A Royal Wedding

Psalm 45:1-17 English Standard Version

Psalm 45:title

1. To the choirmaster:

2. according to Lilies.

a. Similar to titles of Psalms 60, 69, 80

3. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah;

a. Maskil – contemplation; meditation

b. Sons of Korah (Psalm 42-49)

4. a love song.

a. This is the only time this phrase appears in the Psalms.

b. This is a wedding song:

i. Composed for a specific, but unidentified, royal wedding.

1. Possibly Solomon, Ahab, or another king.

ii. Used over time at royal weddings.

iii. Came into common use for weddings, i.e. the groom and bride were a king and queen for the day.

Psalm 45:1

1. My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;

2. I address my verses to the king;

3. my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

a. Unique from other psalms, the composer of the psalm inserts himself into the psalm revealing his motive and method for composing the psalm.

i. Psalm 45:17 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

b. This psalm is also directed toward the groom/king and bride/queen instead of toward God. *

The Psalmist speaks of the king/groom (v.2).

Psalm 45:2

1. You are the most handsome of the sons of men;

2. grace is poured upon your lips;

3. therefore God has blessed you forever.

a. Psalm 45:17 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

The Psalmist speaks to the king/groom (vv3-9)

Psalm 45:3

1. Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your splendor and majesty!

Psalm 45:4

2. In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;

3. let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!

Psalm 45:5

1. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies;

2. the peoples fall under you.

Psalm 45:6-7a

1. (v.6) Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

2. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;

3. (v.7) you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Psalm 45:7b-8a

1. (v.7) Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

2. (v.8) your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.

Psalm 45:8b-9

1. (v.8) From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;

2. (v.9) daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;

3. at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

a. OPHIR (אוֹפִיר, ophir). A biblical place associated with gold and other significant materials (see 1 Kgs 9:28; 10:11; 22:49; 2 Chr 8:18; 9:10; Job 22:24; 28:16; Psa 45:9; Isa 13:12). The location of Ophir is uncertain.

The Psalmist speaks to the bride/queen (vv.10-11)

Psalm 45:10-11

1. (v.10) Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:

2. forget your people and your father’s house,

3. (v.11) and the king will desire your beauty.

4. Since he is your lord, bow to him.

Psalm 45:12

1. The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,

2. the richest of the people.

The Psalmist speaks of the bride/queen (vv.13-15)

Psalm 45:13

1. All glorious is the princess in her chamber,

2. with robes interwoven with gold.

Psalm 45:14

1. In many-colored robes she is led to the king,

2. with her virgin companions following behind her.

Psalm 45:15

1. With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king.

Benediction (vv.16-17)

Psalm 45:16

1. In place of your fathers shall be your sons;

2. you will make them princes in all the earth.

Psalm 45:17

1. I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;

2. therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

a. Psalm 45:2 therefore God has blessed you forever.

Did you notice any problems or challenges within this psalm?

Psalm 45:6a

1. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

a. Does the psalmist refer to the king as God or is this an aside from the psalmist’s words to the king to address God?

b. It is possible to breakaway and address God but the preceding and following verses are directed toward the groom/king.

c. To soften addressing the king as God, some have translated this phrase as:

i. your throne is a throne of God[1]

ii. the throne, God’s, is yours forever and ever.[2]

d. The king could be addressed as God in the sense that he is God’s representative.

i. 2 Samuel 7:14a I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.

ii. Psalm 2:1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

iii. Psalm 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,

iv. Psalm 2:7 I will tell of the decree: The Lordsaid to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

The author of Hebrews in the New Testament saw a deeper meaning to this psalm.

Hebrews 1:5

1. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”?

a. Psalm 2:1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

b. Psalm 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,

c. Psalm 2:7 I will tell of the decree: The Lordsaid to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

2. Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?

a. 2 Samuel 7:14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men,

Hebrews 1:6

1. And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

a. Deuteronomy 32:43 NLT “Rejoice with him, you heavens, and let all of God’s angels worship him. Rejoice with his people, you Gentiles, and let all the angels be strengthened in him. For he will avenge the blood of his children; he will take revenge against his enemies. He will repay those who hate him and cleanse his people’s land.”

i. Quoted from the LXX in Heb 1:6[3]

Hebrews 1:7

1. Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”

2. Psalm 104:4 The winds are your messengers; flames of fire are your servants.

Hebrews 1:8-9 c.f. Psalm 45:6-7

1. (v.8) But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

2. (v.9) You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God*, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

a. God* - vocative used in addressing or invoking a person or thing.

i. Hebrews 1:9 NLT You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.”

1. Grammatically the same as the vocative in verse 8 – “O God.”

b. This would be like Psalm 110:1which Jesus and the Early Church used to assert Jesus’ deity as God (Matthew 22: 44; Acts 2:34-35)

i. Matthew 22:41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,

ii. Matthew 22:42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.”

iii. Matthew 22:43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,

iv. Matthew 22:44 “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet” ’?

1. Psalm 110:1 The Lordsays to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

v. Matthew 22:45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

vi. Matthew 22:46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

c. Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Psalm 45:7 You love justice and hate evil. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.

1. Anointed – Hebrew: Messiah; Greek: Christ

We can see how the Early Church came to view Psalm 45 as a Messianic Psalm.

Therefore, Psalm 45 is about Christ and His Bride, the Church.

Ephesians 5:31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

Ephesians 5:32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Reread Psalm 45 through the lens of Christ being the king and the Church being His bride.

[1]Longman, T., III. (2014). Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary. (D. G. Firth, Ed.) (Vol. 15–16, p. 202). Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press. [2]Goldingay, J. (2006). Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89. (T. Longman III, Ed.) (Vol. 2, p. 58). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. LXX Septuagint [3]Kalland, E. S. (1992). Deuteronomy. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel (Vol. 3, p. 216). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.