“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” Isaiah 6:1
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born on April 21, 1926. When her father was crowned King George VI on December 11, 1936, due to her uncle’s abdication of the throne, Elizabeth became heir apparent, at just ten years of age. On February 6, 1952, upon her father’s death, this young lady became Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. After reigning for 70 years and 214 days, the longest of any British monarch, Queen Elizabeth was called to her eternal home this past Thursday, September 8, 2022.
Many years ago, after the election of a less-than-desirable politician, a dear friend reminded me of the verse above in Isaiah 6. When wicked rulers are elected, or when governments enact policies that are contrary to God’s Word – or, conversely, when Rulers that have served faithfully for many years are taken from us, God remains entirely unshaken! Uzziah had reigned for 52 years, and though far from perfect, he had been a great blessing to the people of God and to Isaiah!
And now God had taken him home, and there was a potential for great discouragement in the heart of Isaiah – so God gave him an extraordinary vision of the God who is comfortably seated on the throne of the universe! There is no power that poses a viable threat to God’s reign! Earthly kings and queens may come and go, but this Sovereign King continues to rule and reign, accomplishing His good purposes for His glory and for the good of His people, until that great day when a great multitude that no can number, from every nation on earth, from all tribes and peoples and languages, stand before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and cry out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
In every day of national crisis, such as 9/11, or the passing of a great Queen, as well as in every day of mundane struggles and disappointments, may God give us the perspective to see that throne which far exceeds every earthly throne, and is a throne of grace, of love and of eternal salvation! Hallelujah! What a Saviour!