Bible teaching on 1 Chronicles 10–12: God's kingdom, David's coronation, and the call to allegiance
A sermon from Latimer Church working through 1 Chronicles 10–12, exploring God's faithfulness to establish his kingdom through his chosen king.
Summary
This is a sermon by James de Costobadie, Senior Pastor at Latimer Church, working through 1 Chronicles 10–12. He opens by situating the book of Chronicles in its original context — written to a weary, dispirited post-exilic community who saw no king, no functioning temple, and little evidence of God's promises being fulfilled — and draws a direct parallel to Christians today who may feel similarly discouraged by declining religious affiliation and cultural marginalisation. The central argument is that God is irrevocably committed to establishing his kingdom through his chosen king, and that neither the sin of leaders nor the apparent quietness of history should be mistaken for God abandoning his plan. De Costobadie traces this through Saul's death and the transfer of the kingdom to David, arguing that God works not merely despite the sin of leaders but often directly through it — citing the Reformation as a historical example. He closes by calling his congregation to wholehearted allegiance to King Jesus, promising that such commitment produces both unity among believers and genuine joy.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Introduction: Choosing an unfamiliar book
James de Costobadie: We're going to do chapters 10 to 12 of 1 Chronicles. I picked the book of 1 Chronicles because once a year I have it as a matter of course that I choose a book of the Bible that I know nearly nothing about. And I think it's a good practice to not just go for familiar things, but to dig into areas that are less familiar. And even among the big history books of the Bible, Chronicles is probably less well known than Samuel or Kings. So if you're sitting here today thinking, gosh, I didn't even realise there was a book in the Bible called Chronicles, you're probably in company with most other people here. I don't know how many of us have read through this before, but it's very interesting, very intriguing to see what God has decided to put into these books. Sometimes a book that you don't know so well — or maybe you're very fresh to the Bible and don't know any of it — you have to work a bit harder at, but actually you derive more benefit from. Sometimes when something's given to you on a plate, you don't actually take it on board in quite the same way.
So I'm going to say a prayer that God would help us, and then we're going to do some work and get into this and see what he is saying to us. Let's bow our heads and ask for God's help.
Dear God in heaven, we thank you that by your Spirit you inspired every word, and we come to you therefore today in a spirit of humility, knowing that we need that same Spirit to reveal the meaning to us. So please, we pray, open our eyes, but also open our hearts to receive what you have prepared, that we might be changed through it. In Jesus' name, amen.
The context: a discouraged people then and now
Traditionally, every five years we have a census in New Zealand, though I understand that is about to change. And I wonder how you feel about it, if you ever dig into some of the results — particularly that section on religious affiliation. It tends to make for pretty depressing reading, at least on a superficial level. In 1991, 74% of the population identified as Christians. By 2023, 32% — less than half.
Now, of course, statistics are statistics. There may be many explanations behind that. For example, you could have the number of nominal Christians decreasing even as the number of active believers actually increases. So not everything is in a statistic. But whatever way you cut it, we have to face the fact that Christians are very much a minority grouping at all levels of society. Going back in time, it was probably the case that to achieve high office in this country you had to advertise Christianity on your CV. These days it would be much more likely to be viewed with suspicion if that was on there explicitly.
And unless we live in a bubble, most of us here would feel that change. Perhaps the harder thought is: will it ever change from here? Will it ever go back? It certainly doesn't feel as if it will. And if you throw in a few personal circumstances of hardship, some of the difficulties of living life in this difficult and broken world, it can be very easy, I think, for Christians' heads to go down and for us to lose our spiritual vitality and really to lose confidence that God will do a big thing at all. You can begin to think that, well, if heaven is like a party, it's the kind of party where not many people show up — a stadium where most of the seats are still empty. No wonder that so many Christians end up just kind of seeing out their days, lacking clarity, conviction, or keenness, and in the end finding their treasure in this world. So easily done. If you can't beat them, join them — just be like everybody else and indulge in the sin of being normal.
