THE ROYAL BRIDEGROOM
PSALM 45
INTRODUCTION:
PSALM 45 IS ANOTHER OF WHAT ARE CALLED MESSIANIC PSALMS. MESSIANIC PSALMS CAN REFER TO THE OLD TESTAMENT KING IN DAVID’S LINE, AND TO THE NEW TESTAMENT FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISE OF AN ETERNAL KING IN JESUS CHRIST.
PSALM 22 SPEAKS ABOUT JESUS DEATH. PSALM 45 IS AN ANCIENT WEDDING SONG OF A SON OF DAVID. IT CELEBRATES THE NOBLE QUALITIES OF THE GROOM (VV.2-9) AND THE BEAUTY OF THE BRIDE (VV.10-15), AND CONCLUDES WITH THE PROMISE OF HEIRS TO THE THRONE (VV.16-17). AT THE SAME TIME, THE PSALM ALSO REFERS TO JESUS CHRIST’S FUTURE REIGN IN GLORY. THE WRITER TO THE HEBREWS QUOTES V.6-7 IN REFERENCE TO JESUS CHRIST.
HEBREWS 1:8-9:
But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
THE CONCLUDING VERSE OF THE PSALM CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD TO HAVE ITS FULFILLMENT IN JESUS CHRIST THE SON OF DAVID.
PSALM 45 HAS PROVEN DIFFICULT TO CLASSIFY, BUT MODERN SCHOLARS SEE IT AS A ROYAL PSALM, CELEBRATING THE MARRYING OF A KING IN THE ROYAL LIVE OF DAVID.
WHAT IS THE OVERALL EFFECT OF THE PSALM?
LIKE ANY WEDDING, THE MARRIAGE CELEBRATED IN PSALM 45 EVOKES AWE AND MAJESTY. THIS IS THE WEDDING OF THE KINGS SON, THE HEIR TO THE THRONE.
IN ANCIENT ISRAEL, THE WEDDING TO THE KING’S SON WOULD BE A NATIONAL OCCASION, BRINGING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TO JERUSALEM TO CELEBRATE. PSALM 45 IS AT THE SAME TIME AN EXHUBERANT CELEBRATION OF ONE OF THE HAPPIEST EVENTS IN ISRAELITE LIFE AND THE MOST BLESSED EVENT OF JESUS CHRIST’S UNION WITH HIS CHURCH. COMPARE THESE VERSES:
EPHESIANS 5:21-32:
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.
REVELATION 19:6-9:
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) 9 Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
WE WILL HAVE A SMALL IDEA OF THE SPLENDOR AND REJOICING INVOLVED IN THE PSALM.
WHAT IS THE STRUCTURE OF THE PSALM?
TYPICAL OF ROYAL AND MESSIANIC PSALMS, PSALM 45 DEVELOPS IT’S OWN STRUCTURE. THE PSALM BEGINS WITH THE SPEAKER’S ANNOUNCEMENT OF HOW MUCH HE DELIGHTS IN CELEBRATING THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING. HE IS MOVED TO AWE AND PRAISE FOLLOWING THIS THE PSALM FALLS INTO THREE SECTIONS:
1. VERSES 2-9: THE MAJESTY AND SPLENDOR OF THE KING
2. VERSES 10-15: THE BEAUTY OF THE BRIDE AND HER ATTENDANTS
3. VERSES 16-17: THE PROMISE OF PROSPERITY.
PSALM 45 CELEBRATE THE KING/MESSIAH. IT BEGINS BY PRESENTING THE KING IN TWO PRIMARY IMAGES: AS A BRAVE WARRIOR (VV.3-5) AND AS THE BRIDEGROOM (VV. 8-9). THESE TWO IMAGES DOMINATE THE PSALM AND, IN CONTRAST TO MODERN WEDDINGS, FOCUS OUR ATTENTION ON THE KING/BRIDEGROOM MORE THAN THE BRIDE.
WHAT ARE THE FIGURES OF SPEECH AND WHAT EFFECTS DO THEY HAVE IN THE PSALM?
VERSE 1-3: THE MOST NERVOUS MOMENTS OF ANY WEDDING HAVE TO BE JUST BEFORE THE BRIDE ENTERS. THE ANTICIPATION OF HER ARRIVAL CREATES A GREAT DEAL OF NERVOUS EXCITEMENT.
