The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 145:13

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

God's everlasting kingdom.

"What is infinite in greatness must be infinite in duration." "Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all eternities." On the door of the old mosque in Damascus, which was once a Christian church, but for twelve centuries has ranked among the holiest of the Mohammedan sanctuaries, are inscribed these memorable words: "Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations." It is evident that the psalmist is endeavoring to find the most comprehensive and expressive of all terms to associate with God's kingdom and we must therefore notice the all-inclusiveness of this term, "everlasting."

I. GOD'S KINGDOM IS SPIRITUAL. It is not the kingdom of things, created things, of which the psalmist writes. It is God's kingdom of men, and man is essentially a spiritual being. The glory of an earthly king is not material possessions, but the loving service of free-willed peoples. God's kingdom is the rule of God's will over men's wills. And so we pray, "Thy kingdom come; thy will be done." It is a sublime thought of God that he is the spiritual Being ruling over spiritual beings. "King of saints, the holy."

II. GOD'S KINGDOM IS ALL-HALLOWING. It can never be identified with any earthly kingdom. It covers and includes them all. It is as absolutely universal as the spiritual being man; and is consistent with, but independent of, all the varieties of forms in which men organize themselves into nations, and arrange governmental conditions. God's kingdom must not be confused with his Church, unless we make the Church coextensive with the kingdom. Every man, being a spiritual man, is a member of God's spiritual kingdom. Everything for him depends on what sort of a member he is.

III. GOD'S KINGDOM IS PERMANENT. It belongs to all generations, because the generations repeat spiritual beings, and God rules such, as long as, and wherever, they exist. The permanence of the kingdom is simply the necessity of it. It is not possible for us to conceive of any disintegrating forces that can possibly affect it.—R.T.

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