PSALM FORTY-FIVE
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[Pss 45:1] My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter; I speak the things which I have made touching the king: My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
[Pss 45:2] Thou art fairer than the children of men; Grace is poured into thy lips: Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.
[Pss 45:3] Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one, Thy glory and thy majesty.
[Pss 45:4] And in thy majesty ride on prosperously, Because of truth and meekness [and] righteousness: And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.
[Pss 45:5] Thine arrows are sharp; The peoples fall under thee; [They are] in the heart of the king's enemies.
[Pss 45:6] Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
[Pss 45:7] Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness: Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
[Pss 45:8] All thy garments [smell of] myrrh, and aloes, [and] cassia; Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad.
[Pss 45:9] Kings' daughters are among thy honorable women: At thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
[Pss 45:10] Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house:
[Pss 45:11] So will the king desire thy beauty; For he is thy lord; and reverence thou him.
[Pss 45:12] And the daughter of Tyre [shall be there] with a gift; The rich among the people shall entreat thy favor.
[Pss 45:13] The king's daughter within [the palace] is all glorious: Her clothing is inwrought with gold.
[Pss 45:14] She shall be led unto the king in broidered work: The virgins her companions that follow her Shall be brought unto thee.
[Pss 45:15] With gladness and rejoicing shall they be led: They shall enter into the king's palace.
[Pss 45:16] Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, Whom thou shalt make princes in all the earth.
[Pss 45:17] I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: Therefore shall the peoples give thee thanks for ever and ever.

I. Messiah: Messenger of Grace and Truth (vs. 2).
II. Messiah: Conqueror of the world (vss. 3-5).
III. Messiah: King of kings. (vss. 6-8).
IV. Messiah: Object of world adoration (vss. 9-17).

In the bedroom of many homes throughout the land there is a panel of pictures, underneath which are usually found these words: "The greatest moments in a girl's life." There are usually five of these pictures, sometimes six. Each of these sets forth a crucial moment of the girl's life. Underneath Psalm 45 could be appropriately placed the words, "the greatest moments in Messiah's redemptive career." There are four pictures in this marvelous panel.

In the first picture we see Messiah represented as the messenger of grace and truth; in the second, Messiah as the conqueror of the world; in the third, Messiah as King of kings; and in the forth, Messiah as the object of world adoration.

In the first verse of Psalm 45 the writer compares his heart to an artesian well, out of which there is gushing forth a copious stream. That which is coming forth from his soul pertains to King Messiah. The ancient synagogue thus interpreted it by inserting "Messiah" after the word, king, in one of their Targums. In the last line of the verse the author compares his tongue to the pen of a ready writer. Thus the entire verse shows the inexhaustible source from which his information comes; namely, from the inspiration of the Spirit of God. Moreover he claims that the very words by which his thoughts are expressed are given to him. He did not have to think of them. Thus full and plenary inspiration is set forth in verse 1.

Portrait I. The messenger of grace and truth

Verse 2 gives us the portrait of King Messiah as the messenger of grace and truth.

"Thou art fairer than the children of men;
Grace is poured into thy lips;
Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever."

The Hebrew language was too impoverished for the writer to express his ideas. He therefore was lead by the Spirit to coin a word by re-duplicating the principal syllable of the term signifying "beauty" in order to express the personal appearance of King Messiah. All men of all tribes and races were, in the thinking, grouped together. Messiah was then placed over against them, in this verse, and is said to be fair away from all of them. This is the regular Hebrew idiom to express the superlative idea; namely, that Messiah, from the physical standpoint, cannot be compared with the rest of men. He is far superior to them.

He is a messenger upon whose lips is the gospel of grace. He is delivering His gospel of God's love to the people.

When we look at this passage and view it in the light of its fulfillment, we see that verse 1 is a portrait of King Messiah at His first coming.

Portrait II. The conqueror of the world

In verses 3-5 we have the second portrait of King Messiah.

"Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one,
Thy glory and thy majesty.
And in thy majesty ride on prosperously,
Because of truth and meekness and righteousness:
And thy right hand shall teach terrible things.
Thine arrows are sharp;
The peoples fall under thee;
They are in the heart of the king's enemies."

