In our reading from Proverbs 25 this morning, Solomon tells us that it is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings to search them out. In other words, God created the heavens and the earth and knows all things. He knows what makes the crops grow, what makes men burn with anger or dwell in peace with each other. God knows these things but conceals them from man and then sends man into the world to uncover these things, charges man to wrestle and subdue the world so he can understand how everything works.
And, as Solomon tells us, this is ultimately the task of the king. Search for understanding. Know why food grows in one place but not another. Figure out what drives men to war and what makes them sue for peace. And above all, search for the righteousness of God. That’s what you must do to serve your people. And it explains why so many kings throughout history have been utter failures. They did not want to master the world and understand it. They wanted to use the world to enrich themselves, to bathe themselves in greed and lust and pride. How much suffering has come into the world from kings who searched for glory instead of understanding.
But now suffering has been conquered by the God and King who has revealed to us the understanding no earthly king could acquire, the understanding of how we can become righteous and live forever in the arms of God. Now sin, death, and the grave have been conquered by Jesus Christ, the King who sought out righteousness by journeying to the cross to give us that divine righteousness in His dying words.
So now, our King tells us, “come up here” into His presence. Now our King has ended the court case by declaring us innocent and worthy of eternal life because of His bloody death and glorious resurrection. Now our King has come to those who were once His enemies, given us food to eat, water to drink, and heaped the burning, purifying coals of His mercy on our head so that we would love Him and know that He has made us His own. Once we did not understand how salvation worked. But then Christ our King gave us understanding and because of this, now we will live with Him in His kingdom forever.
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