes the nature that he possesses:
Your divine throne endures for ever and ever.
Your royal scepteris a scepterof equity;
you love righteousness andhate wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness above your fellows;(Psalms 45:6-7 RSV)
These verses are quoted in the opening chapter of Hebrewsto prove the deity
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and his superiority to any of the angels. He is not an
angel;he is not the highest of the createdbeings;he himself is God -- yet God
become man. Instead of, "Your divine throne..." the Hebrew reads, "Your
throne, O God, endures for everand ever." The reasonit is rendered as it is in

the RevisedStandard Version is not that the revisors were trying to destroy
the doctrine of the deity of Jesus. Rather, they were trying to use language
which they felt would fit the human situation from which this psalm arose. No
Hebrew would ever address a king as, "Your throne, O God..." So, in order to
tone down the language to fit the human situation, they made it, "Your divine
throne..." But this is what we need to remember about the psalms --
oftentimes their language is exalted beyond any possible application to an
earthly being, and then it must be translatedthe way it is. And here it is,
"Your throne, O God..." The King is addressedas God.
Yet the very next sentence says, "Therefore God, your God, has anointed
you..." Here is One who is both God -- and yet has a God -- God and man! So
the secretofJesus'incarnation is recordedfor us here one thousand years
before he appearedon earth. Here is blended this marvelous mystery which
causedthe shepherds to whisper in awe-struck wonderon the occasionofhis
birth in Bethlehem, "Emmanuel -- God with us." Think of it! Think of the
wonder of this Person, who was himself the mighty God -- and yet became
flesh. This is what moves the Apostle Paul to cry out to Timothy, "Great
indeed is the mystery of our faith: God was manifested in the flesh!" What an
amazing mystery this is! This is what has moved the hymn writers of the
Christian faith to write such startled phrases:"The Son of God appears."
"Veiled in flesh the Godheadsee!" "The Immortal dies!" -- all centering on
this amazing, remarkable secret:that here is One who blended togetherthe
natures of man and God.
And yet as he lived among us, though his deity was there, hidden away, he
never actedfrom it, he never spoke from it. Instead, he relied, as we must rely,
upon the imparted life of the Father dwelling within him. Yet he himself was
God the Son. This is a mystery which beggars all possible explanation; we
cannot graspit.
Becauseofthis mystery, as we are told here, he was the Anointed One. He
fulfilled all the offices for which an anointing was required in the Old
Testament:the Prophet, the Priest, and the King. As the Prophet he spoke the
words of God in a way which has never been equalled. As the Priesthe offered
himself as a sacrifice. As the King he ruled the course of nature, and he came

rising up from the dead. Death could not hold him, because he was anointed of
God: "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness
above your fellows..." Thatis a beautiful phrase to describe the Holy Spirit:
"the oil of gladness". It was by the Spirit that he did all these things. And it is
the Spirit that creates gladnessin the human heart. This is the heritage of all
who come to know the Son of God. They share with him in this anointing with
the oil of gladness.
The final sectionof this division of the Psalm sets before us the relationship
that he desires. What is this all about? Why this marvelous story of One who
is fairer than the sons of men, and whose lips are filled with gracious words,
who is able to strike the shacklesofslavery from people and set them free, and
who combines in his own being the characterofGod and man in a marvelous
mystery of union? What is he after, what does he want? Well, the Psalmist
tells us. He has come to get married. He has come for a bride:
your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes ofcassia.
>From ivory palaces stringedinstruments make you glad;
daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir. (Psalms 45:8-9 RSV)
This describes a marriage service. And tracedfor us here is a remarkable
series ofpreparations. First of all, he has prepared himself. The writer says,
"Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia." Now,these
are burial spices. You remember that when the women went to the tomb on
EasterSunday morning, they carried with them a quantity of spices -- myrrh
and aloes -- in order to wrap the body of the Lord and preserve it in its death.
And yet here these same spices are presentat the wedding. What does this
mean? Well, that this marriage is made possible out of death, that somehow
out of death comes this fragrant incense which makes glorious the scene ofthe
wedding. You cansee how beautifully this fits with what the Apostle Paul
describes for us in Ephesians 5, when he says that Christ loved the church and
gave himself for it, Ephesians 5:25). He died for it. He went into the bonds of
death for us. Why? In order that he might present to himself a glorious

church, a beautiful bride, without spot or blemish or any such thing. That is
what he is after. So he prepared himself for this purpose.
Then, he has prepared a place. We read of where this wedding is to take
place:"From ivory palaces stringedinstruments make you glad; daughters of
kings are among your ladies of honor..." It is a picture of a beautiful place,
and it reminds us immediately of Jesus'words to his disciples before the cross.
He said to them, "I am going to prepare a place for you. But if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come againand receive you unto myself, that
where I am you may be also," John14:2-3). That place is being prepared now.
It is a place of beauty and glory beyond any possible description. These terms
used here are simply a way of suggesting to us what it is like: ivory palaces,
filled with music and gladness, with a rejoicing company around.
And finally the bride herself is prepared: "...atyour right hand stands the
queen in gold of Ophir." In Oriental custom, this goldendress was always
presentedto the queen by the bridegroom himself. He paid for the golden
dress. I have been interestedfor some time in trying to reestablishscriptural
customs for wedding services here in the Westernworld. It is right for the
grooms to pay all the expenses, as they did there! Since I have four daughters,
you canunderstand my urgency in this respect!
But this is also a wonderful picture for us, is it not? Who is it that is preparing
us for this day, for this sharing of life together? There is a sense in which we
have already entered into this relationship with the Lord, if we belong to his
bride, the church of Jesus Christ. Well, it is he who is preparing us. He has
clothed us with his ownrighteousness -- our goldenrobe. Gold, in Scripture, is
always the picture of deity, and this is a hint of what Peterspeaks of:"We are
made partakers," he says, "ofthe divine nature," (2 Peter1;4). Do you really
graspthis? Have you ever really thought that these words are not merely
magic poetry? This is true! Jesus Christ is blending our lives with his, and
giving us all his position and all his privileges and all his power and all his
interests. All that belongs to him belongs to us. One of the things which is most
seriouslywrong with the church today is that we are forgetting the privileges
we have. We do not reckonon them, we do not think about how tremendous

