Trinity 1 – Celebrating the Golden Jubilee
The Book of Common Prayer, whose rite of enthronement was followed fifty years ago calls upon the Bible to furnish it with the imagery and to extol the majesty of royalty, to heap upon the head of the sovereign Lord of these islands wonderful expressions of power, might, dominion, wisdom, generosity and so much more. These expressions cause us to have great expectations of our monarch, and, when you think about it, for our Head of State to expect great things from the population over and for whom she rules.
Years ago in the course of biblical studies, a scholar discerned different types of psalms, not merely through analysing the language and imagery by literary criticism, but suggested that through the format of the psalms themselves, particular events were being referred to. But today I did not wish to discuss what they call form criticism, nor give a lecture on biblical scholarship. Rather I wanted to consider the Queen in her fiftieth year through a reflection on a royal psalm. In other words, wanted to celebrate her reign on this Jubilee weekend.
So many things come from the Bible which we consider to apply to our Queen. For instance, I like to think that Psalm 101 is one that she has taken as her very own. “I will sing of loyalty and of justice; to thee, O Lord, I will sing.” I see the Queen singing this verse with gusto, meaning the words without reserve as she contemplates the events of the day and looks forward to the next day’s work in hand.
Never mind the Queen! – I would hope that such a verse would apply to each and every one of us. Nevertheless, I think the psalmist captures further thoughts of the royal person, “I will walk with integrity of heart within my house. I will not set before my eyes anything that is base.” Or, later, “Perverseness of heart shall be far from me.” Or, “I will know nothing of evil.” But mostly I like to think that this verse is at the heart of the Queen’s thoughts day and night – “I will look with favour on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me.”
Such are the thoughts that I attribute to the Queen as one who has sworn allegiance to her. I expect that the Queen will be innocent of evil, that the bounty of goodness overflows from her hands, that the Queen’s household will walk with integrity of heart. These thoughts wing their way toward the Queen on this weekend especially. All the prayers that we say for the Queen multiply these thoughts of mine as we consider the psalms and how they reflect the relationship between our human Sovereign and our heavenly King.
I think of these things especially in the light of all the attention the royal family has had in the past few years, with its difficult marriages, its heartaches, its joys. Especially in light of the program a few weeks ago which chronicled the life of the Queen Mother of blessed memory, and that which gave an overview of the events of the present monarch’s reign. How the world has changed so dramatically in the course of a generation! From the years of austerity and a lack of industrial expertise to the prosperity of the present technological era. That is what I find very exhilarating, that we have moved from a country where wealth was held by very few and there was almost poverty everywhere else to a country where there is less poverty and there is a greater share of the wealth of the country in more hands than ever before – though the disparity between the rich and the poor still remains very great.
This country in the time that I have lived in it has changed dramatically, but the monarchy in the person of the Queen is a very sure bearing for our course in history. Indeed like Victoria Regina at the turn of the last century, she takes her place as an historical figure. Both saw great changes during the course of their reigns. The people loved them, but I think they did not know what their monarch’s inner strength was.
I hope that I have discovered a key to understand why the people love the monarch – that they have an image of purity before them. Looking in the Radio Times, I saw a picture of the Queen at her Coronation. There she sat engulfed in a robe of State with two sceptres in her hands and that large crown delicately balanced on her head. She looked so young, and she held herself so preciously. “Perverseness of heart shall be far from me.” That verse again rings in my ears as I look at her picture. “No man who utters lies shall continue in my presence,” is a verse that I hope was in her mind as she looked out from under that great crown. Certainly it should be in all our minds as we celebrate this Golden Jubilee.
There she sits enthroned as monarch of this land, ever sitting in innocence and truth. We look to her image in our minds, or on the coin of the realm, in order to be reassured of the reality of this lovely sceptred isle. We look to that image in order to inspire us to live up to the ideals of human behaviour embodied in the psalms of ascension. How we wish to be able to say, “I will know nothing of evil.” After all my sovereign can say that, why won’t I fulfill those words?
Thankfully, we see the monarch as a human being just like we are. We pray for the monarch just as we do for our friends, but none of our friends are as influential as the Queen. Whenever I pray the State Prayers, I think of my neighbours and my own family, for don’t we want the same for those whom we know as we do for the Ruler of our country, a person whom we never met. But we remember the monarch as an image, that image printed in the Radio Times, one who holds the symbols of power and authority in her hands, decked out in the finery of State, and so she holds my life in her hands.
We pray for our Sovereign, just as we pray for one another on special days, owing her our allegiance as our Head of State. We give thanks for the long reign with all of its marvels. And we recite the royal psalms for ourselves as much as for Queen Elizabeth, in order to remind ourselves of the order of things in the world in which we live and move and have our being, in the Kingdom of God which is coming.