At the King's Wedding (Through the Psalms) Psalm 45

Welcome to through this weekend.

Ministry of the truth. Pulpit overtime will study all 150 Psalms with pastor Don Greene from Cruz Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio were glad you're with us is over the Psalms that as we join our teacher in the truthful, righteous weddings are glorious occasions. We all know something of the joy of the striking groom waiting for his bride to come down the aisle and to receive her and all of her beauty and to be united in marriage.

There's not many of us who are able to be at a wedding in see something develop and to completely divorce ourselves from all emotion from that. There's just something that elevates our spirits at a time where true righteous love between a man and a woman are celebrated in the joining together in holy matrimony.

Psalm 45 captures that kind of scene and elevates it even further in multiple ways as it captures a royal wedding for a king in the line of David. And as we go through this you're going to be quite encouraged by the loftiness of the themes that are contained in Psalm 45, when God established David as King.

He promised to sustain David's throne in perpetuity and we need to set a little bit of background.

Go over to second Samuel chapter 7 for just a moment because it will help us grasp the significance of what's going on. Second Samuel chapter 7 is where we want to go God is establishing David as the king and he says in verse 12. He's promising the him that there will be a line that will follow after him. Second Samuel chapter 7 verse 12 he says when your days are complete and you lied down with your fathers. I will raise up your descendent after you who will come forth from you and I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever and then down in verse 16. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever. Your throne shall be established forever. The loftiness of the promises that God made to David when he established his throne was there will always be a king to set on your throne going forward. And so the king of Israel was uniquely the representative of God, his marriage, therefore represented the continuation of a divine line. It indicated that God's promises were being furthered for another generation. So when we come to the Psalm 45 which is celebrating a marriage of the king. We need to understand that this is much more than is much as we enjoy a human wedding in our own generations in our own families that Psalm 45 is elevated beyond that, because of the unique role that the king of Israel played in the plan of God for more was at stake that a mere human romance, the marriage of a king of Israel manifested the continuing outworking of the purposes of God for his people. Psalm 45 takes us into the divine significance of it. And what's more, Psalm 45 ultimately in the outworking of God's further revelation in the subsequent centuries. Psalm 45 points us to Christ himself who is the bridegroom of his people. Who is superior to all and is victorious over all and so as we come to Psalm 45 is bursting at the seams with eternal significance in everything that we see we see in Psalm 45 a.

A foreshadowing of the ultimate triumph of Christ at the end of human history. This is one another. I should say another magnificent song that God has recorded for us and it breaks down into three easy sections in the first nine verses the psalmist is addressing the king and then in verses 10 through 15.

He addresses the bride and then in verses 16 and 17. He speaks of the future coming of children that would come out of this divine union and so that's a little bit of our outworking of the outline as we continue to study systematically through the Psalms were studying Psalm 45 because it comes right after Psalm 44 and it's just before Psalm 46. We are just studying through the Psalms one by one and letting God speak to us as were through his word and just benefiting from the systematic study of of Scripture.

One of the things that I love about this and that.

I trust that you are appreciating also is that this method of studying the Psalms exposes us to Scriptures that we would otherwise not be prone to study and so guide by going verse by verse chapter by chapter through the Scriptures you are enabled to receive the benefit of the full counsel of God. There is no wasted word in Scripture. There is no passage that is irrelevant to us. It is all pertinent. It is all inspired by God breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and training in righteousness, and so Psalm 45 is in that noble line of the inspired word of God sunset.

Let's enjoy the Psalm together. Psalm 45 point number one the address to the king.

The address to the king.

The rider is full of emotion as he writes this Psalm.

Look at verse one. Get a little bit of a little window into the nature of the inspiration of Scripture as it pertains to the human writer with this verse.

The psalmist says. My heart overflows with a good theme.

I address my verses to the king. My tong is the pin of a ready writer's heart is.

His heart is full as he is riding his he's being stirred up by the spirit of God and what he is about to say and what he is writing. And so his heart is his boiling over, as it were bubbling over with the fullness of what he has to say here in this Psalm, and he is writing his Psalm is addressing his verses as it starts to the king to the king of Israel. Now let me just say the word will say more about this later on but I just want to say this, if you're using an as we see that the the addresses are often capitalized. Here he says in verse two. You are fair than the sons of men. Grace is poured upon your lips. God has blessed you capitalized, indicating a reference to deity, not every version does that Psalm 45 is were going to see is ultimately a is ultimately a reference to Christ as we see from Hebrews chapter 1, and that's why it's capitalized like that but we have to understand that within the writers context is actually writing this to a human king at the time of the human marriage and so there are multiple levels that are working out in the Psalm in his immediate human context. He is not addressing the Messiah to come. Centuries from now, without reference to anything in his own circumstance is addressing a real king as he writes these words. Scripture realizes that they have an ultimate fulfillment in Christ and that's why you see the pronouns capitalized like this, but he's addressing a human king in his own context. As he says this look what he says in verse two. This king is a man who is noble in appearance and is eloquent in tong. Look at verse two says you are fairer than the sons of men.

