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Psalm 45, excuse me, Psalm 45. Psalm 45 is a fitting place for 
us to inform our thoughts concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. He is 
indeed the subject, the topic, the focus, and the scope of this 
particular psalm. So I'll begin reading in verse 
1. To the chief musician, set to 
the lilies, a contemplation of the sons of Korah, a song of 
love. 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. Gird your sword upon 
your thigh, O mighty one, with your glory and your majesty. 
And in your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and 
righteousness. And your right hand shall teach 
you awesome things. Your arrows are sharp in the 
heart of the king's enemies. The peoples fall under you. Your 
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 cacha, 
out of the ivory palaces by which they have made you glad. King's 
daughters are among your honorable women. At your right hand stands 
the queen in gold from Ophir. 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. 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. Amen. Well, let us 
pray. Father, we thank you for the 
written word. We thank you that it testifies concerning the person 
and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly he is the subject, 
the darling of this particular psalm. And as we enter into the 
supper tonight, we pray that you'd fill our hearts with good 
thoughts, and may we imitate the psalmist here. May our hearts 
bubble over with praise to the one who is altogether lovely 
and chief among ten thousand. We pray that You would forgive 
us now for all of our sins and our transgressions against a 
holy God. We thank You that if we confess 
and forsake those sins, You are merciful and just to forgive 
us. And so we plead the merit and the mercy of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. We pray that You would wash us in that fount that is 
open for sin and uncleanness, that You would wash these things 
away. Cause us now to take every thought captive to the obedience 
of Christ. Cause us as we eat the bread 
and drink the cup to proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. 
And our Father, to this end we pray for the ministry of the 
Holy Spirit. We would pray that you would send Him forth, that 
we would know His presence and His power in our midst tonight. 
That you would comfort and encourage your people and God save those 
who are outside of Christ. Do this for Your glory and for 
Your honor and for Your praise, and we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. Well, as I was working 
through this particular psalm, it occurred to me that in my 
lifetime there have been several royal weddings, and typically 
they televise those royal weddings, and persons are sort of glued 
to the TV watching those particular things. Well, in some sense that 
has some pedigree. This is the celebration of a 
royal wedding. It's the king, the Lord Jesus 
Christ, the Messiah, and his bride, the church. It is very 
similar in terms of composition and focus with reference to the 
book of Song of Solomon. In fact, J.A. Alexander says 
the allegorical idea of this psalm is carried out in the Song 
of Solomon. At least temporally, the marriage 
of Solomon, no doubt to Pharaoh's daughter, is in view. But it's 
obvious by the wording, it's obvious by the language, that 
David is looking far beyond his son Solomon. In other words, 
he is ascribing this to the Messiah. because it is the Messiah who 
is described in verse 6. Your throne, O God, is forever 
and ever. There is no way that could be 
written concerning Solomon. It's certainly a psalm concerning 
our Lord Jesus Christ. So it's a royal wedding psalm. It's a psalm calling the people 
of God to rejoice in the mercy of God, in the marriage of the 
Messiah to the church. And I want to look at four things 
tonight. First, the intention of the psalmist in verse 1. Secondly, 
the description of the king in verses 2 to 9. Thirdly, the instruction 
to the bride in verses 10 to 15. And then finally, the declaration 
concerning the king in verses 16 to 17. But notice in verse 
1, the psalmist says, my heart is overflowing with a good theme. In other words, he takes pen 
to paper now because of the focus of his meditation. This is the 
way we ought to respond when we consider our Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps we're not poets, perhaps 
we don't write music, we can't write lyrics, but we can certainly 
praise the God of heaven and earth. As the Lord Jesus Christ 
comes to mind, may we be like the psalmist. My heart is overflowing 
with a good theme. This could also be translated, 
my heart boils or bubbles up, and it denotes the language of 
the heart, full and ready for utterance. This ought to be the 
people of God in the house of God when we come to the supper 
of God. It's a good occasion for us to 
have our hearts overflowing with a good theme. Notice the subject 
of his composition. He says in verse 1, I recite 
my composition concerning the king. My tongue is the pen of 
a ready writer. So, that bubbling up or that 
boiling over in the heart finds expression or vent through his 
tongue. And in this case, with reference 
to the psalmist, he writes it down. He pens it under the inspiration 
of the Holy Spirit. As Spurgeon comments concerning 
the reference to the king, he says, some here see Solomon and 
Pharaoh's daughter only. They are short-sighted. Others 
see both Solomon and Christ. They are cross-eyed, well-focused, 
spiritualized, see here, Jesus only. So David, perhaps again 
on the occasion of his son's wedding, uses the opportunity 
to speak of his greater son's wedding, even the Messiah, and 
his marriage to his bride, even the church. Now note, secondly, 
the description of the king. It's typical or difficult at 
times in Psalms to sort of break it down in an orderly, structured 
manner. So we're just going to kind of 
glom it all together under two heads. First, the glory of the 
