Psalm 45 - A Righteous Bridegroom, A Pure Bride
By Bunni Pounds
*This blog is part of our weekly, virtual Bible Study through the book of Psalms. For information on how to participate, please visit this page.
The merging of the imagery of marriage and royalty in this Psalm tells a beautiful story of a King and His bride and our God and us as His heavenly bride, a redeemed people from every tongue and tribe and nation who have been washed in the blood of Jesus.
“My heart is overflowing with a good theme;
I recite my composition concerning the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
You are fairer than the sons of men;
Grace is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.” (verse 1 & 2)
It was easy for the author of this Psalm, the sons of Korah, to write this love song because their heart was overflowing with the goodness of the King. Have you ever tried to write something when you are angry and depressed? Nothing comes out. But when your heart is full of joy and purpose – words just flow out.
It was also easy for the sons of Korah to write this love song because they saw the beauty of the King – who was “fairer than the sons of men”, the King who spoke more eloquently than anyone else – “grace poured upon” His lips, and he was blessed by God.
They saw His authority and strength that came not just from wealth and power but “truth, humility, and righteousness.” They even say, “Your right hand shall teach you awesome things.” The right hand represents the hand of authority. When the father in ancient Israel placed his right hand on the Son, it was the blessing which included passing on of the inheritance along with the father’s power and authority.
In verses 6 to 8 – the song branches out from a natural earthly King to the heavenly King. This passage is a Messianic passage looking forward to the King and God who will ultimately rule the nations.
“Our throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.
All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia,
Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad.” (Verses 6-8)
This portion always gives us insight into the character of the Father God and the eternal nature of the Son’s reign and rule, “Our throne, O God is forever and ever”. His reign will continue throughout the ages, there is no end to it. His throne is established in righteousness and stands eternal and unchangeable.
He rules with righteousness and hates wickedness.
Because of that – He sent his Son - the completely righteous and holy One, and “anointed” Him with the “oil of gladness more than Your companions.” This is a reference to Jesus’ superiority over the angels or any created being. It also references his rule that is completely righteous, meaning everything he does, every decision he makes, every thought he thinks is fully righteous! Jesus is righteous and rules with righteousness.
Hebrews 1:3 describes the Son of God like this – “who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Powerful and beautiful is the Son of God in all His glory.
The Psalmist references oils of myrrh, aloes, and cassia (the “oil of gladness” with which he and his garments were anointed). These symbolically refer to the sweet scent of His grace and comfort which draws to Him the souls of men. How often we have felt that comfort as it blows over us awakening us to His presence like a beautiful scent caught in the breeze gently catches our attention.
Then the attention is turned toward the bride who leaves and clings to the bridegroom.
”Listen, O daughter,
Consider and incline your ear;
Forget your own people also, and your father’s house;
So the King will greatly desire your beauty;
Because He is your Lord, worship Him.
And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;
The rich among the people will seek your favor.
The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace;
Her clothing is woven with gold.
She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors;
The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You.
With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought;
They shall enter the King’s palace.” (verses 10-15)
This bride is one that is completely desired by the King. That kind of intense love and affection is what causes worship to spring up in the heart of the bride. It is a response to His great love.
The worship that comes out of her is pure and not afraid of rejection. It is this abandoned worship that makes the bride even more beautiful and more desirable to the King as she comes bringing gifts. He draws her close, entreating her to leave behind all worldly relationships and cleave only unto Him, her bridegroom to whom she is now betrothed.
This reference draws to mind the leave and cleave command of scripture in Gen. 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This beautiful bridegroom desires a wholly committed and pure bride on whom he then lavishes beautiful gifts and favor!
She is “brought to the King in robes of many colors” which I truly believe is significant and a foreshadowing of the worship gathering in heaven where every tongue, tribe and nation will be around the throne in worship.
“Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons,
Whom You shall make princes in all the earth.
I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations;
Therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.” (verses 16-17)
The glory of the King is then passed from one generation to another as the princes, the sons, gain possession of the earth and His name – the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords will be “remembered in all generations” and praised forever.
What an incredible promise for us now in this life which sometimes is not so glorious, and many times is hard.
“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.”
– Revelations 21:9-10
This bride was displayed with pride by the angels to the Son of God because the bride was ready.
Are we ready to be presented to the bridegroom?
Are we living our lives as people who are preparing for the ultimate marriage celebration and worship gathering?
It is not a work of the flesh, something that you must do, but a work of the spirit, as we submit our hearts to Him.
We live out of this place of marriage and oneness with Christ and thus shine beautifully to the world around us.
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