1 Chronicles 1:44

"Handfuls of Purpose,"

For All Gleaners

"... reigned in his stead." 1 Chronicles 1:44 .

This expression occurs again and again in this chapter, and is full of spiritual instruction. The picture is both gratifying and depressing: so long as the man reigns, we have light, and joy, and music; as soon as he dies, we have darkness, and sorrow, and silence. Yet when the man dies there comes in the announcement almost at once that some one "reigned in his stead." We say the king never dies. What is said of the king may be said of all true institutions and policies: they change their forms, but the essence remains the same, and is always open to re-adaptation according to circumstances. Never let it be supposed that Providence is limited to any one man in the matter of kingship and dominion. The kings are all living at once, though only one can enjoy the nominal dignity. We often wonder where the next man is to come from, forgetting that he is standing in our very midst at the time when we are asking the ignorant question. Men who are reigning should lay to heart the reflection that their reign is to come to an end. Every man is bound to consider his successor; it is not enough to vacate an office; every man should leave behind him a character worthy of imitation, an example that will stimulate in all highest directions, and traditions which will almost compel themselves to be respected, being so noble in chivalry, so generous in spirit, and so beneficent in action. Let the king who reigns take heed, knowing that he will surely die. Let every man prepare himself to succeed the king in the family, in the state, in the social circle: we should always be preparing ourselves for some higher office, and the best way of so preparing is to fill with faithfulness the office which we have at present assigned to us. There is only one king who shall have no successor, and that king's name is Jesus Christ. Throughout this book what a multitude of kings have we seen coming and going; no one man could fill the whole occasion and rule all time, every one drooped and died by reason of human frailty; but all these transient kings were so many indications of a King who would abide for ever, the King for whom the ages had been waiting, sometimes in meek, and sometimes in almost turbulent expectation; he shall reign from the river unto the ends of the earth; of his dominion there shall be no end. No partial king can be eternal. The very fact that his kingdom, however large, is limited, is as a sentence of death in the man himself. When he comes who can reign over all, comprehend all, and hold all in his right hand with the ease of almightiness, he will, by the very fact of his universality of dominion, abide evermore.