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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Psalm 45. Psalm 45, a bit of extended application 
from the last hour, just to show or demonstrate that a divine 
Messiah was not a new conception to John the Apostle. But the 
Old Testament looked forward to the divine Messiah as well. And what we have in Psalm 45 
is something of a royal wedding, namely that which is between 
Christ and his church, and it does correspond to the Song of 
Solomon. One commentator, Alexander, says, 
the allegorical idea of this psalm is carried out in the Song 
of Solomon. And for those of you who have 
read the Song of Solomon, perhaps under the influence of some modern 
preachers, it is not a manual for technique in the marriage 
bed. The older commentators, the older 
theologians understood rightly that it was about God and Israel, 
or better, about Christ and His Church. In fact, John Owen, commenting 
on the Song of Solomon, says, the whole book of Canticles is 
designed to no other purpose but variously to shadow forth, 
to insinuate, and represent the mutual love of Christ and the 
Church. Blessed is he who understands 
the sayings of that book and hath the experience of them in 
his heart. So this is how we will approach 
Psalm 45. Again, the allegorical idea of 
this psalm as a royal wedding between Christ and his church. 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 cassia, 
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. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for this song of love. And God, though we may not be 
composers ourselves, may we take up the Psalms, may we take up 
the great hymns of the faith, may we take up Holy Scripture, 
and may we pray it in and make it our own and recite it to that 
one who is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. May we 
confess faith in Christ and may we worship that blessed Christ 
who has saved us from our sins, who has glorified His name through 
the work of redemption on behalf of His church. And as a church, 
may we see the great privilege that is ours with reference to 
communion with our God, with reference to worship and praise 
and adoration and all the things Scripture enjoins upon us. Again, 
forgive us for all sin and unrighteousness, cleanse us in that precious blood 
of the Lamb, and fill us now with your Holy Spirit. And we 
pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as we look 
at this particular psalm, it breaks down into four places 
or four sections. In the first place, we have the 
intention of the psalmist in verse 1. Secondly, the description 
of the king in verses 2 to 9. Third, the instruction to the 
bride in verses 10 to 15. And then it ends with a declaration 
concerning the King in verses 16 and 17. Of course, the King 
is Messiah. The King is the Lord Jesus Christ. The prophet here is speaking 
under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, mindful of the reality 
of the Messiah to come. So first of all, look at the 
intention of the psalmist. We'll look at verse 1 as it's 
numbered there in the New King James. In the Hebrew Bible, that 
that subscript above to the chief musician set to the lilies, a 
contemplation of the sons of Korah, a song of love. That would 
be numbered as verse one in the Hebrew Bible, but we'll take 
up the English version here. Notice he says, my heart is overflowing 
with a good theme. And as the subscription or superscription, 
I never get those two right, the little words before, verse 
1, it indicates that this is a song of love. It deals with 
the best of themes. It deals with our blessed Lord 
Jesus Christ. And when the psalmist says, my 
heart is overflowing with a good theme, this could also be translated 
boils or bubbles up. It denotes the language of the 
heart, full and ready for utterance. In other words, it's as if the 
psalmist is saying, I have to put my pen to paper. I have to 
let this out. I have to describe and declare 
how glorious this Christ is. You'll see this in Paul's writings. 
There are instances in times where he's discoursing on the 
doctrine of salvation, and then he launches in to doxology. Whenever we consider the person 
and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, the appropriate response 
is worship, the appropriate response is praise, and the appropriate 
response is encapsulated here by the psalmist. Notice what 
he says is the subject matter of his composition. 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's not contemplating his goodness. He's not contemplating 
his merit. He's not contemplating his spirituality 
or his religiosity. He is contemplating King Messiah 
that is promised to come in the prophets. Spurgeon makes the 
observation here. He says, some here see Solomon 
and Pharaoh's daughter only. Again, persons look at the Song 
of Solomon in that way. He says, some see here 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. Spurgeon is right, because 
as the psalmist declares the perfections of the coming king, 
he not only confesses his true humanity, but he also confesses 
the divinity of Christ. So having looked at the intention 
of the psalmist in verse one, let's move now to the description 
of the king in verses two to nine. In the first place, the 
psalmist celebrates the perfections of God. Brethren, that is what 
we call theology proper. It is good to ponder not only 
what God gives to us, but to ponder who God is, who God is 
essentially, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to ponder who God 
is relative to those perfections that He manifests through the 
creation of the world, through the providential order and through 
the redemptive order. When we look around us, we are 