The writer stood before this picture in the panel and addressed King Messiah as "O mighty one." The word rendered here "mighty one" is the regular term to indicate a valiant hero. It is used also in Isaiah 9:6 modifying the word, God, and translated "the Mighty God." Or, literally, "God, the mighty warrior." The psalmist urged this one to gird upon himself His sword, along with His glory and majesty. These two terms, when coming together, always in the Old Testament refer to God. Thus there is a hint that this one is God, although He is in human form.

He was urged to take the field of battle, "Because of truth and meekness and righteousness." It is clear from the context that the prophet had in mind those people who embodying truth, meekness, and righteousness in their lives, will be oppressed and need a deliverer. The psalmist realized this fact and called upon King Messiah thus to come to their relief.

In verse 5 the psalmist saw Messiah going in to action on the battlefield and thus he shouted:

"Thine arrows are sharp;
The peoples fall under thee;
They are in the heart of the king's enemies."

In these lines we see Messiah in battle and marching on to complete and absolute victory over all His enemies.

Portrait III. King of kings

The third portrait appears in verses 6-8.

"Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:
A scepter of equity is the scepter of thy kingdom.
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness:
Therefore God, thy God hath anointed thee
With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia;
Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad."

The Hebrew text of the line rendered, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever," has been translated in various ways. Some of these are grammatically correct and some incorrect, but the rendering of our text in the Revised Version accords with the facts of the context and is to be preferred above all others. Knowing this fact, we recognize that the one addressed is God, whose throne is to be perpetuated "for ever and ever." In the verses under consideration the psalmist in vision saw the Messiah sitting upon the throne of glory and reigning over the earth. In the next line we have these words, "A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom." The sceptre is the emblem of the policies and principles for which a given sovereign stands. The sceptre of dictators symbolizes ruthlessness cruelty and tyranny; on the other hand, the sceptre of those monarchs who realize their responsibility to God and their subjects stand for kindness, right-doing, and fair play. Messiah's sceptre will stand for equity and justice. No partiality will be shown. Everything will be conducted upon the high plain of holiness, righteousness, and justice.

His sceptre will stand for this type of reign throughout His entire realm. From other passages we learn that He will reign from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. In fact, all nations, having been evangelized and having accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, will apply to be annexed to His kingdom. He will then accept them and a reign of absolute equity, righteousness, and justice will be inaugurated throughout the world.

Messiah has always loved righteousness and hated wickedness and sin. He took that attitude when He was upon the earth, in fact, He assumed that attitude in His prenatal state and continues in the same way at this present day. Thus He always takes a very definite, positive attitude against wickedness but is most kind and considerate, extending mercy toward those who stand for righteousness.

The psalmist therefore declared that, since Messiah has hated wickedness and loved righteousness, "Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." I have given this quotation as it appears in the Revised Version. The original Hebrew will yield this translation, but this sentence can be just as correctly rendered in these words: "Therefore, O God, thy God hath anointed thee ..." This second rendering is in keeping with the entire message of Psalm 45. We have just noted that, when the psalmist stood before the first portrait, he addressed King Messiah as being the fairest of all men. As He stood before Him and saw the world oppressed by wicked dictators, our psalmist spoke directly to King Messiah and asked Him to take the field of battle and liberate the oppressed. In the same personal manner he addressed Messiah as he envisaged Him upon the throne. As he noted above, in verse 6 the psalmist said, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever ..." This sentence is correctly translated in accordance with the general trend of the passage. Our translators should have rendered the lines under consideration (vs. 7) in the same vain, for the psalmist was still addressing Messiah directly.

Messiah is anointed with the oil of gladness above all His fellows. In Israel prophet, priest, and king were anointed with oil, which ceremony inducted them into office. But this right stood for a spiritual reality; namely, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the one thus anointed to qualify him for the position into which He was being inducted. But according to this passage the Messiah is anointed with the oil of gladness above all other anointed ones. This prediction indicates that the anointed ones of all the past, together with those of the present, will be raised--will be brought back to life in resurrection bodies and will be associated with King Messiah; but He is to occupy the place of pre-eminence and authority among them. When we see this prophecy and study it in light of related passages, we can understand this predication very clearly. According to the teaching of the New Testament, Messiah is to have the pre-eminence among His brethren.

Verse 8, I fear, has been all but universally misunderstood. It reads as follows:

"All thy garments smell of myrrh,
And aloes and cassia;
Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad."