THE WRITER HERE IS SHARING THIS SAME EXCITEMENT, BUT NOT ABOUT THE ARRIVAL OF THE BRIDE, BUT OF THE ARRIVAL OF THE KING. HE IS EXCITED TO THE VERY DEPTHS OF HIS SOUL. THE HEART WAS THE SEAT OF ALL LIVING. WHEN THE HEART STOPPED THE PERSON WAS DEAD. IT WAS THE SEAT OF EMOTION. THIS IS NO ORDINARY WEDDING, BUT THE WEDDING OF THE KING’S SON.
VERSES 3-5: AS A WEDDING SONG, PSALM 45 IS FULL OF MARRIAGE IMAGERY AND CELEBRATION. IT BEGINS WITH A PICTURE OF THE KING AS A GREAT WARRIOR. CALLING THE KING THE “MIGHTY ONE” AND URGING HIM TO TAKE HIS SWORD WITH HIM, THE PSALMIST ADVISES THE KING TO “CLOTHE [HIMSELF] WITH SPENDOR AND MAJESTY.” SPENDOR AND MAJESTY ARE TWO CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MESSIAH AS WELL AS THE KING.
THE IMAGE OF CLOTHING IS IMPORTANT AS THEY APPEAR MANY TIMES AS CHARACTERISTIXCS OR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF A GREAT PERSON. THE ROBES OF MAJESTY AND SPLENDOR IN PSALM 45, FIT THE KING PERFECTLY, AND DEPICT HIS TRUE CHARACTER.
VERSE 4: CONTINUES THE MARITAL IMAGERY FOR THE KING RIDES FORTH VICTORIOUSLY. HE GOES FORTH “IN BEHALF OF TRUTH, HUMILITY, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.”. THE PURPOSE OF THE KING’S REIGN IS TO EXTEND THESE THREE GODLY VIRTUES TO ALL HIS SUBJECTS.
ONLY JESUS CHRIST HAS PERFECT TRUTH, HUMILITY, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS. THE POINT OF THE PASSAGE IS THAT CHRIST’S DIVINITY, NOT JUST HIS DEEDS, MAKES HIM THE GREAT KING. APPLIED TO THE DAVIDIC KING, ISRAEL WILL DEFEAT ITS ENEMIES (V.5).
IN REFERENCE TO THE MESSIAH, ALL NATIONS WILL EVENTUALLY BOW BEFORE JESUS CHRIST (V.5), AN INDICATION OF THE CERTAINTY OF CHRIST’S SOVEREIGN RULE OVER ALL.
PHILIPPIANS 2:9-11:
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
VERSES 6-7: THE PSALMIST SPEAKS INDIRECTLY OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE KING BY PRESENTING HIS THRONE AND SCEPTER. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE KING HIMSELF ARE SUGGESTED BY ASSOCIATION WITH THE THRONE AND SCEPTER. THE KING’S THRONE EVOKES IDEAS OF GLORY AND MAJESTY OF A KING IN HIS COURT, SURROUNDED BY HIS COURTIERS.
THE WRITER TO THE HEBREWS RELATES THESE VERSES TO JESUS CHRIST.
HEBREWS 1:8-9:
But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved Righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
IN THE CASE OF JESUS CHRIST AS KING, THE THRONE REPRESENTS THE ETERNAL RULE OF CHRIST OVER THE UNIVERSE.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:22-27:
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.”
HAND IN HAND WITH CHRIST’S ETERNAL MAJESTY AS REPRESENTED IN HIS THRONE IS HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, REPRESENTED BY THE SCEPTER. IN ANCIENT TIMES THE KING WOULD HOLD A SCEPTER AS A SYMBOL OF HIS AUTHORITY AND POWER.
IN THE CASE OF CHRIST AS KING THE SCEPTER SYMBOLIZED DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY. CHRIST RULES OVER THE AFFAIRS OF NATIONS. IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH MESSIAH’S PERFECT JUSTICE. CHRIST IS JUST AS WELL AS SOVEREIGN BECAUSE HE RULES WITH “TRUTH, HUMILITY, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
VERSE 7: THE PSALMIST EMPHASIZES MESSIAH’S RIGHTEOUSNESS HERE MORE STRONGLY IN TWO WAYS. FIRST, THE POSITIVE STATEMENT THAT HE LOVES RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND AGAIN IN THE NEGATIVE STATEMENT THAT HE HATES WICKEDNESS.
