Your King Comes!

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
    righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
    and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
    and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.
As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
    I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
    today I declare that I will restore to you double…

Then the Lord will appear over them,
    and his arrow will go forth like lightning;
the Lord God will sound the trumpet
    and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.
The Lord of hosts will protect them…

On that day the Lord their God will save them,
    as the flock of his people;
for like the jewels of a crown
    they shall shine on his land.
For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty!” Zechariah 9:9-12,14-15a,16-17a

Rejoice! Shout aloud! Behold the coming Christmas King and be glad! He comes bearing gifts to His children that are ours to enjoy now and forever!

See Him? He is humble, and comes not in pomp and tinsel and loud festivities, but in the quiet- slowly and humble, gaze-able, with loving eyes on our level. What flurry of do-lists and frenzy block Him from sight? What urgent tasks stress and distract as though more important?

And see what He brings, right into our busyness and mess? Righteousness. Salvation. PEACE. Because of His atoning blood we are free from all that binds and worries and weighs on us. Free indeed! He is the covenant- keeping King, regent over every circumstance and detail and concern. He comes with the key to release us from imprisonment to bitterness, discord, and lies. He fills our waterless places with springs of living water. He replaces our angst with hope of restoration, of becoming all He made us to be. (John 7:38; 8:36)

See Him appearing in the whirlwind? He’s right here with us in our suffering, gentle, calm, controlled, strong. He marches forth into our uncertainties. He protects His own in every new snip of dissension, sting of criticism, and pull of temptation.

See His beauty in the grace He extends, the love and saving He pours out over His wandering sheep? Feel His delight, hear His song, relish the grace and affection of His sanctifying hand? (Zephaniah 3:17)

What rearranging need we do in our minds and schedules to behold our Savior? What can we turn off, put aside, or say no to in order to see Jesus? He is coming, and He is nigh. If we would look, we will not be able to stifle the glad praising shout. Our King appears, and rules, and abides. His resplendent beauty should bear in our praises and on our every expression.

My King, keep me beholding You with a still heart, and rejoicing with a full one. May I ever proclaim and shine Your beauties and peace in all my world.