king, and then secondly, the person of the king. But notice, 
with reference to the glory of the king in verse 2, he says, 
you are fairer than the sons of men. The word here is actually 
doubled. And this is why it's translated, 
you are fairer. Literally, it's beautiful, beautiful. As one famous lexicon says, you 
are the fairest, thou art more beautiful than. Literally, you 
are fairer, fairer, or you are beautiful, beautiful. And again, 
Spurgeon makes this observation. Jesus is so emphatically lovely 
that words must be doubled. Have you found that experience 
in your own worship of the living God? Jesus is so emphatically 
lovely that words must be double. This is why we often say, hallelujah, 
hallelujah, hallelujah. Because Jesus is so emphatically 
lovely, words must be double. He goes on to say, strained, 
yea, exhausted, before he can be described. Among the children 
of men, many have through grace been lovely in character, yet 
they have each had a flaw. But in Jesus, we behold every 
feature of a perfect character in harmonious proportion. This 
is what the psalmist indicates. You are fairer than the sons 
of men. Grace is poured upon your lips. And there's one particular instance 
where this is evidenced in the life and ministry of our Lord. 
You can look at Luke chapter 4. This idea of grace being poured 
upon the lips of our beloved Savior. In Luke chapter 4, very 
specifically beginning in verse 22, Well, picking up at verse 21, 
Jesus in a synagogue, He reads the prophet Isaiah chapter 
61 in verses 18 and 19. Verse 20, He closes the book. 
He gives it back to the attendant. He sits down. All in the synagogue 
were fixed upon Him. And in verse 21, He began to 
say to them, today the Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. 
And let that sink in. Jesus Christ picks up the scroll. 
He picks up the prophet Isaiah. He reads 61, 1 and 2, and then 
he says, today this has been fulfilled in your hearing. And 
he means it's been fulfilled in your hearing by his presence, 
by his appearance here at this particular place. It says in 
verse 22, so all bore witness to him and marveled at the gracious 
words which proceeded out of his mouth, and they said, is 
this not Joseph's son? So as the psalmist rehearses 
the glory of the king, he says, you are fairer than the sons 
of men, grace is poured upon your lips, therefore God has 
blessed you forever. This beloved one, this darling 
of heaven, this chief among the sons of men is the recipient 
of God's grace. Notice secondly in terms of the 
glory of the king, his commitment to truth and righteousness. Verse 
3, gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one, with your 
glory and your majesty, and in your majesty ride prosperously 
because of truth, humility, and righteousness. The picture is 
of a warrior. The picture is of a warrior prepared 
for battle, and this warrior goes into battle not with carnal 
weapons, but with truth, humility, and prosperity. He indeed, or 
rather righteousness, and as a result, he rides prosperously. The weapons of his warfare are 
not carnal, but they're mighty for the pulling down of strongholds. 
As Pastor Porter read from Revelation 19, verses 11 to 16, what's the 
armament that Christ has? It is the sword that proceeds 
from the mouth. It is the word of the living 
God. And the same thing is evidenced 
in his testimony before Pilate. You can look at John chapter 
19, just taking some New Testament passages to sort of shine the 
light and to see how these do relate to the Messiah, to the 
Lord Christ. Notice in John, I'm sorry, John 
18, Jesus before Pilate. Beginning in verse 33, Pilate 
says, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, are 
you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you 
this concerning me? Pilate answered, am I a Jew? 
Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to 
me. What have you done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is 
not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, 
my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to 
the Jews, but now my kingdom is not from here. Pilate therefore 
said to him, Are you a king then? Jesus answered, You say rightly 
that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and 
for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear 
witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth 
hears my word. Christ, the sword of Christ proceeds 
from the mouth of Christ and his commitment to truth and righteousness 
is celebrated here by the psalmist and everywhere celebrated by 
Christ in his earthly ministry. Now, just by way of a real practical 
observation, if Christ so values and so prizes and so esteems 
truth, what ought we as the church to do with truth? become very 
commonplace in our modern society, but I realize it's not just modern. It goes back in the history of 
the church where persons sort of grasp the truth with a limp-wristedness. There's this sort of, well, you 
know, it's not that important. We shouldn't divide over such 
things. There's a whole host of things that we really shouldn't 
divide over. I mean, we happen to use blue-colored 
hymn books. If somebody down the road uses 
red ones, we, you know, don't. square off against them and pronounce 
the anathemas of God upon them. But brethren, when it comes to 
those things most surely believed among us, we need to hold them 
firmly. For the truth is what constitutes the church. It's 
what we're about. You see, the Sunday worship of 
the living God is just that. It's the worship of the living 
God. And Christ calls us to worship the living God in spirit and 
in truth. What binds us together here is 
the truth of the gospel. There's a lot of social institutions 
out there. There's, you know, there's a 
lion's club in town, there's, I don't know if there's a moose 
or an elk, but those are certainly sort of social places that they 
have in the states. I don't know if I've seen moose 
or elk here in Chilliwack, but I know there's a lion's club. 