Well, we saw last week that this was very much how the readers of this book of Chronicles felt. Chronicles, in our Bibles, is two books — 1 and 2 Chronicles. In the original, just one book, a long book, split into two because of the length. And they were weary, they were dispirited, the readers of this book. We're now a long time after the exile — somewhere around 400 BC, or perhaps even later, maybe even towards 300 BC. They had previously been battered by the pagan nation of Babylon. Now they're back in the land, but so few real believers. Look at the census — very dispiriting. No sign of God's great promises coming to fulfilment. No king — Israel is supposed to have a king, and there is no king. There's no temple of any size to worship in. And here they are, lacking clarity, conviction, and — as we know from elsewhere — lacking keenness, tempted to find their treasure in this world.
What the chronicler is doing: genealogy and history
It's into this situation that the chronicler writes what, in the Hebrew Bible, was the very last book of the Old Testament. In chapters 1 to 9, which we looked at last week, he gave this long genealogy — the longest in the Bible — to show that they were part of God's story. That there is a story here from generation to generation to generation, and God is not in the habit of breaking it. They were part of that story as well. He was encouraging them through that.
And then in chapters 10 to 12, where we are this morning, the chronicler recounts more of the history, teaching them a vital lesson as he does. The lesson is this — the big picture lesson — that God will indeed establish his kingdom forever, by his chosen king, in fulfilment of his promises. God will establish his kingdom by his chosen king in fulfilment of his promises. So, okay, they don't have a king in their day and they don't see huge numbers of believers — but do not be fooled by those circumstances into thinking that God has somehow given up.
Big picture: Saul's death and David's coronation
What I want us to see this morning, firstly, is the big picture of what I've just said, before making a couple of specific observations within that.
Chapter 10 is a very brief account of Saul's reign. And it's rather surprising in the sense that in the book of 1 Samuel, there are 23 chapters given to recount Saul's life and death, and here, just one. We're told at the beginning of chapter 10 that a battle takes place, and it's an absolute disaster — a rout. Three of Saul's sons are killed and Saul himself is badly wounded. His armour bearer won't finish him off, won't do the deed. We're told that he was terrified — whether for harming the Lord's anointed or for some other reason, he won't do it. So Saul literally falls on his sword.
Now, the reason it's so brief is because the author is using this as preparatory material to get to where he really wants to get to, which is chapters 11 and 12 — all about the coronation of the king, King David, whom God wants and has promised. The chronicler here is resolute in showing that God has a plan, and despite appearances to the contrary, he's bringing that plan about.
And last week we noticed that part of the intrigue is what he decides to put in and what he decides to leave out. So you get nothing on Bathsheba. You get nothing on Solomon's heart going after foreign women, because he doesn't want to stress that. What he wants to stress is that there is a king over Israel whom God has promised and now whom God has appointed.
Have a look at the beginning of chapter 11, verse 1:
"All Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, 'We are your own flesh and blood. In the past, even while Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord your God said to you, "You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler."' When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, he made a compact with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel, as the Lord had promised through Samuel."
There's a plan here. The plan is coming together right on time. We're told in verse 2 that God had said to David — the shepherd boy, you remember — that one day he would become the shepherd of God's people. Because God's people are like sheep. What do sheep do? They wander. What do the people of Israel do? They wander and wander and wander. Sheep just go in whatever direction they want, and then they make a whole lot of stupid decisions. Self-harm is their game. They fall into ditches, they make poor decisions, they do the wrong thing, they get lost, they don't do anything about it, they can't do anything about it. And the people of God are exactly the same.
That was the story of the people of Israel. After all that God had done for them — think about it: Moses doing his thing with the Red Sea, God providing for them in the desert, knocking over their enemies in Jericho, getting them into the promised land — at every stage they wander away from him. Their hearts go after other things. Or the next crisis comes and they immediately collapse in desperation and fail to trust him. They always lean towards self-sufficiency in this very disastrous way — worshipping created things, putting their trust anywhere but God, who himself has proved to be so faithful towards them.
The mirror of Israel: our own wandering hearts
And when you look at Israel, do you not see a mirror? Do you not see a mirror of our own lives? For some of us here, we might be absolutely brand new to Christian things, never really thought too much about God, never really opened the Bible before. The fact is, we have wandered from God for so long we don't even realise we're wandering. We're so lost we don't realise we're lost. That's the definition of lostness — we don't even realise we are lost. We don't realise that there's a God who made us and who loves us. It shows that we are the sheep who have gone astray.
