Then every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth

and on the sea, and all that is in them, sang,

—from Revelation 5:12-13, NIV

Jesus Christ has come into heaven and is at God’s right hand—

with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him.

Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!

Alleluia, Amen!

—based on Hebrews 4:14; Revelation 5:10, 12

Lord God,

the words “Jesus is King” come easily to our lips,

yet we often fail to grasp the significance of what they mean for us.

In this service, help us worship you in spirit and truth,

and give us a vision for how we may live in homage to you

every day of our lives, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Lift up your heads, you gates;

be lifted up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

—Psalm 24:7-8, 10, NIV

In the presence of God, who gives life to all things,

and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony

before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,

I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame

until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

which he will bring about at the right time—

he who is the blessed and only Sovereign,

the King of kings and Lord of lords.

It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light,

whom no one has ever seen or can see;

to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

—1 Timothy 6:13-16, NRSV

O God of all power and majesty,

you created the heavens and stretched them out.

You formed the earth and all that comes from it.

You give the breath of life to all who walk on the face of the earth.

Jesus, you conquered sin and death and now reign victorious.

You are Lord; glory is due your name.

The former things have come to pass;

we now await the new things you will bring through the Holy Spirit.

Lord God, heavenly King,

we offer these our gifts

as a sign of love, devotion, and praise.

Through these, as through our praises,

we acknowledge that you are our Lord.

In your name we pray. Amen.

This African American spiritual is one of many collected by Joseph (Joe) T. Jones in Great Day: Negro Spirituals as Sung and Directed by J. T. Jones (1961).  Like all African American spirituals, “He Is King of Kings” has no known author or composer, but J. T. Jones arranged and then Melva W. Costen adapted it for inclusion in the 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal.  Of the three stanzas with refrain in that hymnal, Lift Up Your Hearts included only the refrain and one stanza.  

Joseph T. Jones (1902-1983) was the son of Rev. A.A. and Mary M. Jones, both former slaves, who went on to begin a school in McConnellsville, South Carolina. His father was pastor of the Bethlehem Presbyterian Church. Joseph, “Joe,” Jones entered Johnson  C. Smith University (formerly Biddle University) and became heavily involved in music. After graduation (1927), a friend recommended him for a position as a Sunday school missionary, headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. He traveled extensively in the South, organizing Sunday schools, sometimes in isolated places, and providing opportunitites for religious growth to children and adults. In 1947, Jones was promoted to supervisor of Sunday school missionary work in the Southeast and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. He graduated from Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary and was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

Jones attended all General Assemblies of the church from 1927 until his retirement in 1973, except for one when Joe and Ione’s second child was born two weeks earlier than expected. Joe Jones frequently sang and led singing on his travels. He was urged to collect the spirituals he sang and did so in Great Day: Negro Spirituals as Sung and Directed by J.T. Jones (1961). Jones died after an eight-year struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.