they are. Yet here stands the bride, ready to join him, dressedin gold which
he has provided.
The next division of the Psalm is addressedto the bride. If anything should be
significant to us in this psalm, it is this. Here are the words to the bride:
Hear, O daughter, consider, and incline your year;
forget your people and your father's house;
and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him[literally, "worship him"],
the people of Tyre will sue your favor with gifts,
even the richestof the people.[Put a period there, because the next phrase
really belongs with what follows.](Psalms 45:10-12 RSV)
Two things are said here to the queen. First, "Consider, and incline your ear;
forgetyour people and your father's house." Whatdoes that mean for us
today? What is the Psalmistsaying to us when he exhorts us as Christians to
forgetour people and our father's house? What is our father's house? Well, it
is the old nature, the place where we were born. It is the Adamic life, the flesh,
the self-centeredlife with which we started, the process ofdepending upon
self, by which we have been operating. Forgetthis, turn from it, reject it,
"forgetyour people and your father's house; and..." What? "...the king will
desire your beauty." Is not that beautiful? Do you see whathe is saying there?
Have you ever thought, when the Lord Jesus throughout the Scriptures is
exhorting you to give yourself to him, to forgetyour old, selfish, self-centered
way of life and to make yourself available to him, an instrument of his
working, that you are arousing a desire and a hunger in his heart for you, that
he desires your beauty? This is, of course, put into the intimate language of a
marriage relationship -- a husband and wife. He is exhorting her to forgetthe
old in order that he might desire the new.
And the secondthing said to the queen: "Since he is your lord, bow to him;
[Worship him, acknowledge his Lordship. And the result will be,] the people
of Tyre will sue your favor with gifts, even the riches of the people."

Throughout the Scriptures the city of Tyre is used as a picture of the world.
He is saying that if the church begins to worship its Lord as it should, the
world will start coming to our door asking for help. One of our problems at
present is that the church has stopped worshipping its Lord. We do not bow to
him anymore, do not acknowledgehim. He is no longerKing in our hearts; he
is more like a constitutional monarch who is sort of a figurehead to whom we
pay a little homage now and then. Once in awhile we toss him a dime or two to
keephim happy. But we do not follow him; we do not obey him. This is why
the world looks atthe church as irrelevant and foolish, a waste of time. But
when the church begins to worship its Lord again, and to glory in his being,
and to count on the riches of his grace, and to honor and exalt and obey him,
then the people of the world will court the favor of the church, and will come
againfor wisdom and help, and for light in their darkness.
The rest of the psalm is simply a description of the beauty of the wedding. We
will read it quickly, beginning with verse 13, and will adopt the marginal
reading:
All glorious is the princess within,[that is, her inner life is right]
gold embroidery is her clothing;[Her outer life also.]
in many-coloredrobes she is led to the king,
with her virgin companions, her escort, in her train.
With joy and gladness they are led along
as they enter the palace of the king. (Psalms 45:13b-15 RSV)
That is another way of describing the coming event which Paul speaks ofin
the eighth chapter of Romans, when he says that the whole creationis now
held in bondage and travail, groaning in pain, waiting for the day when what
God is doing through this present age will suddenly be unveiled, and the sons
of God will stand forth in manifestation. In that day, he says, the whole
creationwill be delivered from bondage, and it will shout and sing as in a
greatwedding celebration.

On that day, the bride of Christ will be claimed in open acknowledgmentfor
what she is, having been fashioned through this period of time. This is what
God is doing now. The important things happening today are not what is
recordedin our newspapers. Whatis happening today that is important, what
will be reckonedthroughout eternity as the most staggering thing that has
occurredin our day, is what is taking place right now, right in our hearts --
changes ofattitude, deliverance from various bad habits, freedom to be what
we ought to be, the factthat love is beginning to fill our homes, and that we
reactless frequently in resentment and bitterness toward one another but are
beginning to learn how to show forth the love of God which is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Those are the important things.
The psalm concludes with two verses which are the promise of Godtoward
this mighty King. Rather than upon his human ancestry, the Davidic line, the
emphasis in that day will be upon those who are linked with him as sons. The
book of Hebrewssays that the Father is in the process ofbringing many sons
to glory. This is what he is doing right now.
Instead of your fathers shall be your sons;
you will make them princes in all the earth.
I will cause your name to be celebratedin all generations;
therefore the peoples will praise you for ever and ever. (Psalms 45;16-17
RSV)
Is this not anotherway of saying what Paul so beautifully says in Philippians?
Therefore Godhas highly exaltedhim and bestowedon him the name which is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus everyknee should bow, in heaven
and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess thatJesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 RSV)
What a king! The king in all his beauty!
Prayer

