The King and I

Of the sons of Korah again—not the easiest of the Psalms to deal with

It appears to designed for a specific tune, The Lilies, not that we know what that was

Another Maskil, and a “love song”

Indeed, many understand this as strictly a wedding psalm—such have been known in other cultures

It does sound like that, but it has an additional level of meaning

…a “deeper, spiritual meaning”

That sounds somewhat odd—best understanding is a loyal love, not even a familial love, let alone a love of passion, which is what we think when we see love song in a title, and have the description of a wedding

The only spot in the OT where this word is used (a hapax legomena)

It’s something of a long Psalm, and it’s somewhat tough to pull the theology from it, let alone current application

A tough Psalm to research—truly a 5 scholars, 6 opinions situation

It seems that no men writers agree with women writers

…Different eras of Jewish scholars have different opinions

…Even the most well-respected of the earlier church writers disagreed, and the modern ones are not much better

Most agree that it is messianic in nature…but exactly how that plays out within the Psalm is up for grabs

An Overview

The psalmist is having a WOW moment when pondering the scene a the royal wedding

Translations vary from overflows to is stirred, or is moved,

He is overwhelmed by the majesty and anxious to proclaim what he is seeing

The manner of unfolding this, in my mind, is the imagery, the prophecy, and the theology

The Imagery

We primarily address the king and his bride

We’ll not spend too much time on the queen or the attendants of the bride, except to note that they’re there

There is an issue of having a queen and then having a bride (?)

It’s objectionable to our minds, might be understood as the queen mother or, in the reality of the day, a polygamous situation; the scholars don’t seem to address this…don’t blame them

We would best think of the virgin companions as a proliferation of bridesmaids

Towards the end of the Psalm we note that his sons shall rule as his ancestors had…making us think of a king who had some history, not David or Solomon—which would otherwise be the most likely suspects as to the identity of this King

The King

He is not specifically identified

As described he is

Handsome; gracious of speech; blessed (eternally) by God

He is a mighty warrior, majestic, pompous, a startling figure to view (command presence)

He is apparently successful in battle, vv. 4-5

His reign is eternal—on the surface, that can be read as a figure of speech, (we have Daniel paying tribute to the king of Babylon, “Oh, King, live forever”

In addressing the king as God, (Elohim) it could be merely as a means of expressing the plurality of majesty; judges could be noted as gods as well…some other odd uses of the word throughout the OT

He is anointed by God…specifically his God (Elohim in both)

He rules righteously, from a palace which can only be described as opulent

This is followed by the promise of offspring who will rule

The Bride

In our culture, it’s all about the bride—in that day, not so much; much more is written about the king

She seems to be getting some advice from the psalmist

…to be devoted to her husband and not her people, under his authority (he is your lord)

Most likely this indicates that she is coming in from a culture not her own, very common in the day, marriages promoting military or economic alliances

…this would result in the favor the wealthy nations

She is also praised for her beauty, her adornment and her companions (those bridesmaids)

The Prophecy

It’s difficult to miss, looking back from here, the implications as to Jesus, the

King of Kings

Rev 19 11-15 “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.”

Revelation 19:16 ESV

On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Also difficult to miss

The Bride of Christ Being the Church

Revelation 21:2 ESV

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

…and this one...

The Expected Wedding Celebration

Rev 19 6-8 “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.”

Revelation 19:9 (ESV)

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

The Ruling Offspring

This one is not so easy

Several places to go, these may be the best

May reference to Ps 149 9 “to execute on them the judgment written! This is honor for all his godly ones. Praise the Lord!”

or

Jude 14-15 “It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.””

or Rev 19 14

Revelation 19:14 ESV

And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

Some dispute: angels or saints

The Theology

The righteous judgment of the king describes Jesus Himself, as Jesus remarked in Luke 4 18

Luke 4:18 (ESV)

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed...

This quoting Is 61:1-2, Ps 146:7,8, Is 58:6, and Lev. 25:10; Isa. 49:8; 2 Cor. 6:2.

We also have the use of this in Heb. 1 8-9

“But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.””

This in a writing to prove Jesus’s identity as God

Our Reality

Whatever king the psalmist was writing about, we can clearly see the King of Kings in view

What is our understanding of this King?

Do we see Him as a glorious conqueror?

Make no mistake, in the end there will be a battle and He will end it decisively

He will rule justly; not as we understand justice; but as HE has declared justice, because He is Just—it’s one of the attributes of God which we see in this Psalm

Are we among His sons?

John 1:11–12 ESV

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Only if we are will be invited to the marriage supper of the lamb

To reject Him is to reject an eternity in Him