Unfortunately this prediction has been understood as teaching that Messiah would leave the ivory palaces in glory and enter a world of sin and woe in order to redeem mankind from its sin. It is true that our Lord did leave heaven, did lay aside the glory which He had with the Father, and did take the form of a servant, becoming obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross in order that He might open up the way of life to us who believe. But is that the thing about which this verse is speaking? An examination of the context shows very clearly that it is not. As stated above, verses 6,7 and 8 are dealing with Messiah's millennial reign in Jerusalem during the thousand years of which John in Revelation, chapter 20, spoke. According to this verse Messiah will be adorned in an appropriate manner and there will issue forth from His very person holy and benign influences which are here pictured under the symbolism of myrrh, aloes, and cassia. There will therefore emanate from Him this most wholesome and winsome influence over all His subjects throughout His vast realm.

The ivory palaces mentioned in this verse will be there in Jerusalem. There can be no doubt, upon the authority of this verse, that great oratorios, which magnify Messiah's precious blood shed nineteen hundred years ago for the redemption of the human family, will be sung by trained choirs accompanied by orchestras in which the highest musical talent of the world will participate. Thus the greatest oratorios ever rendered by mortals will be staged in Jerusalem during the great millennial age. Men will sing and play from the very depths of their hearts to the glory of God and Christ. Messiah will be delighted and thrilled of the songs who wholeheartedly render thanks to Him for what He did for them on Calvary. Such is the message of verse 8.

Portrait IV. Object of world adoration

In the last section of the psalm, verse 9-17, we have the fourth portrait of King Messiah. Here the scene is laid at the court of the King of kings. The question immediately arises, "Is this a literal scene?" Or is it a symbolic representation of conditions that will then exist? In order to determine this point, one must call attention to the fact that, according to verse 9, there are honorable woman at the court of King Messiah. Among them, according to verse 12 is the daughter of Tyre. These facts show that the city of Tyre is represented as an honorable lady at His court. Since one of these woman is a symbol of a city or nation, and since there are other "honorable woman" in attendance at the court, one comes to the conclusion that this is a symbolic representation. With this proper approach we can begin to understand the significance of these last verses. To be more concrete, let me say that "Miss America" will be in attendance at King Messiah's court. "Miss Britain" will also be there. "Miss Germany," together with "Miss Russia," and all the other nations of the world will be present and will grace His court. When this symbolic representation is read in the light of related passages, it becomes evident that the psalmist wished to convey to our minds the thought that, when King Messiah mounts His throne, all the nations represented symbolically in these verses--will be ardent, devoted, loyal subjects of the King of kings and Lord of lords. In other words, here is a picture of the converted world as it will be when Messiah returns and reigns over the earth.

Another question injects itself at this point: Since the honorable women of the court, according to verse 9, are the nations of the earth as they will render loyal adoration and worship to King Messiah, who is "the queen in gold of Ophir" standing at the right hand of King Messiah? Since the other "honorable women" symbolize the nations, she must likewise symbolize the nation that is nearest to Him. Every Bible student knows that the nation of Israel is the one whom He has chosen to be His special people, through whom He will bless the world. At the present time she is represented by Moses (Deut. 32:16) as being the tail, whereas this future time she will become the head--will be above all other nations. In Psalm 45:9 she is represented, therefore, as being the queen, occupying the closest position, nationally speaking, to King Messiah. As just stated, the other nations are represented likewise as these ladies-in-waiting or honorable woman at the Messiah's court.

The admonition is given to the queen to forget everything else and center her heart and thoughts upon the King, who will be everything to her. Israel will, at that time, lose all interest in those things which are of material nature and will put spiritual matters first.

The fact that Israel is represented as the queen at the right hand of King Messiah should not disturb us, even though the church is represented in the New Testament as being the bride of Christ. Israel is nationally represented as the queen in this picture, but in the further revelation of the New Testament the church is presented as the bride. The born-again ones constituting the body of Christ now will occupy a higher position and a more honorable one in connection with King Messiah than Israel, though converted, during the Millennial Age. Let us therefore rejoice in the fact that Israel is to be brought closer to God yet in the future when she becomes the channel of world-blessing. We should also rejoice in the fact that the church of Jesus Christ, now consisting of believers--born-again ones--from both Jews and Gentiles will occupy the closest position to our blessed Lord and Savior, not only throughout His millennial reign, but throughout all eternity.