A Royal Wedding Song

(Psalm 45)

Psalm 45 celebrates the wedding of a Jewish king to a foreign princess. (It would probably thereafter be sung at all Israelite royal weddings.) It is a song of praise to the king on his wedding day, and it expresses desire for him to reign in humility, righteousness and truth, with anointed words, and in military success. The poet also praises the king’s bride, and urges her to be totally loyal to the king, and thereby enjoy his love and the incidents of his glory. While the song was originally composed for a specific king (perhaps Solomon), we simply do not know which one.

But in places the language is so exalted that its ultimate fulfillment seems to go beyond any king of ancient Israel. As Alexander Maclaren once said, “Either we have here a piece of poetic exaggeration far beyond the limits of poetic license, or a ‘greater than Solomon is here.’”¹ So the song takes on a typological significance. As with all types, there is a near application (type) and a prophetic application (antitype).

We assume, then, there are two points of interpretation. First, the poet is writing of a specific Jewish king, whose identity is unknown. Second, he is looking ahead to that ideal, future King, David’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Heading

For the choir director; according to the Shoshannim.²

A Maskil³ of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.

Outline

Introduction (v. 1)

I. Address to the King (vv. 2-9)

1. Exhortations to the King (vv. 2-5)

2. The Glory of the King (vv. 6-9)

II. Address to the Bride (vv. 10-15)

1. Exhortations to the Bride (vv. 10-12)

2. The Glory of the Bride (vv. 13-15)

Conclusion (vv. 16-17)

Exposition

Introduction (v. 1)

My heart overflows with a good theme;
I address my verses to the King 

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.⁴

Here is an extraordinary insight into the personal experience of an inspired writer. He is enthralled with three things about this psalm.

First, his heart is stirred or overflowing with a noble theme. He writes about the King of Israel and his bride, as they enter into the covenant of holy marriage – the highest and richest of all human relationships. But it is also a poem celebrating the summing up of redemptive history – that eschatological wedding in which the divine Messiah, Jesus Christ, will take His bride, the redeemed of the ages, to Himself. So this is not just a noble theme; it is the noblest of all themes. It is the story of the ages.

Second, his heart is thrilled to address his poem to the king. His recipient is the King of Israel, God’s appointed ruler of His people. Perhaps the king is his patron, which would suggest the poet-writer is distinguished in the land. Perhaps he is the Poet Laureate of Israel.

Third, he senses that he is composing an unusually skillful poem. “My tongue is the stylus of a skillful scribe.” The trade of scribal production in that day was extraordinarily skillful – precise and artistic. And the psalmist feels he is “in the artistic zone.” He is speaking royal wedding poetry like a skillful scribe writes with a stylus.

I. Address to the King (vv. 2-9)

1. Exhortations to the King (vv. 2-5)

You are fairer than the sons of men;
Grace is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.

First, the poet praises the king for his character and words. You are fairer than the sons of men. This speaks of his physical beauty. He has a very pleasant and winsome appearance.

Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever. The poet commends the king for the way God has anointed his speech. He is fortunate to be able to lead effectively with his tongue. Every nation is fortunate to have leaders who can lead effectively with their tongue.

It was prophesied of God’s Messiah that he would have an anointed tongue: “The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word” (Is. 50:4). And when Jesus came, Luke says, “All… were amazed at the gracious words that He spoke” (4:22). Indeed they said, “No one ever spoke the way this man does” (John 7:46). His words had power to still the storm, expel demons, heal the sick, restrain enemies, and quiet the anxious heart.

Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One,
In Your splendor and Your majesty!
And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,
For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness.

Here the poet exhorts the king to use his strength in the service of virtue, for the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness.

The kingdom of God advances on the wings of truth, and is distinguished by its humility and righteousness. A good king is one who pursues those virtues, and measures his victories by those criteria.