And for all of us here who are Christians, we know the truth of this as well — how easily we wander from God. Why is it we get more excited about looking up the sports results than we do actually coming to God and looking up what he has to say to us? Why is it that we get worried so quickly in life when we know that God looks after his people? It's because our hearts wander away from him. And in wandering from him, they attach themselves to other things — like limpets that attach themselves to the wrong things. We find ourselves driven in life by things other than God and his name and his kingdom.
So what Israel needed was a shepherd — a shepherd who would actually go after them, bring them back with the old crook, bring them back into the fold, look after them, feed them, make sure they get good pasture, protect them, and make sure that they would be safe. David, you're to be that person for Israel. God had promised it would be so. There's a plan and he's bringing the plan into fulfilment.
David as a type of Christ
So here — what a privilege, what a moment in history. God had promised it and now in faithfulness he's bringing it about, as one day he would do for the whole world through David's greatest son. So much of the Old Testament is full of models and types. God treats Israel in a way that is a picture of how he treats the whole world. And so in giving David to this one little nation in the Middle East, it's a picture of a reality — a picture of how he would one day do the same for the whole world through David's descendant, Jesus.
And we thought last week about how, because Chronicles was the last book in the Old Testament, you only have to cross one page and you find David's son, the Messiah, in Matthew's gospel. So here is the plan being fulfilled. God appoints the king, and then the king will establish the kingdom.
So if you have a look down at chapter 11, verse 4 — what does David do? He and all the Israelites march to Jerusalem and he takes it. Against the odds — look at verse 5, they said, "You won't be getting in here, sonny Jim." Nevertheless, David captures the fortress of Zion. It was a fortress. And he captured it because God wanted him to, because he's here to establish the kingdom in fulfilment of the promises.
God was establishing the kingdom through his king in line with the fulfilment of his promises. And this is what the weary and tired readers of Chronicles needed to know — that God would do this. It would be God's plan, which God would fulfil. And God here is like a golden thread through all the verses. Verse 9: "David became more and more powerful because the Lord Almighty was with him." And verse 10: "They, together with all Israel, gave his kingship strong support to extend it over the whole land, as the Lord had promised." So many times this is stated.
Here is the big picture: God is committed to establishing his kingdom through his appointed king. Maybe the readers of Chronicles did live at a time when it didn't look like much was happening. But there are a lot of times in history when it doesn't look as if much is happening. We tend to think that fireworks were going off in Israel every day when we read the Old Testament. But there were extended periods when the people just ploughed the earth and raised their families and got on with life, and there weren't big things happening. What they needed to trust was that the big things God had promised would come to fulfilment.
Just as in our lives, there's a lot of life that is ordinary. Life rolls on — we're into another season, approaching another winter, and on and on it goes. But don't be deceived as if God is doing nothing. He has a plan which he will keep. They needed to know that God was and is committed to this plan. They needed to be ready for the king who would come. And we need to be ready as well — on our game and on the ball, ready for the great shepherd to return to gather all his sheep from across the world and down the ages.
Not to come to some tiny country in the Middle East, but to rule the whole world, the whole universe, every universe. To those who don't believe in Jesus, they will then be cast apart from him. Some of the most terrifying words in the New Testament: "I never knew you," says Jesus to those who didn't know him. They are the goats who will have to depart from him. But for those who are his sheep who have believed him, he will come to gather us up to himself and to bring us into the new creation, to enjoy it forever with the king of God.
So when life is quiet on the Christian front, don't be deceived into thinking it will always be so. It's easy in the Christian life to lose clarity and conviction and keenness in the end. But don't imagine for a second that God has deviated onto a different plan or somehow given up because it was too difficult. That's what we do. But God doesn't. He is committed. He will do it. That's what they needed to know. That's what we need to know.
First observation: God establishes his kingdom through the sin of the leader
Now, that's the big picture. But then have a look at some of the detail, which is perhaps where the particular interest is. Because I think the surprising thing is how God would achieve this. There is a divine plan and he will do it, absolutely. But look at the human means that he uses to achieve his plan.
First of all, two things. First of all, he will establish his kingdom through the sin of the leader.