Our Father, we thank you for this glimpse, through this Old Testament
Psalmist, of the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. How our hearts are stirred
againby this story -- which is told out in this old, old Christmas tale -- of One
who left heaven's glory and came to dwell among us, in all the coldness and
bondage and enslavementof earth, in order that we might be free to be with
him some day in all the glory of his being and to share his glory for all
eternity. How tremendous this is, Lord! What purpose and meaning it gives to
life! Help us to rejoice in it this day, we pray in his name, Amen.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The ReignOf Hezekiah
Isaiah33:17-24
E. Johnson
Amidst all the agitationcausedby the invasion of Sennacherib, and his
perfidy, "the voices of true prophets were raised with power, pointing to the
imperishable elements in the true community, and proclaiming the approach
of a greatcrisis, the crushing weight of which should alight only on the
faithless, whether among the Assyrians or in Judah" (Ewald). Here we find a
reflectionof the excitement of the time.
I. THE GLORY OF THE KING. His beauty is a moral beauty - that of a just
rule (Isaiah32:1); an "ideal beauty - the evidence of God's extraordinary

favor." The picture should be comparedwith that in Psalm 45. The eyes of the
people shall see a land of distances. Looking northward and southward, and
eastwardand westward, the boundaries of the kingdom shall still be extended,
far as eye can reach.
II. VANISHED TERRORS. The Assyrian officials who registeredthe
amounts of the tribute, who testedthe silver and the gold, who counted the
towers of the city about to fall their prey, shall have vanished. The people
themselves shall proudly and thankfully number those intact towers (Psalm
48:13). No longershall the jarring accents ofthe foreigner's stammering
tongue fall upon their ears.
III. THE STRENGTHAND SPLENDOUR OF ZION. Look upon her! Once
more the festive throngs shall gather there. Once more she shall be a house of
peace, ordwelling of confidence, a quiet resting-place. She had indeed seemed
like the tent of wanderers, the pegs ready to be drawn out, the cords to be
rent, at the bidding of the conqueror. The people had been threatenedwith
removal (Isaiah 36:17). This fear shall have passedaway. The majesty of
Jehovah, like an all-protecting regis, terrifying to his enemies, assuring to his
friends, shall be revealedin Zion's state. Thatpresence, which is "glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders," shallhave returned thither; that
right hand, which is glorious in power, shall againhave been stretchedforth
to deliver and to protect. Jehovah, and he alone, is the Defense ofJerusalem.
What though she be unlike "populous No, situate among the rivers, with the
waters round about it, and the rampart of the sea" (Nahum 3:8), or Babylon,
"seatedonthe waters" (Jeremiah51:13), - he shall be instead of rivers and
canals to his holy city. It is the streams of a spiritual river which "shallmake
glad the city of God" (Psalm46:4).
IV. THE DIVINE RULER. By him kings reign and princes decreedjustice.
The earthly king is but representative of him who is enthroned in heaven, the
"greatKing." Hezekiahis but his vicegerent, his inspired servant. The weak
political powerbecomes strong through him. ThoughZion be like a dismasted
ship, she wilt prevail over the proud, well-riggedships of her foes. Sin will
cease, punishment will be at end, and, with it, bodily suffering and sickness
(Isaiah 35:5, 6; Isaiah 65:20;Mark 2:10, 11). "A people, humbled by

punishment; penitent and therefore pardoned, will dwell in Jerusalem. The
strength of Israel and all its salvationrest upon the forgiveness ofits sins."
V. LESSONS.
1. Nationaljudgments will only cease withnational sins. "Humble repentance
is to cure us of our sins and miseries;and there can no cure be wrought unless
the plasterbe as broad as the sore."
2. The most effectualwayto avert national judgments is the way of personal
amendment. Particularsins often bring down generaljudgments. Sin, like a
leprosy, begins in a small compass, yet quickly overspreads the whole.
3. The forsaking of sins begets hope in the mercy of God. Because he has
promised upon that condition to remove them; because he actually often has
so removed them; because, whenmen are thus humbled, God has attained the
end of his judgments (South). - J.
Biblical Illustrator

Thine eyes shall see the King in ms beauty.
Isaiah33:17
The King in His beauty
F. S. Webster, M. A.
Jerusalemwas surrounded by the army of Sennacherib. The relief gained
when Hezekiah paid overthe three hundred talents of silver and the thirty
talents of gold, emptying thereby the royal treasury and stripping the gold
from the doors and pillars of the Temple, had not lastedlong. Rabshakeh, the
chief envoy of Assyria, had been sent with another army to demand the
unconditional surrender of the city. A greatchange, however, had takenplace
in the spirit and faith of the people. No further mention was made of an
alliance with Egypt. The prophet Isaiah, instead of being ridiculed and
despised, was at once appealedto by the king, and his counselfollowed. Hope
and confidence in Jehovahhad been restored, and this secondattack ofthe
treacherous Assyrian, instead of plunging the nation into despair, seemed
rather to rouse them to defiance. It was God's forgiveness which had wrought
the change. The departure of the Assyrian, at a time when Jerusalemwas
absolutely in his power, was a manifest proof of God's forgiving mercy and a
striking confirmation of Isaiah's words. So, though the enemy returned, the
prophet's encouraging and reassuring messages did not fall upon deaf ears.
The chapter opens with a plain forecastofthe speedydestruction that should
overtake the treacherous spoilerof God's people. Then follows a graphic
picture of the disappointment of the ambassadorsofpeace, and the deserted
and downtrodden state of the country districts that had resulted from
Sennacherib's breachof the covenantof peace. Butfrom verse 10 to the end
the sufficiencyof the championship of Jehovahis unfolded, and the chapter
closes withpromises of victory and pardon, "the lame shall take the prey,"
"the people shall be forgiven their iniquity." Yes, the presence and leadership
of Jehovahwould change everything. The glorious Lord would be unto them a
place of broad rivers and streams. But as we read these Scriptures, "Thine
eyes shall see the King in His beauty"; "thine eyes shall see Jerusalema quiet
habitation," we feel that their primary application by no means exhausts their

