Praise the King for His Glory (Psalm 45:1-9)

Christ is worthy of our best praise

“My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer” (45:1). 

These passionate words are the opposite of apathy. The psalmist’s heart bubbles up and boils over. His passion does not stay pent up but manifests itself in his reciting his composition. His tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe—eager and quick. 

See here for Part 1 of Parr’s series on Psalm 45.

He is passionate about the King. We all look for something to give all of our heart to, that will engage all of our powers. The psalmist has found it in the King. John Newton wrote in a hymn—“all my powers, waiting, stand to be employed by thee.” But it is to be feared that many Christian souls are filled with Christless passions. 

Someone once was alarmed that so many of the men in his church didn’t like to sing; the singing was the stereotypical “hymn-dirge,” so he asked a church musician how to get men to sing. The musician replied, “get them to love Jesus, and they won’t be able to keep silent.” David Dickson said, “Grace in the heart leads to praise on the tongue.” When the Spirit works in the soul, He kindles love for Christ, who is worthy of our best praise.

Christ’s Word makes Him fairest

“You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever” (45:2).

He is fair because of what He says. “Grace is poured” refers to God's gracious words given to the King. We find that even His enemies testified: “No man ever spoke like this Man” (John 7:46; see Luke 4:22). As for His people, Christ’s words cause their hearts to burn like fire within them (Luke 24:32). 

The godly soul grows tired of the abysmal cloud of frivolous messages the world offers. As Augustine said, our hearts are restless until they find rest in God. Consider Him to be fairest because you see His Word to be greatest.

Christ rides to victory against His enemies

The psalm exults in His triumph:

Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, with Your glory and Your majesty. And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness; and Your right hand shall teach You awesome things. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies; the peoples fall under You (45:3-5). 

Christ’s victory over the rebellious is either by judgment or redemption—He either crushes enemies like a potter’s vessel, or he allows them to take refuge in Him (Psa. 2:9, 12). God subdues all of His enemies in either of these ways (Eph. 1:21; 1 Cor. 15: 25).

The gospel advance to the ends of the earth shows how committed He is to redemption, and the statement about His arrows being sharp in the hearts of His enemies is just one expression that shows His commitment to judgment. The sharpness is the power of His retribution. The heart is what will be struck—God’s judgment will powerfully strike where it hurts the most. And it is the enemies of Christ that will face such wrath. 

It is a glorious thing that Christ will bring evildoers to justice.  If you can no longer affirm that, as if it is intolerant toward those of other beliefs to speak of them as worthy of judgment, you have capitulated to an unbiblical worldview. All sinners are worthy of God’s wrath, and they must accept this truth if they are to flee to Christ for salvation. Recognizing God’s arrows of wrath aimed right at you, may, by the Spirit’s grace, lead you to be slain by His arrows of mercy. 

Christ is fully divine

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever” (45:6).

Sometimes this Hebrew word elohim can refer to mere human rulers who claimed divine status, as many did in the ancient world (see Psalm 82:1-2). Here, in Psalm 45, it refers to Christ as fully God, just as the book of Hebrews verifies (Heb. 1:8 in context). 

History is rife with views that purport to honor Christ, but do not attribute full deity to Him. Proponents of these views say He is worthy of honor but not full worship. But Christ said that “all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father '' (John 5:23), and Revelation reveals all the redeemed worshiping the Father and the Son at the same moment and with the very same words (see Rev. 5:13).

Psalm 45 renders the most devout praise found anywhere in Scripture, and it is praise to Christ. There is no doubt that the Bible expects us to render full worship to the Son, and to attribute to Him all that such worship implies. 

Not only does Christ's deity inform our worship, but it is also necessary for our salvation. If Christ were a mere creature, His death wouldn’t have the efficacy to pay the penalty for sinners from all the ages. His death provides forgiveness for all our sins (Col. 2:13-14), and it does so for the elect of every “tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).

How can one man’s death do so much for so many? The answer is that Christ’s “eternal Spirit” or divine nature gives His death its power to save (Heb. 9:14). If He were not human He could not die for us; if He were not fully divine, His death would have had no power to save us. 

Christ’s kingdom is everlasting

His throne “is forever and ever” (45:6). Here God the Father promises Christ an eternal kingdom. He does so elsewhere too. God promises Him a worldwide reign in Psalm 2:8. Isaiah 9:6-7 says that Christ will be a "Prince of Peace” whose government will never end. 

