Psa 45:7 | KingComments | STEP | King David in his victories is a type of the Christ Who will triumph over all His enemies. The beauty of the Lord Jesus in is evident not only in His words, but also in His deeds, which are mentioned from onward. From on, it is about the second coming of the Lord Jesus to earth. It begins with an urging from the believing remnant for the Lord Jesus to gird His sword at the thigh and ride on for the cause of God’s truth and meekness and righteousness. The purpose here, as with the grace of , is the enforcement of the honor of God and the display of the beauty of the King. He will enforce this and shape God’s kingdom in the realm of peace. Christ is the “Mighty One”, the Man with power and ability to overcome anything and anyone. Against Him no one can stand ( ). The sword of His splendor and majesty at the thigh is His Word, with which He strikes down and subjects to Himself all that opposes God. The picture is that of a king going to war with his sword girded. The sword means that the King now comes not only as Savior, but also as Judge. That the sword bears the marks of His splendor and majesty refers to the King’s past victories. It is said to Him to ride on victoriously ( ). It is a wish and at the same time a prophetic description. He is always prosperous and surrounded by glory, both in His humiliation and in His exaltation. It is now about the King Who goes to war and will be prosperous in His warfare. When He appears in glory, He rides “for the cause of truth and meekness [and] righteousness“. His word, what He says, is His strength. Meekness recalls His first coming ( ). He has not lost the features of that when He acts in majesty. By His word He created the worlds ( ). By His word He will reclaim His right to the world fallen into sin (cf. ) and judge sin ( ). He will, when He returns, reign in truth, meekness, and righteousness. “Truth” means that He is absolutely trustworthy in word and deed and that any falsehood or mendacity is absolutely absent. “Meekness” or ‘humble of spirit’ is necessary to be with God ( ). “Righteousness” means that everything He says and does is in complete accord with God’s holy requirements and His covenant. Our task already now in the kingdom of God – which is now a kingdom in secret, the world does not see – is to serve Christ in meekness ( ). We see the power of judgment in the right hand. The right hand is the hand of power and of honor. He will control His right hand to do awesome deeds. What He does in judgment will evoke astonishment and wonder. These are feats of strength and bravery never before displayed in any war. It describes the great victories of the Messiah by which He subdues the whole world to Himself. He goes to war and will completely destroy all His enemies. Then He establishes His reign which is grounded on truth. He rules in perfect righteousness and does so not as a ruthless ruler, but in meekness. The sharp arrows He shoots are His words that strike the hearts of His enemies and by which the hostile nations will fall under Him ( ; cf. ). The Word of God is sharp and therefore deeply penetrating and deadly to what is inconsistent with it ( ). No people will stand before Him. All His enemies, whereby we may mention the king of the North, which is the Assyrian, the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the earth, which are the dictators of respectively restored Europe and the apostate mass of Israel, and the prince of the extreme north, are all enemies who will fall down under Him. It is the victory of the truth of the Word. God says to His King that His throne “is forever and ever” ( ). He addresses Him as “O God”. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews quotes this verse and the next as evidence that the Man Christ is the Son of God and therefore is God and thus is exalted far above the angels ( ). God speaks of His throne. It is an eternal throne because righteousness is its foundation. As Man, He sits on the throne. Right now He is not sitting on His own throne, but on the Father’s throne ( ). In the future, He will sit on His own throne ( ). On whatever throne He sits, His throne stands unshaken, and He Who sits on it cannot be removed from the throne by any power in the world. It is His throne on earth upon which He has sat after what is described above in . He has taken rightful possession of the throne. The Messiah exercises His rule, of which the scepter is the symbol, in a righteous manner. It is “the scepter of uprightness”. No one can question the justice of His government. Any ground for doing so is lacking, for He rules according to the righteous law of God. All that Christ possesses, He possesses righteously. What the bride possesses and what the faithful possess, they possess by grace, which is based on His very own righteousness imputed to them. God speaks to His Son and says to Him that He will sit on His own throne. His love of righteousness and His hatred of wickedness are the reasons why He is given such a special place ( ). “Wickedness” is rendered “lawlessness” in the quotation in Hebrews 1 ( ). Lawlessness is the essence of sin, for “sin is lawlessness” ( ). It is not merely breaking the law of God, but denying any authority whatsoever, especially God’s. This is what the Lord Jesus hates, Who has always perfectly acknowledged and upheld the authority of God. Christ is absolutely unique in His love of righteousness and His hatred of wickedness. He is the Only One on all earth of Whom that can be said by God. “Therefore”, for that reason, He has been given such a unique place by God. Is He not then worthy to be given that unique place in our hearts as well? His anointing with the oil of joy is the expression of Who He is to the heart of God. It is not just a question of oil. With it He is already anointed as King. Here we have a special anointing, which takes place “with the oil of joy”, because it is the day of His wedding. He is anointed “above Your fellows”. His fellows are prophetically the faithful remnant. They first shared suffering with Him and now they share in His glorification and joy (cf. ). His anointing shows that He is the First among them ( ). Every believer longs for justice to be done to Him, Who was done so much injustice in His life on earth. Myrrh and aloes ( ) are components of the holy anointing oil that is special to God ( ). The Bridegroom’s garments are fragrant with this (cf. ). The Messiah is there first and foremost for God. He is described in His glories. We also find those spices on the Bride when she is described by the Bridegroom in Song of Songs ( ). In these garments He appears when He comes out of “the ivory palaces”. Solomon had a great ivory throne ( ), but He Who is more than Solomon dwells in ivory palaces. Ivory speaks of the precious things that emerges because the death of another has taken place. Here He appears differently than in the war costume in the previous verses ( ). In addition to being surrounded by the precious fragrance of the oil of joy, He is filled with joy because of the anointing with oil of joy. The “king’s daughters” surround the bride ( ). The king’s daughters are highly placed representatives of the nations that will come into the realm of peace. The daughter of Tyre ( ) is one of them. She represents the wealth of the nations. The nations come with gifts and share in the general joy of the wedding. The queen has a separate place. She rules together with the Messiah. The word for queen here is the word used for a woman who becomes queen through her marriage to the king. The queen is the earthly bride of the Messiah, which is the faithful remnant, the Jerusalem that is on earth. The earth will be submitted to Christ and to His earthly bride. There are two exceptions to that submission: God ( ) and the church, His heavenly bride ( ). The queen stands at the right hand of the King. The right hand, besides being a symbol of power, also symbolizes an exalted place, a place of honor (cf. ; ; ). The queen has yet to be brought to the king ( ), but the psalmist already foresees this scene. She is clothed “in gold from Ophir”. The gold refers to the glory of God. The bride looks so glittering because God has put His own glory on her ( ).