full meaning. A greaterthan Hezekiah is here. The King in His beauty is for
us the very Prince of PeaceHimself. Once for our sakesHe was coveredwith
shame, mockedand buffeted and handcuffed. Now by faith we see Him
crownedwith glory and honour, and one day our eyes shall see Him as He is
in His beauty. As yet the new Jerusalemis hemmed in by foes. Enemies far
more treacherous and destructive than the Assyrians are seeking to enslave
and despoilthe people of God. But our eyes shall see Jerusalema quiet
habitation, a tabernacle so peacefuland steadfastthat not one of the stakes
thereof shall be removed nor any of its cords broken. Yes, the story of the
siege ofJerusalemis only a parable of the life of God in the soul of man.
"God's forgiveness is much more than a cleanslate." It brings His people into
the joy and strength of a living union with Himself. It gave new national life to
Judah. It gives new spiritual life to the pardoned sinner. Once the Divine
forgiveness is realisedthe whole man is born again. But this does not make us
free from temptation. The Assyrians will surely return and menace the city.
But the Lord is our sure defence.
1. The beauty of the King passes allman's understanding. There is the beauty
of His personalcharacter. It is unfolded to us in the Gospelstory. There we
see His goodness andtruth. His purity is so strong and incandescentwith the
fire of love that it cannotbe marred by the defilements of earth. His sympathy
and compassionare so tender and real that the most needy and outcastare
attractedto Him. Christ has no beauty in the eyes of the carnaland worldly.
He pours contempt on the wisdom of the flesh, the wisdom of this world. Have
ye eyes to see the beauty in Jesus? There is the beauty, too, of His perfect
sacrifice. This was setforth in the Old TestamentScriptures in the passover
lamb, in the brazen serpent, and in all the sacrificesconnectedwith the old
covenant. The Lamb without spot or blemish was slain that His atoning blood
might cover our sins. The beauty and perfectionof the personalcharacter
secures the beauty and perfectionof the precious sacrifice. Is that blood-
stained Cross the most beautiful sight in the world to you? Have you seenthe
love of God triumphing there over the sin of man, and the Son of God
reconciling God and man by the sacrifice of Himself, and laying a righteous
foundation for the exercise towards guilty sinners of God's sovereignmercy
and grace? But, again, there is the beauty of His perpetual intercessionand

His abiding presence in our hearts. Christ is no longeron the Cross — He is
on the Throne, seatedat the right hand of God. From that vantage ground of
infinite powerand resource He watches allthat transpires here below. And He
not only watches from a distance, He is with us to save and succourand
defend. Have you seenthe King in His beauty as He walks with us along life's
highway? Or are your eyes still holden?
2. To see the King in His beauty is the essence ofall true religion. The world
cannot understand the things of God. It cannotreceive the Comforter because
it seethHim not. The veil of sense shuts out the glories ofthe unseen world.
Have you seenthe Son and believed on Him? Or is there still some veil or
prejudice or disobedience upon your heart? Is personalreligion still a mystery
to you? Does conversionseemto you a strange and doubtful experience? Does
the earnestnessofsome Christians seemaltogetherextravagantand fanatical?
When you have truly seenthe King you will find it impossible to exaggerate
His beauty, and you will find it equally impossible to seta limit to your
obedience. The King must have all. Loyalty cannot measure out its service. It
delights in sacrifice. As the veil of sense is penetrated by the vision of faith the
victory of life begins. This is the object of all the means of grace. Theyare to
help us to see the King. All life becomes worth living when the humblest duty
performed aright may be rewarded with a sight of Him whom you love. This
gives new zest to worship. Forthis we pray and study our Bibles, for this we
come to church and join in the Lord's Supper, that we may see the King. This
helps us to live a detached and separate life.
(F. S. Webster, M. A.)
The heavenly King and the privileges of His subjects
John Overton.
I. THE CHARACTER OF THE KING.
1. The situation of a king is most respectable;he is the head of his people. God
is Head of all things; King of kings, and Lord of lords.

2. Kings ought to be wise men, to rule in wisdom. God is all-wise, omniscient.
3. Kings ought to possess power, to be ready to oppose any foe of their people.
God is Almighty.
4. Kings should he goodmen, kind and benevolent. God is goodand kind; He
feeds, clothes, &c., He is the Fountain of goodness.
5. Kings should be just men, to enforce the laws and punish offenders. God is
just, and will not suffer His laws to be infringed, but will punish the guilty.
II. THE EXTENT OF HIS DOMINION.
1. Heaven is His throne; here He manifests His glorious presence;angels, &c.,
are His servants.
2. Earth is His foot-stool;things animate and inanimate are subjectto His
control.
3. Hell is His prison, where He confines His foes, and here He is enthroned in
vengeance.
4. He has a kingdom among men; this is His universal Church, all who fear
God, and work righteousness.
5. He has a kingdom in men; every true believeris a little kingdom in himself,
the heart is His throne, and the passions and affections are the subjects.
6. He reigns that He may conquer all, save all.
III. THE PERSONSTHIS DECLARATION MAY BE APPLIED TO.
"THEY."
1. Those who have an experimental knowledge ofthe King's favour.
2. Such as feel a profound reverence towards Him.
3. Who love Him, from a sense of His love to them.
4. And obey Him from this principle of love.