Grace is poured upon your lips. Therefore God has blessed you forever. He's addressing this king and is a man of stature. He's a man of eloquence. He's a man of of fine appearance, and so on. His on his royal wedding day that all of those attributes come together and make him a man of striking appearance, and so the psalmist praises this man and extols his virtue and his virtue is an indication that God has blessed him. You are so fair in appearance. Your words are so wise. Therefore, he says at the end of verse two. It's obvious that God has blessed you and establish you in your position you are on the receiving end of God's favor noticed something else about verse two and it helps us see that this is pointing beyond the human circumstances well. In verse two it says God has blessed you forever. Look at the end of verse 17. Therefore, the people's will give you thanks forever and ever as backup for just a moment to contemplate what were looking at here and and to get a sense of the, the fullness of what's being said. The psalmist opens the Psalm by saying my heart is full it's bursting it's overflowing.

It's obvious that there are are great themes that are pulsating through his mind. And so it doesn't surprise us to see that he writes in elevated terms that transcend his life circumstance while still addressing the immediate circumstance in which he is writing the word forever ties the whole song together and ultimately tells us to look for distant truth, even as we are contemplating what's in front of us in the song that is here and so it's a magnificent theme that he is writing about as he addresses this king now look at verse three with me. The king will be the leader of the military, you will have future battles. By the way the scholars cannot agree on which king of Israel is being referred to here.

Many think that maybe it's Solomon. Others say other kings.

It's not really specified in a way that we can know exactly who is addressing. But the king is the leader of the military of the nation. In addition to being the representative of God.

So he says in verse three. Gird your sword on your thiol mighty one in your splendor and your Majesty, and so he says you're going to have future battles is the king, may you go forth made made this glorious day. Be in anticipation of glorious victories in battle against your enemies as you fight for God's people as you represent the cause of God here on earth, may you go forward and have glorious victories that are fitting with the glorious majesty of your appearance on this. Your wedding day. Verse four he says, and in your Majesty right on victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness and he says he says here in verse four that your conquest is not simply a matter your representation is not simply a matter of human expansion is not simply a matter of of human wealth that is here you are actually advancing the virtues of God. The purposes of God with your rain. The virtues of truth and meekness and righteousness in this godly psalmist swept up under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, swept up in the majesty of the purposes of God, swept up in the majesty of the representative of God being before him says let the purposes of God of truth and righteousness and humility be advanced through your future rain and because the Kings causes virtuous. He expects victory to come to him.

Look at verse five he says your arrows are sharp. The peoples fall under you. Your arrows are in the heart of the king's enemies.

So it's got a picture of future victory in the battle that he expects to come that he wishes upon the king that is his heart prays for the king to be victorious in the future and with a rhetorical flourish. He ascribes permanence and joy to the king's future rain.

Look at verse six.

He says your throne. Oh 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 of the throne and scepter artist are symbols of his authority and his rule and anointing was a symbol that he had been set apart for the task. He was set apart to be the king to be God's representative to lead the people of God in the nation, and it is very striking that he addresses him as God or throne.

Oh God is forever and ever. We see two things here in the immediate situation actually looks back up here for just a moment. This is a significant interpretive issue. This verse because it is is that is the psalmist calling the king himself God this this human king hundreds of years before Christ.

Is that what he's doing well know he's not ascribing deity to the king himself in that situation we need to think about it this way in the immediate situation of this divine wedding. This royal wedding better stated, the king was God's representative on a throne that God established advancing the purposes of God, for God's people and so he holds no mere human throne.

He's addressing the majesty of the king. In recognition of God, who established him in that place.

He does not deify the king but he is speaking beyond the king and spirit inspired fullness speaking beyond the king to the recognition of the God who established his throne but more than that. Remembering that his heart is full, as he writes this throne would be fulfilled in Christ, who is God incarnate. Look over at Hebrews chapter 1 where we see the ultimate fulfillment of Psalm 45 being set forth in Hebrews chapter 1 Hebrews chapter 1 here in Hebrews chapter 1, the writer of Hebrews is establishing the superiority of Christ to angels and in verse six he says when he again brings the firstborn into the world.

He says let all the angels of God worship him. Speaking of Christ and of the angels. He says who makes his angels wins in his ministers a flame of fire.