‏ Psalms 45:7

King and Bridegroom

King David in his victories is a type of the Christ Who will triumph over all His enemies. The beauty of the Lord Jesus in Psa 45:2 is evident not only in His words, but also in His deeds, which are mentioned from Psa 45:3 onward. From Psa 45:3 on, it is about the second coming of the Lord Jesus to earth.

It begins with an urging from the believing remnant for the Lord Jesus to gird His sword at the thigh and ride on for the cause of God’s truth and meekness and righteousness. The purpose here, as with the grace of Psa 45:2, is the enforcement of the honor of God and the display of the beauty of the King. He will enforce this and shape God’s kingdom in the realm of peace.

Christ is the “Mighty One”, the Man with power and ability to overcome anything and anyone. Against Him no one can stand (Isa 42:13). The sword of His splendor and majesty at the thigh is His Word, with which He strikes down and subjects to Himself all that opposes God. The picture is that of a king going to war with his sword girded. The sword means that the King now comes not only as Savior, but also as Judge. That the sword bears the marks of His splendor and majesty refers to the King’s past victories.

It is said to Him to ride on victoriously (Psa 45:4). It is a wish and at the same time a prophetic description. He is always prosperous and surrounded by glory, both in His humiliation and in His exaltation. It is now about the King Who goes to war and will be prosperous in His warfare. When He appears in glory, He rides “for the cause of truth and meekness [and] righteousness“. His word, what He says, is His strength. Meekness recalls His first coming (Zec 9:9). He has not lost the features of that when He acts in majesty.

By His word He created the worlds (Heb 11:3). By His word He will reclaim His right to the world fallen into sin (cf. Rev 19:11 ; 15a) and judge sin (Jn 12:48). He will, when He returns, reign in truth, meekness, and righteousness. “Truth” means that He is absolutely trustworthy in word and deed and that any falsehood or mendacity is absolutely absent. “Meekness” or ‘humble of spirit’ is necessary to be with God (Isa 57:15). “Righteousness” means that everything He says and does is in complete accord with God’s holy requirements and His covenant.

Our task already now in the kingdom of God – which is now a kingdom in secret, the world does not see – is to serve Christ in meekness (Rom 14:17-18).

We see the power of judgment in the right hand. The right hand is the hand of power and of honor. He will control His right hand to do awesome deeds. What He does in judgment will evoke astonishment and wonder. These are feats of strength and bravery never before displayed in any war. It describes the great victories of the Messiah by which He subdues the whole world to Himself.

He goes to war and will completely destroy all His enemies. Then He establishes His reign which is grounded on truth. He rules in perfect righteousness and does so not as a ruthless ruler, but in meekness.