IV. WHAT IS IMPLIED BY THE DECLARATION, "Theyshall see the
King."
1. Notwith their bodily eye. God is a Spirit.
2. If we could see Him as a Spirit with our bodily eye, yet we could not as God.
He is immensity.
3. They shall see Him by the eye of faith — in creation, providence and grace.
(John Overton.)
The blessednessofheaven
B. Beddome, M. A.
These words may more immediately refer to the restorationof Hezekiahto his
former splendour and dignity, by the destruction of Sennacherib's army,
which would establishpeace in the land of Judea, and enable the exiles to
return home, without fear or danger. But the Holy Spirit in this passage seems
also to refer to the initial happiness of all true believers in this world, and
their complete felicity in the world to come.
I. THE SOURCES OF HAPPINESS PROVIDEDFOR TRUE BELIEVERS.
These in generalare two —
1. The King in His beauty. All that is to be seenof God with joy and
satisfaction, is visible only in the Mediator.
2. The land that is very far off. In the present life our chief happiness arises
from hope; hereafter it will consistin vision, and in full fruition. The heavenly
glory is here compared to the land of promise, which abounded in population,
and yet was so fruitful as to be well able to support all its inhabitants.
(1)It is a land that is very far off from the earth, and farther still from hell.
(2)The views which goodpeople have of the Land of Promise are at present
very distant and imperfect.

II. THE MANNER IN WHICH THE SAINTS SHALL ENJOYTHE BLISS
THAT IS PREPARED FOR THEM. "Theyshallsee and behold it."
1. This may either refer to the partial view which Christians have of future
glory upon earth, or to the beatific vision of heaven. We see something of God
in the works ofcreationand providence, and especiallyin the greatwork of
human redemption. We have also seenthe power and glory of God in the
sanctuary, in the Word and ordinances, and have sometimes been filled with
joy unspeakable and full of glory. But these views, howeverrefreshing, are not
only transient, but very narrow and contracted, in comparisonof what they
will be hereafter. Then the powers of perceptionwill be raisedto the highest
pitch, our contractedminds will be enlargedand rendered more retentive,
and we shall be able to "gaze in thought on what all thought transcends."
2. The sight which believers have of spiritual objects is essentiallydifferent
from that of the unregenerate, eitherin this world or that which is to come.
3. There is an intuitive certainty in the knowledge whichChristians have of
invisible realities, and which is peculiar to themselves only.
4. A sight of the King in His beauty will be attended with a clearnessand a
comprehensionfar surpassing all that we have experiencedin the present life.
5. The celestialvision will be ardent and intense.
6. Views of heaven will take place immediately after death, and more fully
after the resurrection.
7. There will also be a possessive intuition, or such a sight as includes converse
and enjoyment.
8. The vision will be perpetual and without end. There is an entrance into
heaven, but no exit out of it.
(B. Beddome, M. A.)
Christ's life a poem

Stopford A. Brooke, D. D.
There are human lives which are poems, as there are lives which are prose.
They give pleasure, as poetry gives it by the expressionof the beautiful. Such a
life, at its very highestrange, was the life of Christ. We seek its poetry to-day,
and we weave our thoughts of it round that profound phrase of Milton's, that
poetry must be simple, sensuous, and passionate.
I. That which is SIMPLICITY in art is purity in a perfectcharacter. The
beauty of Christ's purity was in this —
1. That those who saw it saw in it the glory of moral victory.
2. From this purity, so tried and so victorious, arose two other elements of
moral beauty — perfect justice and perfect mercy.
II. The word "SENSUOUSNESS," inMilton's sense ofit, was entirely noble in
meaning. As the poet produces beautiful work out of the multitudinous world
of images and things which he has received, so the exquisiteness of the
parables and of the words of Christ, both in form and expression, was the
direct result of the knowledge He had gained from the quality of sensibility.
III. The third element of greatpoetry is PASSION. We may transfer it
directly to a characteras an element of beauty. It is best defined as the power
of intense feeling capable of perfectexpression. It was intense feeling of the
weakness andsin of man, and intense joy in His Father's powerto redeem,
which produced the story of the "ProdigalSon," where every word is on fire
with tender passion. See how it comes home, even now, to men; see how its
profound humanity has made it universal! "Come unto Me, all ye that are
wearyand heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." How that goes home to the
deepestwant of the race;how deep the passionwhich generalisedthat want
into a single sentence;how intense, yet how pathetic, the expressionof it; how
noble the temperance which stayed at the single sentence and felt that it was
enough!
(Stopford A. Brooke, D. D.)

The beautiful God
R. Macculloch.
The blessedGodwho infinitely possesseseveryamiable excellency, and from
whom proceeds all that is lovely in the universe, must Himself be adorned
with the most exquisite beauty. In Him is concentredthe sweetestassemblage
of every Divine perfection. In Him, they all shine forth with the brightest
lustre, without any superfluity or deficiency. He is consummatelyrighteous,
yet full of compassion;He is perfectly holy, yet rich in mercy; He is supreme
in majesty, yet infinitely gracious;wisdom, power, and faithfulness, with
every glorious attribute that can excite admiration and love, are united in the
supreme Lord of heaven and earth. In the various important characters He
sustains, He acts with the most endearing condescensionand approved
fidelity, assiduouslyperforming every office and duty that love can dictate.
(R. Macculloch.)
Is beauty ascribedto Jehovah
H. Crosby, D. D.
"Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty." Cheyne asserts that this king
cannot be Jehovah, for beauty is never ascribedto Him. This is a shallow
argument. Can an epithet never be given to God once, but must every epithet
be repeated in order to be true? But if one sees Jehovahin Jesus there will be
no trouble in finding beauty ascribedto the Messiah, andso to JehovahJesus
is Jehovah, and we find in the Messiaheveryform of beauty ascribedto Him
in the Canticles, whichthe Church has always cherishedas the song of
Christ's love and loveliness to His redeemedpeople. Again in the forty-fifth
Psalmwe find the King Messiahdescribedas "fairer than the children of
men"; and there is no greatdifference betweenassigning beauty to holiness
(Psalm 29:2 and Psalms 96:9) and assigning beauty to the holy God.
Moreover, in Zechariah 9:17 we find Jehovahthus referred to by the prophet,
"How great is His goodness, andhow greatis His beauty." Here the identical
word is used (yephi) that is found in our Isaiah text. In this last passageto