Those are social interaction centers, and you can certainly 
go and have that discourse and intercourse, and I mean in a 
non-sexual way with other persons. That's not the first and primary 
thing that binds us together. It's the truth. How does Paul 
describe the church in 1 Timothy chapter 3? It's the pillar and 
the ground, not of entertainment, not of social interaction, not 
of coffee sessions, but it's the pillar and the ground of 
the truth. If Christ esteems the truth and even describes 
himself as truth, says that it is essential to his very nature, 
I am the way, the truth, and the life, the church of Jesus 
Christ must be marked by the truth. And if the psalmist celebrates 
that in the Savior, then the church ought to as well and ought 
to imbibe and hold on to that truth very, very tenaciously. So he is committed to truth and 
righteousness. The psalmist goes on in describing 
the glory of the king to highlight his triumph over his enemies. 
What is that indicative of? He not only goes to battle, But he wins the battle. He not 
only engages the enemy, but he defeats the enemy. Your arrows 
are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies. The peoples fall 
under you. It's a blessed and a glorious 
description of our king, our Messiah, our Christ, waging warfare 
and engaging in victory. It's the same sort of concept 
that was read in Revelation 19 verses 11 to 16. Ralph Davis 
comments, he says, we must catch the vision of the faithful and 
true sitting on the white horse. This is a comment on Revelation 
19. the one who judges and makes 
war in righteousness. No mild God or soft Jesus can 
give his people hope. It is only as we know the warrior 
of Israel who fights for us, and sometimes without us, that 
we have hope of triumphing in the muck of life." In other words, 
as believers, we need to see Christ as victorious. I've said 
several times in our studies on Wednesday night or Saturday 
morning or whenever the book of Revelation comes up, it's 
a woeful thing to consider the way that the book of Revelation 
is viewed in the modern church. It's a book that's scary. It's 
a book that looms in a mysterious sort of way. Do you ever consider 
what Revelation is about? It's about revelation. Revelation 
means to reveal. How's that for some lexical analysis? It is the revelation of Jesus 
Christ. And you know what is primary 
in terms of the focus in the book of Revelation? It's not 
on the beast. It's not on the Antichrist. It's 
on the Christ and His crown, His victory, His glory, His majesty. Yes, beasts rise up. There's 
a beast from the sea and a beast from the land. But what happens 
to them? They are judged by the warring 
Christ. What happens to the false prophet? 
What happens to the whore Babylon? What happens to all contenders 
with reference to Christ? They are subdued under his feet. That's what the book of Revelation 
is about. It is a long, a long treatment 
of what the psalmist says right here. And in your majesty ride 
prosperously because of truth, humility and righteousness. Your 
arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies. The peoples 
fall under you. And then notice the anointing 
of God the Father upon him in 7b. You love righteousness and 
hate wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has 
anointed you. John Gill explains, who though 
he is called God and is truly so, yet was not anointed as such, 
but as man and mediator to the office of prophet, priest, and 
king, and not with material oil, but with the Holy Ghost, his 
gifts and graces. And then in verses eight and 
nine, it describes the king's attire, his essence, his fragrance, 
and then his entourage. King's daughters are among your 
honorable women. at your right hand stands the 
queen in gold from Ophir." So you see, there's this description 
of the king and it focuses upon his glory. But as well, notice 
his person. And this is verses 6 and 7. It highlights the divine nature 
of the Messiah, the divine nature of the king. I told you before 
of that radio program, Dr. Greg Bonson and a Jewish rabbi 
and a Roman Catholic priest were interviewed by Dennis Prager. 