When you drill into chapter 10 a little bit deeper, a few things stand out. First of all, you notice it's all about Saul's death and not his life. Four times it's said he died. Chapter 10, verse 5. And verse 6: "Saul and his three sons died." And verse 7: "had died." And verse 8: "they found that Saul and his sons had fallen." Because it's such a huge thing. Saul was the king of Israel — God's king. Now dead.
For those who know the story of the Bible up to this point, it's the latest iteration of the battle — the battle between the seed of the woman and the serpent. Every time Israel fights the Philistines, it's this battle. Everyone in this world falls into one of two camps. Here, the enemies of God take a scalp, and it's a great scalp. It's the king. And not only do they take the scalp — it's really emphasised here in verse 9 — they stripped him. They took his head and his armour. Then they send messages throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news among their idols and their people. This world was to have the news of God proclaimed. But here, it's the news of this slaughtered king of God. And they put his armour, verse 10, in the temple of their gods, and hung up his head in the temple of Dagon.
Now this reminds us there is a spiritual battle. It will be ongoing through time. It's for us as well as them, and it reminds us never to switch off. No one is immune — not even Saul the king.
The next thing to notice is that the defeat has happened because of Saul, because of his sin. In other words, it's not just a military defeat, it's a spiritual defeat as well. Verse 13: "Saul died because of these three things. One, he was unfaithful to the Lord. Two, he didn't keep the word of the Lord. And three, he even consulted a medium for guidance." Saul's defeat was Saul's fault.
And the third part is that it was the Lord's judgment. Saul had sinned, but not even the sin gets the last word here. The Lord does, verse 14: "So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David, son of Jesse."
What's happening here? It's the end of Saul. But with the end of Saul comes the end of Saul's dynasty. Do you see that in verse 14? The Lord turned the kingdom — not just Saul, but the kingdom — over to David, son of Jesse. And it comes again in verse 6, where it says: "So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together." Now, strictly speaking, it's not actually quite true — there was another child of Saul that got away. But that's not the chronicler's interest. His interest is that the dynasty of Saul has died here.
Now, why is that significant? Just think about it for a second. God had made a promise that a saviour would come from the line of Judah. And the people, in their wisdom, when they really wanted a king — because they wanted a certain type of king — God said, "Okay, I'll give you one." Saul, from the line of Benjamin. Now, if Saul had been obedient, if he had ruled as he should have ruled, if he had obeyed God and been faithful to God, and Israel had gone from strength to strength and prosperity to prosperity, all would have been well in the short term — but no saviour would have come in the long term. Because the saviour was never going to come from the line of Benjamin. He was going to come from the line of Judah. And so what is happening here is that, yes, Saul has sinned, but through that sin, God has overturned his house to bring a saviour, because David would now be appointed king from the line of Judah.
Now, I must admit I was tempted to say that God establishes his kingdom despite the sin of the leaders, which would also be true. But so often when you think about it, it is actually the case that God establishes his kingdom through the sin of leaders. Saul here. You think of the Pharisees in Jesus' time, the way they persecuted Jesus to bring about the death of the Messiah and the salvation of the world. You think of the persecution in the book of Acts, inaugurated by the leaders, which forces the gospel out far and wide. And on and on and on through history.
The sin of leaders so often is instrumental in God's providence to the spread of the gospel. Think of the Reformation. Think of Martin Luther and John Calvin and those people. They didn't want to set up a new church — that wasn't their aim. They were forced into it, in a way, by the sin of the leaders of the existing church. There was only one church in the West, and Pope Leo X and his fellow leaders — their absolute sin, their hardness of heart — forced the reformers out. And God used that to bring the gospel to spread through Europe and from there to the world.
And I must say, I've seen in my own life as well where obstinacy among denominational leaders has led to more church plants in God's providence than ever would be the case otherwise. All of which is to say that we should never be dispirited by what leaders do. I know it can be dispiriting. Sin can make dreadful decisions and can cause a lot of hurt to people. And yet, in a funny way, at the same time, we shouldn't be dispirited by that. God will definitely hold leaders to account, but he will also work through their sin for the good of his kingdom. In other words, nothing can stop God and his plans. So don't ever think it will happen. Don't ever think that God's plans will be stopped. Never will, however his leaders behave. That's the point there.