refer the singular pronoun to God's people when they are spokenof with
plural pronouns and verbs in the whole context is hardly a fair way to prove
the proposition that beauty is never ascribed to Jehovah, But even if beauty is
never ascribedto Jehovahanywhere else, is that a substantial reasonwhy it
cannot be here so ascribed?
(H. Crosby, D. D.)
The beautiful Christ
F. W. Farrar, D. D.
I cannot but regard it as a greatmisfortune that in all ages the art, the
literature, and the worship of the Churches should not only have fallen so far
short of the true ideal of our blessedLord and Master, but should even have
gone so far astrayin their conceptions ofHim. They have representedHim as
a partial Christ, whereas He is the universal Christ; as an ecclesiastical
Christ, whereas He is a spiritual Christ; as a Christ of gloomand anguish,
whereas He is a Christ of love, and joy, and peace in believing; as a dead
Christ, whereas He is the risen, the living, the ascendedSaviour; as a distant
Christ, a Christ who has gone far awayinto the dim realms of space, whereas
He is a presentChrist, with us now, with us always, with us individually, with
us as a perpetual comforter, a very present help in trouble, with us even to the
end of the world; as a Christ of wrath, and vengeance, anddreadfulness,
whereas He is loving, tender, and of infinite compassion.
(F. W. Farrar, D. D.)
Prof. A. B. Davidson, LL. D.
The "King" is probably the Messiah"Theyshallbehold a far-stretching
land" — Messiah's kingdomis from sea to sea.
(Prof. A. B. Davidson, LL. D.)

The Jews'deliverance from the Assyrian invasion
When the Assyrians had invaded Judea with an immense army, and were
about to attack Jerusalem, Rabshakehwas sentwith a railing message to the
king and his people. When Hezekiahheard of the blasphemies of the proud
Assyrian, he rent his clothes and put on sackcloth, and went into the house of
the Lord, and sent the elders of the priests coveredwith sackclothto consult
with Isaiahthe prophet. The people of Jerusalem, therefore, had seentheir
king in most mournful array, wearing the garments of sorrow, and the weeds
of mourning; they were, however, cheeredby the promise that there should be
so complete a defeatto Sennacherib, that the king should againadorn himself
with the robes of state, and appear with a smiling countenance in all the
beauty of joy. Moreover, through the invasion of Sennacherib, the people had
not been able to travel; they had been coopedup within the walls of Jerusalem
like prisoners. No journeys had been made, either in the direction of Dan or
Beersheba, eventhe nearestvillages could not be reached;but the promise is
given, that so completely should the country be rid of the enemy, that
wayfarers should be able to see the whole of their territory, even that part of
the land which was very far off; it should be safe for them to make the longest
voyages;they should no longer be afraid of the oppressor, but should find the
highways, which once lay waste, to be again open and safe for traffic.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ victorious:His people free
We have seenour well-belovedMonarch, in the days of His flesh, humiliated
and sore vexed; for He was "despisedand rejectedof men, a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief." He whose brightness is as the morning, wore the
sackclothof sorrow as His daily dress; shame was His mantle, and reproach
was His vesture. None more afflicted and sorrowfulthan He. Yet now,
inasmuch as He has triumphed over all the powers ofdarkness upon the
bloody tree, our faith beholds our King in His beauty, returning with dyed

garments from Edom, robed in the splendour of victory. We also, His joyful
subjects who were once shut up and could not come forth, are now possessed
of boundless Gospelliberty. Now that we see Jesus crownedwith glory and
honour, we freely possessto its utmost bounds the covenantblessings which
He has given to us; and we rejoice that if the land of happiness should
sometimes seemto be very far off, it is nevertheless our own, and we shall
stand in our lot in the end of the days.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
I. WE HAIL THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AS OUR KING.
1. His right to royalty lies in His exalted nature as the Son of God.
2. Jesus has a right to reign because He is the Creator.
3. The Preserverof all men.
4. He governs by virtue of His Headship of the mediatorial kingdom.
5. He has the rights of Divine designation, for God has made Him King.
6. Certain princes have delighted to call themselves kings by the popular will,
and certainly our Lord Jesus Christ is such in His Church. Now it behoves us,
since we thus verbally acknowledgeHim to be King, distinctly to understand
what this involves.(1) We look upon the Lord Jesus as being to us the fountain
of all spiritual legislation. He is a King in His own right — no limited monarch
— but an autocratin the midst of His Church, and in the Church all laws
proceedfrom Christ and Christ only.(2) He alone gives authority to that
legislation.(3)He is the Captain in all our warfare.
II. WE DELIGHT TO KNOW THAT OUR KING POSSESSES
SUPERLATIVE BEAUTY.
III. THERE ARE SEASONS WHEN WE SEE THE KING IN HIS BEAUTY.
1. We saw Him in that day when He pardoned all our sins.