And a question came up concerning the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament 
scriptures. Did it testify that the Messiah 
would be divine? And of course, the Jewish rabbi 
said, absolutely not. There's no way that Jews had 
an expectation for a divine Messiah. And Dr. Bonson said, well, it 
most certainly did. Now, you may not appreciate that 
particular doctrine, you may reject that doctrine on theological 
grounds, but on literary grounds, you cannot deny that the text 
of Scripture asserts that Messiah would in fact be divine. Well, 
Psalm 45, 6 highlights this, the divine nature of our Lord 
Jesus. Notice in verse 6, your throne, 
O God, is forever and ever. Turn to the book of Hebrews to 
see its application to our Lord Jesus Christ. The deity of Christ, 
the divinity of Christ, Christ according to the form of God, 
is here asserted by the psalmist in Psalm 45.6. Notice in Hebrews 
1, beginning in verse 5. This is showing the exaltation 
of Christ over the angels. Verse 5 says, For to which of 
the angels did he ever say, You are my son, today I have begotten 
you? And again, I will be to him a 
father, and he shall be to me a son. But then He, again, brings 
the firstborn into the world. He says, when He brings the firstborn 
into the world, He says, let all the angels of God worship 
Him. Now, all of these texts are Old Testament texts, and 
they all ascribe deity to the Messiah. So as Bonson said, from 
a literary point of view, you can't deny the Scriptures say 
this. Theologically, you may have an ax to grind against the 
reality that the Messiah would be divine, but in terms of what 
is written, you cannot deny it. So verse 7, and of the angels, 
he says, who makes his angel spirits and his ministers a flame 
of fire. But to the Son, he says. Your 
throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness 
is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness 
and hated lawlessness. Therefore, your God has anointed 
you with the oil of gladness more than your companions." Now, 
there are evasive tactics employed to try and get out of the clear 
meaning of the text. You'll hear it from Jehovah's 
Witnesses. You'll hear it from, perhaps, Jews who deny the deity 
of the Messiah. But if you want further information 
in terms of the grammar and the exposition and the explanation, 
I cannot suggest anything better than John Gill, as he deals with 
the detractors, as he deals with the shift in the grammar, and 
saying it really doesn't mean what it says here, because if 
we move, John Gill says, no, it's translated accordingly. 
What the psalmist is doing is he's telling us that in verse 
2, this one who is fairer than the sons of man is very God of 
very God, true God from true God, light from light, begotten 
not made, one in being with the Father. This is the Christ who 
will indeed appear on the scene to save His people from their 
sins. This is prophesied previously 
to His arrival. C. H. Spurgeon makes this comment 
concerning the deity of the king. He says, the psalmist cannot 
restrain his adoration. His enlightened eye sees in the 
royal husband of the church, God. God to be adored, God reigning, 
God reigning everlasting. Blessed sight, blind are the 
eyes that cannot see God in Christ Jesus. It's beautiful, isn't 
it? Your throne, oh God. Notice the eternity or eternality 
of His kingdom. Your throne is forever and ever. Notice the equity involved in 
the reign of His kingdom. Verse 6, a scepter of righteousness 
is the scepter of your kingdom. Our Lord Jesus Christ is very 
God. Our Lord Jesus Christ is true 
God from true God. But notice, he goes on to describe 
or highlight the reality that Christ is also a man. Verse 7, you love righteousness 
and hate wickedness. Now note the language in verse 
7, therefore God, your God, has anointed you. The psalmist does 
not believe in two gods. The psalmist is a strict monotheist. The psalmist is a Trinitarian. The psalmist understands something 
of the glory of God Most High. So this one who comes in the 
fullness of the time, sent forth by God, born of a woman, born 
under the law, to redeem those under the law, is very God and 
very man. And notice specifically, therefore 
God, your God, has anointed you. One commentator says it will 
take the New Testament ultimately to explain what's going on in 
terms of Father and Son. Again, I don't believe that we 
can, I don't believe we can construct the same sort of Nicene doctrine 
of the Trinity with only the Old Testament, but these things 
are present in the Old Testament. You remember Warfield's sort 
of an analogy with reference to the Trinity in the Old Testament. 
He says, it's like a dimly lit chamber. All the furniture is 
in the chamber, and when you turn on the lights, it's not 
that something new is there. What was always there is there. 
It's now been illumined further by the flipping on of the light. 
The same sort of thing. All of the equipment or all of 
the furniture or all of the doctrine is there. Father, Son, and Spirit 
are present in the Old Testament. It's that New Testament that 
sort of flips on the light and gives us that hermeneutic or 
that ability or those tools to say, oh, that's what's happening 
there. Oh, that's what's going on there. You cannot deny that 
the psalmist here ascribes divinity to the Messiah, and he ascribes 
humanity to the Messiah. And in the language of our confession 
of faith, it tells us that two whole, perfect, and distinct 
natures were inseparably joined together in one person without 
conversion, composition, or confusion, which person is very God and 
very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and 
man. So you see, with reference to 
this royal wedding, the description of the king is given, him in 
his glory, him in his person. Now, there might be some of you 
that like to watch those royal wedding things. I'm sure that 
they have it live streamed. You can sit in the internet. 
