As preached by Zach Thompson.
"Psalm 45 is a love song about the majestic glory and righteousness of Jesus and his abundant provision for the church."
1) Jesus is the blessed and only Sovereign (v.2).
2) Jesus is the victorious warrior King (v.3-5).
3) Jesus is the righteous Messiah (v.6-7).
4) Jesus is richly supplied (v.8-9).
5) So, forsake all else and bind yourself to Him.
Good morning Christ Fellowship. This morning, we will be in Psalm 45.
The last few psalms, we have done have all been lament songs. They are songs for the psalmist who felt like God was absent in some way. Songs where it felt like hope is lost, but the psalmist still trusts and hopes in God.
Those last three psalms, 42, 43, and 44, have all been building up to this moment. In response to the deep sadness and questions of the psalmist, God gives a psalm that promises a coming Messiah who would make all of the brokenness in the world to be made right. That is Psalm 45.
Psalm 45 is about a promised person and his eternal lineage—a king.
So now, if you are able to, please stand in honor of the reading of God’s holy, inspired, and inerrant word.
Psalm 45
”To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah; a love song.
1 My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
2 You are the most handsome of the sons of men;
grace is poured upon your lips;
therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
in your splendor and majesty!
4 In your majesty ride out victoriously
for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;
let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!
5 Your arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king’s enemies;
the peoples fall under you.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
10 Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:
forget your people and your father’s house,
11 and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him.
12 The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,
the richest of the people.
13 All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.
14 In many-colored robes she is led to the king,
with her virgin companions following behind her.
15 With joy and gladness they are led along
as they enter the palace of the king.
16 In place of your fathers shall be your sons;
you will make them princes in all the earth.
17 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;
therefore nations will praise you forever and ever."
Let’s Pray.
Psalm 45 is unique among all of the 150 psalms in this book. Of all the psalms, this is the only one that is titled as a love song.
I’m sure you have heard some love songs.
In 1981, Lionel Richie and Diana Ross topped the charts with their love song, “Endless Love.” This song was recently awarded the top spot on a list of 50 love songs that have been popular since the 1950s.
Here are some of the lyrics.
“My love, there's only you in my life
The only thing that's right
My first love
You're every breath that I take
You're every step I make
And I, I want to share
All my love with you
No one else will do
And your eyes, your eyes, your eyes
They tell me how much you care
Ooh, yes
You will always be
My endless love”
It goes on like that. Iconic to some. Irritating to others. But there is one thing that we can agree on here. Our psalm today is not that kind of love song.
But it is a love song! What kind of love song is it?
Often, we think of love songs as two people looking deep into each other’s eyes and gushing at each other.
But Psalm 45 is different. It isn’t a man looking into a woman’s eyes and breaking into poetry (although that does happen in the Bible - See Adam in the Garden and Song of Solomon). Psalm 45 was written by a scribe. Or at least we are going to call him the scribe. It was written by a third party describing what was happening.
We see that in verse 1:
“My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.”
Historically, it’s been assumed that Psalm 45 was written about Solomon and the princess of Egypt. That seems like a real possibility, but the fact is that we don’t know exactly who inspired this psalm. And for us today, I don’t think that the answer to that question ultimately matters.
Because this scribe is looking beyond the king in front of him.
It’s as if he is standing to the side, and he sees the wedding is about to happen. He looks to one side, and he sees the king, then he looks to the other side, and he sees where the bride approaches.
And in that moment, something wells up within him. A deep longing that overflows into these verses.
It’s a longing for the victorious child of Eve that God promised in the Garden of Eden. The one who would crush the head of the serpent. He’s longing for the offspring promised to Abraham who would bless the nations. He is longing for the child of David who would rule forever on an eternal throne.
He is longing for the Messiah. And in the centuries after this psalm was written, it was well-established as a song about the Messiah, not just about the king.
Let me show you one of the reasons.
Look in verses 6-7. “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. [Do you see that? He addresses the king as if he is addressing God.] The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; 7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
He speaks to the king as if he is both God and king, but we know that this king is a man because of what he says in verse 2. “You are the most handsome of the sons of men.”
The scribe is longing for something greater than the man he sees in front of him.
Some might try to gloss over this and go straight to personal application. Like this, as the man of the house, how can I be like this king? As a wife, how can I be like this princess?