Then in verse eight he quotes from Psalm 45 he says, but of the son he says your throne. Oh God is forever and ever. And the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom. And so what's happening here in Psalm 45 what Hebrews chapter 1 helps us to see is that the Lord Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of Psalm 45 what was said to a human king long ago in a representative capacity is applied in its fullness and its fulfillment to Christ who is the greater David Christ is greater than the Angels is God himself. In this Psalm is ultimately messianic, for it points us to Christ as we see in later Revelation but in verse eight, the psalmist returns to the occasion at hand and says all your garments are fragrant with murder and aloes and Casio out of ivory palaces, stringed instruments have made you glad Kings daughters are among your noble ladies at your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ofer and so that the king is being described in his wedding attire. He's a mad gestic figure expensive fragrance has anointed him beautiful music in the palaces decorated with ivory greet him. And so the psalmist is swept up in the majesty of the occasion swept up under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, to such an extent that he speaks of things that were beyond what would occur in his own lifetime. Speaking to Christ himself.

Ultimately, in a fulfillment of this now you move into the other side of this.

On the other half of the wedding is the psalmist gives his advice to the bride. That's point number two the advice to the bride.

He speaks to the bride before she goes into the presence of the king and look at what he says in verse 10, listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear, forget your people and your father's house. What's he saying to her, he saying you need to realize that as you enter into this marriage that you need to leave your family behind. You need to leave your people behind and give yourself over fully to the king that you are about to marry, to marry a king you leave behind your prior life and your prior loyalties and in that sense, it's a picture even of what it is like for someone to come truly to Christ for salvation and that when we come to Christ.

Christ says that you leave behind your father and mother you you must you must detest to it. By comparison, your prior family or prior life leave it all behind in order to come to Christ and to follow after him.

Think about it for someone to marry a king means that there could be no other greater or competing allegiance to the King and that marriage when you come to Christ for salvation.

You come saying there will be no one who help will have a higher loyalty in my heart than you. Oh Christ my self and now is go back to verse 11. He says this king will be your husband, yes, but he is going to be more than a husband to you. Look at verse 11, he says, then the king will desire your beauty because he is your Lord, bow down to him. He says all bride understand that this man, this king will be your husband, but he is more than a husband for you are also a subject in his kingdom. So you must give him respect.

You must honor him and in that it gives a picture of what we see elsewhere in Scripture about the whole nature of marriage.

Turnover to Ephesians chapter 5.

If you would Ephesians chapter 5 in verse 22 on a human scale. We see the same principle being played out by what is said to wives and Christian marriage.

Verse 22 wives to be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ also is the head of the church, he himself being the Savior of the body, but as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Scripture lays forth a a hierarchy and marriage that shows the husband is the head of the wife and the wife living in submission to her husband to him as the man in the husband loving his wife as Christ loved the church, this call to to submission that we find in Ephesians 5 finds its echo in Psalm 45. As the psalmist gives advice to the wife go back to Psalm 45 with me if you would Psalm 45 because he is your Lord, bow down to him and so he lays forth before her in her inner advice. Leave your family behind honor the king your husband as Lord respect him bow down before him in the outcome of this is that the king will desire your beauty here indicating that your attitude of love and submission to your husband will create in him desires for your beauty, it will draw him to you ladies, don't you know something about this in your own marriage when you show love and respect to your husband that has a way of drawing him to you. That is the way that it is supposed to work. Your attitudes of love and respect bring in gender. The affection of your husband toward you in a good Christian marriage. We should say the psalmist promises the bride in verse 12 that if you follow my advice, you'll find yourself to be blessed. Verse 12, the daughter of tire will come with a gift.

The rich among the people will seek your favor tire was us wealthy city, a port city with with much wealth and the daughter of tire refers to the inhabitants of the coastal city. It says that that you will be honored by honorable people from an honorable city they will calm and honor you if you will simply honor my advice and give honor to your husband, the king, they will bring gifts to honor you and now as you move on in verse 13. The scene shifts as the bride is brought into the king's presence. The king's daughter is all glorious within her clothing is interwoven with gold in verse 14 she will be led to the king and embroidered work. The virgins her companions who follow will be brought to you so it's a picture of the wedding party following her in a she's brought into the king's presence glorious within a reference to her in her bridal chamber and expecting the ultimate consummation of the marriage.

Look at verses 14 and verse 15 I should say they will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing. They will enter into the king's palace.

So a noble Royal bridegroom is meeting his beautiful, submissive bride in the Psalm now modestly anticipates the consummation of the wedding. Look at verse 16. As we move into point number three. The anticipation of children. The anticipation of children here and point number three. Weddings are a pivot point to the future if you think about it, the groom and bride leave their former lives behind and they become one in a new union in this marriage will produce children. Look at verses 16 and 17, in place of your father's 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 people's will give you thanks for ever and ever.

What's he saying here.

