Christian - Hold Your Head High

While every wedding a pastor officiates at is special, there are those from my days in Jarvis, Ontario that immediately spring to mind. To begin with, Jarvis, Ontario students proudly wear the moniker of Hicks. Compared to the other city high school students, the Jarvis Hicks come from Southern Ontario muckfields.

The nearest Christian high school is a 45 minute drive. Yet these down to earth farm boys are standouts for the high society young ladies. So imagine my surprise sitting down for premarital counseling between a pig farmer and a multi-millionaire heiress for a high society wedding.

Both of the bride's grandfathers examined me in Reformed theology before getting the okay to officiate. The wedding coordinator at the river resort even provided me with two attendants to meet my needs and ensure we kept to schedule. The venue was in such high demand I was on a stopwatch allowing 5 minutes for guest entry and 5 minutes for guest exit. There was only a 15-minute time limit for the entire ceremony. But there were obvious bits of humor about this match made in heaven = that the highly educated high society bride fell in love with the groom - a hick pig farmer. This is about as close to a royal wedding as I’ll ever be.

It’s the grand event of a royal wedding we read about in Psalm 45. The message serves as a good start to our study of Ruth next week as we move toward Ruth and Boaz' wedding.

Three characteristics are present in Psalm 45, which is both a royal and messianic psalm.

1. First, as a royal psalm, it records a real time event in the king's life.

2. Second, the royal Psalm pictures an ideal relationship between Israel and God. In fact, this is the reason the Psalm is included among the 150 Psalms of the Bible.

3. Finally, as a messianic Psalm, the text looks ahead to Jesus Christ and his relationship with believers. For us, it's the medicine the doctor ordered for believers to lift their heads high.

Consider recent celebrity public critiques of Christianity. From celebrity businessman Elon Musk calling Christianity toothless to Morgan Freeman’s claim that humans created Jesus, the recent pattern of publicly diminishing Christianity continues. Christian deconstruction, the shedding of one's faith, and posting about it on social media is all the rage right now. Considering this, we begin to wonder how Christians like you and me are perceived in today's world? The church in society's eyes has fallen from grace. Christians are out of sync with society on hot-button issues like abortion, gender, and sexuality. Back in the day, churches and faiths served as the go-to source to address society's problems. Clergy would be consulted by town councils and police. To bear the name of Christ today is frequently marked by dishonor. Once upon a time, church membership was required to help document morality and character on a resume. No longer. Our students and young adults face all sorts of pressure to deconstruct their faith and give up on Christ. In this post-modern era the incentive is to keep your faith to yourself. This sparks tensions for us since we hold up as Reformed Christians, God’s authority over every sphere of life.

So what do such critiques do for your self-esteem as a new believer or long-time believer? Christian, can you still hold your head high or not?

Psalm 45 gets to the heart of all these issues we wrestle with. This king's wedding ceremony reminds us of our membership in Christ's body, the church. In New Testament terms we picture in Psalm 45 the marriage of Christ the bridegroom to his bride the church.

Together regardless of denomination, every congregation of true faith believers in Jesus Christ together is a composite of the bride of Christ. Gaining a deeper understanding of this coupling allows Christians to hold their heads high today.

The first two verses introduce us to the bridegroom.

While there is no proof, many commentators date this Psalm to King Solomon’s era. King Solomon succeeded his father, King David. God gifted Solomon with the great gift of wisdom. Solomon was also the last king to rule a united Israel before it split. The Sons of Korah write this as honored guests and are very pleased to present this wedding song. And immediately all praise is lavished on King Solomon the bridegroom. He is the "most excellent" of men. His lips speak wisdom and are anointed with grace like no one has ever before.

Beyond the immediate wedding... in an Old Testament Royal Psalm the Israelites associate this king with closeness to God. The king of Israel was never God but an agent of God for the people. Kings receive the blessing and divine anointing before becoming kings – most often the prophet of God pouring oil over their heads. A person's character was believed to change immediately after being anointed. Though human, the Sons of Korah use hyperbole to emphasize God’s forever blessing on the king at his wedding.