Psalm 45

Psalm 45 KJV (WS)

1 To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves. My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. 2 Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. 3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. 4 And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. 5 Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee. 6 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. 7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. 9 Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. 10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; 11 So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. 12 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour. 13 The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. 14 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. 15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king's palace. 16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. 17 I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.

Introduction

Here we have another song for sons of Korah.

This one is titled as a love song.

It is a song written for, or in honor of a marriage.

It has a specific tune that is to be used.

Shoshannim, or upon the lilies.

There was probably an instrument that resembled lilies that was to be used for this psalm.

Why would a love song be included in the Jewish book of songs for public worship?

Well, it would help if we knew who this psalm was about?

Lot’s of theories.

David

Solomon

Jehoram

Ahab

There is a big problem with all of these theories.

It comes from verse 6, where the king is referred to as God.

Did the Jews deify their kings the way, say, the Egyptians did?

No, they never did this.

Does the Bible give us any help in determining the king that is intended in this psalm?

Actually, yes.

Hebrews 1:8–9 “8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”

This is a messianic psalm.

The author may have been inspired by witnessing the marriage of a king.

This psalm is not about any earthly king and queen.

This psalm is about Jesus and his bride.

This should perk up our ears.

Who do you love more than Jesus?

Who would you rather talk about than Jesus?

Who would you rather hear about than Jesus?

This is why we are here today!

We are also going to learn something about ourselves.

What our future holds.

How Jesus views us.

Let’s start by examining the King/Groom vss 1-9

We immediately notice the excitement of the author. vs 1

As someone who writes a lot of content throughout the week, I can tell you that some topics are easier to write about than others.

Sometimes it’s like a slog through mud.

Sometimes my fingers can’t keep up with the words flowing out of my brain.

The author of this psalm is super-hyped about his subject matter.

He communicates a feeling that every believer should have when talking about their King.

His heart is overflowing with good things to say.

He has witnessed or learned of good things about the king, and so that’s what he talks about.

He gladly serves a willing writer for this topic that he is passionate about.

The glory of this king is the greatest theme in the universe.

It causes the psalmist to be excited in his writing.

The whole first part of this psalm is concerned with the praise of the king.

I wonder if we can relate to this excitement over our king?

The attractiveness of the King. vss 2

The old world ideal of a monarch put special emphasis on personal beauty and courtesy of speech.

The king is more beautiful than other men.

The king is included among the children of men.

This is an important feature.

We will combine it with something else later.

This speaks of the attractiveness of the King.

I have already revealed that Jesus is the focus of this psalm.

Isaiah tells that Jesus, while on the earth, was not a comely person.

And yet, Jesus is beautiful to behold.

Isaiah 33:17 “17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.”

Psalm 27:4 “4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.”

The more we get to know Jesus, the more beautiful he becomes.

The only true satisfying of our deep longing for beauty is to be found when we turn to Christ.

He speaks better than other men too.

I will not spend a lot of time on this.

I trust that you will be interested enough to come back tonight.

We will be examining the effects of our king’s speech in Mark 1.

It astonished those that heard it with it’s authority.

God has blessed the king, therefore he has grace and beauty.

Next, the psalmist praises the power of the King. vss 3-5

This military scene is more than pomp.

It praises the military prowess of the king.

He is not just a politician, he is an able warrior.

The psalmist exhorts the king to display his ability.

Military themes are unpopular in Christianity today.

Our King is a warrior.

He has been at war with Satan for all of human history.

Any who would follow or identify with him are to be considered soldiers in his army.

As a soldier, look at these verses and admire your king.

Why does our king ride out to war?

He is not motivated by the desires of other kings.

There is no vulgar ambition.

No cruel lust of conquest.

There is no hunger for more land or glory that actuates him.

Our king rides out to secure the virtues of his reign.

Truth

Meekness

Righteousness

He is victorious in battle.

The psalmist wishes prosperity upon him.

We see his victory in the last line of verse 5.

This leads to the final praise for the success of the King. vss 6-9

His throne is forever. vs 6

Here is where we see that this is no normal king.

If this is about Jesus, then his reign is forever.

We combine this with verse 2 and we see that the King the psalmist is envisioning is both God and man.

There is only one that fits that description.

Neither history nor character will allow any Jewish king to stand as the subject of this psalm.

