Psalm 45 Sermon Notes

Psalm 45

Sermon Notes

Princes in All the Earth

August 13, 2017

Lynchburg, Virginia

EXHORDIUM

         As we make our way through the 40’s, Psalm 45 is beautiful and encouraging, exalting the glories of the Messiah and His bride. This joy over the groom and over the bride is very fitting for us as we come to worship.

         We are the gathered people of God. The Church is the bride of Christ. Our Covenant Renewal Worship is this wedding dance. The groom awaits the bride to arrive. He receives her as His spouse, forgiving her any and all past sins. He speaks words of love to her, washing her in the water of the word. The bride and groom speak to one another of forgiving each other of sins and assuring one another of complete forgiveness.

         They sing together and to one another. The wedding dance concludes with the reception meal, where the bride and groom and attendants are all seated together at the Table of the High King.

         There are sometimes hard words said in church. We make our way through the Bible and we intend to hear all that it has to say and make particular application of it to us. That means, we encourage where the Bible encourages and we also address our sins where the Bible tells us to do so.

         But we need to understand that both the encouragement and the addressing of sins is to the same end, to bring us to union with God and man. The Lord Jesus is washing us with His Word so that we can have fellowship with Him and His Spirit. And if our fellowship with Him is good, then we can also have fellowship with God’s people.

         That is what is happening here each Lord’s Day. So, as we make our way through this Psalm, we should think about how we come to worship on the Lord’s Day. Do we anticipate glory? Fellowship? Closeness with God and men? That our Lord Jesus would be pleased with us? That as we sit at the Table, we are in the place of peace and joy? This day is a wedding celebration. It is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

EXEGESIS

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves.

         Someone asked last week why I said it was a Davidic Psalm even though the Psalm title was a song of the Sons of Korah.  The headings of these Psalms are also inspired. However, we do not know exactly what the headings mean. It is likely that there is some liturgical direction in the headings. Similarly, we get singing direction in the Selah. Most believe the selah to be a pause. Perhaps it is there for a refrain?

         This song, like the last one is a Maschil. One definition is a contemplative poem. We get an additional direction here in that it is called a song of loves, or a love song.

         The Sons of Korah were the singers. 2 Chron 20:19 ¹⁹ And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

         So, the direction, for the Sons of Korah, does not mean that the Sons of Korah penned the Psalm, but rather that it was written with them in mind as singers. They were the choir.

Immediate Context

         The immediate context of this song is a wedding for a King. We do not know whose wedding. David had many wives and it may have been one of his weddings. The language is high and exalted and fits the marriage of the High King and His bride, the Church. We can make explicit application to this effect.

         Matthew Henry says that the Psalm only really applies to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and does not have an immediate natural context. I disagree even though what that close context is, is not noted in the text.

        

Psalm 45:1 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.

The common beginning of poet. I am thinking of a good thing and my pen is ready to write it down. This is as much as to say I have good subject matter. Sit down and pay attention.

Praise to the King

² Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee forever.

The King is beautiful. We are told that he is also a mighty warrior, so we know that a fair looking man is not inconsistent with a rugged warrior of a man. He is fair to look at and is also wise in word. He has gracious lips. God blesses him for these things.

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.

Jesus is a mighty king. He has a mighty sword. His sword is the word of God. With it, He slays His enemies. Jesus is dressed in battle array. This does not comport well with our soft and effeminate society and even an effeminate Church. We don’t know what to do with a Savior who actually saves by wielding His sword.

The Word of God slays. It cuts. It accomplishes the will of the Lord in bringing men into subjection. But only subjection to Jesus is true freedom.

This mighty king rides prosperously. He rushes forth with success. His right hand shall do terrible things. We think of terrible as a word with negative connotations. It is here awesome things, or things that inspire awe, amazing things.

This king shoots the kings enemies and kills them. They are laid waste. What do we make of this? It is not nice but it refers particularly to Jesus. This is the sort King that He is. He shoots His enemies in the heart. This can accomplish one of two things. It can destroy them or it can kill their old hard heart and He can Resurrect them with a new soft heart, a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone.

But do not be fooled. Jesus does not convert everyone. There are those who resist His will who will be killed and banished to hell forever. All will bow to Him but the ones who are forced to bow against theirs and His will, will be given no mercy.

God or the King?

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.

The Psalmist praised almighty God but then praises the King as the one exalted by God. The language is somewhat confusing. But there is a King who is good in the flesh. That One has been anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows.

The Lord who loves righteousness, also hates wickedness. Did you hear that? God hates wickedness and God’s righteous people also hate wickedness. We live in an age when the powers want to define wickedness out of existence. There is no standard of right and wrong. But this elimination of the standard is itself wicked.

These two verses are quoted in the New Testament as applying to the Son of God.

Heb. 1:8-9 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. 

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.

The King is dressed for the wedding. He has cleaned up from battle and is perfumed and tuxed up. Among His court are honoragble women, and a queen dressed in fine gold. The setting is one of the most illustrious grandeur.

The Bride

10   Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;

When a bride takes a husband, she transfers her allegiance to his house. She forgets her father’s authority and submits to her husband. If she has come from a different ethnic race, she now takes on the identity, race, religion of her husband.

