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.
We see these verses in light of Jesus Christ, the bridegroom of his church. As the Son of God – always existent from before time – born human on a salvation mission to save us from our sins. Baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, he too was anointed by the Holy Spirit and praised by his Father. Like in our verse, the church’s bridegroom’s lips were also anointed by grace. After the Passover, Mary and Joseph are on their way home with a huge caravan of people and Jesus is missing. Luke 2:46-47
Throughout Jesus' ministry, Jesus exhibited this quality noted in Psalm 45:1-2. Consider Mark 1:22
Just as the Sons of Korah note the anointing of Solomon’s mouth as the source of wisdom and grace, Jesus, the church’s bridegroom's anointing comes with this same result.
But Jesus is also unlike any human king. Saul and David, Israel's first two kings, were kings of war. They were known for their valour. The subjects of Solomon in his early days expected him to do the same. That's why the writer praises him with anticipation for what is to come.
Not only do you have the valor of these early kings, but Israel recognized throughout its history that God fought their battles for them. Even when the odds were against Israel, outmanned, outarmoured, and more, God gave them victory time and time again.
But Solomon would not be a war king as expected. He followed through on his father’s plans to build the temple as God instructed. Buildings and international trade were some of the great achievements he made, but war was not one of them.
The same goes for Jesus. His personality wasn't that of a military man. This came as a disappointment to Israel because in Jesus’ day they longed for a war messiah to overthrow the Romans. Jesus would go to battle - fighting for our souls on the cross. Yet his appearance was not military-like. He came as the prophets said humble and riding not on a white stallion with gleaming armor but on a donkey.
And in his fight to redeem us from our sins, he transformed us as sinners and lowly hicks born again to righteousness and new standing – and victorious – and when Jesus returns he will come clothed in splendor and majesty. He will be the bridegroom coming to retrieve his beautiful bride – the church of Jesus Christ - to take her home for eternity.
Verse 6
Here, God gets the praise for his relationship with Israel.
But this verse is viewed in a new light when a related verse in Hebrews from the New Testament ties this very verse to the bridegroom – Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is linked to the very same verse attributed to the bridegroom at King Solomon's wedding by the Sons of Korah.
And now our attention turns to the bride.
Now Husbands – this comes with a forewarning not to take this literally on arriving home after the service. So I can enjoy the Sabbath without getting phone calls from angry wives.
The bride of the king in the bridal ceremony would offer two steps of submission – the first was as the king's wife or queen – and the second was the kingship. A TV show depiction of this is on the Crown where there's a huge debate about Prince Phillip's submission moments to his wife and at her coronation.
But take note of the bride's transformation. She now stands in an honored place on the king's right side. Her bridesmaids and attendants are daughters of kings. She's glammed up in the best gold known to civilization at that time.
While it might come off as rude, the bride in our text is told by the composers in this song “to forget your people and your father’s house.” Just like the father of the bride in a traditional wedding gives away the bride, there is a new bond formed between husband and wife. According to the Bible, God ordained marriage this way:
This is God's long term plan to bring together the wedding of the bridegroom Jesus Christ and his bride the church.
The picture of new Jerusalem the heavenly city of Jerusalem speaks to this:
Knowing that as members of the church of Jesus Christ, together we are Christ’s bride. Just as God did in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit still keeps a remnant for Christ's church. You as true believers are part of that remnant – the bride reserved for Christ. And we are given further proof that the Spirit continues to add numbers to this remnant – even here in this congregation.
Even now we have every reason to hold our heads high and raise our self-esteem no matter what others think. We don’t need to hang our heads low or keep our faith on the downlow as it was shameful to be a believer. Having become God’s children, like the king's bride, we've been raised to a new standing.
Has the church in the eyes of society fallen in terms of respect to being out of tune with society? Yes. Will Christians continue to be belittled? Unfortunately yes. But can you still hold your head high? The answer is absolutely and positively yes. Never feel embarrassed about your faith or hang your head low in the face of critique.
Church – you are the bride of Christ – longed for by Christ.
So hold your heads high
