Scripture for the Week
Psalm 45
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. A wedding song.
My heart is stirred by a noble theme
as I recite my verses for the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful
writer.
You are the most excellent of men
and your lips have been anointed with
grace,
since God has blessed you forever.
Gird your sword upon your side,
O mighty one;
clothe yourself with splendor and
majesty.
In your majesty ride forth victoriously
in behalf of truth, humility and
righteousness;
let your right hand display awesome
deeds.
Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of
the king’s enemies;
let the nations fall beneath your feet.
Your throne, O God, will last for ever and
ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter
of your kingdom.
You love righteousness and hate
wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you
above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.
All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and
aloes and cassia;
from palaces adorned with ivory
the music of the strings makes you glad.
Daughters of kings are among your
honored women;
at your right hand is the royal bride in
gold of Ophir.
Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear:
Forget your people and your Father’s
house.
The king is enthralled by your beauty;
honor him, for he is your Lord.
The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift,
men of wealth will seek your favor.
All glorious is the princess within her
chamber;
her gown is interwoven with gold.
In embroidered garments she is led to the
king;
her virgin companions follow her
and are brought to you.
They are led in with joy and gladness;
they enter the palace of the king.
Your sons will take the place of your
fathers;
you will make them princes throughout
the land.
I will perpetuate your memory through all
generations;
therefore the nations will praise you for
ever and ever.
Devotional
My husband proposed to me during one of the hardest seasons of my life. Nine months had passed since my accident and we had only discovered the brain injury I had sustained two months previously. I was getting used to this new version of myself that I didn’t recognize. A version of me that felt gross, scary and foreign.
I was struggling to control my emotions; constantly biting back my tongue as anger produced itself in my life for the first time. I was always tired, always in pain, always a little bit lost within myself. I couldn’t see past the brain fog and I had no idea where “me” was at. I couldn’t remember a thing, I couldn’t speak right, and even if I could, I didn’t have the words to describe what I was going through.
On the day he proposed, I got up and took a shower like any normal day. As I was putting on my makeup and securing the crazy tangled mess of curls people call my hair, I remember this strong feeling washing over me: you need to remember this. I didn’t know why, but I knew I had to try to be present that day, I had to try to remember.
At the time, remembering anything was a feat; even at my own job I had to use multiple calendars and forms of notes to help me remember basic tasks. I knew it was going to be hard, especially since the brain fog was high that day, but I knew that for whatever reason, I needed to remember that day.
That afternoon, we made our way down to the beach for a picnic we had planned. As he went to set up the camera to take pictures for me, I carefully laid out our blanket and the food we had prepared. As I carefully dug holes into the sand to hold our glasses upright, the feeling swept over me again: you need to remember this.
Within minutes of that fresh reminder, he proposed.
Even before I realized he was proposing, I knew I needed to fight past the fog that threatened my ability to exist in life, and be in the moment with him.
As we worked through our engagement season preparations, we continued walking through the depths of my health. I think those engagement months were some of the hardest days we walked through as we started getting used to the new “me” and what that looked like in the scope of “us”.
We had to learn to process what I could and couldn’t do. We had to learn new things to do with each other because my ability to go and do everything we had loved vanished. We walked through the darkest days of my depression just months before our wedding was to come.
There were nights where the darkness would plague me and it would all become too much. I would break down; my heart shattered by a feeling that me being in this person’s life was so unfair. I loved him with everything I had, but I could see how my lack of health had hurt him and I didn’t want to keep hurting the man I loved.
On those nights, I was plagued with guilt over saying “yes”. And then I’d remember, I’d remember how God helped me be present in the moment so I could be aware of my own engagement. I remembered that he chose to marry me; not in the season where we could be the “us” we had known, but in the season where everything was uncertain.
Even after we got married, there have been moments where I felt like I was suffocating; wondering why God brought us together when my health was bringing our relationship so much pain.
In those moments, I fight to remember that God did bring us together. I have to remember that my husband chose to ask for me to join him in a marriage while walking through the valley.
Being married has let me learn something really beautiful. It’s given me a small glimpse into the way my husband sees me and an even bigger view of how God sees me.
In my marriage I have gotten a precious glimpse of a God who chooses us at our worst; just as my husband chose me at my worst. My husband chose me when I felt worthless, when I had nothing to offer, when I felt ugly and ruined - inside and out.
My marriage has shown me that for every moment my husband chooses me in my pain, my God has has chosen me a hundred times more. I've learned a new side of our God. A God who adores his children, a God who desires us; even when we feel like we can't take another step.
