Psalms 45:1
in Psalms 45My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses to the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter; I speak the things which I have made touching the king: My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
KJV
My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
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This verse in Psalms 45
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThe 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.
This site's exposition
stirred by a noble theme
on Psalms 45:1-2
The pen of a skillful writer is the poet's own tongue. The king is addressed as the most handsome of men, with grace anointed on his lips and God's blessing on him forever. Delitzsch reads the order as set, speech and grace before the sword of verse 3.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
on shoshannim They founded this psalm in honor of the Torah scholars, who are as tender as roses and as beautiful as roses, and perform good deeds as fresh as roses.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רָ֘חַ֤שׁ | rachash | it is aroused | H7370 → | |
| לִבִּ֨י׀ | libi | heart my | H3820 → | 595 times |
| דָּ֘בָ֤ר | davar | a word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| ט֗וֹב | tov | good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| אֹמֵ֣ר | ʾomer | [am] speaking | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אָ֭נִי | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| מַעֲשַׂ֣י | maasai | work<s> my | H4639 → | 236 times |
| לְמֶ֑לֶךְ | lemelekh | to [the] king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| לְ֝שׁוֹנִ֗י | leshoni | tongue my | H3956 → | 117 times |
| עֵ֤ט׀ | ʾet | [is] a stylus of | H5842 → | |
| סוֹפֵ֬ר | sofer | a scribe | H5608 → | 159 times |
| מָהִֽיר׃ | mahir | skilled | H4106 → |
רָ֘חַ֤שׁit is aroused
rachashH7370 →
לִבִּ֨י׀heart my
libiH3820 →595 times
דָּ֘בָ֤רa word
davarH1697 →1440 times
ט֗וֹבgood
tovH2896 →538 times
אֹמֵ֣ר[am] speaking
ʾomerH559 →5305 times
אָ֭נִיI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
מַעֲשַׂ֣יwork<s> my
maasaiH4639 →236 times
לְמֶ֑לֶךְto [the] king
lemelekhH4428 →2525 times
לְ֝שׁוֹנִ֗יtongue my
leshoniH3956 →117 times
עֵ֤ט׀[is] a stylus of
ʾetH5842 →
סוֹפֵ֬רa scribe
soferH5608 →159 times
מָהִֽיר׃skilled
mahirH4106 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Samuel 23:2The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; His word was on my tongue.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 1:21
For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
- Matthew 22:43
Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’? For he says:
- Acts 2:25–31
David says about Him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
- Mark 12:36
Speaking by the Holy Spirit, David himself declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’
- 2 Peter 1:21
Through
Psalms 49:3My mouth will impart wisdom, and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding.
it leads to
- Psalms 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
- Matthew 12:35
The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.
- Proverbs 22:20–21
Have I not written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge,
- Psalms 19:14
Through
Proverbs 16:23The heart of the wise man instructs his mouth and adds persuasiveness to his lips.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:28
The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil.
- Proverbs 15:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Christian Faith 4.10.133; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.