2. Jesus Christwas in His beauty seenby us more fully, when, after being
pardoned, we found how much He had done for us.
3. There are times when, in our contemplations, we see His beauty.
4. It is very probable that we shall have such a sight of our glorious King as
we never had before, when we come to die.
IV. THE EXCEEDING GLORYOF THIS SIGHT.
V. THIS SIGHT OF CHRIST EMINENTLYAFFORDS LIBERTYTO THE
SOUL.
( C. H. Spurgeon.)
Seeing the King in His beauty
H. E. Manning, D. D.
These words plainly promise to every followerof Christ, if he shall persevere
unto the end, that in the resurrectionhe shall see the Lord Jesus Christ in His
beauty, and in the glory of His kingdom. What, then, is this beauty which shall
be revealedto all who attain that world and the resurrectionof the holy dead?
I. It would seemto be THE BEAUTY OF HIS HEAVENLY COURT. About
Him and before Him are the companies of heaven, the hosts and hierarchies of
the blessed, and the saintly multitude of God's new creation. Armies of
martyrs, companies of prophets, the majesty of patriarchs, the glory of
apostles, eachone in the full transfigured beauty of his own perfect spirit, and
all revealing the warfare of faith, the triumph of the Church, the powerof the
Cross, the electionof God, — these are the degrees andascents leading
upward to the throne of bliss.
II. But if such be the beauty of the King's court, what is THE BEAUTY OF
THE KING HIMSELF? We shall not be dangerously out of the way if we
believe that He who is the brightness of His Father's glory and the express
image of His person, did take unto Himself our manhood as His revealed
presence for ever, in its most perfect image and likeness;that in Him two

natures were united, and both were perfect, both were beautiful. There is a
beauty we know Him to possess in fulness — the beauty of perfect love. In His
face will be revealedall the love of His holy incarnation, of His life of sorrow,
of His agonyand passion, of His cross and death. The wounds of His hands
and feetand of His pierced side are eternal seals and countersigns ofthe love
which has redeemed us for Himself.
1. The King whose beauty is the bliss of heavenis ever drawing and preparing
us for His presence by all the mysteries of His Church.
2. By a specialand particular discipline, varied and measuredfor the
necessitiesofevery faithful soul, He is making us ready for the vision of His
presence.
(H. E. Manning, D. D.)
The beautiful King and the far-off land
F. Ferguson, D. D.
I. THE SUPREME OBJECTOF VISION. "The King in His beauty."
II. THE ULTIMATE POSSESSION."The land that is very far off."
(F. Ferguson, D. D.)
F. Ferguson, D. D.
It is astonishing how much comfort can be packedup in a few words. If one
were askedto put into a single sentence the entire body of Scriptural
prophecy, of Old and New Testamentprophecy combined, he could not easily
find a more complete condensationof the whole than in the text. There are
two points of view from which we may look at the text.

I. THE OBJECTIVE ASPECT, orthe vision as it is setbefore us; the moral
and spiritual ideal yet to be realised.
1. The text is a prediction as to a glorious Personand a far-off land, both of
them entirely beyond the calculations of men. "The King in His beauty" is
Jesus Christ, The words are striking. It is not exactlythe King in His majesty,
or grandeur, or glory, or power, but "the King in His beauty." We speak of
the goodand the beautiful and the true. And there is a singular accordance
betweenthose three super-excellentrealities. We think of them in connection
with the Persons in the Godhead. While it is true that all glory and powerof
the one aspectof the Divine Being belongs to the other, still we are permitted
to make a distinction in our thoughts, and we think of the Father as that One
in whom we see pre-eminently the good;and the Sonas that One in whom we
see specificallythe beautiful; and the Spirit as that One in whom we see pre-
eminently the true.
2. When we turn our thoughts to the beautiful alone, we are met by this
conception— that the beautiful is but anotherword for the becoming. A
beautiful action is an action which it becomes one to do. A beautiful character
is one, all the elements of which are in sweetaccordance;when part is adapted
to part, as the colours of the rainbow blend together;when one line of the
form gracefully runs into another; when one sound is the harmonious
concomitantand perfect sequelof another — there you have beauty, the
beauty as a spirit breathing through the whole and informing all its parts —
such a whole that one part may become the other, and pass and repass into
the other. The beauty is translucent, elastic, perfect. Now apply this
conceptionto Jesus Christ, and you will see with what amazing propriety the
beautiful in Him is the same as the becoming. Consider the harmony of the
Divine Being as the eternalsource of all the beauty we can ever know.
Considerthe essentialbeauty of our human nature as made in the image and
after the likeness ofGod; consider, further, the absolutelyharmonious
combination and indissoluble union of those two natures in Christ with the
amazing self-sacrifice ofthe Son of God for our redemption, and the
adaptation of His work to all the wants of our case, and you have such a
conceptionof the becoming — of all that it becomes both God and man to do
— as explains to us the emphasis and the propriety with which Christ is

spokenof as "the King in His beauty." No one can be beautiful apart from
Him.
3. Societyis at present a hideous discord, at leastto a very large extent. We
cannot saythat it is beautiful. But it is not more certain that Jesus Christ is
King; it is not more certain that He is the centre of heaven's harmony, than it
is certain that the far-off land will yet be brought nigh and made visible upon
the earth; and that God's will shall be done upon the earth, even as it is done
in heaven.
II. THE SUBJECTIVE ASPECT,orwhat is implied in seeing the vision, in
realising the ideal. The time is coming when every human being shall actually
look upon Jesus Christ. But to look is not always to see all that canbe seen. To
see the King in His beauty implies a deeper seeing than that of merely looking
upon Him. It implies a being made like Him. In order to see the kingdom of
God, or to enter into it, we must actually be born again. We must ourselves (in
other words) be a part of that which we truly see. We shall see Him at last
because we shallhave been made like Him. It is the pure in heart who see God
This seeing of God is our heaven in its highestand most complete form; and it
is by faith in Christ that we are brought to this perception. As faith grows and
develops, as it passes into the life, it turns the abstractideal into the concrete
reality. On the other hand, the result is certain from the Divine side. It is
securedby the fact that the King in His beauty is there. The heavenly
Bridegroomis waiting for the perfection of His Bride. And as He waits He
works, tie rules overall things for the accomplishment of the Divine purpose.
Make, then, the goalof your life quite clear, and lay down all your lines of
thought and actiondirectly for that goal. Let us thank God that such is the
Christianity of Jesus Christ.
(F. Ferguson, D. D.)
Reverence, a belief in God's presence
J. H. Newman, B. D.