To me, I'd rather watch paint dry than see a royal wedding. 
It's just not something I want to do. But in this royal wedding, 
it's something to gaze upon. It's something to marvel at. 
It's something to worship as a result of. This King there 
in His glory, this King set before us in His majesty and His excellence, 
this King who is both God and man, who came down from heaven 
for us men and for our salvation, this blessed one is set forth 
in His glory. Notice though, with reference 
to the bride, instruction to the bride in verses 10 to 15. 
Again, we'll move somewhat quickly through this section. But there 
are some things we need to highlight. Note the need for repentance. 
The need for repentance on the part of the bride. In other words, 
here's your king, here's your bridegroom, here's your husband, 
here's the glorious one, here is the excellent one. When you 
walk down that altar to take his hand, You must forsake, you 
must leave, you must depart. Listen, O daughter, verse 10, 
consider and incline your ear, forget your own people also and 
your father's house. The bride is instructed to forget 
her people and her own father's house. Perhaps the background 
is Genesis 2.24, the whole idea of leaving and cleaving. You 
don't leave with your mom and dad when you cleave. You leave 
your mom and dad and then you cleave. I've done a lot of weddings 
in this church and I have yet to see a bride or a bridegroom 
walk up the altar and their parents stay. If I saw that, I'd say, 
OK, brethren, you need to go sit down, because what's happening 
here is something other than that. So there's a leave and 
cleave principle. The father walks the wife, or 
the father walks the bride down, but he gives her away, sometimes 
very happily. I'm just kidding. He gives her 
away. The leave and cleave principle, 
this is what's in view. The glory of the bridegroom has 
been described. Now the bride is told, listen, 
O daughter, consider and incline your ear. Forget your own people 
also and your father's house. You don't come to this bridegroom 
with your sin. You don't come to this bridegroom 
with your idols. You don't come to this bridegroom 
with prior commitments. You don't come to this bridegroom 
with your boyfriend. Motier says the heaping up of 
four verbs of command places enormous emphasis on the bride's 
need to put the past behind and find her all in all in her new 
relationship. John Gill says Christ is to be 
preferred before natural relations. Converted persons are not to 
have fellowship with carnal men, though ever so nearly related. 
Former superstitions, whether Jewish or heathenish, are to 
be buried in forgetfulness. sinful self and righteous self 
are to be denied for Christ's sake, and the world and all things 
in it are to be treated with neglect and contempt by such 
who cleave to him." This is the admonition. This is the instruction. This is the command for the church 
who goes out to meet her bridegroom. You cannot take Baal with you. 
You cannot take Asherah with you. You cannot take these commitments 
to your idols. You're to turn from the useless 
idols to the true and living God. You're to put those things 
to rest. You're to put those things to 
death. This is a fitting admonition on the eve of the supper or just 
prior to coming to the ordinance. Brethren, it's not for profane 
and ungodly men. It is for those who are walking 
in faithfulness before God, not sinlessness, not perfection, 
because then we could never take. But have we and can we say we 
have forgotten our own people also? We have forgotten our Father's 
house. liken it to Solomon and Pharaoh's 
daughter. She wasn't to bring in all of 
her previous allegiances to the marriage to Israel's king. She 
was not to bring in all these other items of worship when she 
was a citizen of the Commonwealth of Israel. She was to forsake 
that. She was to forget that. She was 
to turn her back on that. the same is true for the bride 
today. It's a worldliness that sticks to us. There is an ungodly 
association that we hold to. I'm not one of these, you know, 
people that say, you know, you can't have friends that aren't 
believers. You can, but it's It's for the 
purpose of witness and testifying and being faithful and kind and 
gracious and demonstrating the love of God. We're not supposed 
to be changed by them. We are not to succumb to the 
temptations and tendencies of this world and of this age. We 
are to be a people that have listened to the admonition, that 
have considered, that have inclined our ear, that have forgotten 
our own people and our Father's house. Christ means anything, 
He means everything. And we need to give Him the allegiance 
that is fitting and due to one who is described in this psalm. He is fairer than the sons of 
men. Why wouldn't we want to abandon 
everything else to be with Him? Notice the necessity of worshiping 
the King. Verse 11, the King will greatly 
desire your beauty. Because He is your Lord, worship 
Him. Again, this isn't Solomonic. David's not suggesting that Pharaoh's 
daughter bow her knee to Solomon and confess him Lord and Savior. This is a psalm of Christ. It 
says, the King, the Lord Jesus, will greatly desire your beauty. 