The sharp arrows He shoots are His words that strike the hearts of His enemies and by which the hostile nations will fall under Him (Psa 45:5; cf. Jn 12:48b). The Word of God is sharp and therefore deeply penetrating and deadly to what is inconsistent with it (Heb 4:12). No people will stand before Him.

All His enemies, whereby we may mention the king of the North, which is the Assyrian, the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the earth, which are the dictators of respectively restored Europe and the apostate mass of Israel, and the prince of the extreme north, are all enemies who will fall down under Him. It is the victory of the truth of the Word.

God says to His King that His throne “is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6). He addresses Him as “O God”. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews quotes this verse and the next as evidence that the Man Christ is the Son of God and therefore is God and thus is exalted far above the angels (Heb 1:8-9). God speaks of His throne. It is an eternal throne because righteousness is its foundation.

As Man, He sits on the throne. Right now He is not sitting on His own throne, but on the Father’s throne (Rev 3:21). In the future, He will sit on His own throne (Mt 25:31). On whatever throne He sits, His throne stands unshaken, and He Who sits on it cannot be removed from the throne by any power in the world. It is His throne on earth upon which He has sat after what is described above in Psa 45:4-5. He has taken rightful possession of the throne.

The Messiah exercises His rule, of which the scepter is the symbol, in a righteous manner. It is “the scepter of uprightness”. No one can question the justice of His government. Any ground for doing so is lacking, for He rules according to the righteous law of God. All that Christ possesses, He possesses righteously. What the bride possesses and what the faithful possess, they possess by grace, which is based on His very own righteousness imputed to them.

God speaks to His Son and says to Him that He will sit on His own throne. His love of righteousness and His hatred of wickedness are the reasons why He is given such a special place (Psa 45:7). “Wickedness” is rendered “lawlessness” in the quotation in Hebrews 1 (Heb 1:9). Lawlessness is the essence of sin, for “sin is lawlessness” (1Jn 3:4). It is not merely breaking the law of God, but denying any authority whatsoever, especially God’s. This is what the Lord Jesus hates, Who has always perfectly acknowledged and upheld the authority of God.

Christ is absolutely unique in His love of righteousness and His hatred of wickedness. He is the Only One on all earth of Whom that can be said by God. “Therefore”, for that reason, He has been given such a unique place by God. Is He not then worthy to be given that unique place in our hearts as well?

His anointing with the oil of joy is the expression of Who He is to the heart of God. It is not just a question of oil. With it He is already anointed as King. Here we have a special anointing, which takes place “with the oil of joy”, because it is the day of His wedding. He is anointed “above Your fellows”. His fellows are prophetically the faithful remnant. They first shared suffering with Him and now they share in His glorification and joy (cf. Rom 8:17). His anointing shows that He is the First among them (Heb 1:9). Every believer longs for justice to be done to Him, Who was done so much injustice in His life on earth.

Myrrh and aloes (Psa 45:8) are components of the holy anointing oil that is special to God (Exo 30:22-25 ; 31-33). The Bridegroom’s garments are fragrant with this (cf. 2Cor 2:15). The Messiah is there first and foremost for God. He is described in His glories. We also find those spices on the Bride when she is described by the Bridegroom in Song of Songs (Song 4:14).

In these garments He appears when He comes out of “the ivory palaces”. Solomon had a great ivory throne (1Kgs 10:18), but He Who is more than Solomon dwells in ivory palaces. Ivory speaks of the precious things that emerges because the death of another has taken place. Here He appears differently than in the war costume in the previous verses (Psa 45:3-5). In addition to being surrounded by the precious fragrance of the oil of joy, He is filled with joy because of the anointing with oil of joy.

The “king’s daughters” surround the bride (Psa 45:9). The king’s daughters are highly placed representatives of the nations that will come into the realm of peace. The daughter of Tyre (Psa 45:12) is one of them. She represents the wealth of the nations. The nations come with gifts and share in the general joy of the wedding.

The queen has a separate place. She rules together with the Messiah. The word for queen here is the word used for a woman who becomes queen through her marriage to the king. The queen is the earthly bride of the Messiah, which is the faithful remnant, the Jerusalem that is on earth. The earth will be submitted to Christ and to His earthly bride. There are two exceptions to that submission: God (1Cor 15:27) and the church, His heavenly bride (Eph 1:22-23).

The queen stands at the right hand of the King. The right hand, besides being a symbol of power, also symbolizes an exalted place, a place of honor (cf. 1Kgs 2:19; Mk 16:19; Heb 1:3). The queen has yet to be brought to the king (Psa 45:14 ; 15), but the psalmist already foresees this scene. She is clothed “in gold from Ophir”. The gold refers to the glory of God. The bride looks so glittering because God has put His own glory on her (Eze 16:14).