EVIL AND WICKEDNESS WILL NOT THRIVE FOREVER; JESUS CHRIST WILL BRING THEM TO AN END ONE DAY, AND THE RIGHTEOUS WILL REJOICE.
VERSES 8-9: ROUNDING OUT THE PICTURE OF THE KING/MESSIAH IS THE IMAGE OF HIM AS THE BRIDEGROOM. THE POET HERE DESCRIBES THE GROOMS CEREMONIAL GARMENTS AND THEIR SPICES AND CONNECTS JESUS CHRIST’S ROLE AS KING (HIS ANOINTING) WITH HIS ROLE AS BRIDEGROOM TO THE CHURCH (IN HIS WEDDING GARMENTS). THE PRHASE “FROM PALACES ADORNED WITH IVORY” UNDERSCORES THE GLORY AND MAJESTY OF JESUS CHRIST. HE IS OUR BRIDEGROOM-REDEEMER.
VERSE 10: THE PSALMIST TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO THE BRIDE, REFERRING TO HER ONCE AS A DAUGHTER. WE WILL FOCUS ON THE MESSIANIC IMPLICATIONS OF THIS SECTION OF THE PSALM. THE GROOM IS THE MESSIAH (VV.6-9), AND THE BRIDE IS SHOWN HERE TO BE EXALTED AS WELL, FOR SHE IS THE CHURCH.
TO BEGIN WITH GENTILE NATIONS AS WELL AS JEWS WILL ACKNOWLEDGE THE BRIDE. THIS IS SHOWN IN THE REFERENCE TO THE “DAUGHTER OF TYRE.” AS A SYNECDOCHE FOR THE GREAT GENTILE NATIONS THAT WILL COME TO HONOR THE BRIDE. GENTILES THEN WILL ALSO FORM PART OF THE BRIDE OF CHRIST.
NOTE THAT THE BRIDE IS INVITED TO LEAVE HER PEOPLE AND HER FATHER TO BECOME THE BRIDE OF THE KING (V.10) FIGUREATIVELY THE PSALMIST SUGGESTS THAT, WHEN WE COME TO FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, WE FORM A NEW UNION, WHICH CANNOT BE DISSOLVED. LIKE THE ANCIENT BRIDE BETROTHED TO HER BRIDEGROOM.
ROMANS 8:38-39:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
VERSES 13-15: THE PICTURE OF THE BRIDE “WITHIN HER CHAMBER” AND THEN BEING LED TO THE KING, EMPHASIZES THE IMPORTANT POINT THAT IT IS BY VIRTUE OF HER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BRIDEGROOM THAT SHE IS BEING CELEBRATED IN THIS PSALM. THE “JOY AND GLADNESS” THAT OCCUR WHEN THE BRIDE IS TAKEN TO THE GROOM’S HOUSE, WHEN APPLIED TO THE CHURCH AS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST, THE WEDDING IMAGERY IN THIS SECTION OF THE PSALM UNDERSCORES THE REJOICING THAT TAKES PLACE WHEN ONE IS UNITED TO CHRIST BY FAITH.
JUST AS A WOMAN BECOMES A BRIDE AND (TRADITIONALLY) TAKES A NEW NAME BY VIRTUE OF HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER HUSBAND, SO ARE WE MADE BELIEVERS WHEN WE RESPOND BY FAITH TO THE GRACE OF GOD IN JESUS CHRIST; WE BECOME NEW (2 COR.5:17).
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
INHERENT IN THIS IMAGE IS THE FACT THAT OUR SALVATION (OUR MARRIAGE TO JESUS CHRIST, IN THE TERMS OF THE IMAGERY HERE) RESULTS IN GOD’S GLORY.
WHAT ARE THE THEMES AND THEOLOGY OF THE PSALM?
1. THE ANCIENT DAVIDIC KING WAS TO RULE ISRAEL IN “TRUTH, HUMILITY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS” (V.4), FOR THE GLORY OF GOD AND THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE. HE WAS NOT TO RULE SELFISHLY AS SO MANY ANCIENT KINGS DID, NOR WAS HE TO FORSAKE THE LORD, FOR HIS RULE WAS TO FIGURE FORTH THE KING TO COME.