1. Though Moseswas notpermitted to enter the land of promise, he was
vouchsafeda sight of it from a distance. We too, though as yet we are not
admitted to heavenly glory, yet are given to see much, in preparation for
seeing more. Christ dwells among us in His Church really though invisibly,
and through its Ordinances fulfils towards us, in a true and sufficient sense,
the promise of the text. We are even now permitted to "see the King in His
beauty," to "behold the land that is very far off." The words of the Prophet
relate to our present state as well as to the state of saints hereafter. Of the
future glory it is said by St. John, "Theyshall see His face, and His name shall
be in their foreheads."And of the present, Isaiah himself speaksin passages
which may be takenin explanation of the text: "The glory of the Lord shall be
revealed, and all flesh shall see it together";and again, "Theyshall see the
glory of the Lord and the excellencyof our God."
2. Such a view is strange to most men; they do not realise the presence of
Christ, nor admit the duty of realising it. Even those who are not without
habits of seriousness, have almost or quite forgotten the duty. This is plain at
once:for, unless they had, they would not be so very deficient in reverence as
they are. There are two classes ofmen who are deficient in awe and fear, and,
lamentable to say, taken together, they go far to make up the religious portion
of the community. It is not wonderful that sinners should live without the fear
of God; but what shall we sayof an age or country in which even the more
serious classes maintain, or at leastactas if they maintained, that "the spirit
of God's holy fear" is no part of religion?(1)Those who think that they never
were greatly under God's displeasure.(2)Those who think that, though they
once were, they are net at all now, for all sin has been forgiven them; — those
on the one hand who considerthat sin is no greatevil in itself, those on the
other who considerthat it is no greatevil in them, because their persons are
acceptedin Christ for their faith's sake.
(J. H. Newman, B. D.)
The land that is very far off.
"The land that is very far off

Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D.
"A far-stretching land," i.e., a land no longer"diminished" (to use
Sennacherib's own expression)by spoliationor hemmed in by foes.
(Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D.)
The distant land
J. Hoyle.
As it is in the margin, "the land of far distances."A land clearedof enemies as
far as the eye can reachand the foot carry.
I. THIS WILL APPLY TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, WHICH THE
REDEEMED SOULSHALL POSSESSIN HEAVEN. Here we know but little
of the greatFather of our spirits. But in heavenwe shall know God more fully.
Know Him not in His essence, but in the glorified human nature of Christ; in
His relation to ourselves and the universe.
II. THIS WILL APPLY TO THE VIEWS WHICH HEAVEN WILL GIVE
US OF THE REDEEMING WORKOF CHRIST. At present there are many
questions which the devout soul proposes in relation to this mighty work, but
no response is given. What disclosures willheaven make on these points!
III. THIS WILL APPLY TO THE EXPLANATIONS WHICH HEAVEN
WILL AFFORD OF THE SECRETS OF NATURE. Nature, like the fabled
traveller, has given the casketto the highwayman, but kept the jewels. She has
given us names, but kept the power.
IV. THIS WILL APPLY TO THE SOLUTION WHICH HEAVEN WILL
GIVE OF THE MYSTERIES OF PROVIDENCE.
V. THIS WILL APPLY TO OUR EXPERIENCE OF DIVINE GOODNESS.
Here the vesselis narrowed by its conditions. It cannotreceive much, it cannot
bear much. Here we sip of the river of God, there we shall drink of its fulness.

1. Learn the limitations of this life. We know in part. It doth not yet appear
what we shall be.
2. The boundless wisdom and goodnessofGod. The bestthings are yet in
store.
3. See here the encouragementsto a life of faith
(J. Hoyle.)
Glances atthe future
U. R. Thomas, B. A.
Do you ask what are the waving outlines of this "land of far distances" that
begins directly a man begins to live a Christly life, and that stretches away
after death into the Infinite? I answer —
I. UNENDING EXISTENCE.
II. UNDECAYING ACTIVITY. Our work here is bounded by many things.
1. There is the finishing of the enterprise.
2. There is the failure of our powers.
3. There is the ceasing ofinclination.Sometimes fuel has not been added to fire
of flickering motive; sometimes fellow-workershave been cold, unwelcome, or
harshly discouraging;sometimes repeatedfailure and mocking
disappointments have driven a man back from seeking his own higher
educationor the world's welfare, and "desire ceases,"andthere is an end of
work. But in contrastwith all this that is of the earth earthy, the true worker
for himself and for others, yearns after and will inherit "a land of far
distances." There the work will never be completed, for a universe is the
sphere of labour, eternity is the period, and the infinite the problem. Labour
— the putting forth of power: sacrificiallabour — the putting forth of power
in the spirit of the Lamb, who is the central life of the heavenly world; this is
the far-reaching hope of every Christly soul. And this without the decayof

Jesus was a king of beauty

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Jesus was a king of beauty

Similar to Jesus was a king of beauty (20)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Jesus was a king of beauty