There is something to that, but we can’t just rush into it. Just think, if you tried to apply this directly to yourself.
Verse 2, “You are the most handsome of the sons of men.” Gentlemen, as much as you would like to apply this to yourself, don’t try. You might be disappointed.
That’s a bit of a joke, but seriously, you are not the king who is ultimately in view here. Solomon is not the king who is ultimately in view here.
The scribe is longing for something greater than Solomon.
There is only one king who fits everything in this text.
It’s King Jesus. Something greater than Solomon is here.
Jesus is the king in Psalm 45.
Psalm 45 is a love song about the majestic glory and righteousness of Jesus, and his abundant provision for the church. It’s a song that exhorts the church to forsake all else and cling to Christ where her honor and glory will be found.
This is how we will approach this text today: with the knowledge that Jesus is the truest king and that the church is his bride.
I have five points. The first four are shorter, and they are about Jesus. The last one is longer, and it is about how we respond to the first four points.
1. Jesus is the blessed and only sovereign (2,16-17).
Look in verse two.
“You are the most handsome of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.”
There is a logical connection here. I don’t believe that the scribe is pointing out the cause of the king’s blessedness. The point is not that if you are handsome and gracious, then God will bless you.
It’s not a cause; it’s a conclusion. He sees the evidence, and he draws a conclusion.
It’s like in Finding Nemo. Nemo gets stuck in the fish tank at the dentist's office, and he meets a fish there named Deb. You can tell that Deb is already a bit high-strung, and then she introduces Nemo to her reflection named Flo. She obviously thinks that her reflection is another person. And so, even a child can watch the movie and recognize that sweet Deb has a screw loose somewhere.
You are super high-strung; you think your reflection is another person who talks to you; therefore, you are crazy.
It’s a conclusion. Not a cause.
This king is more handsome than any other man, and his speech is gracious. And this evidence points to a conclusion: that God has blessed him forever.
How does the psalmist draw this conclusion?
One thing is that we need to be careful not to import exactly what we think of as handsomeness. In the Hebrew, there is a wholesome overtone to this word. It’s a type of pure beauty. This is why when John Calvin comments on this, he says that this is akin to the glow in the face of someone who is earnest and true.
So don’t get caught up in the idea of this man being romantically attractive. It’s something different.
Think of Isaiah 33:17, “Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty.”
Jesus is dwelling in heaven right now with a glorified body that is perfected and no longer subject to death, more handsome than any of the sons of Men because he is God-made flesh who died and was resurrected. He dwells in glory unmatched. And it is by the grace of his word that we are saved.
This is why the apostle writes what he does in Romans 9:5 when he says that Jesus is “the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever.”
It’s why in 1 Timothy 6, Paul writes that Jesus is “the blessed and only Sovereign.”
Jesus is the blessed and only sovereign.
2. Jesus is the victorious warrior king (3-5).
We see this in verses 3-5.
In these verses, the king is depicted as a majestic warrior. A sword is on his thigh, and he rides in victory. And he isn’t going to war for the sake of territory or greed.
Look in verse 4. Why does he go to battle?
“For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness.”
And he doesn’t just go to battle. He is the victor. His war is utterly righteous.
Verse 4. How does he ride out? He rides victoriously.
Verse 5. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; the peoples fall under you.
This really grates against the way that our society talks about Jesus. Doesn’t it?
Hippie Jesus doesn’t jive with Bible Jesus.
Jesus is gentle and lowly with his people, but he is also the same Jesus of Revelation 19.
Looking ahead to a day when everything is made new.
This is the Jesus who sits on a white war Horse. He is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, he judges and makes war.
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and he is the only king of the universe. He’s wearing a robe dipped in blood, and he is at the head of the armies of heaven. He will strike down the nations with a word, and he will rule them with a rod of iron.
It says that he will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and his thigh, he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Don’t be deceived. Humanity is not a race of God’s children. We are a race of rebels and enemies. And it’s clear what will happen to the enemies of God. They will be struck down.
Listen to 1 Corinthians 15:24-27.
“Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.”
Jesus is the victorious warrior king, and every single one of his enemies will be defeated.
But even in that promise of defeat, we see a promise of deliverance. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
On that day, when Jesus rose from the grave, death heard the first harbinger of its own death. Death will die.