In today’s Psalm we get to witness a wedding. A wedding between a groom who chose his bride not because of her high standing in the world, but a bride who meant everything to him. She’s not overly attractive, she doesn’t have it all together, she’s often hurt and scared but he still chooses her. We get to witness an incredible wedding between God’s church and the Son that died to wed her.
Psalm 45 is believed to be written by the Sons of Korah. This could mean that it was written by a single son, and released from the group as a whole, or that it was written collectively. Much like bands today, one person tends to write the song and the others join in to help produce it.
We know right off the bat that Psalm 45 is a wedding song from the introduction. The introduction itself tells us that it’s “a wedding song” “to the tune of Lilies.” Lilies could refer to the style of the song, the melody or even a six stringed instrument that it was supposed to be played on.
While commentators can brush aside the specific person who wrote the Psalm and can agree that it’s a wedding Psalm, there seems to be some controversy when it comes to the purpose of the Psalm being written.
Some believe that Psalm 45 was written for the wedding between King Solomon and an Egyptian Princess. The historical timing and elements of the Psalm doesn’t fit quite right for any wedding that was recorded, but that particular wedding is the closest fit that could be agreed upon.
Others believe that the Psalm was never written about an earthly wedding and rather, was written to describe a wedding, foretold later in the New Testament, between God and his church. After doing my own research and listening to several sermons about the Psalm, I have come to an understanding that lays somewhere in the middle.
I believe that it is highly possible that Psalm 45 was originally being written for an earthly wedding that was going to happen. And while I believe that the original reason for picking up the pen was an earthly wedding, I also believe that the writer experienced a pull of the heart that led his pen in a different direction.
From the first line of the Psalm, we can see that there is something affecting the writer as he pours out the words of the song.
Psalm 45:1
My heart is stirred by a noble theme
as I recite my verses for the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful
writer.
The writer shares that his heart is being stirred by a noble theme. Somewhere between the pen being picked up and the Psalmist beginning to write, God was stirring his heart. He felt the heavenly pull and instead of writing a song for an earthly king, he flows with poetry for his true king. In an instant, the Psalm goes from being intended for an earthly wedding to sharing a prophecy of a much greater wedding to come.
As we work further into Psalm 45, we will see various areas where the Psalm simply couldn’t be explaining a living human being. These descriptions also help us understand why no wedding was ever coined with certainty of being the origin of this Psalm. They could never find a perfect fit, between Psalm 45 and a historical wedding, because it was sharing of a wedding that hasn’t happened yet.
Our first moments of clarity, in confirming that Psalm 45 is prophetic, is in verses two through eight. In these six verses, we encounter beautiful and respectful descriptions of who the groom is. We learn of his character and who he stands for. The more we learn about the groom, the more we realize that no man, outside of Jesus, could fill this description.
Psalm 45:2-3
You are the most excellent of men
and your lips have been anointed with
grace,
since God has blessed you forever.
Gird your sword upon your side,
O mighty one;
clothe yourself with splendor and
majesty.
In this translation of the Bible, we learn that the groom is excellent; he is a majestic and outstanding being. In other translations of the Bible, the word ‘excellent’ is replaced with ‘handsome’ giving us the description; “You are the most handsome of men”.
Many people have speculated what Jesus might have looked like. We likely all have an image of him in our mind, based off various artworks of him we have seen throughput our lives. As much as we can use our imaginations and artistic abilities to create renditions of our ideas, there is no spot in the Bible that describes what Jesus physically looked like. The closest thing to a description of his looks comes from Isaiah 53.
Isaiah 53:2
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
We are told that there was nothing in his appearance that was remarkable. He was nothing more than an average man in appearance.
Jesus, the groom being described in this Psalm, couldn’t have grown into an extraordinarily handsome man in features alone. If Jesus had been the most handsome man alive, while certainly permitted of a king, it would have ruined his mission.
It was important that people were drawn to Jesus for who he was and for the one who sent him; not because he was handsome. His appearance had to be average so God’s people could be drawn in out of a pure attraction to the beauty of his heart and his love for his father.
We know that there is something special about this groom not because of his physical features, but because of his character.
Psalm 45:2
You are the most excellent of men
and your lips have been anointed with
grace,
since God has blessed you forever.
Jesus is the only man who has ever walked this earth that had the ability to remain pure in heart and to speak words of grace alone. Not even the best and most beloved person we know, has gone without words escaping their lips that fail to carry grace.
The graced filled and blessed words of Jesus’ lips held power because of the One he chose to remain in. His words freely taught people of the Father. They resolved conflict and stirred turmoil in the heart to open a path of love. His words reigned over wickedness and set people free from evil. His grace filled lips showcased the loving power of God.
Psalm 45:3-5
In your majesty ride forth victoriously
in behalf of truth, humility and
righteousness;
let your right hand display awesome
deeds.
Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of
the king’s enemies;
let the nations fall beneath your feet.
Our groom is a warrior who is fighting victoriously on behalf of truth, humility and righteousness. He fights his battles not with death, but with arrows that pierce the heart. Rather than killing his adversaries, he uses his arrows to shoot down all who don’t stand firm in the ultimate King. His arrows pierce the heart with convictions of truth, humility and righteousness; giving his people the chance to turn away from themselves and towards Him.
Psalm 45:6-7
Your throne, O God, will last for ever and
ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter
of your kingdom.
You love righteousness and hate
wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you
above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.
In this beautiful prophetic glimpse of the King, that was to humble himself to walk our earth, we are reaffirmed that our groom loves righteousness and hates wickedness. He came to conquer death and become the ultimate mediator between God and his people. He stepped into a role with humility so that his people could choose the righteousness of their heavenly home over the wickedness dwelling in their earthly home.
In these verses we get to experience one of the few references of the Holy Trinity within the Old Testament. Psalm 45:7 references God to God in the presence of anointment. The reference of God twice in this verse references to God the Father and God the Son. The anointing of the oil of joy references the Holy Spirit which is gifted to us to wrap God’s love, peace and joy around us.
Psalm 45:8
All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and
aloes and cassia;
from palaces adorned with ivory
the music of the strings makes you glad.
In this last verse describing who the groom is, we see that our groom is made glad by the strings of music. If you remember, a few weeks back, we walked through a devotional together and investigated how our praise to God is the new form of sacrifice brought to us by Jesus’ life and death.
We know that our words of praise bring God joy. We know that our Heavenly Father wants to hear the joyous songs of His people fulfilled in Him. It would only make sense, when we remember that God desires our joy, that our groom would be made glad by music played to praise him.
Before the wedding begins, we get a brief image of who the groom and bride will be once they are joined as one; the image of the King and his Queen.
Psalm 45:9
Daughters of kings are among your
honored women;
at your right hand is the royal bride in
gold of Ophir.
In this image we see the royal bride sitting at the King’s right hand. It used to be believed that the right hand was a symbol of strength. Since the majority of people were right handed, it was believed that the right hand was where greatness was placed. The right hand is a place of honor and notes equal status between two parties.
In a commentary I listened to by Pastor David Guzik, he noted that when the King and Queen are brought together, she is placed at his right hand side. Jesus, as the groom of this incredible wedding, sits at the right hand of God and the bride sits at the right hand of Christ.
We know that the bride did not earn a place at the right hand of Christ by herself. Rather, she is elevated into a position of honor because of her marriage to the King. It’s by being in an intimate relationship with Him that she is lifted into a higher standing.
As we continue forward, knowing full and well the magnificence of the groom, we get to learn who the bride is. However, instead of looking at her precise character, we get the beautiful honor of seeing how the groom views his bride.
Psalm 45:10
Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear:
Forget your people and your Father’s
house.
As the bride prepares for her union with the groom, she prepares to leave her father’s house behind. In the prophetic metaphor of Psalm 45, we get a powerful and hope packed glimpse at the wedding that will one day occur between Jesus and his church. The church is the bride in this Psalm. Friends, you and I are the bride.
As we consider what it means to be a bride of Christ, we can use our earthly weddings to help us understand what will happen.
Traditionally, when a bride gets married, she leaves her families home and enters into her husbands. On that wedding day, the order of priority changes. An unmarried person places their priority first on God, then on their family, and then on others. After being married, that priority shifts to be God, spouse, children, and others.
Once a bride has entered the home of her beloved she no longer stands alone. With her marriage promise, her spouse becomes her priority over her family. This doesn’t mean a bride has to suddenly hate her family or stop talking to them but rather, there is a shift in priorities. A bride will remember her family with love but ultimately she now stands by her husband’s side.
The same rings true for our wedding with Christ. Instead of focusing on our earthly families, our focus shifts even more so towards Christ; the one who was already our first focus. It’s not that we have to completely forget about others that we love. I hope and pray that we will still remember and get to be with those we love but, it will appear as though we have forgotten them, in comparison to how much we care about our ultimate groom.
Psalm 45:11-15
The king is enthralled by your beauty;
honor him, for he is your Lord.
The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift,
men of wealth will seek your favor.
All glorious is the princess within her
chamber;
her gown is interwoven with gold.
In embroidered garments she is led to the
king;
her virgin companions follow her
and are brought to you.
They are led in with joy and gladness;
they enter the palace of the king.
Through other stories in the Bible we see brides being called into a royal wedding because of the King’s desire for her.
2 Samuel 11:2-3
One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful and David sent someone to find out about her.
