AP

Psalm 73:23-26 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterwards you will take me into glory.  Whom have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.

Throughout this Psalm, Asaph is struggling with the problem of trying to present the witness of a God-honouring life in a world that is totally opposed to such a witness and that honours and rewards people who ignore God and the revealed truth of his Word.

I found the Funeral Service of Her Majesty very moving, especially because she herself had chosen the readings and hymns.  1 Corinthians 15 was especially relevant to her personal faith and her life and witness:  “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.  But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.  Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.  For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”  The lyrics of the hymn had special application to the way she went about her rule: “The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended, the darkness falls at thy behest; to thee our morning hymns ascended, thy praise shall sanctify our rest … As over each continent and island the dawn leads on another day; the voice of prayer is never silent, nor dies the strain of praise away. … So be it, Lord, thy throne shall never, like earth’s proud empires, pass away; thy kingdom stands, and grows forever, till all thy creatures own thy sway.”

I am praying that all her family, and especially King Charles, will be impacted by the Funeral Service, and think deeply about the impact the late Queen had on so many people all around the world, simply by living a quiet, humble, steadfast, God-fearing life in the face of all the attacks she and her family endured from the media who did not identify with her persistent faith – THE faith.
-Bruce Christian