For Christ and for all who are with him, death is still an enemy, but it is a toothless enemy because its days are numbered.
Listen, if you are in Christ, then this victory is yours! Look to that day with hope, and look at every enemy now the confidence that your warrior king will be victorious.
If you are not in Christ, then this can be for you! You don’t have to live in the existential dread of God’s judgment. Jesus will defeat every enemy, but he made a way for you to no longer be his enemy.
That’s why he took on flesh and died and was raised. So that anyone who believes in him would be counted as his child, not his enemy.
Trust in Christ and find hope in his victory.
Our third point is that:
3. Jesus is the righteous Messiah (6-7).
We see this in verses 6-7.
Look in verse 6.
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; 7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;”
These verses are packed with so much.
In these verses, the king is identified with God. “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” He loves justice and hates wickedness because he is a good king. And he has been anointed in a way that is distinct from everyone else.
These verses are packed with expectations for the Messiah. The eternal throne. The scepter. Loving righteousness and hating wickedness. All of this is messianic language.
And then the last line, “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
That’s what Messiah means. “Anointed one.” This is the exact special anointing that characterized the Messiah.
What kind of oil is it? It’s the oil of gladness. This Hebrew word for gladness is a word for great joy and mirth. It’s almost always associated with celebration or what someone is like after experiencing the deliverance of God.
That’s the word gladness, but the “oil of gladness” is an incredibly unique phrase.
The only other place in the Bible that mentions the “oil of gladness” is in Isaiah 61. That is the passage that starts with “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor [and he lists several things there]. . .”
If you don’t remember, that is the passage that Jesus stood up in a synagogue and read it, then he said, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
So what’s the big deal here? In that passage, the oil of gladness isn’t something that the Messiah keeps for himself. It’s something he gives away. He gives them the oil of gladness instead of mourning.
Do you see it? This king isn’t a greedy hoarder of every good thing. He lavishes joy on his people because he himself overflows with it. He has an anointing of gladness that is above all his companions.
I remember an old story about a king whose country was destitute. He himself had nothing. He didn’t even have food to eat, and he went out on a search to find some way to support his people. And he finds a mysterious castle with impenetrable walls. He finally finds a door, and when he gets inside, he finds piles and piles of gold and gems and other wealth. And among gold, he sees skeletons in fine clothes and one with a crown. He finds a record of what happened, and he learns that the walls weren’t designed for an enemy. They were designed to keep the king’s people away from the king’s gold. And while the people wasted away outside the gate, the king and his entourage slowly starved with his piles of money.
King Jesus is the furthest thing from that mythological king. His gladness is gladness to be shared. His righteousness is for his people.
Just dwell on it with gratitude. All that he has is bent toward accomplishing his glory and your good, and together we are going to revel in the joy of his goodness for all eternity.
And that’s part of why the next point is a big deal.
4. Jesus is richly supplied (8-9).
This is in verses 8-9. What he has, he shares with his own.
And to illustrate the richness of his anointing, the scribe starts in verse 8, “Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad; 9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.”
These words paint a picture of majesty and rejoicing and luxury and honor.
It’s meant to communicate the peak of splendor.
First, it talks about how good the king smells, and in the ancient world, it would have been a very unique thing for someone to smell good. These were expensive spices.
Ivory palaces were something that only the wealthiest kings could afford. Stringed instruments intensified the joy that surrounded him.
The daughters of kings being among the ladies of honor signified a place of incredible wealth and influence. The Gold of Ophir was renowned as the standard for purity and the peak of gold quality. This is kind of like saying, “He went to Jared” or “It’s from Tiffany’s” or something like that.
So in the presence of this king, it smells better than anything you smell on a normal day. Your eyes are engaged with every kind of jewel and rare metal. He has influence over everything that is happening. And in his presence, you can literally hear the joy swelling around him.
Why is all of this like this? Because it’s a wedding celebration. He is prepared for the bride, and the bride is prepared for him.
This brings us to our final point.
Forsake all else and bind yourself to him.
When I was around 8 years old, I was stuck in a church van listening to a couple of 13-year-old girls have a conversation. It stuck in my mind because I remember thinking that it was absolutely ridiculous. Heather and Nikeda were talking about the type of man they would marry. Heather said that she was going to marry a man who was rich, but then Nikeda said that a rich man would probably have a bad personality. And on the conversation went. Others chimed in. But Heather insisted that she would find a rich man with a good personality and everything else that she could dream of. Even as an 8-year-old, I thought it was hilarious, especially when she eventually married the guy who ran the front desk at the local music shop.
