Psalm 45 The True King & His Bride

Photo by Ricardo Cruz on Unsplash

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!

Psalm 45 is a royal psalm which means that it is focused upon the king, but not in a way that glorifies a political leader unduly. In this royal psalm, the psalmist helps us to see the ultimate king, the Messiah of Israel, and his bride. This work clearly arises out of the psalmist’s overflowing heart (v.1) to picture the king and his people in a marriage metaphor.

   In your majesty ride out victoriously
                                                for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;
    let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!
      Your arrows are sharp
                                                                                  in the heart of the king's enemies;
                                                                                                                                        the peoples fall under you. (v.4-5)

As I mentioned, the psalmist not only describes the ideal king of Israel, his bride, and the character of his kingdom, but he also prays for the king’s God-given mission to be accomplished. Isn't that what we want in a leader—someone to actually contend for the truth, vindicate the meek, and establish righteousness for all? Yet, the hard question is whether, as he rides forth to advance these causes will we find our cause fulfilled in his, or will we find that our heart is filled with self-deception, self-esteem, and selfishness? Will we participate in his plan to establish…

• Truth—there is stability and thus reliability that comes from truth, from faithfulness to that which God has spoken.
• Meekness—those who trust that God is their defender and that he is the one who will make their name great not their own actions. It is the gentleness of a powerful faith despite difficult circumstances.
• Righteousness—is what is right and just. It is the natural overflow of loving God and loving others. Righteousness is love-motivated obedience of heart and hands that keeps us from objectifying others and twisting our attention back upon ourselves.

I love the insight of the psalmist into the character of God through the role of a godly king for the sake of his people. I am also tickled at the ironic juxtaposition of "riding out victoriously" for worthy causes that include "meekness". While he does ride out victoriously, he does it in a way we might not expect… the counter-intuitive ways that God chooses to work in our lives and in the world! He rides forth very differently than we would if we wanted to change the world!

God's great mission of reconciliation is to bring truth, meekness, and generous justice into a world that is characterized by lies, arrogant demands of individual “rights” at others' expense, and systemic unrighteousness. It would be wonderful if verse four would be our prayer today...yes, Lord, do awesome deeds! Bring truth, meekness, and righteousness in your own way! And as Christ-followers we should also make it our mission as well!

45:6-8a                     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.

Here we see the true king loving righteousness and ruling well as a result. What does it mean to love righteousness? It means that we love God and love other people and love doing so.

His Scepter of Uprightness ↑

Photo by LOGAN WEAVER
on Unsplash

Some people might be wondering what a scepter is. It was originally the king’s spear and over time came to be the symbol of a king's authority. Here in Psalm 45, we see that the authority of God's kingdom comes from uprightness... and that is a very good and glad thing for us all!

In this royal psalm, we see the ultimate king, the Spirit-anointed Messiah, whose authority comes from uprightness, not underhandedness. We should also be able to see the close connection of the "oil of gladness" to the rightful use of authority...which is seen far too seldom in human government, business, and even in the church.

His Heart Loved Righteousness ↔

⁷ “…you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions”

Verse 7 above, is quoted in the Epistle to the Hebrews as referring to Jesus. Do you think of Jesus as glad...more so than others? He was. Could it be because when we love what is right and work for what is true it makes us more joyful rather than glummer? His mission is fulfilled in joy! So will we rejoice at his invitation to join him in this crucial work of joyful restoration?

Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust
on Unsplash

His Bride Responds With Joy (v. 10-15)

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.

Photo by Thomas Christian on Unsplash

In these verses, we see poetically described the call to respond relationally as the bride of the king, clothed in beauty and led forth with joy and gladness, in a way very similar to the overflowing heart of the psalmist. In life with the king, his people are not consumed with the past, for they are made new in his presence.

We, in the bride, forget the past and fruitfully lean into the king’s desire. And in such a king, there is no fear of rejection, injustice, or abuse. Rather we are seen, known, and loved.

Our Lord and King, come quickly!

Psalm 33:4-5 "Oh, For The Love of God!"

Psalm 33:4-5

For the word of the Lord is upright,
    and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

Comments:

"Oh, for the love of God!"

Perhaps you have heard someone say, "Oh, For The Love of God!" in exasperation at one thing or another...or maybe said it yourself. But what if we use it as a prompt to get us thinking about the things that God loves. This passage might put a new spin on it for us. Yes, he loves the world (John 3:16), but what does he love to see in the world? In times like this, it is important for us to realize how important righteousness (innocence) and justice (for all) are to God. This is what he loves to see, for it is what is best for his people. I once posted these verses and commented, “Who could have a problem with such a God as this? My point exactly!” But of course, in a fallen world there will always be those who would have a problem. In this case, the ones who would find fault would be those who are crooked, unfaithful, and committed to injustice. Verse 1 encourages us to "Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright” It is fitting for us to praise God--like custom-made clothes! Will we choose to see God's faithfulness and love at work in the world today with awe, or just pollute our lives with complaining and discontent because its not all about us?

We need to look for God at work in the world. Yet we also see injustice rear its ugly head in moments of acute oppression, not only in places like Kabul, Paris, Munich, New Orleans, Dallas, where the violence is shockingly senseless, but also in the routinely unjust systems that keep the marginalized and powerless down and out. How can we stop the violence? How can we defend against an attack? Where do we look for solutions? Too often our first response is to arm ourselves and fight back. To some extent this approach is effective, in the short-term, in keeping our power and standard of living. However, such methods of avoiding death are not effective in actually providing life.