The modern egalitarian view of women finds this highly objectionable. However, it was not merely a custom of the age that has passed away. The transfer of allegiance is not only clearly a biblical principle but also the only way to true happiness in marriage. If the wife maintains her form allegiances apart from allegiance to her husband, they will have no end of trouble. So, the two must be one.

To take the Lord Jesus as your Lord requires that you renounce all others. In the ancient world, this meant idols. You cannot serve God while also bowing to idols. Jesus also taught that you cannot serve God and mammon. There are allegiances that pull us away from Christ. These idolatries are akin to adultery, unfaithfulness. But we who belong to Jesus must be loyal to Him. We must forsake all other authorities and bow to Him as Lord.

This means that we must do what He says. He said, “If you love me, obey my commands.” We cannot say we love God if we hate our brother. Loving Jesus requires that you live like a Christian. If you do not live like a Christian, then you are simply lying about your love for and allegiance to Jesus Christ.

Honoring Him Honors Her

¹¹ So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.

The word here rendered worship means to bow down. Our sense of worship that only belongs to God is not what is in mind. She has just been told forsake her father’s house and her own people. She is not willingly submitting hereself to her new lord, her husband. She thus bows in reverence, deference and respect. Like Sarah, she can gladly call him Lord.

If we think in terms of the bride of Christ, this posture is exactly fitting. We do worship Him, in a proper sense. We ascribe glory and honor and majesty to Him because He is not only the head of the Church, but He is also God.

But we do not simply worship Him, or only worship Him. We bow to Him. We submit to His authority. We hearken to His Words. We do what He says. On earth, no husband’s authority is absolute. A wife can submit to her husband and call him lord, for so he is. But his authority has a stopping place. An earthly husband is a sinner and therefore cannot be trusted to do absolutely the right thing in every circumstance. He might ask or command his bride to sin. She must refuse because she serves her Lord Jesus, who is the authority above her husband.

We all must submit to someone. If we refuse to submit to a true earthly authority, we can only rightly do so because we are submitting to an authority above them. But don’t fool yourself. Sometimes, your authority, whether a parent or a husband is requiring you to do something that is wholly within their biblical authority, and yet you refuse. If you do so, it is incumbent upon you to show how you are submitting to God by refusing to submit to your parents or your husband.

The apostles said to the Jewish leaders, “Tell us, shall we obey you or God?” But they could easily show how the Jewish leaders were requiring them to sin and therefore their failure to submit to them was in fact submission to God. But they did not go rogue. They were not demanding personal autonomy. That way is always sin.

 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.

The bride is favored by the wealthy and the honored. The wealth city Tyre will send her beloved daughter with a gift. The rich shall come and now seek the favor of the bride.

She is glorious within, inside her clothing, inside her body. She has glories that flow without but these would be useless if she did not possess inner beauty. Young men, it is good to look for a fair maiden but make sure her beauty is not merely skin deep.

How is the church beautiful within? It is beautiful because it is full of forgiven sinners. All of them have been made holy from the inside out through the forgiveness of sins. God is a mighty fortress and He has made the church a fortress that excels in war battle and victory. The church rides forth with husband rushing into glorious victory.

Such riding, such battle, takes courage and faith. It takes might in the inner man. It takes the illuminating and devouring power of the fire of the Holy Spirit. The Church is all beauty within. The Lord will continue to wash her in the water of the word until she is without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, until the knowledge of the Lord is as the water that covers the sea.

The Companions- Bridesmaids

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.

The groom awaits the adorned bride. She enters and her bridesmaids follow after. Maybe that would be a good new old tradition? They come in with gladness and rejoicing. Have you ever noticed how happy the bridesmaids are? They are happy for the bride. The groom stands waiting, with beaming smile.

Think of our standing with Jesus. Jesus embraces His Church. We are collectively the Bride of Christ. Relax men, this does not mean that each Christian is the bride of Jesus. But the Church is. The Church plays a feminine role towards Christ. She is submissive. She receives His favor and honors Him by bowing to His authority. Men can understand this sort of submission. We can easily submit to authorities or our betters on the pitch or on the mat. Jesus is the One to whom we give honor as the victor in all things.

EXHORTATION

Eschatology Matters

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.

As we think about the marriage supper of the lamb, these final two verses are very exciting. This marriage will account for children who will be princes on the earth. These will rule. Their name will be remembered in all generations. And the people shall praise the bride and her children forever.

In the second Psalm, we see the nature of the Davidic Kingdom as it comes to fruition in Jesus Christ. He will rule the nations forever. This is a tremendous promise and a hope that we particularly need in times of moral decline or persecution of the church.

Sometimes it may look as though the devil and his cohorts are making headway against Christ and His Church but that is not what is happening. Jesus really is the ruler of the nations. If that is the case, then His rule is going to be established on the Earth.

He has promised to care for His bride and bring her to beautiful maturity, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. This truth may not make a huge amount of difference in your present immediate suffering but it does make a difference in how you look at the world, whether in hope and anticipation of what God is doing and going to do, or with a great deal of gloom. The church is doing just fine and will be victorious on the Earth so that God’s will is done here on the Earth as it is in Heaven.