to be drawn back to God. Those invisible attributes demonstrate 
His eternal power and His Godhead, according to Romans 1, verses 
19 and 20. And so it's good for the saint 
of Christ to ponder the perfections of Christ as fodder or as a means 
by which we enter into the presence of Christ to celebrate and to 
worship and to glorify Him. In the first place, he highlights 
the presence of God's grace upon King Messiah. Verse two, you 
are fairer than the sons of men. Grace is poured upon your lips. Therefore, God has blessed you 
forever. And it's intriguing because the 
Hebrew here, the word is doubled. Literally, it is, you are fairer, 
fairer, or you are beautiful, beautiful. One dictionary says, 
you are the fairest, or thou art more beautiful than. So in 
the world of men, as he's contemplating the savior of men, his heart 
is drawn out to compose this song of love. It runs heavenward 
as he ponders the majesty of King Messiah. Spurgeon again 
says, Jesus is so emphatically lovely that words must be doubled, 
strained, yay, 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. And 
as we look at this particular perfection that Jesus has the 
grace of God poured out upon him, remember the hypostatic 
union, the one person, two natures. Christ, according to his humanity, 
had the presence of the Spirit without measure. Christ, according 
to his humanity, had the grace of his Father poured out on him 
in abundance to fit him for the work of mediator. As we move 
through the psalm, we'll see that God, thy God, hath anointed 
you. Again, according to his humanity, 
for the function as mediator, as the prophet, priest, and king, 
tasked with the salvation of his people. The grace and blessing 
of God upon Jesus is evident. Turn for one sample passage to 
the Gospel of Luke. Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 
4 evidences what we see throughout Scripture in terms of grace poured 
upon our Lord Jesus Christ. But if you look specifically 
at chapter 4 in Luke's Gospel in verse 22, Well, we'll pick up reading in 
verse 16. So he came to Nazareth where 
he had been brought up. And as his custom was, he went 
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And 
he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had 
opened the book, he found the place where it was written. The 
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to 
preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, 
to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the 
blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim 
the acceptable year of the Lord. Then He closed the book and gave 
it back to the attendant and sat down. Brethren, that passage 
comes from Isaiah the prophet, chapter 61, verses one and two. If I were to take that as my 
text and I was to read it, I would make sure you knew that it wasn't 
written about me. I don't think I'd even have to 
take any time to convince you of that. Honestly, you wouldn't 
even have to think, is this written about him? Jesus reads the passage, 
closes the book, hands it back to the attendant, and he sits 
down. What is the implication? What is the application? The 
one the prophet Isaiah wrote concerning is present among them. The one the prophets set forth 
is now amongst the sons of men. And then notice in verse 20, 
and the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on 
him. And he began to say to them, 
today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Again, the one 
that is the subject of Isaiah's prophecy is the one who reads 
Isaiah's prophecy and then says that this scripture is fulfilled 
in your hearing. 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 they 
marveled at the gracious words that proceeded from his mouth. 
Now, that opinion changes when Jesus turns direction and highlights 
the absolute unrivaled sovereignty of God Most High. They then want 
to throw him off a cliff. But at least up to this point, 
they understood what the psalmist declares in terms of God's abundant 
grace being upon the mediator of the new covenant. Back to 
Psalm 45, the second perfection of the king celebrated by the 
psalmist is his commitment to truth and righteousness. This 
should be a great encouragement to those of us blood-bought, 
to those of us conquered by sovereign grace, to those of us who love 
the truth of God's holy word and who love righteousness. We 
may not have it experientially as we'd like, but we certainly 
appreciate it when it's modeled before us. And we see with reference 
to the Messiah, this is precisely in view. Verses 3 and 4. 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. So the king is fitted 
for battle. But the king is also fitted for 
battle externally in terms of this triumphant ride, but notice 
his commitment with reference to truth, humility, and righteousness. Again, those perfections of God 
Most High are especially alluring when we live in a world that 
is marked by non-truth and deception. When we are living in a world 
that is marked by pride and arrogance and narcissism, and when we are 
living in a world that is marked by unrighteousness and filth 
and depravity, the blessed Messiah promised by God, who would come 
to save His people from their sins, would be unique. He would 
be like no other. He would be fitted and equipped 
by the Father with great grace. And with this provision as well, 
he would be committed to truth and righteousness in the pursuit 
of his ministry. And then notice thirdly, his 
triumph. I don't know if this is a perfection 
or a work, but I want to keep it consistent with his head, 
so we'll call it a perfection. Notice the triumph over his enemies 
indicated in verse 4. We saw a parallel in Revelation 
19, 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 people shall fall under you. 
