Our Invincible King
Brian D. Dykstra, teacher at Hope PRCS in Walker, MI.
“The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Ps. 110:1).
As our school begins its 59th year of parental, covenant instruction, our first song-of-the-week is based on Psalm 110. There is encouragement for us in the first verse of this Psalm. The days will come when we will need to remember this verse.
As we begin a new school year, the students are happy to see one another and renew friendships. The freshly painted halls and lockers are bright and clean, and the new carpet is unstained and still has its nap. The days will come, however, when there will be fingerprints smudging the walls. Lockers will be scratched. The carpeting will become dirty and show evidence of many footsteps.
Also our experiences here will prove to us that our schools are not havens from sin. Each of us involved in our schools will carry with him his own sinful flesh with desires against which he must struggle every day. Students will miss the mark in their duty to treat each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. The shortcomings and weaknesses of teachers will either become evident or be remembered as the weeks and months unfold. The school year brings numerous demands on our time and attention. Our schools can begin to feel more as a daily or weekly grind to endure rather than the blessings they truly are.
As we struggle with our weaknesses and sins, and witness the growth of sin in the world, our encouragement is to know that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. This is a place of unmatched glory. Here Christ is exalted over all creation as the Lord of lords. Christ’s enemies may try to resist His will and overthrow His kingdom, but all their efforts will be in vain, because the day comes when Christ’s enemies will be placed at His footstool, a reference to the ancient tradition of victorious kings placing their feet upon the necks of the enemies whom they had defeated.
By nature, we were also among Christ’s enemies. God’s irresistible grace has subdued and humbled our haughty and rebellious hearts. The working of His grace through the preaching of His Word has made us see the foolishness of the way we chose in Adam. We confess our inability to save ourselves or change the hearts of those dear to us. We have been delivered by an almighty, gracious hand, while the reprobate will find themselves being ground beneath His feet.
We must, however, wait for that day. Yet it is encouraging to see that, while the world expresses its hatred for God and His Word, Christ is calmly seated at God’s right hand. He is not scurrying about in a panic trying to rescue a plan which has somehow gone terribly wrong. He is not pacing back and forth with an anxious look on His face as He tries to find some way to gain victory for His church. He calmly sits. His counsel is being unfolded in our troubled times. Christ has told us what must come to pass before the end comes. The world is not becoming an easier place for the true church to carry out her work. This is what is taught in our schools to the covenant children God has given us. God has turned the world over to its sin, and we must labour diligently and wait patiently for Christ’s return.
The lordship of Christ will encourage us to be faithful stewards in the work He has given us to do in our small part of His kingdom. Our noses may be bloodied from time to time as we struggle in the battle against sin, but our Lord is seated at God’s right hand where some day all the church will be gathered. John Calvin encourages believers in his commentary on Psalm 110:2 by writing about Christ, “Moreover, as he does not reign on his own account, but for our salvation, we may rest assured that we will be protected and preserved from all ills under the guardianship of this invincible King.”
Let us encourage one another and be forgiving of one another, as we work together in our covenant schools as servants of our invincible King.
