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Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty. Of this we may take -

I. THE CONTEMPORARY VIEW. Those who heard these words from Isaiah's lips or read them from the roll on which he wrote them would naturally think of Hezekiah. But in what aspect would they think of him as clothed on with beauty? Not, surely, as one arrayed in gorgeous royal robes, or as one surrounded with the pomp of a royal court; but as one who wielded the kingly scepter in righteousness and in wisdom. The king in his beauty, to the eye of the man who speaks for God, is that sovereign who

(1) honors God in all his doings and dealings with man;

(2) uses his position and his power to further Divine truth;

(3) lays himself out for the good of others rather than for his own enjoyment or the aggrandizement of his house. And these things, mutatis mutandis, constitute the beauty of all earthly authority and power.

II. THE MESSIANIC VIEW. If we refer the words of the prophet to him to whom, in themselves and apart from the context, they are most appropriate - to that Son of man who came to be the Savior-Sovereign of mankind, we have two views brought before us.

1. That of Jesus Christ as he lived on earth - the meek King of men (Matthew 21:5), he who claimed to be a King even as he stood bound before Pilate (John 18:33-36). Here we see the King in his beauty as we see him in his purity of heart, in his devotedness to the work his Father had placed in his hands, in his submissiveness to that Father's will, in his quick and tender sympathy with the sorrowing and the abandoned, in his inexhaustible patience with the undeserving and the wrong.

2. That of the Divine Redeemer as he reigns in heaven. Thus viewed, we see in him the beauty of one who

(1) once surrendered everything he was and had in order that he might redeem a fallen race, - the beauty of the most perfect sacrifice;

(2) now welcomes to his kingdom the worst of all that have rebelled against his will, - the beauty of perfect magnanimity;

(3) now bears with his servants in all their manifold infirmities and insufficiencies of service, - the beauty of perfect patience;

(4) now dispenses grace and help to every one of his followers according to their individual necessities and requests, - the beauty of perfect beneficence.

III. THE DISTANT VIEW. Our eyes will see the King in his beauty when we see "him as he is - the ascended and reigning Lord. Then we shall

(1) behold the glories of his heavenly administration; we shall

(2) dwell upon the transcendent excellence of his Divine character; and we shall then

(3) be drawn towards him in spiritual resemblance (1 John 3:2), live under his reign in unremitting and untiring service (Revelation 7:15; Revelation 21:25), dwell with him and reign with him in everlasting joy (2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 2:26; Revelation 3:21; Revelation 22:5). - C.

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KJV: Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

WEB: Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. They will see a distant land.