The Glory of the Messiah (Psalm 45:1-6)
Title: “To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lilies (Shoshannim).” A Contemplation (Maschil) of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.” The sons of Korah wereLevites. By David’s time they served musically in the Temple worship (2Chr 20:19). Psalm 1 is a special Psalm revealing God’s glorious eternal Purpose - the Marriage of Christ the anointed King and His glorious Bride-Queen (the redeemed), as seen in Rev 21-22. In this way, it completes Psalm 44, showing the answer to the challenge it presents - the suffering of the righteous. As the New Testament makes clear, it only makes sense in the light of eternity, and Psalm 45 gives us a wonderful glimpse of the eternal perspective, showing God’s glorious outcome for the righteous, when all their sufferings are over. Introduction. v1: “My heart is overflowing (bubbling over, springing up) with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning (or ‘to’) the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready (skilful)Writer.” He is so aware of God’s Hand on Him (the Spirit welling up within him), that he describes the process of Divine inspiration in composing Scripture (2Tim 3:16, 2Peter 1:21). The skilful Writer is God’s Spirit, who uses a pen (the tongue of the human author) to express His thoughts, which he then wrote down. Thus, God is the original author of Scripture, written thru a human instrument. In particular, it is a prophetic Psalm, whereby God speaks thru the Psalmist. It is set at the Wedding of a King, a day of great joy (v8-9,13-15), after which He must go into battle to defeat all his enemies (v3-5). The language is so majestic that it can’t fit any earthly king, even Solomon (who was not a warrior). This King is an everlasting King, God has blessed Him forever (v3), His throne is forever and ever (v6) and people will praise Him for ever and ever (v17). He is unique among all men, in being the most beautiful in holiness and righteousness (v2,7), as a result He is more highly anointed than all others (v7), which clearly identifies Him as the Messiah (the Anointed One). Mostly clearly, He is called Elohim (God) in v6,7, to be worshipped (v11) - when applied to an individual, Elohim is only used of God. This is one of many Old Testament prophecies that declare the Messiah-King is God as well as man (Is 7:14, 9:6, Mic 5:2, Jer 23:5-6). Therefore, this is a Messianic Psalm, as confirmed by Hebrews 1, where it is quoted and applied to Jesus Christ (Heb 1:8-9, Ps 45:6-7). This proves Jesus is both the Messiah and God. Thus, the Psalm speaks of the ultimate King, Jesus the Messiah, and His eternal Bride, which will consist of all the redeemed. This promised King, the Son of God and of David, and His perfect everlasting reign presented an ideal for the Jewish monarchy to follow, so the Psalm can also be read in that light.
*The beauty, majesty, might and kingdom of the Bridegroom King (v2-8) - poetic and powerful description of the King, praising and exalting Him both for who He is and what He does. God speaks in v2a: “You are fairer than the sons of men.” He strikes a note of superhuman excellence. Perhaps the Psalmist had a vision of Christ, as in Rev 1. He emphasises the perfect character of the Messiah, the unique beauty of His holiness and nature, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who alone was sinless (uncorrupted by sin), the most beautiful of human beings. He was surely also handsome, but not so glorious that men would think He was a god by His physical appearance (Isa 53:2). The marring of His appearance describes what happened on the Cross (Isa 52:14). He was full of grace and truth (John 1:14). His inner beauty of heart was manifested through His lips (Matt 12:34), v2b: “grace is poured upon Your lips” - true of Jesus (Luke 4:22, John 7:46). His word instructed the ignorant, helped the doubtful, comforted the mourners, reclaimed the wicked, silenced His adversaries, healed diseases, raised the dead, and controlled the elements. v2c: “Therefore, God has blessed You forever.” Due to His perfect human life in the beauty of His character and graciousness of His words, at His resurrection, God blessed Christ (in His humanity) forever (righteousness is the basis for blessing, also v7). This tells us this prophetic Psalm is set in the time after Christ’s resurrection, and v3-5 tells us it is shortly before His 2nd Coming, when He goes to war to defeat all His enemies (Rev 19:7-21). God the Father speaks to Christ, releasing Him to go forth and subdue His enemies in v3: “Gird (lit: ‘belt on’) Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One (gibbor - hero, Isa 9:6), (clothed) with Your Glory and Your Majesty (the language of Deity - John 17:5).” Before battle you first put on your belt & sword, that’s attached to the belt.
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