The king was one time considered to be the son of his father, but now he is going to become the father to the future rather than a son of the past and his sons will continue the royal line and extend the father's memory. Look at verse 16 with me again in place of your father's will be your sons so his sons will rise up in prominence as compared to the prior prominence of his father. You shall make them princes in all the earth. In other words, he saying this wedding is going to give birth to sons this marriage will give birth to future kings who will add to the legacy of the king that is in front of me now righteous sons will add to the blessing of the memory of their father so we get a little bit of an overview of Psalm 45 in the celebration of the king's marriage. Now with that said, we want to see something as this plays out in terms of Christ in the progress of revelation, we see a greater Royal bridegroom who will have a greater victory in the name of God. Christ will receive his people as his bride look over Revelation chapter 19 Revelation chapter 19 here as it looks forward to the consummation of human history before the beginning of the millennial kingdom and Revelation chapter 19 verse six.

The apostle John says, speaking of the vision that he saw 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 and then look at what he says in verse seven. 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, and so looking forward to the ultimate triumph of Christ. You see his people being brought to him as a bride brought to the groom and then Christ will trample down the enemies of God in a climactic final battle that will usher in the millennium look at chapter 19 verse 11 Christ the King coming now in victory in battle. In verse 11 and I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse and he who sat on it is called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and wages war brought down to verse 16 on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, king of kings and Lord of lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, symbol for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men in the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and on the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves of all men, both small and great. Verse 19 I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army. Verse 20 Christ the King, having received his bride now goes forth in the battle. The beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone and the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh here at the end of time we see the ultimate fulfillment of Christ the King Christ with his with his bride having been brought to him. And now with the marriage being consummated.

He moves forward in victory and defeats the enemies of God, just in prefiguring way. The is the kings of Israel, the righteous kings of Israel went out and won battles in the nature for the people of God. What does it mean for us today means we have a Royal bridegroom who is the fulfillment of Psalm 45 go back to Psalm 45 with me and we will consider this a little bit from the perspective of the way that the Psalm now can we can see it is applied to Christ. Psalm 45 verse two if you would who is fairer than the sons of men except our Lord Jesus Christ, who is there that has grace poured upon his lips except for our Lord Jesus Christ look over John chapter 1. If you would John chapter 1 in verse 14 John chapter 1 verse 14 the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as the only begotten from the father full of grace and truth, and as Christ taught his were going to see in the sermon on the Mount as Christ taught as he spoke, people were amazed at his teaching in verse chapter 7 of Matthew.

It says they were amazed at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes and so Grace fell from the lips of Christ, truth tumbled from his mouth every time that he opened his lips we see in verse three of Psalm 45 that he comes forth in splendor and majesty rides victoriously for the cross of truth and meekness and righteousness. And so what we see in Psalm 45 points us to a human king.

But today, on the other side of the cross.

What we see is a fulfillment in its most magnificent fullness in our Lord Jesus Christ.

He bridegroom the church his people as his bride, and will wrap up with Ephesians chapter 5 if you live go back there forth with me. Ephesians chapter 5 Ephesians chapter 5 in verse 25 husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word brought down to verse 29. No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, Christ is the bridegroom.

The church is the bride verse 32 this mystery is great but I'm speaking with reference to Christ and the church we see from this picture of the bridegroom and the bride we get a picture of what Christ has done for us, our Lord, our King going forth in victory on our behalf, our King, our our our master or our husband as it were. Loving us in sanctifying us through his death on the cross we coming to him as a bride giving our love giving our devotion giving our submission to him.

As we enter into salvation through faith in Christ. What is the outcome of that the outcome of that is that we have a husband, as it were, who covers us with his protection who keeps us, who sanctifies us, who prepares us for eternal glory. The bridegroom is Christ we are the bride and in that union with Christ in that divine marriage, as it were. We are prepared to be joined with the one who will be victorious throughout all of eternity. What a blessing is ours to be in Christ, what a wonderful picture of him as the ultimate bridegroom in a royal wedding but spout together in prayer our father, we humbly bow before you. In this picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is God himself. The one who has come to earth in order to purchase his bride and bring him bring with him his bride in order to secure us for all of eternity. We thank you for the grace that is ours in Christ. Father we pray that we might be a responsive people who love him with no greater loyalty than that which we give to our Lord. Father, we look forward to his ultimate conquest and eternity. We pray that victory might be manifest soon father that our Lord Jesus would comment, come quickly, father, that we might enter into the fullness of that eternal relationship with one us to before the beginning of time for Jesus. We honor you we bow before you would gladly give you our respect our devotion and our love. We ask you to keep us as we go forward in the name of Christ. We pray will friend thank you for joining us on through the Psalms. If you would like to follow my weekly messages from truth community church go to truth Community Church.org and look for the link titled pulpit podcast again. That's truth Community Church.org God bless you. Thanks Don and Fred. Be sure to join us each weekend as we continue through the sons with pastor Don Greene. You can find church information God's complete sermon library and other helpful materials at the truth. Pulpit.com this message is copyrighted by John Green.

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