Second observation: God builds his kingdom through the allegiance of the people
The second thing to notice is how God will build his kingdom — not just through the sin of the leader, but through the allegiance of the people. Now this is chapters 11 and 12, the great chapters here, where God moves and the people all come together in support of the king.
We haven't got time to look at too much here, but I'll just point out a few things. Chapter 11, verse 1 — see how it begins: "All Israel." Have a look at verse 4 — who is it that's marching? "David and all the Israelites." From verse 10, it gets more specific. We're introduced here to the chiefs of David's army — that is, the Three. And we read there in verse 10 that they, together with all Israel, give the kingship strong support, because David and his dynasty are the light of Israel. And these people will serve under him to keep that lamp burning, to prevent it from going out.
So you've got these Three — the king's generals who oversee the whole shebang of the army. They're like the patriotic glue who bond all Israel in solidarity to David. You get Jashobeam in verse 11, a Hacmonite. He was chief of the officers. He killed 300 enemies in one go. Then next to him, verse 12, you get Eleazar, son of Dodai — it's a good name, isn't it, son of Dodai. And we're told that he was there on the occasion when the Philistines were fighting. They gathered for battle. It was a massive battle in a barley field — you wouldn't want to be fighting in a barley field. And many of the troops fled. They were frightened. Eleazar — what does he do? We're told he stood firm. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory.
Now, these Three generals, and then after them in verses 20 to 25, two other warriors of special status, and then we're introduced to the Thirty — who are like, we would say, special forces, a combination of that and secret service, because they're also the bodyguard of David. And then we see the roster, verses 26 to 41, of all the mighty men — including, interestingly, Uriah the Hittite in verse 41.
The point is that everyone is getting in behind David. When we get to chapter 12, it's the same. Chapter 12 is a bit strange in that it actually goes back in time before David was made king. But the reason the chronicler goes back in time is to show that even before he was king, people defected from Saul to support David. They realised that David was the true king and not Saul. They realised which side their bread was buttered. So they switched over — we're on the wrong side here.
And there are some really fascinating individuals amongst them. Verse 2, look at chapter 12, verse 2. Look at the quality of these soldiers. They were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or left-handed. Now, let me ask you — did you ever do archery? You ever had a go, maybe on a kids' camp or something? Let me have a go, I'll show you how to do it. You do the thing and then — over there, over there. Very hard to even get it anywhere near the target. These people said, no problem. But then — oh, you think that was a bit easy? Okay, I'll do it the other way around as well. Which is handy if you're on this side of the rocks or that side of the rocks. And then they can do it with a slingshot — pretty difficult to make a catapult accurate, but they can do it right-handed and left-handed. They are ambidextrous warriors. They're the best.
But it's interesting that these quality soldiers think, hang on a second, we're on the wrong team here. And so they go and support David.
Along with them are tons of others. Verse 8 — some Gadites. Gadites were way up in the north. They were the most northerly tribe of Israel. What are they doing down here? It actually reminds me of the famous Welsh rugby commentator Cliff Morgan, who was describing one of the great tries — still replayed now — that Wales had scored. The left wing found himself on the other side of the pitch, and Cliff Morgan said in great excited Welsh tones, "The ball has been passed to Gerald Davies. What is he doing there? What is he doing there?" Well, verse 8 — what are the Gadites doing there? Look at them. Well, they're there because they've come down, they've made the trek — not just the other side of the pitch, they've come to the other side of the country — to get in behind David. And so were the men of Manasseh and all the rest.
From a divine point of view, of course, it's God who's making it happen. Verse 23: "as the Lord had said." There are tons of those sorts of comments. But from a human point of view, the people were lining up behind David because they recognised the Messiah of God, and they got in behind him, and this is what established the kingdom.
Just turn to chapter 12, verse 38, as a summary:
"All these were fighting men who volunteered to serve in the ranks. They came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of the Israelites were also of one mind to make David king."
And ever since, God has continued to use ordinary people to build his kingdom. These people, many of them, had to switch allegiance from Saul to David. They realised that God was behind David, so they changed sides.