2. JESUS CHRIST, WHO IS THE MESSIAH, FOLLOWS IN THE LINE OF DAVID AS THE GREAT KING.
Matthew 1:1: A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
IN PSALM 45, HE IS ALSO OUR BRIDEGROOM. AS SUCH HE ESTABLISHES A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH THOSE WHO BELIEVE, CLAIMING THEM AS HIS OWN. WHEN WE RESPOND IN FAITH TO THE GRACE OF GOD IN JESUS CHRIST AND ACCEPT HIM AS SAVIOR AND LORD, WE ARE GIVEN A NEW IDENTITY, ONE THAT CAN NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY. WE ARE ETERNALLY THE LORD’S AND WILL LIVE FOREVER WITH HIM IN GLORY.
3. CHRIST WILL RETURN IN GLORY ONE DAY AND ESTABLISH A RIGHTEOUS KINGDOM. ALL NATIONS WILL BOW BEFORE HIM AND ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AS GOD’S ANOINTED ONE (VV.5-6-17). WHEN HE DOES “TRUTH,HUMILITY, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS”(V.4) WILL CHARACTERIZE HIS REIGN, AND ALL HIS SUBJECTS WILL ENJOY THE BLESSINGS OF HIS REIGN.
4. WHEN WE TAKE A STEP BACK FROM THE MESSIANIC PSALMS, WE CAN FIND A COMMON THEME IN ALL OF THEM. THAT THEME IS THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. INHERENT IN CHRIST’S COMING KINGDOM IS THE TRUTH THAT EVIL AND WICKEDNESS WILL NOT LAST FOREVER. CHRIST WILL PUT ALL THINGS RIGHT, AND SATAN WILL BE BOUND FOREVER. IT IS COMFORTING TO KNOW THAT GOOD WILL LAST FOREVER, BUT EVIL WILL COME TO AN END.
WHEN WE READ PSALM 45, WE REJOICE THAT JESUS CHRIST, THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, IS OUR BRIDEGROOM. WE WILL JOIN HIM AT THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB AND LIVE WITH HIM FOREVER.
REVELATION 19:6-9:
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) 9 Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
APPLICATION:
1. PSALM 45 REMINDS US OF A FUTURE KINGDOM WHEN JESUS CHRIST WILL RULE DIRECTLY OVER THE EARTH. AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, WE ARE TO TRY TO LIVE OUR LIVES IN THE LIGHT OF THE COMING KING WHO WILL RULE WITH JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS. WE ARE TO BE JUST AND RIGHTEOUS IN THIS LIFE, EVEN AS WE ARE CITIZENS OF A RIGHTEOUS KINGDOM.
2. WE ARE THE BRIDE OF CHRIST AS WELL AS CITIZENS OF A HEAVENLY KINGDOM. AS CHRIST’S BRIDE, WE ENJOY THE BLESSINGS OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM EVEN IN THIS LIFE AND ANTICIPATE THE WEDDING SUPPER OF THE LAMB.
3. ALSO INHERENT IN THE WEDDING IMAGERY OF PSALM 45 IS THE DIGNITY OF MARRIAGE. GOD INSTITUTED MARRIAGE WITH ADAM AND EVE BEFORE THE FALL OF SIN, AND HE HONORS IT IN HIS PEOPLE TODAY. MARRIAGE IS HONORABLE.
4. PSALM 45 REINFORCES THE THEOLOGICAL STAND THAT SAME SEX MARRIAGE IS WRONG. THE PASSAGE PLAINLY SPEAKS OF BOTH A BRIDEGROOM AND A BRIDE. IT STATES THAT MARRIAGE IS THE REAL LIFE DRAMATIZATION OF THE LOVE OF CHRIST AND THE CHURCH. TO HAVE TWO OF THE SAME OF EITHER SEX INVOLVED IN A “WEDDING OR UNION” WOULD MEAN THAT GOD WAS TOTALLY HUMAN, OR THAT ALL HUMANS WERE TOTALLY GOD, AND THIS IS NOT TAUGHT IN SCRIPTURE.
