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.

Introduction to Psalm 45

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

The Psalmist's Intention

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,

Description of King Messiah

let's move now to the description of the king in verses two to nine.

The Perfections of the King

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.

The Divinity of the King

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

The Nature of His Kingdom

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.

The Humanity of the King

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

Instruction to the Bride

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.

The Necessity of Repentance

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 Worshipping the King

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

Description and Garments of the Bride

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,

The Bride's Communion with the King

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

Declaration Concerning the King

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.

Closing Prayer

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.

Scripture References

• Genesis 3:15; 12:1; 15:1
• Deuteronomy 32:35
• Psalm 45; 110:1
• Isaiah 9:6-7; 61:1-2; 61:10
• Zechariah 3:1
• Matthew 16:18; 22:11-12; 28:18-20
• Luke 4:16; 4:20; 4:22; 15:22
• John 1:1; 1:14
• Romans 1:19-20; 9:4; 12:19
• 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
• Philippians 3:7-9
• 2 Thessalonians 1:3-7
• Hebrews 1:8
• Song of Solomon 5:10; 6:1
• Revelation 2-3; 6:9; 6:12; 6:17; 13; 19:11-16; 21:8; 22