Friends, there is no disgrace in life in changing sides because you realise you're on the wrong side. Maybe there are many reasons to become a Christian, and maybe there are some better reasons than this — but the reason I became a Christian when I was 19 was because I could see that if I carried on on the path I was on, I would be done for in the end. You cannot pretend to be God over your life, following your own ways, and beat God at his own game. Who do we think we are? There is no disgrace in changing sides and saying, actually, I want to line up with God's king. It is better to stand with God's king. If you're the only person in the world remaining opposed to him, and you find yourself in the crowd on the wrong side against the king, there will be no mercy for those who are over there. He will use us if we get in behind the king.
And that's one of the great aspects here — that God uses the people to establish the kingdom. Some of us here are very talented people, recognised in other fields perhaps, multi-talented. We can do things, so to speak, with both our right hand and our left hand. Most of us are still trying to work out where we fit in life and what we can do. But I promise you this: if you commit yourself to the king and to the establishment of his kingdom, if you say no to other things because you say yes to this one thing, God will certainly use you. The only thing that will hold us back is our own divided loyalties. You try and divide yourself between the seed of the woman and the serpent — it doesn't go well. You divide yourself between your interests and God's interests — it doesn't go well. You divide yourself between this world and the next world — it does not go well.
And I wonder, therefore, if you can say with your heart as well as your voice the words of chapter 12, verse 18. Notice these are Spirit-inspired words — the Spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the Thirty. And he said:
"We are yours, O David. We are with you, O son of Jesse. Success, success to you, and success to those who help you, for your God will help you."
Those who commit to the king — King Jesus — will find in the end that God uses them in the establishment of his kingdom.
The blessings of allegiance: unity and joy
And just as we finish, let me point out two of the wonderful blessings that come to those who do commit themselves.
First of all, unity. There's an amazing unity that comes out in chapters 11 and 12. The story up to this point has been one of factions and divisions. But when they commit to David, they're actually united with each other as well. Exactly the same for us. When you commit to the king and to the establishment of the kingdom, God brings us together in a wonderful unity. I hope you've found that in church. We can be quite different from each other in lots of other ways. But when you commit to the king and to his work, it brings a wonderful unity. You meet Christians you've never met before, and there's a unity there, a delight there that is just — well, it's a beautiful thing. Beautiful unity of purpose.
The other thing that God brings to them is joy. I just want to finish with those brilliant last few verses. There they are. The king has come to Hebron — and the significance of Hebron is that that's where the matriarchs and the patriarchs are buried, so they're fully in the line of what God has promised. And they spend three days there eating and drinking — feasting and celebrating. And then their neighbours come, verse 40. This is sort of potluck. They come from Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali, bringing food — not just in a couple of bags, but on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen. How much food do you think they brought to this thing? There were plentiful supplies — not just supplies, plentiful supplies — of flour, fig cakes, raisin cakes, wine, oil, cattle and sheep, meat and veg, long before the keto diet came in, obviously. And the reason — which is the important bit here — "for there was joy in Israel."
When the people of God commit themselves not to their own projects, not to building their own kingdoms, not to this world, but to the king and to his kingdom and to his future kingdom — guess what? There is joy for the people. It's the best way to live. It's the way we were made to live, the way we were designed to live.
Many years ago, I went to Liverpool Football Club — the team that I support — and there wasn't a game on, but I still wanted to go to the stadium and walk around, touch the ground, all that sort of thing, kiss the tarmac. And there's a statue there of a great manager from a previous era called Bill Shankly. So I sort of touched the statue and then looked down, and there was the inscription: "He made the people happy." Well, I feel sorry about the people of Liverpool if that's the best thing they've got. But anyway — he made the people happy. And so will this king. In a million greater ways, he will make us happy: through the difficulties of life, through the challenges of life, through some of the things that we never would have wished upon ourselves or other people. He will still make us happy and joyful if we walk with him and work for him.
But, as a trick, you have to let go of your own kingdoms to enjoy his. You have to let go of your own ambitions to take on his ambitions. You have to let go of your own desires for self-rule to bask in his rule. And when you do, that joy will be yours as well.
So I pray. Gracious Father, you've been so good to us. We do thank you for your generosity. We gladly acknowledge the Lord Jesus as our King — King over this church, over us individually. We simply pray that you would help us to get in behind him with gladness and joy, that we may be used by you in the building of your kingdom. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.