Jesus did not call down legions of powerful angels. His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. He rebuked Peter for his use of a blade. James Montgomery Boice reminds us that “[our] victories are to come… not by force or coercion. Whenever the church has succumbed to the use of force as a way of asserting Christian truth or values, as it did in the Middle Ages, it has lost the spiritual battle and has become like the world, adopting the very evils it opposes.”⁵

Jesus was marked by truth, humility and righteousness like no other. In fact, humility has been described as Christianity’s greatest gift. One historian said history teaches us that “power corrupts, and it never apologizes.” Then came Christianity and Christian leaders of nations, and the world was introduced to humble authority.

Let Your right hand display awesome things.
Your arrows are sharp;
The peoples fall under You;
Your arrows are in the heart of the King's enemies.

The psalmist desires and anticipates victories for the king.

2. The Glory of the King (vv. 6-9)

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your fellows.

The psalmist again praises the king for his extraordinary reign in justice and righteousness. The earlier Davidic kings had to reign in justice and righteousness in order to prosper and have joy in their leadership.

The throne of David was assured by covenant (2 Samuel 7:16). That promise would be fulfilled in Christ, as is evidenced by the quoting of verses six and seven in Hebrews 1:8-9.

All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad.
Daughters of kings are among Your noble ladies;
At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

The king’s court is filled with splendor on this day of his wedding. The fragrance, aesthetics, music, company, and ultimately his bride are glorious on this special day.

II. Address to the Bride (vv. 10-15)

1. Exhortations to the Bride (vv. 10-12)

Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:
Forget your people and your father's house;
Then the King will desire your beauty.
Because He is your Lord, honor Him.
The daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;
The rich among the people will seek your favor.

The poet offers the bride some counsel: Transfer your attention and your allegiance to your new husband.

When he says, “Forget your people and your father's house,” he is saying that she must redefine her identity and life direction. The king is now to be her first love (on the human level). It sounds like the point of the words written by Moses and quoted by Jesus and Paul, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”

Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). These words are hyperbolic, as the point He is making is that our commitment to and affections for Him must be so great that all other allegiances seem as hate.

Such a sacrifice is huge. But the psalmist tempers it with a word of what she will gain. She will gain the heart of the king and awe of the world.

The inhabitants of Tyre, the great Phoenician trading center, will bring tribute to the royal couple. Prosperous people sought the favor of Solomon.

And this certainly points to the New Jerusalem and her King Jesus, of whom it is said, “The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.”

2. The Glory of the Bride (vv. 13-15)

The King's daughter is all glorious within;
Her clothing is interwoven with gold.
She will be led to the King in embroidered work;
The virgins, her companions who follow her,
Will be brought to You.
They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing;
They will enter into the King's palace.

The scene suddenly shifts to the bride’s chamber, where she is preparing herself for the wedding, and proceeding to the king, escorted by her maids of honor. This escorting of the bride, in lovely garments, to the king, is no superfluous formality. It goes back to God’s escorting Eve to Adam at the first wedding. And it points to the last wedding, at which the church will be presented in her purity to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2).

Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” (Rev. 19:6-9)

Conclusion (vv. 16-17)

In place of your fathers will be your sons;
You shall make them princes in all the earth.
I will cause Your name to be remembered in all generations;
Therefore the peoples will give You thanks forever and ever.

The poet addresses the king again, this time with words of blessing. If the king will fulfill God’s expectations, then the lineage, memory and worship of the King will be perpetuated for generations. His descendants will assume the throne of his ancestors. His name will be remembered, and He will be praised forever.

C.S. Lewis observed that Psalm 45 was appointed to be read on Christmas Day in the prayer book of the Anglican Church. That may seem surprising to some, until the full Messianic thrust of it is seen. Then, Lewis commented, the connection is clear: “The birth of Christ is the arrival of the great warrior and the great king. Also of the Lover, the Bridegroom, whose beauty surpasses that of man. But not only the Bridegroom as the lover, the desired; the Bridegroom also as he who makes fruitful, the father of children still to be begotten and born.”⁶