And when we come to the New Testament, when the King Messiah arrives, 
and when the King Messiah declares his mission, we know it is consistent 
with this song of love. We know that the sons of Korah 
were not simply making this up. They were not just conceiving 
that in a world of possibility, this would be the kind of Messiah 
that we would desire. The triumph of our blessed Lord 
Jesus speaks great peace and security to the people of God. How do we not face Matthew 16 
with great confidence and with great joy when Jesus says, I 
will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail 
against it? Our blessed Lord Jesus is committed 
to the propagation of his glorious gospel and the establishment 
of his blessed kingdom. Or in Matthew 28, 18 to 20, he 
says, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to 
me. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy 
Spirit. And then he says, and lo, I am with you always, even 
to the end of the age. Don't miss what he's saying there 
in Matthew 28. It's not simply a commission 
to the church, but it is a revelation of the perfections of the savior 
of the church to encourage the church as she goes about following 
in his train to advance that kingdom as well. He surrounds 
the command, go therefore and make disciples with a reference 
to his omnipotence. All authority in heaven and on 
earth has been given to me. And then he ends the declaration 
with his divine omnipresence. And lo, I am with you always, 
even to the end of the age. In other words, church, as we 
are tasked with evangelism, as we are tasked with the missionary 
enterprise, as we are tasked with disciple making and church 
planting, we have great confidence. This Messiah, as he is exhibited 
here in Psalm 45, and in your majesty ride prosperously because 
of truth, humility, and righteousness, we have the great encouragement 
of triumph in and through our Lord Jesus. There will be the 
gates of Hades that launch these counter-offensives. There will 
be this world that does crush us down from time to time, but 
we are to be of good cheer for Christ has overcome the world. 
But as well, with reference to this victory or this triumphant 
ride, notice the arrows of the king find their mark in his enemies. This is precisely what the sons 
of Korah say. It says in verse 5, your arrows 
are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies. The peoples fall 
under you. In another psalm, Psalm 110 verse 
1, we read that Yahweh says to my Lord, David says, sit at my 
right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. In one of the 
clearest explanations of biblical eschatology in 1 Corinthians 
15, verses 20 to 28, Paul reminds us that the rule and reign of 
Christ is presently happening, that he is lowering his foot 
upon all of his enemies. And when we get to that eternal 
state, when that new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven as a 
bride adorned for her husband, do you know what obtains in that 
place? Righteousness, godliness, communion with our blessed Lord. All wickedness and all lawlessness 
and all wretchedness and evil is excluded from the Holy City. 
Revelation 21.8 tells us that. Revelation 22 tells us that. So in this we understand that 
Christ must reign till all of his enemies are made his footstool. 
There's no abortion in the New Jerusalem. There's no euthanasia 
in the New Jerusalem. There's no abuse in the New Jerusalem. This is the place wherein righteousness 
dwells and the psalmist is celebrating that reality. Your arrows are 
sharp in the heart of the king's enemies. That ought to encourage 
us as well. I referred to a passage, I think 
it was last week, that I want to read for you. 2 Thessalonians 
chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. You can turn there. It's always 
good to see it with your own eyes so you realize the preacher 
isn't making it up. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. The point here is that as the 
people of God, we rejoice in the triumphs of our blessed King. As the people of God, we root 
for the triumph of our blessed King. As the people of God, we 
wait in confident hope and expectation of the triumph of our blessed 
King. And if you look specifically 
at 2 Thessalonians 1, Paul writes in verse 3, we are bound to thank 
God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your 
faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you 
all abounds toward each other. so that we ourselves boast of 
you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in 
all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest 
evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted 
worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer, since 
it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation 
those who trouble you." See, Paul doesn't say, this is horrific, 
this is terrible, this is bad, this is the behest of a vengeful 
God. that is out to conquer his enemies. 
No, Paul understands this blessed reality, recognized by the sons 
of Korah, not just in Psalm 45, but throughout the entirety of 
Scripture, that God Most High is just, that God Most High is 
righteous, that God Most High is equitable, and God Most High 
will vindicate both His name and His church. And as far as 
Paul is concerned, the Thessalonians need to be on board with this 
and understand it and praise God for it. Back to verse 6, 
since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation 
those who trouble you, and to give to you who are troubled 
rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with 
his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those 
who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Revelation chapter 6. 
Revelation chapter 6. Again, just to emphasize that 
the church loves and the church adores and the church is for 
her victorious king when it comes to the matter of him lowering 
his foot upon his enemies. Certainly, as Christians who 
are filled with love and compassion and kindness, we pray for the 
enemies of God that they, by grace, would be saved. Because 
we understand what it is to have been an enemy of God and to now 
be saved by grace. We don't believe on this side 
of heaven, on this side of life, that people are out of hope. Now, there might be apostates, 
but we don't know who they are. They don't have a big A on their 
head. There's no indicating mark. So when there is breath, there 
is hope. And so we preach the word, we 
pray for them, and we sincerely hope that the enemies of Christ 
would be made his friends by that conquering grace. But at 
the end, brethren, when Christ has done, with reference to lowering 
his foot upon his enemies, there is that vindicatory justice of 
God that shines brightly. And the saints in heaven long 
for that. Notice in Revelation 6 at verse 
9, when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls 
of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony 
which they held. And they cried with a loud voice 
saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true until you judge and 
avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. Then a white 
robe was given to each of them, and it was said to them that 
they should rest a little while longer, until both the number 
of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be 
killed as they were, was completed." In other words, it's the sovereign 
providence of God that these things obtain. But that does 
not minimize the spirits of just men made perfect in that heavenly 
place to cry out to God for His vengeance upon His enemies. And 
then for application of that vengeance, notice in verse 12, 
I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a 
great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of 
air, and the moon became like blood, and the stars of heaven 
fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is 
shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll 
when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved 
out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the 
great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every 
slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in 
the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and the 
rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits 
on the throne. And then notice this next clause. 
And from the wrath of the Lamb, Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, 
comes in judgment. Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, 
lowers his foot upon the enemies of God Most High. Verse 17 underscores 
by saying, for the great day of his wrath has come, and who 
is able to stand? So going back to Psalm 45, As 
we appreciate Messiah, as we ponder his perfections, let us 
never let go of that perfection of justice and of righteousness 
and his commitment to vindicate both his name and the church. Davis makes the observation, 
we must catch the vision of the faithful and true sitting on 
the white horse, 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. Truer words couldn't 
be spoken in terms of an encouragement to the people of God. What stabilizes 
and what steadies the people of God? Yes, the love of Christ. Yes, the mercy of Christ. Yes, 
the grace of Christ. But yes, the justice of Christ. Yes, the vengeance of Christ 
and the lowering of his foot upon the enemies of God most 
high. This was not something that the 
psalmist was embarrassed about. It is certainly not something 
that Paul is embarrassed about, and it's not something the apostle 
John was embarrassed about, or those spirits of just men made 
perfect under that altar in Revelation 6. They cried out, how long, 
O Lord? They cried out for God Most High 
to work in vengeance against His enemies. Paul tells us in 
Romans chapter 12, we're not to avenge ourselves, but rather 
give place to wrath. And then he cites Deuteronomy 
where God says, vengeance is mine, I will repay. So Paul's 
not saying that wrath and vengeance are necessarily evil. He is saying 
it's evil for the people of God to take up wrath and vengeance 
against their enemies or God's enemies. That's what's evil and 
bad. But God is a just God. God is 
a righteous God. God is an equitable God, and 
God will render punishment on those who despise Him. And back 
to Psalm 45, another perfection found in verse 7b is the anointing 
of God the Father, again, according to the humanity of Christ. Gill 
makes that observation. who though he is called God, 
in verse six, 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. So again, that comes up later 
in the first chapter of John. The spirit descends upon Jesus 
at his baptism and remains upon him. He received the spirit without 
measure. He's anointed by God the Father 
for the task of mediation. He's anointed by God the Father 
as that prophet, priest, and king come to save us from our 
sins. And then in verses eight and 
nine, you have both the royal attire of the king and the royal 
entourage. Verse 8, with reference to the 
king, all your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cashew 
out of the ivory palaces by which they have made you glad. This 
is perfect stuff in an allegory concerning a royal wedding. I 
think the last royal wedding was Harry and Meghan, as far 
as my memory serves me. Not that I keep a list of such 
things or actually care about such things. The only royal wedding 
ceremony I care about is in Psalm 45. But it's great pomp. and glory and the display of 
majesty. It is a display of blessedness. And that's what the psalmist 
is doing. That's what the sons of Korah 
are engaged in in this song of love. They're meditating upon 
King Messiah and they understand his attire is most glorious. 
They understand that he's attended by most glorious persons. It 
all speaks to the perfections of this blessed King. But not 
only his perfections, the psalmist as well describes the king according 
to his person. And we see that in verses six 
and seven. In the first place, he underscores 
the divinity of the king. I remember several years ago, 
Dr. Greg Bonson was on Dennis Prager's 
radio show. Dennis Prager is very famous 
now, PragerU. Well, Prager goes back a long 
time. And in the 80s, he had Greg Bonson 
on, he had a Catholic priest, and he had a Jewish rabbi. I 
know it has the makings of a great joke, but that's actually what 
he had on there. And Dennis Prager asked, what 
is the non-negotiable for each of your faiths in terms of how 
you can be considered a Jew or a Catholic or a Protestant? And because I'm biased, I guess, 
but actually because he just did a great job. Bonson stole 
the day. I mean, he was just fantastic. 
But at one point, a bit of a debate came up between the Jewish rabbi 
and Greg Bonson. The Jewish rabbi denied that 
Messiah would be divine. And Greg Bonson says a textual 
reading of the scripture, whether you believe it or not, indicates 
that the Messiah is divine. Psalm 110.1 is a great example 
of that. Yahweh says to my Lord, sit at 
my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. Yahweh 
doesn't put a creature as His equal on the throne. Yahweh puts 
His Son on the throne. As well, look at the clear ascription 
of divinity to our blessed King in verse 6. throne, O God, is 
forever and ever. A scepter of your righteousness 
is the scepter of your kingdom." Again, Spurgeon makes the observation, 
the psalmist cannot restrain his adoration. If you don't have 
Spurgeon on the Psalms, get Spurgeon on the Psalms. You can download 
it, you can read it online. It's called The Treasury of David. 
It's a wonderful three-volume in print commentary on the Psalms. But he says, the psalmist cannot 
restrain his adoration. His enlightened eyes sees in 
the royal husband of the church, God. God to be adored, God reigning, 
God reigning everlastingly, blessed sight, blind of the eyes that 
cannot see God in Christ Jesus. So does the Old Testament depict 
for us, does it foretell, does it prophesy a divine Messiah? Most assuredly, it does. And we have the application of 
this particular verse to our Lord Jesus Christ in Hebrews 
chapter 1 at verse 8. Now, for the book of Hebrews, 
the whole idea is that Christ is supreme over everything. He's supreme over the angels. 
He's supreme over the prophets. He's supreme over Moses. He's 
supreme over Joshua. He is the supreme one. And in 
Hebrews chapter 1, the author, Paul, I believe, makes it clear 
that Christ is in fact divine. So the divinity of Christ is 
one of those perfections, or not a perfection rather, but 
it is that aspect of his person that elicits from the psalmist 
great praise and this song of love. But he not only highlights 
the divinity of the king, but he indicates something of the 
nature of his kingdom. Turn first to Isaiah 9. Isaiah 
chapter 9, where you see a similar thing take place there. Isaiah 
chapter 9, a passage that we're all very familiar with, at least 
at Christmastime. I'd like to think it's every 
time, not just Christmastime, that this one matters to us. 
But notice in Isaiah 9, verse 6, for unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. 
And his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting 
Father, Prince of Peace. That's a description of the King. 
That's the Messiah to come again. Does the Old Testament indicate 
that Messiah would be divine? Yes, it most certainly does. 
He is mighty God. He is prince of peace. He is 
everlasting father. That doesn't mean he's the father 
in terms of father, son, and spirit. Take that redemptively 
in terms of his people. He is the one who saves them 
from their sins. And then notice that the kingdom 
is described in verse seven. of the increase of his government 
and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and 
over his kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment 
and justice, from that time forward, even forever, the zeal of the 
Lord of hosts will perform this." So you have both king and kingdom 
described. King and kingdom prophesied. 
King and kingdom underscored relative to the glory involved. 
That's what the sons of Korah do in Psalm 45, verse 6. Your throne, O God, is forever 
and ever. It's not just the divinity of 
Christ, but it's the throne of Christ. Your throne, O God. Do you realize that in the book 
of Revelation, throne comes up over and over again? I'm going 
to just call out a number. It's probably wrong, but it's 
in my head. I think it's like 18 or 19 times. That's significant 
because what the book of Revelation does is it shows the battle-weary 
church on earth. It shows what the Church of Christ 
goes through in this world. When you look at the letters 
to the churches in Asia Minor in Revelation 2 and 3, you see 
that it wasn't a walk in the park. You see that they weren't 
just unaffected by the world around them. They were just spiritual 
people having all this, you know, communion with God Most High. 
No, Jesus, by the Spirit, writes to these pastors of the churches 
to encourage them to overcome. You get into this revelation 
of the opening of the seals, and I take this as the war with 
reference to the Romans and the Jews in AD 70. Whether you take 
it that way or not doesn't matter. But you see there's going to 
be discomfort on the face of the earth. You get to chapter 
13, you've got the two beasts, the beast from the sea and the 
beast from the land. You've got these evil personages 
working against the church. And yet throughout, what are 
we presented by the apostle? doom, gloom, misery, hang your 
head in shame. No, the throne of Christ, the 
crown of our blessed savior, the reality that he is king of 
kings and Lord of lords. Revelation 19, 11 to 16 that 
we read at the outset of worship is what John wants for the people 
of God to have in their minds and their hearts when they traverse 
this lower world. Because there is embattlement, 
because there is hardship, because there is difficulty, our minds 
need to be taken to the divine savior for sinners that the sons 
of Korah compose a song of love for. So he's not only divine, 
but he has a throne and that throne is forever and ever. It says, your throne, O God, 
is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is 
the scepter of his kingdom, or of your kingdom. So the Messiah 
to come would be divine. But he doesn't stop there. Notice 
in verse 7, in Psalm 45, he underscores the humanity of Jesus Christ. 
So he's both divine and human. He's both God and man. Verse 7, you love righteousness 
and hate wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has 
anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. See, the psalmist just recites 
this. He just rehearses this. He doesn't 
engage in polemics to try to prove that it's going to be the 
case. He, like John, begins, in the beginning was the Word, 
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Dropping down, 
he says, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld 
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 
full of grace and truth. The blessed Savior for sinners 
is both God and man. two natures, one person, we call 
that doctrine the hypostatic union. And when we ask the question, 
why was it requisite or why was it necessary for the mediator 
to be a man? The Westminster Larger Catechism 
says it was requisite or necessary that the mediator should be man, 
that he might advance our nature, perform obedience to the law, 
suffer and make intercession for us in our nature, have a 
fellow feeling of our infirmities, that we might receive the adoption 
of sons and have comfort and access with boldness unto the 
throne of grace. So Christ in his glorious person, 
both God and man, is specifically designed to answer the needs 
of redemption. We need him as God. We need him 
as man. Our confession, speaking with 
reference to this hypostatic union, tells us, reflecting the 
creed at Chalcedon, so 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. Before we 
leave this hat, I want to just mention one more quote, John 
Owen on Isaiah 9.6. Do you get that where Isaiah 
tells us he is a child born and he's mighty God? How does that 
work? Well, Owen answers that the same 
person should be the mighty God and a child born is neither conceivable 
or possible, nor can be true, but by the union of the divine 
and human natures in the same person. So does the Old Testament 
prophesy a divine Messiah? It most certainly does. Does 
the Old Testament prophesy a human Messiah? It most certainly does. The first prophecy concerning 
the coming of Messiah is in Genesis chapter 3, and we are told that 
it would be a man. not an angel, he would be a man 
born of a woman, and that he would undergo his triumph, his 
victory, through his own suffering and death. And that, in Genesis 
3.15, is then opened up throughout scripture, and we see the full 
realization in the coming of our blessed Savior in the incarnation. So let's look thirdly now at 
the instruction to the bride in verses 10 to 15. You have 
instructions, verses 10 to 12, and then you have a bit of a 
description of the bride in verses 13 to 15. So here's the church. So the sons of Korah meditating 
upon, contemplating this blessed Savior, this blessed King, now 
turn the attention to the church that he comes to save, the church 
that he comes to redeem. Notice in the first place the 
necessity of repentance. The necessity of repentance. 
Now, in a new covenant setting and in an old covenant setting, 
remember that repentance and faith are always two sides of 
the same coin. Repentance must be believing 
repentance, and belief must be repentant believing. In other 
words, when we look at the book of Acts, they use those terms 
interchangeably. In some contexts, they say, repent 
and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for 
the remission of sins. Dropping down later to verse 
44 in that chapter, they're referred to as believers. And so belief 
and repentance are two sides of the same coin. There are graces 
granted by God to his people such that they can close with 
or receive the Savior for sinners. And here in verse 10, it's a 
broader kind of an idea. Listen, oh daughter, consider 
and incline your ear, forget your own people also, and your 
father's house. Alec Mottier says the heaping 
up of four verbs of command in verse 10 places enormous emphasis 
on the bride's need to put the past behind and find her all 
in her new relationship. See what the church is being 
told. Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear. Forget 
your own people also and your father's house. In other words, 
when the Messiah comes to you, everything else doesn't matter 
anymore. Now again, we cannot universalize 
that. That doesn't mean we go live 
out in the desert and only read the Bible and pray. We still 
have commitment and family and all that sort of thing. But when 
it comes to our closure with Christ, it is exclusive in terms 
of our allegiance. Go back to Genesis 12 for an 
illustration of this. Genesis chapter 12 for an illustration 
of this. One old, one new. Genesis chapter 12, verse one. Now the Lord had said to Abram, 
get out of your country from your family and from your father's 
house to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great 
nation. I will bless you and make your 
name great. And you shall be a blessing. 
