Psalm 45:1 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.

2 Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.

3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.

4 And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.

5 Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.

6 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;

11 So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.

13 The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.

14 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.

15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace.

16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.

17 I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.

MEMORY VERSE: Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. —Hebrews 1:8-9

CENTRAL THOUGHT: All the souls who have been rescued from sin and redeemed unto God by Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, are united with Him in marriage as His holy purchased Bride; and with her glorious beauty of holiness within and the garments of salvation she will be ushered into the realms of glory to live with Him forever and ever.

WORD DEFINITIONS

Psalm 45:1 The Hebrew reads: “My heart overflows a good word, I am speaking of my works to the king; my tongue is the pen of a quick and skillful writer.” His language is: “I have something sweet and most precious overflowing in my heart, concerning the King and His beautiful Bride, and I haste to write it out and set it forth that all may know about it.”

Psalm 45:2 “Thou art fairer”: In Hebrew, “Thou art the fairest.” “Grace”: graciousness, favor, kindness, goodness and beauty. “Poured into thy lips”: the beautiful doctrine of Christ. This is the wisdom and virtue of heaven to bring light to those in darkness and healing to those diseased by Satan. The people “wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luke 4:22).

Psalm 45:3 “Thy sword”: the Word of God which Christ wielded in His holy doctrines. “Majesty”: magnificence, splendor, excellency, honor, noble greatness, and authority.

Psalm 45:4 “Ride prosperously”: to go forward; make good; be profitable, successful, and triumphant. “Because of”: on the matter or cause of. Christ did go forth triumphantly in the truth of God, in meekness and obedience to the will of God, in submitting to the death of the cross, and in righteousness and all that was just in the fear of God.

Psalm 45:5 The Hebrew reads: “Your arrows are sharp—people fall under you—in the heart of the king’s enemies.” This is another referral to the doctrine of the gospel of Christ. It has pierced the heart of many a person who sought to oppose His truth, and without carnal weapons and man’s inventions many people have fallen under the Son of God.

Psalm 45:7 “Above thy fellows”: surpassing all associates; above the angels; above all the saints and godly of the earth.

Psalm 45:10 “Forget thine own people”: the redeemed in Christ leaving all the world and severing earthly ties to be solely and ardently united to Christ alone.

Psalm 45:11 “So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty”: the inward beauty of the faith and holiness of the wholly sanctified soul for which Christ is seeking.

Psalm 45:13 “All glorious within”: beautiful and rich in the heart and the spirit; an inward value and weightiness of true worth. Peter called it “the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price” (I Peter 3:4). “Wrought gold”: that which is artfully woven through the trials and difficulties of this mortal life. This along with “needlework” in verse 14 refers to the beauties of the heart that are wrought by the Spirit of God as we are led and inspired by Him in our faithful walk with God.

LESSON BACKGROUND

The Hebrew title for this beautiful Psalm is “To the chief Musician on the Lilies, for the sons of Korah, a contemplation [instructive poem], a song of the Beloved.” The author is unknown, but we have a definite clue as to whom this Psalm is referring. The writer in the first chapter of Hebrews speaks concerning God’s Son and quotes from various places in the Old Testament that prophesy of Him. He declares that Christ is made so much better than the angels. He quotes from Psalm 104:4 what God says of the angels as ministering spirits and a flame of fire; then he emphatically states: “But unto the Son he saith—” and quotes, from this 45th Psalm, verses 6 and 7. This tells us that by the revelation of the Holy Spirit this Psalm was speaking of Christ, the Son of God. With this in mind, the whole Psalm takes shape and goes together. It is the royal marriage hymn of Christ and the Church, which He purchased with His own blood. It is for the joy of each of us to weigh and prayerfully consider the good matter that the ready writer of this Psalm brought forth. There are wonderful truths—the sum of which we have not space here to give. But let each one look and behold them for himself, and rejoice to know that we are included in this Song of our Beloved Christ.

Jesus Christ our Lord is the fairest of the fair; the chiefest among ten thousand. Grace pours forth from His blessed lips, and God has blessed Him with immortality and life forever.

—Bro. Leslie Busbee

DISCUSSION:

1. What is the good matter about which this Psalm speaks?
2. Who is the fairest of all men and has grace poured into His lips?
3. How can we know of a certainty that this is a prophecy of Christ?
4. What are some things of Christ that you can see in this Psalm?
5. Of what importance is it for us to be “all glorious within?”

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

He wields His sword, the blazing Truth of God’s Word anointed by the Holy Spirit. With it He has ridden prosperously and gone forth for the salvation of all who will believe and obey Him. Because of His truth and meekness and righteousness He has accomplished the will of God and prevailed over the powers of Satan. His arrows have pierced our souls and we have surrendered all to His dominion. His throne is forever and ever and His kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. He was faithful to God and triumphed in His heart over iniquity; therefore God set Him on high and gave Him a name which is above every name. His garments are fresh with sweetness and perfumed with the fragrance of the sweet Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley.

We do consider our calling of Him as the sweetest and most wonderful thing that has ever happened to us. We forget the things which are behind us, and reach forth for the prize of the high calling of God in Him. We seek to possess that beauty of inward meekness and devotion to Him in perfect holiness. We are looking and living for that day when we will enter with Him into the realms of His everlasting Kingdom in that new heaven and new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. All of our trials and sufferings for His name work together for our good, and will be found unto praise, honor, and glory at His appearing. We will live with our precious Lord and Savior in His Father’s house, with all of His saints, to love and admire and enjoy Him for eternity. Thank God for His unspeakable Gift!

—Bro. Leslie Busbee

REFLECTIONS

After the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its state religion in AD 391, the Temple of Jupiter in Damascus, Syria, was converted into a Christian (Catholic) church dedicated to John the Baptist. In 634, after the Muslim conquest of Damascus, the building became a mosque. Walking around the mosque to the south wall, today you can still see a remnant from the Christian church, above a doorway that is now blocked. In Greek, the language of the eastern Roman (or Byzantine) empire, deeply cut into stone, an inscription from Psalm 45 reads, “Your Kingdom, Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.”

How marvelous it is that an eternal truth—inscribed though it was by professors of a Christianity who were fast deteriorating into apostasy and whose earthly dominion soon fell beneath the marauding Mohammedans—towers high above the kneeling Muslims centuries later, proclaiming to any or all who would take note, “The foundation of God stands sure! His Kingdom is an everlasting kingdom!”

I like what commentator Alexander MacLaren said about the rule of Christ’s kingdom: “His rod is no rod of iron and tyrannical oppression, His own personal character is righteousness. Righteousness is the very life-blood and animating principle of His rule. He loves righteousness, and, therefore, puts His broad shield of protection over all who love it and seek after it. He hates wickedness, and therefore He wars against it wherever it is, and seeks to draw men out of it. And thus His kingdom is the hope of the world.”

—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck