Eloheinu Melech Ha'olam
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[edit] A Form of Emphasis
This terminology - King of the Universe - is difficult to translate directly. It is used in many places and seems intended to anchor an ethereal concept - God - in a more down to earth setting - the kingships prevalent at the time the phrasing was originally written.
Rather than try to reinterpret the wording itself, we can see it as a form of emphasis. A dagesh in Hebrew.
As a result, any time we read "eloheinu melech ha'olam, the text is coming to tell us that this mention of God (humanistically: "the power within us to do good and change the world") is particularly important and we shouldn't take it for granted.
Admittedly, the use of the construction Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha'olam is so common in prayer that it loses some of this concept of emphasis. In this respect, the second part of the phrase is subsumed by the first such that it is really only the beginning part that we think about when saying the words.
[edit] You are a King
We can extract the word "king" and give it a humanistic meaning. What does a king do (the positive aspects, not the warmongering and other deviations)? A king is someone who has responsibility over his kingdom. His decisions carry great weight and can be used to improve the lives of the people he is in charge of.
How can we act like a king? By taking on the mantle of responsibility in our own lives. By recognizing that our actions set in motion real processes in the world, that they can affect real people very directly. If we act in a haphazard, superficial way, we are ignoring our responsibility to be responsible.
So when we say "King of the Universe," we are also acknowledging that we have responsibility over own actions and that these can ripple out across the entire world/universe.
[edit] Responsibility and Power
We have translated God elsewhere as "the power within to do good and to change the world." If we incorporate the concept of melech - responsiblity - into the blessing format, we can read "Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha'olam" as:
"Let us acknowledge the power (and responsibility) with to do good and to change the world."
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