Why do I bring up Heather’s unrealistic expectations?
Because Jesus is the full package. He is the blessed and only sovereign. He is the victorious warrior king. He is the righteous Messiah, and he is richly supplied.
Jesus is like going to a five-star restaurant that’s also a buffet. For you, there isn’t a catch.
He is himself everything that your soul most deeply desires because you were made to be with God, and God took on flesh to be with you. He died to pay for your sins, and he was raised on the third day in a proclamation of victory over sin and death.
So many of us have control issues, but Jesus is the blessed and only sovereign. We can finally submit to the one who is in perfect control.
Have you ever felt exposed and alone? Like there was no one who would protect you or seek justice on your behalf? Jesus is the victorious warrior king. Every enemy of his will be defeated. And when you are his, you are no longer an enemy. And he will enact perfect justice.
Maybe you have been wronged by someone who was in authority over you. Come dwell with the one who has perfect power and who loves righteousness and hates wickedness.
Do you live in the fear that what you have won’t be enough? Come belong to the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Come walk with the one who paves his streets with gold. And he will supply every need of yours.
All of this comes from the same point of response.
Forsake all else and bind yourself to him.
That’s the exhortation to the bride in our text. Look in verse 10.
“Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear: forget your people and your father’s house, 11 and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him. 12 The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people.”
He exhorts her to forsake her own people and cling to her husband, and if she does this, then this majestic, righteous, and eternally blessed king will love her and because he loves her, she will receive rich gifts.
Jesus has open arms, and if you can hear me today, then all of this is for you.
Christian, forsake all else and bind yourself to him. You need to hear it every day because every day, there are new opportunities to run from Christ and embrace something else.
Forsake all else and bind yourself to him.
If you don’t know Jesus, then I would call you to do the same thing.
Forsake all else and bind yourself to him.
How do you do that?
It’s similar to when I married Courtney. On the day we were married, I said yes to Courtney, and I said no to every other woman. I left my family and I clung to Courtney. Whatever was mine became ours. I forsook all others. And now, she is mine, and I am hers.
Following Jesus might mean letting your family walk away from you. It might mean letting go of the way that you think the world works. It might mean losing friends at work. It might mean that your addiction finally needs to die. It could mean so many things.
In Romans 10:9-10, Paul writes that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved.”
That’s it.
Confess your sin and your neediness to God. Confess him as the true Lord of your life. And believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. Believe him when he says that you are forgiven and made worthy because of his finished work. Vindicated in the eyes of God.
And that’s it. Living that out is a lifelong race, but 2 Corinthians 5 tells us that Jesus died so that we who sinned would become the righteousness of God. When you trust entirely in Jesus, then in a moment, you are counted as forgiven and righteous.
And for all of us, don’t hear me say this and think that this is just about you and Jesus. This psalm isn’t merely about you as an individual. It’s about Christ and his Church.
In Psalm 45, the church is the bride of Christ who forsakes all else and is presented to him in splendor.
And the bride in our psalm does it. In verses 13 to 15, the glorious bride is led to the king with joy and gladness.
And we see a final promise–a benediction.
Look in verse 16: “In place of your fathers shall be your song; you will make them princes in all the earth. I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.”
It’s a benediction written to that earthly union that inspired the psalm. He is writing to a king in the line of David, and from that line came Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
And as we read that promise now, we think of how Christ secured his bride by his work on the cross and his resurrection.
And just as the Author of Hebrews says, in his suffering, he brought “many sons to glory.” Or as Paul writes in 2 Timothy, “If we endure, we will also reign with him.”
And now, we can say with the multitude in Revelation 19,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
8 it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure — for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
9 And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ ”
In Christ, we have hope. We are reconciled to God now, and we look to a day when we will dwell with God, and we will behold the full extent of his blessedness. On that day, he will lay down his sword because every victory will have been won. On that day, the oil of gladness will be for everyone who is counted among the bride of Christ. And in the New Heavens and the New Earth, we will be richly supplied.
We look to that day in hope every week as we come to the table together.
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