Our efforts to walk before God in faithfulness and uprightness of living are rooted in our response to God who, in spite of our waywardness, is faithful towards us. ‘Great is thy faithfulness,’ the old hymn puts it, drawing on words from Lamentations.

In the Coronation Service, the King’s Oath declares that he will ‘cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all [his] judgements’. This theme runs like a silver thread through the ceremony.

As we pray with King Charles that God will guide him in these great responsibilities, we also think of our own desire to remain faithful to God’s will for us.