In this story, we see King David claim Bathsheba as his wife out of his desire for her. In his eyes she was beautiful so he had her husband killed during the war so that he could take her as his bride.
Esther 2:2-4
Then the king’s personal attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.” … Then let the girl who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.
Esther 2:17
Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
In this story, much like with King David, and many other occurrences through history, a queen was selected for the King because of how her beauty appealed to him.
Friends, Christ chose us as his queen because he desires us. What’s incredible about our engagement with him though, is that he doesn’t desire us merely because we have a pretty face. Instead of desiring us for the beauty of our face, our groom desires us because of what he sees inside us.
Christ sees the church that he paid blood for and in his sight, the church that longs to be with him, is glorious. The bride is not glorious because of who she is, but rather, she is made glorious because of her willing relationship with the King.
We are desired to be made whole with our God - not because our exterior is beautiful, not because we have performed perfectly or because we are able to act perfect. We are desired to be the bride of Christ because of the beautiful works his love has done in our hearts. Much like how Christ’s exterior beauty does not define him as a groom, our exterior beauty does not define us as a bride.
Our Psalm comes to a close with the image of a heavenly marriage that was blessed by God.
Psalm 45:16-17
Your sons will take the place of your
fathers;
you will make them princes throughout
the land.
I will perpetuate your memory through all
generations;
therefore the nations will praise you for
ever and ever.
Many times throughout the Bible we are told that good things will produce a fruit. In a marriage, at least historically, children were believed to be the fruit of a blessed marriage. We can use this old understanding of a blessed marriage to help us see that God blesses the marriage between Christ and the Church. We know this because the fruit of their marriage is many children. These children will carry the legacy of Christ’s fulfilled promise to his people and praise for God will remain through the generations as a result.
As many trials came and fell leading up to our wedding day, my husband and I joked about the story we would have to tell our children someday. We smiled thinking of sticky little cheeks that would gape in awe as they learned we got married during “The Great Toilet Paper Crisis of 2020”. We laughed at the tales we could share of how everything seemed to go wrong day of, and the immense joy God delivered by providing for us nonetheless.
As children, if our parents have a wedding story to share, we breathe it in. We want all the details, the story, the grievances, the laughter and joy. In our own search for future understanding, we desire a glimpse of who our parents were during that beautiful moment of union.
How beautiful is it, that not only are we promised a union with Christ someday, but that there will be children to bear witness, to hear the story, and carry the joy of his provision through the ages?
As much as I adore my husband, as much as I loved our wedding, I love the one in Psalm 45 even more. I see a great message of hope in this Psalm. A message to remind us that we are doing all of this for a reason. A message that sustains us through the valleys of life and promises that the desired day will come and it will be blessed.
Psalm 45 gives us the peace and reassurance that we are loved and desired simply for who we are to Christ, not for who we can become on our own.
Thoughts for the Week
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I want to push you outside of your comfort zone this week by asking you to consider Jesus as you would a significant other. I want you to use your understanding of earthly relationships to help you see your relationship with Christ more clearly.
How did you meet?
What is your love story?
Christ has kneeled down on one knee and asked you to leave everything behind and marry him. What do you say? Why?
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In previous or current relationships with others, what are active steps you have taken to grow that relationship? How have you pursued friendships? Careers? Mentors? Loved Ones? A spouse or significant other?
How can you apply how you pursue an earthly relationship to help you pursue a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Christ?
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How does seeing yourself as Christ's bride make you feel?
Have you ever considered yourself as the bride of a magnificent wedding that is to come?
How does this new view of our relationship with Christ change or grow your perspectives of Christ and his church?
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Prayer
Heavenly Father,
We come before you in great joy today. Our hearts are opened in pleasure as we read a prophecy of the great heavenly wedding that is to come. We raise our hands in praise and our lips in song as we thank you for your son who desires to have us by his side for eternity.
Lord, you were the most excellent of men, your lips anointed with grace, your being blessed by God the Father. You rode into our earth with meekness and love; a warrior fighting for truth, humility and righteousness.
Your arrows pierced our hearts, convicting us to leave our ways and to turn towards yours.
In your love for goodness you have invited us into your home. You provide us with gowns of gold; giving us everything you have, even in the simplest ways of life.
We willingly set aside our allegiances that lie elsewhere so that we may stand proud and full of praise by your side. We choose you Lord as you have chosen us. We stand by your side in joy and gladness.
You are a wonderful and loving Lord. A lord who makes us magnificent at his right side and we thank you for your loving mercy.
Thank you for seeing beauty in us as we pursue you. Thank you for desiring a deep and intimate relationship with your people.
We will praise you for ever and ever Lord. Holy is your name.
Blessed is your name.
In our groom’s and your son’s name we pray,
Amen
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