Is. 28:5-“Then at last the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will himself be Israel’s glorious crown. He will be the pride and joy of the remnant of his people.”
Is. 62:3- “The Lord will hold you in his hand for all to see-a splendid crown in the hand of God.”
Webster defines “royal diadem” as a crown that is worn especially by a king as a symbol of royalty. The difference between a royal diadem and a crown is that a crown is a reward of victory or a mark of honor while a diadem is an ornamental headband worn as a badge of royalty. So if we apply this meaning to Is 28:5 we see that God himself is our king, royalty for us, our pride and joy! While He has done everything to earn victory and honor, this phrase, royal diadem, means that He is royalty because of who He is, not because of what He has done. He is inherently royal. “King of kings” royalty is what defines Him. So who are we to be given the Creator of the universe, the Beginning and the End as our personal king? What have we done to deserve Perfection as our royalty? Why do we get to have the Almighty as our very own pride and joy? The answer is that He loves us so much that He wants us to have this. We don’t deserve any of it. We cannot earn our way into His kingdom, we are not good enough to be chosen by Him and we cannot buy our spot in His kingdom. We only have to accept His gift. We need to recognize that we cannot be in His presence because of our sin. Our sin separates us from Him because he is perfect and holy. We have to be washed clean to be in His kingdom. He was the only blameless option to pay the price for our sin. He willingly completed the only plan that would pay the price for us, removing our sin from our record so we could be with Him. This is amazing love that takes our place in death so we can have life with Him! Is this not extravagant enough?
Our Father’s love so greatly exceeds what is reasonable that He goes on in Is. 62:3 to say that He holds us in his hand for all to see. He has named us His splendid crown, His royal diadem. When He gifts us eternal life, He makes us His. His kingdom is given His name and heritage. We are so precious to Him that He gives us His royalty.
This morning, are we remembering Who’s we are? Before starting the day, can we think about Who’s hand we are held in because we are so precious to Him? Think about the “family” you have been adopted into. Are our fears valid based on our heritage in God? You are a splendid crown in the hand of God!