I will bless those who bless you. And I will curse him who 
curses you. And in you, all the families 
of the earth shall be blessed. Do you ever ponder, verse one, 
get out of your country from your family and from your father's 
house. Abraham had a life. Abraham had 
a family. Abraham had a country. Abraham 
had everything in play. And then God, the God of Israel, 
Yahweh comes and says, leave all that behind. Notice what 
he says in Genesis chapter 15, again, which underscores the 
glory of service to God Most High. Genesis 15.1, After these 
things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, 
Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly 
great reward. That's the emphasis in verse 
10 in Psalm 45. Listen, O daughter, consider 
and incline your ear. Forget your own people also in 
your father's house. The Lord Jesus describes it as 
those who don't hate their father and mother more than him aren't 
worthy to follow him. Again, he's not teaching that 
we're to disobey the fifth commandment. He's not teaching that somehow 
hatred is okay from the Christian to his or her parent. He is making 
a comparative statement. Christ is, in the language of 
the bride, altogether lovely. Christ is, in the language of 
the bride, chief among 10,000. And as a result, leave everything 
behind and follow after Him. John Gill makes the observation, 
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. Again, the point is, 
is that Christ is worthy to forsake every other thing. Christ is 
the chief among 10,000. Christ is the blessed one. Christ 
is the glorious one. And there is no question in terms 
of allegiance on the part of Christ's people. We bow to Him. We confess Him. We love Him. We serve Him. We adore Him. And in our evangel, when we describe 
Christ to people, when we hold forth the promise of blessing, 
let us do it the way the bride does. You can turn to Song of 
Solomon, chapter 5. Song of Solomon, chapter 5. Verse 
10. My beloved is white and ruddy, 
chief among ten thousand. His head is like the finest gold, 
his locks are wavy and black as a raven. His eyes are like 
doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk and fitly set. 
His cheeks are like a bed of spices, banks of scented herbs. 
His lips are lilies, dripping liquid myrrh. His hands are rods 
of gold set with barrel. His body is carved ivory inlaid 
with sapphires. His legs are pillars of marble 
set on bases of fine gold. His countenance is like Lebanon, 
excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet. Yes, 
he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this 
is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. Kids, I know that 
this language sounds a bit foreign. It sounds a bit odd, not only 
to the kids, but to the adults. Why is this an attractive person? Well, we need to go back into 
the ancient Near Eastern world. We need to unfold each of these 
particular aspects. But suffice it to say, she is 
describing a most attractive man. She is describing a most 
beautiful man. And kids, especially, hear me. that Christ is the best, Christ 
is the most wondrous, Christ is worth your heart, life, attention, 
devotion, whatever. And then notice, if we describe 
Christ the way that the bride does, under God's blessing, we 
might actually hear the response of those to whom we witness. 
Look at verse 1 in chapter 6. Where has your beloved gone, 
O fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned 
aside, that we may seek him with you? When we describe the perfections 
of Messiah, when we underscore the humanity and divinity of 
the one Messiah, when we portray Him as the Apostle Paul does, 
as the Apostle John does, as John the Baptist witnessed to 
Him, then perhaps, under the blessing of God, the people that 
we speak to will say, where is He that I might find Him too? 
The kind of preaching that God typically blesses is the kind 
of preaching that magnifies Jesus Christ. It's all about Him. Jesus Christ is everything, and 
the Bible everywhere tells us that. The scope of the Scripture 
is Him. the glory of God in the salvation 
of sinners by His Son, the Lord Jesus. So the church, back in 
Psalm 45.10, is to count every other thing as done for the excellence 
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Paul's experience in 
Philippians 3 goes right along with this. He had the resume. 
He had all of the accouterments. He had all of the requirements 
met. But when he meets Jesus on the 
road to Damascus, he understands that those things that I once 
trusted in, those things that I once held to as my badge of 
authority or my badge of identity, they were like dung to me. They 
were like rubbish. They were like stuff to be thrown 
to the dogs. Now I have the blessedness of 
Jesus Christ as my Lord. So back to Psalm 45, the necessity 
of worshiping the king is highlighted in verses 11 and 12. If he is 
altogether lovely, if he is chief among 10,000, if he is worth 
leaving everything for, well then what do we do? We do what 
we're told in verse 11. 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. Her desirability to the king 
because the king has cleansed her for himself and the worship 
of the king on the part of the bride because he has cleansed 
her and fit her for worship of himself. And then notice the 
description of the bride in verses 13 to 15. Her glory is indicated 
in verse 13a. And then her garments. Look at 
the focus upon her garments in 13b and 14. It says 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. So the idea, again, it's 
a royal wedding, focusing not only the majesty of the king 
and all that he is girded up with, but also the majesty of 
the queen and what she is arrayed in. But there's a larger theological 
context in terms of God clothing his bride. Turn to the prophet 
Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 61. Isaiah chapter 61. It's not the bride who does this. It's not the bride who makes 
herself fit. It's not the bride who makes 
herself cleansed. It's not the bride who makes 
herself lovely and glorious and ready to be married to the bridegroom. It's God. It's the bridegroom. It is that blessed King. Notice 
in 6110, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be 
joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments 
of salvation. He has covered me with the robe 
of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments 
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Notice, my soul 
shall be joyful in my God. Why? For He has clothed me with 
the garments of salvation. Turn to the prophet Zechariah, 
Zechariah chapter 3. Zechariah chapter 3, the second 
to the last book in the Old Testament. Zechariah chapter 3, beginning 
in verse 1. Then he showed me Joshua the 
high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan 
standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said 
to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, Satan. The Lord who has chosen 
Jerusalem rebuke you. Is this not a brand plucked from 
the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was 
standing before the angel. Then he answered and spoke to 
those who stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments 
from him. And to him he said, See, I have 
removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich 
robes. Turn to Philippians chapter 3. 
