Psalms 45:5

Arrows - The same with the sword, and this is no other than his word, which is sharp and powerful, and pierceth the hearts of men. The kings - Of thine enemies.

Arrows - The same with the sword, and this is no other than his word, which is sharp and powerful, and pierceth the hearts of men. The kings - Of thine enemies.

Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies,.... Meaning either the Jews, who were the implacable enemies of Christ, and who would not have him to reign over them; in the midst of whom were sent his arrows, of the sword, famine, and pestilence, and which were very sharp, and made sad havoc among them, and caused such a time of tribulation as was not before, or has been since, Mat 24:21; or else the doctrines of the Gospel.

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.

[Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon, upon verse five, is #3039, Volume 53—THE KING'S SHARP ARROWS.] THIS Psalm has been thought by some to be a marriage song for Solomon on the occasion of his wedding with the daughter of Pharaoh. It may be so, though I should be very loath to believe it. But even if that should be true, we will find in the Psalm a distinct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to His marriage union with His Church.

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. Whether for love or vengeance, Christ never misses aim, and when his arrows stick, they cause a smart not soon forgotten, a wound which only he can heal. Jesus' arrows of conviction are sharp in the quiver of his word, and sharp when on the bow of his ministers, but they are most known to be so when they find a way into careless hearts. They are his arrows, he made them, he shoots them. He makes them sharp, and he makes them enter the heart. May none of us ever fall under the darts of his judgment, for none kill so surely as they. Whereby the people fall under thee. On either side the slain of the Lord are many when Jesus leads on the war. Nations tremble and turn to him when he shoots abroad his truth. Under his power and presence, men are stricken down as though pricked in the heart. There is no standing against the Son of God when his bow of might is in his hands. Terrible will be that hour when his bow shall be made quite naked, and bolts of devouring fire shall be hurled upon his adversaries: then shall princes fall and nations perish.

WHEN our Lord Jesus Christ is represented as a King, we delight to think of Him as the Prince of Peace whose dominion shall put an end to all war and make it unnecessary for the nations of the earth to learn the arts of war any longer. Meanwhile, however, in this present state, evil is in the world, sin is all around us and thus sin is the curse of mankind.

WHEN our Lord Jesus Christ is represented as a King, we delight to think of Him as the Prince of Peace whose dominion shall put an end to all war and make it unnecessary for the nations of the earth to learn the arts of war any longer. Meanwhile, however, in this present state, evil is in the world, sin is all around us and thus sin is the curse of mankind. Christ, therefore, for our good, is a fighting King, combating evil and contending against sin in every shape and form and, in that aspect, we regard Him as standing in His glorious war chariot, riding through the world in the power of His Gospel, smiting right and left with the great sword of the Spirit and, at the same time, shooting His sharp arrows of Gospel Truth to the very ends of the earth! The Truth of God is the weapon that Christ uses. The weapons of His warfare are not carnal any more than are ours. The Truth of God is His sword and the Truth of God is His arrow! There are some Truths which Jesus Christ proclaims in the Gospel and which He bids us also proclaim, which are like sharp arrows—wounding, piercing, killing—and of these I am about to speak, hoping and trusting that those arrows may, in all their sharpness, pierce all hearts that have not felt them yet! And that where they go, they may kill sin and that He may then come in to heal who has wounded them and to give life to those whom He has slain. First, we shall ask and answer the question, what are those Truths which are like sharp arrows?Secondly, why are they arrows? And thirdly, how come they stick fast in human hearts? I. First, then, WHAT ARE THOSE TRUTHS WHICH ARE SHARP AS ARROWS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN? There are many of them, but I shall only mention such as are most usually felt when men are convinced of sin. One arrow that is always sharp is this—the spirituality and holiness of the Law of God.

[Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon, upon verse five, is #3039, Volume 53—THE KING'S SHARP ARROWS.] THIS Psalm has been thought by some to be a marriage song for Solomon on the occasion of his wedding with the daughter of Pharaoh. It may be so, though I should be very loath to believe it. But even if that should be true, we will find in the Psalm a distinct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to His marriage union with His Church. Under the Mosaic dispensation, when a man had married a wife, he was not to go out to war for a year, but when the Lord Jesus Christ entered into a marriage union with His people, that very union made it necessary that He should wage war on their behalf. He had to meet all their spiritual foes in terrible conflict—the Prince of Darkness and all the powers of evil set themselves in array against Him—and we know how He fought with them, overcame them and trampled them beneath His feet as the treader of grapes crushes the purple clusters in the winepress. And now, even though in Heaven, He is in a state of rest. Yet here, as the Head of the Church Militant, His mystical body, He is still warring against sin, struggling most strenuously to drive sin out of the world and to make the earth His own dominion wherein He shall reign in righteousness and peace. The prayer of the Psalmist, as we have it in our text, is also a most suitable petition for us to present. We desire to stir up our almighty Champion to go forth to the war against evil. How gloriously He went forth with His first disciples in the brave days of old! They rode forth to battle and to death under His leadership, but it was to victory, too, in those glorious times of conflict and conquest. But we seem to have fallen upon days of peace—that false peace which arises from stagnation, lethargy and death.

Thine arrows are sharp - The arrows here may mean the convictions produced in the hearts of men by the preaching of the Gospel. The King is God himself; his enemies are sinners of all sorts. The people, the Jews, thousands of whom were pricked in their hearts under the preaching of Peter and others. All fall before Christ; those who received the word rose again by repentance and faith; those who did not, fell down-all down!

Thine arrows are sharp in the heart ... - literally, “Thine arrows are sharp - the people under thee shall fall - in the heart of the enemies of the king.” The process of “thought” in the verse seems to be this: First. The “arrows” are seen as sharp or penetrating. Second. The “people” are seen falling as those arrows are shot forth. Third. It is seen that those who fall are the “enemies of the king,” and that the arrows have pierced the “heart.” The word “sharp” is applied to the arrows as denoting that they were adapted to “pierce.” Sometimes arrows are blunted, or with a thick head, rather adapted to smite with force than to wound by penetrating. The bow and the arrow were common instruments in ancient wars, and were mainly used by those who went forth to battle in a chariot. Compare 1Ki 22:34; 2Ki 9:21-24. As pertaining to the Messiah, the reference here is, of course, to the “truth,” and to the power of that truth in penetrating the hearts of people. Compare the notes at Heb 4:12. In the heart of the king’s enemies - That is, the “truths” stated by the Messiah, the conquering king, would penetrate deep into the soul, and slay the sinner, the enemy of the king, that is, of the Messiah. The idea is, that truth would produce an effect in regard to the hopes of the sinner - his self-confidence - his life “as” a sinner - like that which the arrow does when it penetrates the heart. Compare Rom 7:9: “For I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.” See also the notes at Rom 7:10-11. Whereby the people fall under thee - As the effect of the arrows; as the effect of truth. The representation is that of victory. As here represented, it is the victory of truth; a conquest by subjecting people to the authority and reign of God.