Today Her Majesty the Queen will be celebrating her 90th birthday at street party on the Mall outside Buckingham Palace, and we’ll be holding our own (slightly smaller) tea party just outside church. I’ve enjoyed flicking through the new book, The Servant Queen and the King she serves. I particularly liked the poem she quotes in her foreword. The poem reflects her trust in God which has seen her through a life with its share of challenges and troubles.
I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied, “Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.”
Those words remind me of another king who trusted in God through tough times. In Psalm 63:6-8, David sings, “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” At this point, David is in the wilderness, running for his life from his murderous son, Absalom. He can’t sleep. How does he spend his sleepless night? He spends it remembering (6), singing (7) and clinging (8). And as David clings the Lord’s great encircling hand grips. We, like our Queen, have seen more than David just how much God is willing to do for us. He has given us his own Son. You can be sure that whatever darkness you are facing, his strong right hand will hold you tight.