Psalm 45

Psalms 45:1

“The Son lives by the Father, because he is the Son begotten of the Father; by the Father, because he is of one substance with the Father; by the Father, because he is the Word given forth from the heart of the Father, because he came forth from the Father, because he is begotten of the "bowels of the Father," because the Father is the fountain and root of the Son's being.”

Psalms 45:1

“My heart. There is no writing like that dictated by the heart. Heartless hymns are insults to heaven. Is inditing a good matter. A good heart will only be content with good thoughts. Where the fountain is good good streams will flow forth. The learned tell us that the word may be read overflows, or as others, boils or bubbles up, denoting the warmth of the writer's love, the fulness of his heart, and the consequent richness and glow of his utterance, as though it were the ebullition of his inmost soul, when most full of affection.”

Psalms 45:1

“The excellency of the management. This song was a confession with the mouth of faith in the heart concerning Christ and his church. (1.) The matter was well digested, as it well deserved: My heart is inditing it, which perhaps is meant of that Spirit of prophecy that dictated the psalm to David, that Spirit of Christ which was in the prophets, 1 Pet. i.”

Psalms 45:2

“He had no form or comeliness in the eyes of the Jews, but to David he is fairer than the children of people. And on the mountain he was bright as the lightning and became more luminous than the sun, initiating us into the mystery of the future.”

Psalms 45:2

“To rich personal attractions is added grace of the lips, captivating powers of speech. This is given, and becomes a source of power and proves a blessing. Christ is a prophet (Lu 4:22).”

Psalms 45:2

“Fairer - Than all other men: which is most true of Christ; but not of Solomon; whom many have excelled, in holiness and righteousness, which is the chief part of the beauty celebrated in this psalm. Grace - God hath plentifully poured into thy mind and tongue the gift of speaking wisely, eloquently, and acceptably.”

Psalms 45:3

“Gird thy sword upon thy thigh. Loving spirits jealous of the Redeemer's glory long to see him putting forth his power to vindicate his own most holy cause. Why should the sword of the Spirit lie still, like a weapon hung up in an armoury; it is sharp and strong, both for cutting and piercing: O that the divine power of Jesus were put forth to use against error. The words before us represent our great King as urged to arm himself for battle, by placing his sword where it is ready for use.”

Psalms 45:3

“The word of God is the sword of the Spirit. By the promises of that word, and the grace contained in those promises, souls are made willing to submit to Jesus Christ and become his loyal subjects; by the threatenings of that word, and the judgments executed according to them, those that stand it out against Christ will, in due time, be brought down and ruined.”

Psalms 45:4

“To what human being would he apply this achievement or the magnitude of what is described? To whom would he apply the verse "Your right hand will guide you in marvelous fashion" when the divine Scripture consistently says of all the righteous that it is …”

Psalms 45:4

“The word - That is, the gospel: which is called the word of truth, Eph. i, 13, and may no less truly be called the word of meekness, because it is not delivered with terror, as the law was at Sinai, but meekly and sweetly; and the word of righteousness, because it brings in everlasting righteousness, and strongly excites all men to the practice of righteousness and holiness.”

Psalms 45:5

“The sharp arrows of the Mighty One are the well-aimed words that touch the hearts of the hearers, striking and wounding their keenly perceptive souls.”

Psalms 45:5

“Thine arrows. Our King is master of all weapons: he can strike those who are near and those afar off with equal force. Are sharp. Nothing that Jesus does is ill done, he uses no blunted shafts, no pointless darts. In the heart of the King's enemies. Our Captain aims at men's hearts rather than their heads, and he hits them too; point blank are his shots, and they enter deep into the vital part of man's nature.”

Psalms 45:6

“Even before he became man, he was King and Lord everlasting, being image and word of the Father.”

Psalms 45:6

“Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever,.... This verse and Psa 45:7 are cited in Heb 1:8; and applied to the Son of God, the second Person in the Trinity; and therefore are not an apostrophe to the Father, as some have said; nor will they bear to be rendered, "thy throne is the throne of God", or "thy throne is God"; or be supplied thus, "God shall establish thy throne".”

Psalms 45:6

“Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. To whom can this be spoken but our Lord? The psalmist cannot restrain his adoration. His enlightened eye sees in the royal Husband of the church, God, God to be adored, God reigning, God reigning everlastingly. Blessed sight! Blind are the eyes that cannot see God in Christ Jesus! We never appreciate the tender condescension of our King in becoming one flesh with his church, and placing her at his right hand, until we have fully rejoiced in his essential glory and deity.”

Psalms 45:7

“The word therefore does not imply the reward of virtue or conduct in the Word but the reason why he came down to us. It indicates that the Spirit's anointing took place in him for our sakes.”

Psalms 45:7

WE KNOW THAT THE ANOINTING received by our Lord Jesus Christ was the resting of the Spirit of God upon him without measure. We are not left to any guesswork about this, for in Isaiah 61 we are told, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me." Our Lord appropriated these very words to himself when he went into the synagogue at Nazareth and opened the book at the place wherein these words are written, and said, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears."

Psalms 45:7

“As in Ps 45:6 the divine nature is made prominent, here the moral qualities of the human are alleged as the reason or ground of the mediatorial exultation.”

Psalms 45:7

“Therefore - Therefore God hath exalted thee far above all men and angels, to a state of joy and endless glory at his right hand; which is fitly compared by the oil of gladness.”

Psalms 45:8

“The sweet odor of Christ gives forth the fragrance of myrrh because of his passion, and of aloes because he did not remain motionless and inactive for three days and three nights but descended to the lower world to distribute the graces of the resurrection.… And it breathes forth the fragrance of cassia, a very delicate and fragrant bark, … because of the suffering of the cross undertaken in kindness to every creature.”

Psalms 45:8

“All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia,.... Either his human nature, as anointed with the oil of gladness, and filled with the graces of the Spirit, signified by the holy anointing oil in the tabernacle, of which the things mentioned were ingredients, Exo 30:23; or the garments of salvation and robe of righteousness, wrought out by him for his people, which are well pleasing and acceptable to his Father, and of a sweet smelling savour, being agreeable to his law and justice; and also to himself, as they are put upon his people; see Son 4:”

Psalms 45:8

“The king thus inaugurated is now presented as a bridegroom, who appears in garments richly perfumed, brought out from ivory palaces--His royal residence; by which, as indications of the happy bridal occasion, He has been gladdened.”

Psalms 45:9

“The queen … is the soul that is joined with the Word, its Bridegroom; not subjected by sin but sharing the kingdom of Christ, it stands on the right hand of the Savior in gilded clothing, that is to say, adorning itself charmingly and religiously with spiritual doctrines, interwoven and varied.”

Psalms 45:9

“The relation of subjection to her spouse at once accords with the law of marriage, as given in Ge 3:16; 1Pe 3:5, 6, and the relation of the Church to Christ (Eph 5:24). The love of the husband is intimately connected with the entire devotion to which the bride is exhorted.”

Psalms 45:9

“This is the bride, the Lamb's wife, whose graces, which are her ornaments, are compared to fine linen, clean and white ( Rev. xix. 8 ), for their purity, here to gold of Ophir, for their costliness; for, as we owe our redemption, so we owe our adorning, not to corruptible things, but to the precious blood of the Son of God.”

Psalms 45:10

“Hearken, O daughter, and consider. Ever is this the great duty of the church. Faith cometh by hearing, and confirmation by consideration. No precept can be more worthy of the attention of those who are honoured to be espoused to Christ that that which follows. And incline thine ear. Lean forward so that no syllable may be unheard. The whole faculties of the mind should be bent upon receiving holy teaching. Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house.”

Psalms 45:11

“So - So thou shalt be acceptable to thy husband; which will abundantly recompence thee, for the loss of thy father's house. Thy Lord - As he is thy husband, and also as he is thy king, and God.”

Psalms 45:12

“And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift. When the church abounds in holiness, she shall know no lack of homage from the surrounding people. Her glory shall then impress and attract the heathen around, till they also unite in doing honour to her Lord. The power of missions abroad lies at home: a holy church will be a powerful church.”

Psalms 45:12

“The daughter - The people of Tyre; as the daughter of Zion or Jerusalem, are put for their inhabitants: he mentions the Tyrians; because they among others, and before many others, were to be converted to Christ, but they are here put for all the Gentiles, whom that city fitly represents, as being the mart of the nations.”

Psalms 45:12

“When the Gentiles, being converted to the faith of Christ, join themselves to the church, they then come with a gift, 2 Cor. viii. When with themselves they devote all they have to the honour of Christ, and the service of his kingdom, they then come with a gift.”

Psalms 45:13

“The king's daughter is all glorious within. Within her secret chambers her glory is great. Though unseen of men her Lord sees her, and commends her. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be." Or the passage may be understood as meaning within herself—her beauty is not outward only or mainly; the choicest of her charms are to be found in her heart, her secret character, her inward desires. Truth and wisdom in the hidden parts are what the Lord regards; mere skin deep beauty is nothing in his eyes.”

Psalms 45:14

“She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework. The day comes when the celestial marriage shall be openly celebrated, and these words describe the nuptial procession wherein the queen is brought to her royal Husband attended by her handmaidens. In the latter-day glory, and in the consummation of all things, the glory of the bride, the Lamb's wife, shall be seen by all the universe with admiration.”

Psalms 45:15

“With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought. Joy becomes a marriage feast. What joy will that be which will be seen at the feasts of paradise when all the redeemed shall be brought home! Gladness in the saints themselves, and rejoicing from the angels shall make the halls of the New Jerusalem ring again with shoutings. They shall enter into the King's palace. Their peaceful abodes shall be where Jesus the King reigns in state for ever. They shall not be shut out but shut in. Rights of free entrance into the holiest of all shall be accorded them.”

Psalms 45:16

“For this reason did the Lord declare that the first should in truth be last, and the last first. And the prophet, too, indicates the same, saying, "instead of fathers, children have been born unto thee." For the Lord, having been born "the First-begotten of the dead," and receiving into His bosom the ancient fathers, has regenerated them into the life of God, He having been made Himself the beginning of those that live, as Adam became the beginning of those who die.”

Psalms 45:16

“As earthly monarchs govern widely extended empires by viceroys, this glorious king is represented as supplying all the principalities of earth with princes of his own numerous progeny.”

Psalms 45:16

“This promise to Christ is of the same import with that Isa. liii. 10 , He shall see his seed; and these shall be made princes in all the earth; there shall be some of all nations brought into subjection to Christ, and so made princes, made to our God kings and priests, Rev. i.”

Psalms 45:17

“I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations. Jehovah by the prophet's mouth promises to the Prince of Peace eternal fame as well as a continuous progeny. His name is his fame, his character, his person; these are dear to his people now—they never can forget them; and it shall be so as long as men exist. Names renowned in one generation have been unknown to the next era, but the laurels of Jesus shall ever be fresh, his renown ever new. God will see to this; his providence and his grace shall make it so.”

Psalms 45:17

“Thus the union of Christ and the Church triumphant is set forth. On the other hand, in regard to its component parts, the relation of Christ as head, as husband, &c., already exists, and as these parts form an institution in this world, it is by His union with it, and the gifts and graces with which He endows it, that a spiritual seed arises and spreads in the world.”