The church, a beauty that He has beautified you with. It's 
not a natural beauty. We didn't, you know, gussy ourselves 
up and make ourselves ready, but rather it is a beauty conveyed 
or conferred by Him to us. But as a result, He is your Lord. 
Worship Him. The reference to the daughter 
of Tyre coming with a gift, the rich among the people seeking 
your favor, probably means Gentile inclusion among the people of 
God. And then notice it describes the bride in verses 13 to 15. 
She has glory. Verse 13, the royal daughter 
is all glorious within her palace. That's the church. We're glorious. 
Not intrinsically, not inherently, but reflectively, because God 
has saved us, because Christ is in us, the hope of glory. 
we radiate the very being of Christ. Again, not in some weird, 
mystical, strange, dark way, but the idea being is that when 
we worship God in spirit and truth, when we are faithful to 
this book, when we seek to employ this book in our daily life, 
we reflect the glory of the God who saved us. Doesn't Jesus say 
this? Let your light so shine before 
men that they see your good works and give glory to who? Give glory 
to God, not you. Oh, you're great, you're wonderful. 
No, we are simply a means by which the glory of God is reflected. Her glory is indicated in 13a. Notice her garments are indicated 
in 13b and 14. Again, in that royal wedding, 
oh, and look at what the bride is wearing, and look at how beautiful 
the jewelry, and look at, you know, it just goes on and on 
and on, it seems like. Well, here specifically, notice, 
that is highlighted. 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." 
Isn't that a blessed reality? He clothes us with His own righteousness 
according to Philippians 3. He clothes us with His own righteousness 
according to Zechariah chapter 3. He clothes us with His own 
righteousness according to 2 Corinthians 5.21. He clothes us and fits 
us for communion in his presence. And that brings us to verse 15. With gladness and rejoicing, 
they shall be brought, they shall enter the king's palace. This 
is the apex, this is the pinnacle, this is the climax. The bride 
now enters in to the palace of the king. The bride is now having 
communion with the king. The bride is now in union with 
the king. where they will live happily 
ever after. It is a most blessed and wondrous 
movement. The Lord Christ, Most High, bids 
them to come. The Lord Christ, Most High, tells 
them to forsake family, friends, and everything that allured them 
in the past. He clothes them with His righteousness. He reflects 
His glory through them. They enter into the palace of 
the King, and there they sup with Him. There they feast with 
Him. There they delight with Him. 
And note the attendant blessings. They do it with gladness and 
rejoicing, brethren. How many times do we enter into 
the house of God absent of gladness and rejoicing? Where's the spirit 
of David in Psalm 122? I was glad when they said unto 
me, let us go to the house of the Lord. I understand we come 
into this place burdened, sorrowful, oftentimes beaten down by the 
week that we've had. We fight the flesh, we fight 
the world, we fight the devil. We come into this place and sometimes 
we're staggering, sometimes we're limping, sometimes we can just 
barely fall in here. But once we're in here, We're 
in union with our King. We're in communion with one another. 
Let us engage in a gladness and a rejoicing. With gladness and 
rejoicing they shall be brought, they shall enter the King's palace. 
There is that blessed sort of anticipation. We're going to 
be with the King. Certainly, when they are with 
the king, the one who is fairer than the sons of men, fairer, 
fairer, beautiful, beautiful, more than all of the sons of 
men. Certainly, gladness and rejoicing 
ought to be appropriate. Let me encourage you, as we sing, 
as we pray, as we hear the Word of God read and preached, this 
isn't the drudgery of the Christian life. This isn't suffering for 
Jesus. This is the cream. This is the 
joy. This is the time we are to express 
thanksgiving and happiness and delight. When you go back out 
in the world, that's when you'll have the absence of gladness 
and rejoicing. Just kidding. You should still 
have gladness and rejoicing because you're always in union with the 
king. You see, the king and her bride 
come together, and what is it for the bride? No, it's not that. I've often thought this, parents. 