While you're turning there, I'll mention two other metaphorical 
uses of the clothing of God with reference to the righteousness 
of the saints. You have it in Matthew's Gospel, the parable 
of the wedding feast. That man who shows up and he 
doesn't have the right garment is excluded. The garment is the 
righteousness of Jesus Christ. Luke 15, we see that again, displayed 
by way of illustration in parabolic teaching. The father takes the 
robe and he lays it upon the son. We are to appreciate the 
imputation of the righteousness of Christ as what makes the bride 
lovely. It's not our righteousness. It's 
not our law-keeping. It's not a mix and match of both. It is the imputed righteousness 
of Jesus, which is received by faith alone. And in Philippians 
chapter 3, notice in verse 7, But what things were gained to 
me, these I have counted lost for Christ. Yet indeed, I also 
count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of 
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all 
things and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. Now notice 
the language of verse 9 and the imputation of Christ's righteousness. "...and be found in him, not 
having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which 
is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God 
by faith." So going back to Psalm 45, brethren, there is no new 
thing under the sun. The sons of Korah may have been 
a psalm of David, most likely, but it's ascribed to the sons 
of Korah. David was involved. He superintended 
the Psalter as a whole. But with reference to David, 
with reference to the sons of Korah, with reference to Asaph, 
that melancholy spirit or that melancholy man that wrote several 
of the Psalms, we see that consistent emphasis, not on their righteousness, 
but on the righteousness of Jesus Christ, imputed to them and received 
by faith alone. And so when we come back to Psalm 
45, after having described her glory, her garments, it then 
tells us her communion with the king. In verse 15, with gladness 
and rejoicing, they shall be brought, they shall enter the 
king's palace. That's the response of the bride. 
Guilt, grace, gratitude. We are guilty sinners under a 
holy God. He meets us with His gracious 
provision in His blessed Son. And we respond with gladness 
of heart, with gratitude in our hearts, with praise and worship. 
This isn't a somber occasion. This isn't a fast day. This is a feast day. And the 
people of God rejoice when they meet their blessed King. And 
then back to Psalm 45, it ends with a declaration concerning 
the king in verses 16 and 17. Verse 16, he's not talking to 
the church. He's not talking to the queen. 
He's not talking to the king's daughter. He is speaking rather 
to king Messiah himself. Verse 16, instead of your fathers 
shall be your sons, whom you shall make princes in all the 
earth. Gill says this is an address, 
not to the church, the queen, the king's daughter, spoken to 
and of in the preceding verses, but to the king himself. 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, and which 
being attended with his mighty power made them triumphant conquerors 
everywhere. So that, for sure, 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. And then the 
psalmist returns to where he began. He starts off in verse 
1 with his heart overflowing, composing a goodly theme, celebrating 
the best of things, and in verse 17 he says, I will make your 
name. to be remembered in all generations. 
Therefore, the people shall praise you forever and ever." Well, 
praise God most high that the man appointed for the salvation 
of his people is both God and man, the second person of the 
blessed Trinity who took on our humanity in order to live for 
us, to die for us, and to rise again. That death on the cross 
is absolutely crucial, such that we can be washed from our sins. 
But that life of obedience is absolutely crucial, such that 
the righteousness of Christ can be imputed to us. Because God 
most high in both Testaments says, behold, to obey is better 
than to sacrifice. It's not enough that we're forgiven, 
but we must have a righteousness that avails with the Father, 
and Christ has provided that. And it is for those reasons, 
as specified in Psalm 45 and as specified throughout the allegorical 
interpretation in Song of Solomon, that the bride refers to him 
as chief among 10,000 and altogether lovely. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank you for the Lord Jesus. We thank you for 
not only what John says in John 1 in his prologue, but what the 
sons of Korah report here in Psalm 45, what the entirety of 
Holy Scripture tells us concerning this blessed King. We give praise 
to you, not only for the throne of Christ presently, but that 
it will go forever. It is eternal. And thank you 
that it will ultimately redound to the praise and the glory of 
almighty God in the vindication of your great name, in the vindication 
of your church, and ultimately in the exclusion of the enemies 
of Christ from that new Jerusalem. I pray that you would bless and 
encourage our hearts and that we would respond with gladness 
and with joy in the presence of our great King. And we ask 
in Jesus' name, amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation.