He was one of Judah’s greatest kings.

He built a first class fighting force of 370,000 men. He provided light and heavy weapons and artillery. He restored old cities and constructed new ones. He built walls. He dug cisterns. He developed agriculture. During his long reign of 52 years, he raised the nation to a pinnacle of power, peace, and prosperity. Uzziah was a nation-builder.

Uzziah died in 724 BC. That year marks the beginning of unsettled times for Israel and the nations. The balance of power is shifting. Assyria and Babylon are merging as world superpowers, swallowing up weaker nations. Dark clouds hover over the tiny, vulnerable nation-states of Judah and Israel. In the gathering gloom, however, Isaiah sees reality in a different light: In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. (Isaiah 6:1)

In a moment of national and global transition, Isaiah sees Truth and Reality as they really are. He sees the King of kings who never dies, high and lifted up, and firmly in control. And the angels cry: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. (Isaiah 6:3)

Empires rise and empires fall. But the throne of God stands forever. Can we look beyond a good but imperfect Government of Singapore and see with the eyes of faith? This whole island is filled with His glory. The Lord is fully in control.

As Singapore approaches very uncertain and challenging global headwinds: impending recession, another possible pandemic, regional political instability and tensions, threats upon our moral and cultural values, may the Lord open our eyes to see the King of Glory, high and lifted up, and fully in control.

Rev. Timothy Chow