The psalmist sees an ideal king who would someday be real.

It’s Jesus.

In verse 6, his kingdom is secured.

He is anointed by God. vs 7

You would think that this anointing may be to rule, but it is not.

God has viewed the righteousness of the king and anoints him with the oil of gladness.

The only one higher than the king is God, God anoints the king as an honored guest.

To what is he a guest?

We see in verse 8, that He is at peace from war.

He is not clothed in battle armor.

He is clothed in perfumed garments.

Myrrh = solid or gum resin.

Aloes = sandalwood tree used for perfumes and incense.

Cassia = aromatic bark used in perfume.

It’s as though he is preparing for a special occasion.

He lives among riches.

His ivory palace is the result of his far-reaching victories.

There is no doubt that the king is rich.

His family and court are blessed.

He is surrounded by the royalty.

His queen stands at his right hand clothed in the gold of Ophir.

Ophir, according to one author was in Saudi Arabia.

Josephus believed it was India.

Regardless, the gold apparel of the queen leads us to the story of her marriage to the king.

The Queen/Bride vss 10-17

Verse 9 is actually the final scene.

Verse 10 goes back a little bit and tells the story of the queen’s marriage to the king.

Now, it is important to remember who the bride is.

How you identify the bride is important.

It will affect your relationship to and application of these verses.

The church is the bride of Christ.

We are his bride.

You must see yourself in these verses.

It starts with a challenge given to the bride. vss 10-11

These verses are kind of like the sermon that accompanies Christian marriages today.

In this sermon, the bride is told that she must leave her old life behind when she marries the king.

The groom/king seeks the all-surrendering love of his bride.

You can see in verse 11, that the groom’s relationship to the bride hinges upon her surrender to him.

To some, the fully surrendered sound like fanatics.

Many Christians have religion enough to make them comfortable.

Is Jesus really worthy of our total surrender?

The whole first half of this Psalm deals with the supremacy of the King.

The second half details the effects of such supremacy.

In other words, yes he is worthy of our surrender and our worship.

Remember, we are not talking about a mere human king.

We must give up our past so that we can enjoy his future.

It is a future of glorious recognition for the bride. vs 12

People will bring her gifts.

Tyre was the center of world trade at one point in history.

The economy of the world will bless the bride with gifts.

The rich will seek her favor.

What do the rich need?

Nothing.

Yet they will see the favor of the King’s bride.

You say, well I don’t see that yet.

I see a church persecuted or ignored by the world.

This Psalm is still waiting it’s completion.

The marriage has not yet been completed.

This will happen in the future.

All of these things will come to pass, just as surely as all Bible prophecies are fulfilled.

You just wait.

Right now, we are in the process of preparation for the bride vss 13-15

Her attire

She is glorious.

She is clothed in gold.

Indicating her value and her position.

She will stand at the right hand of her groom, as seen in vs 9.

People may mock and belittle the church today.

She may have flaws and may not always live up to her engagement.

On the day of her wedding, she will be beautiful.

Her approach

She makes the trip to the home her husband has prepared for her.

She is filled with gladness and rejoicing.

She knows that her groom is the everlasting king.

His eternal throne means eternal blessings for her.

The blessing of the bride. vss 16-17

This is not a reference to biological children, but rather the fruits of her union to the king.

The results of the bride being joined to the king will be greater than any other generation had ever hoped to achieve.

I can’t help but see implications that can only be realized in the millennial reign.

During that time the bride (us) will reign alongside Jesus on the earth.

Finally, we see that Jesus makes his family to share in his glory.

If you feel uncomfortable thinking about Jesus sharing his glory with you, that’s good.

We should feel that way.

We have no business sharing in Jesus glory, except for one thing.

We are a product of his work.

When we are praised, he is really getting the praise.

Verse 17 is just another way that Jesus gets praise.

Application

This Psalm details the beauty of the marriage of the King.

Jesus is the groom.

We as the church will make up the bride.

This psalm must affect Christians in this way.

It ought to make us admire, love, appreciate our king.

That admiration must produce in us a desire to leave all others and cling only to him.

If you are not a child of God, it ought to make you want to be a part of this king’s family.

this can only happen by placing your faith in this king for forgiveness of sins.

Only then will you be there on that wedding day to participate in the marriage of the king.