Kids will learn from us about church attendance. Kids will 
see and mirror how we are. So if when they're five, you're 
one of the sorts of parents that says, oh, we got to go to church. Oh, I wish we'd rather go anywhere 
else. Don't be surprised if when they're 15, they're doing the 
same thing. Think about this. You may not 
have a heart filled with gladness and rejoicing. I'm not suggesting 
that you fake it. I'm suggesting that you reflect 
on passages like these. that you take up David's psalm 
of praise. David's literally, according 
to the superscription, a song of love. Brethren, this is the God whom 
we serve, this is the God we come to meet, this is the Christ 
of our salvation, there in His glory. And the bride is pictured 
here as one who responds in repentance and obviously faith, one who 
holds fast to this King and one who has gladness and rejoicing 
in His presence. Notice finally how the psalm 
ends, the declaration concerning the King. This is not instructions 
or still targeting the bride, but rather goes back to the bridegroom 
in verse 16. I think it simply means something 
like this. There is going to be a great 
posterity. You are going to have a multiplicity 
of sons. You are going to have a great 
number of descendants. And therefore, they will indeed 
be princes in all the earth. John Gill explains it this way. 
This isn't just, you know, I didn't know how to explain it. He just 
does it a whole lot better. This is an address not to the 
church, the queen, the king's daughter, spoken to and out of 
in the preceding verses, but to the king Messiah himself. 
Instead of your fathers shall be your sons, whom you shall 
make princes in all the earth. who was of the Jewish fathers 
according to the flesh, Romans 9.4. And though he was rejected 
by that people, yet he had children, not only the apostles who are 
sometimes so-called, whom he set on 12 thrones, judging the 
12 tribes of Israel in a doctrinal way, and sent into all the world 
to preach his gospel. in which being attended with 
his mighty power made them triumphant conquerors everywhere, but also 
a numerous progeny among the Gentiles. All the elect of God 
are his children, and he stands in the revelation of the everlasting 
Father to them, they being given unto him as such." In other words, 
it looks forward to New Covenant era where the gospel goes forth 
and a great multitude are converted by the power of the gospel under 
the hand of the Spirit for the glory of the Messiah. And then 
the psalmist sort of comes full circle. Starts off with his intention 
in verse 1. My heart is overflowing with 
a good theme. I recite my composition concerning the king. My tongue 
is the pen of a ready writer. He signs off in verse 17 this 
way. I will make your name to be remembered 
in all generations. Therefore, the people shall praise 
you forever and ever." This is the psalmist's conclusion, a 
fitting end to his description of the Messiah, to his instructions 
concerning the bride, and to his statement concerning the 
glorious impact that the gospel of this Messiah will indeed make. Well, in conclusion, we see in 
this psalm the glory of the king himself, in his person, what 
we call the hypostatic union, the two natures, one person. 
It's a blessed doctrine, a blessed truth, a blessed reality. Our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who in the form of God did not consider 
robbery to be equal with God, took the form of a bond servant. This blessed Christ is God and 
man. We see His perfections displayed 
in this particular psalm, His might, His glory, His majesty, 
His righteousness, and even His gladness and joy. We see the 
blessedness of the Lord Jesus Christ in terms of His works. 
He wages war against sin and all unrighteousness. He wages 
war against the world, the flesh, and the devil. He wages war against 
His enemies, and guess what? He wins. And we can praise God 
that He won the war against us. Those of us who will take the 
bread and drink the cup, He has subdued us under His feet. He 
has subdued us by sovereign grace. We are not here tonight celebrating 
the person and the work of the Lord Jesus. We are not here tonight 
eating this bread and drinking this cup because we're good guys 
and girls. We are here because that word 
that proceeds from the mouth of Christ slayed us outright. showed us our sin, showed us 
our wickedness, showed us our depravity, and that word showed 
us the palm of Gilead. It directed us to the one who 
is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000, that one who is 
fairer than the sons of men. We have been conquered by sovereign 
grace, so as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we do so 
in the name of our blessed Savior, our conqueror, our Messiah. In 
terms of the blessedness of the bride, It is grace wherein she 
is able to forget her own people and her father's house. It is 
grace that taught her heart to fear. It is the beauty, or the 
beauty given to her by the king is through the redemptive work 
of the king, his life, his death, his resurrection. the privilege 
that the bride has of worshiping the king. Do you realize verse 
11b describes the aim for which we were created? Because He is 
your Lord, worship Him. Your kids ever say, why should 
I go to church? Because you were made to. Because 
that's why God fashioned you in His image. Your job, your 
purpose, the reason you take breath in your lungs is to worship 
God. This is what Adam and Eve were 
supposed to do. Certainly they reject God, they 
rebel against God, they resist God, they plunge their posterity 
into sin. Christ comes as the last Adam, 
and He rescues us by His life, His death, and His resurrection. 
And when He saves us, guess what we're supposed to do? We're supposed 
to worship. This is the best thing. This 
ought to be the high point of the week. We don't tack on Sunday. We don't tack on church attendance. 