We often conform ourselves to the thoughts of people we respect. Our friendships and associations determine much of what we think and feel. We are profoundly social creatures and may even be unaware of how perceived pressure from others affects even our views of right and wrong. But Christ says we must love Him most, and to love Him means to obey Him (John 14:15).

How can I resist all the influences and just follow Christ? The answer is to exercise your eye of faith and see every knee bowing to Him and every tongue confessing Him (Phil. 2:10-11). That includes the people whom you are tempted to follow. Think of them all bowing before this everlasting King. Then their voices and opinions won’t seem so compelling.

Christ’s kingdom is not corrupt in any way but is righteous

The psalm says he has a “scepter of righteousness” and that He loves righteousness and hates wickedness (45:6-7). 

Christ’s laws often go against current fads about morality. But we should bow the knee to Him and confess that His commands are righteous, not oppressive. Many reject them on the basis that they are too restrictive, but this is how sinners always respond to His laws (Psa. 2:1).

Transgressors always chafe at boundaries. They do not see how a restriction can be beneficial. But those who have the Spirit say “Oh, how I love Your law!” (Psa. 119:97). The Christian community must turn from its assent to the faddish and often corrupt “morality” of our day and return to the good paths (Jer. 6:16). 

God has anointed Christ with the oil of gladness

"Anointing" (45:7) could refer to His being anointed by the Spirit for empowerment, as we see in Isaiah 11: 2; 61:1; Acts 10:38. This is the idea behind the word Messiah, or Christ, both of which mean “anointed one.” The word refers to a person who’s been assigned a sacred task and empowered to carry it out. 

Here in Psalm 45:7, however, anointing seems more connected to the reward of finishing His righteous task. The phrase "your God has anointed you" is prefaced by the word “therefore.” With this understanding, the idea is similar to the exaltation we see in Philippians—He carried out His tasks and was therefore rewarded as a result (Phil. 2:8–10). The context of Psalm 45 is celebratory, as if the work is thought of as finished.

The oil is called “the oil of gladness.” Whether this anointing refers to empowerment or to reward, this "oil" involves gladness, and that should be the focus. The next two verses seem to expand on the joyful results of His victory. The king has ridden down His enemies and now enjoys the fruit of His dominion, as do His people. 

God has given Him a glorious state

All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia,

Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad.

Kings’ daughters are among Your honorable women;

At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir. (Psa. 45:8-9)

The richness of the imagery is striking. There are robes, costly spices, ivory palaces, and an entourage of other kings’ daughters along with the queen in gold. The ancient setting comes on strong, and it might be tempting to interpret these details too imaginatively.

But there is an obvious parallel that avoids committing to tenuous interpretations—the results of Christ going out to war will be great glory and a multi-national community. That is clear from these verses, for they dwell on His court’s richness and the group of daughters from other nations. It isn’t a leap to extrapolate from this—the result of Christ’s work will be the church, which is in fact what happened. 

Summary of Part 2

This first section of Psalm 45 is marvelously obsessed with Christ. And this fact points out one of the problems of Christendom—it isn’t very Christian. It far too often obsesses about gaining the good opinion of ungodly people or laments the terrible state of things in the world. Psalm 45 helpfully calls us to get our gaze back where it is supposed to be, joyfully fixed on Christ and His glorious kingdom.

If it is hard for us to rejoice in Him, or to reflect upon Psalm 45’s description of Him, we’ve gone astray and need to be instructed. Psalm 45 is a wonderful test—can we dwell on Him, meditate on Him, linger on thoughts of Him? 

But the usefulness of this passage is not merely a matter of whether or not we focus our attention upon Him. There are still opinions of ungodly people and terrible events in the world to sort through. The answer is not to ignore these things as we gaze on Christ; we should not seek spiritual escapism.

We must evaluate these other things in fealty to this eternal, righteous King. The opinions of others, or their touting of “the facts,” must be viewed from the vantage of loyalty to His Word, which is our Law. The tragedies of this world must be viewed as part of His wise plan, and therefore no cause for abandoning joy in this King, whose victory is surely coming.

See here for Part 1 of Parr’s series on Psalm 45.

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