We are infected with sin and the weapons and ways of the world are of no use in combating a spiritual attack. Later in Psalm 33, the author makes this clear,

v.16-19 "The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine."

Where is our trust? I have been doing some freelance writing this summer on the life of King David from 1 & 2 Samuel, and have been impressed with his settled conviction to trust in the Lord for his deliverance. Sure he was a great soldier, but it wasn’t in weapons and strength that he ultimately put his trust. While he would defend others, he did not defend himself or raise himself up despite being "the Lord's anointed." In fact, it is possible that David wrote this very psalm (though untitled, it is sandwiched between two other psalms by David). Continuing on through the history of Israel recorded in Kings & Chronicles the two nations, Israel & Judah, made a habit of looking for someone/something else to trust other than God. It didn't work out so well for them. I would much rather hope in God, even during a famine!

v. 20-22 "Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.

For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.

Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you."

As we hope in the Lord together, may we stop defending our own actions and motivation in favor of listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit directing our efforts to advocate for justice for others.

Psalm 27: A Short Shopping List

 

I recently wrote a blog post on the beatitude found in Matthew 5:6,

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

                                                                     for they will be filled."

 

In that post, I tied kingdom justice to kingdom righteousness. The impact we have on the world has a lot to do with that for which we genuinely hunger. Jesus suggests that the true disciple is hungry for “righteousness”, but what is that? It is not the legalism of the Pharisee that draws many boundaries not in an effort to draw near to God in love, but actually in looking for what it can get away with. Pharisaic righteousness defines what things are God's and what things are ours. The righteousness the disciple seeks is greater than that, for it is not so much a behavioral standard to which we attempt to adhere, as it is a loving relationship to which we respond. The true disciple's hunger, their one controlling desire, their burning passion, is to be pleasing to and in the presence of their loving Savior and King. The cry of the psalmist continues to echo through the millennia, from caves and cathedrals, camp meetings, and church services...

 

One thing have I asked of the Lord,

            that will I seek after:

                 that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

                                     all the days of my life,

               to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

        and to inquire              in his temple.

  For he will hide me in his shelter

                                 in the day of trouble;

        he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;

        he will lift   me high upon a rock…

You have said, “Seek my face.”

My heart says to you,

                               “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” (Psalm 27:4-5, 8)

 

This passage speaks not so much about living in a cool building 24/7 as it does about desiring the abiding presence of God in their life. From this relational center, flows a fountain of divine compassion and advocacy that brings the disciple alongside those who bear the burden of a fallen world’s injustice to bring healing. Ezekiel used just such imagery in prophetically describing the effects of kingdom righteousness (47:1-12).

 

One thing I have noticed is that if we relationally seek the presence of God then not only will we find him, but he will begin to rub off on us. His desires will become our desires, and his way of working will become more our way of working. So what is it that God wants; what is it he seeks? In Isaiah 5:1-7 the Lord goes looking in his vineyard (Israel/Judah) for “good fruit” (justice/righteousness) but only found a riotous outcry and bloodshed. If our desire is to live consciously in the presence of God then we will long to see the justice of grace at work in the world. If we want to be with the self-giving, self-humbling, Trinitarian God, then we will become more meek and more committed to advocating for the glory and honor of others than we are about seeking our own.

 

Psalm 27 is partly a psalm of confidence (in the Lord) and partly a personal lament (prayer request). When seeking the Lord is our priority then we can be confident no matter what army we face because we will have seen the faithfulness of the Lord at work in our lives. If we choose to abide in Christ, in his love, and his words abide in us (John 15:1-17) then Jesus says to us,

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15:16)

Isn’t this the answer to the psalmist’s prayer? Doesn’t it bring us to the same exclamation that we will observe the work of God in the world and give us the confident determination to wait for it and be part of it?

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:13-14)

 

 Will you join me?
 

Psalm 145 "Kind in all his works"

Psalm for Today = 145:14-17

¹⁴ The Lord upholds all who are falling
    and raises up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food in due season.
¹⁶ You open your hand;
    you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
¹⁷ The Lord is righteous in all his ways
    and kind in all his works.

    and raises up all who are bowed down.

Comments:

I have commented on this psalm at least five times on Facebook, but usually from verses 2-5 or 8-9. I am always surprised when I go back and see that the same verses minister to me over and over. Having said that, I am now deliberately choosing different verses to share today.

I love these verses because they show the simple trust of the psalmist, David, who had grown up as a shepherd living on the land and seeing God’s care for his creatures season by season. He had eyes to see God at work…not just in nature but in people.

David had experienced a number of times when he was “falling” or “bowed down” and had known God’s deliverance of the faithful, and was committed to passing on his testimony of God’s goodness to the next generation. We need to do the same thing! Tell the God stories. Repeat our spiritual heritage for them to hear. Let our past help to build their faith! But remember that God, not us, is always the hero of the story.

I can say a hearty “Amen!” to David’s poetic testimony. I, too, have seen God’s care, provision, and healing in my life and can testify of his faithfulness. No matter how God is portrayed in the media and schools today, the truth is found on the lips of the shepherd king, “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.” (v.17)

So, the more I trust God as a faithful provider, the more I respond to his love, the more he will rub off on me. It should become easy to see in the righteous my ways, and the kindness of my works. If not, I am probably depending on myself too much.