This isn't the appendix to a week. This is the apex. This is the 
glory. This is the best of the seven 
days. I've heard before someone say, 
I wish we had six Sabbaths and only one day of work. And I don't 
think it was because that guy was lazy. It's because he wanted 
to worship God. Brethren, that is the way the 
heartbeat of the Christian ought to be. As well, we have the gracious 
provision of wedding garments. Remember that poor fool in Matthew 
chapter 22? The king finds him out, then 
he's without the wedding garment, then he's speechless, so he's 
cast out into the outer darkness. We, however, have been clothed, 
we have been fit, we have been prepared, we have been washed, 
we've been cleaned, we've been purified. We have the righteousness 
of Christ placed upon us. We have the Father telling the 
servants to take that garment and lay it on the back of my 
son, this son who was lost but is now found, this son who was 
dead but is now alive. Clean the pig smell off of him 
and put these beautiful garments upon him. Put a ring on his finger. 
Let's kill the fatted calf and let us celebrate. We have the 
privilege of communion with the King. This is what we do tonight. This is what we are about. This 
is what makes us tick. This is what makes us function. 
Told you before people call, what does your church offer? 
You know, do you have this program? Do you have that program? We 
worship God, man. That's what we do. We try to 
just come and worship God, because that's what we see our calling 
to be, to worship God, to praise Him, to preach His truth, to 
hopefully see the Holy Spirit make more worshipers by the power 
of the Gospel. This is our desire, this is our 
intent, this is our hope. And then as well, the attendant 
gladness and rejoicing as a result of that communion. There's a 
text specifically, in fact, let's turn there, 1 Thessalonians 5, 
that I'm sure some of us gloomy guses need to be reminded of 
from time to time. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Have you ever wondered, what 
is the will of God for my life? Have you? I hope so. It's a good 
thing to wonder. I just don't think we like the 
Bible's answer. When we ask, what is the will 
of God for my life? It typically means something 
like, which university should I go to? Which woman should I 
marry? Which man should I marry? Which cornflakes should I eat? 
That's how we approach the, what is the will of God for my life? 
1 Thessalonians 2, or I'm sorry, 1 Thessalonians 4 gives us something 
of the will of God. Look at verse 3. For this is 
the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from 
sexual immorality. God may not tell you, whisper 
in your ear, I want you to go to that university or I want 
you to eat that breakfast cereal, but this much is sure, He wants 
you to maintain sexual purity. That's the will of God for you. But notice as well in 1 Thessalonians 
5. Rejoice always, pray without 
ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in 
Christ Jesus for you." So what's the will of God for you tonight? Well, Thessalonians is packed 
with it, maintain sexual purity. And as well, rejoice always. As I said, there's some of us 
who are gloomy guses. We're down, we're melancholy, 
we're sorrowful. I don't know what it is about 
us, but we just have that sort of a bent in our disposition. These are passages we should 
meditate on. Psalm 45 is a passage we should 
contemplate. The gladness and the rejoicing 
that goes along with communion with Christ ought to be something 
we pursue. Well, not just to settle it. 
Well, you know, I'm just that sort of a guy. I'm always a frowny 
sort of person. No, rejoice always. Pray without 
ceasing and everything give thanks for this is the will of God in 
Christ Jesus for you. You're supposed to be happy when 
you're having communion with Jesus. You're supposed to be 
rejoicing when you're singing praises to Jesus. You're supposed 
to be glad-hearted when you are intimate with the Savior. That's 
the will of God for you. Well, brethren, let us take seriously 
the psalmist's intention. Let us indeed muse upon the loveliness 
of the Savior. And specifically, as we eat this 
bread and drink this cup, we can apply verse 17 very particularly. I will make your name to be remembered 
in all generations. Through this bread, through this 
cup, we do so in remembrance of Christ Jesus. Well, let us 
pray. Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for 
this song of love composed to celebrate the Savior and his 
marriage to the bride. How we thank you that he is altogether 
lovely, the one that is chief among 10,000, that one described 
in the Song of Solomon that is most excellent and most glorious, 
that one here described as fairer than the sons of men. Again, 
that one set forth in the pages of the New Testament that is 
indeed a mighty warrior who battles via the truth and who beats his 
enemies through his own life and his death and his resurrection. 
And our Father, I pray that we would focus upon this one tonight 
in a special way in terms of his broken body and his shed 
blood. Cause us to do this for your glory. Cause this to confirm 
our faith and to nourish us spiritually. Cause us to grow in the grace 
and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And may this all 
be attended by gladness and rejoicing. And we pray these things through 
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.