PSALM 45 Reading Guide November 10-16, 2013
PSALM 45 2 PSALM 45 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! 4 In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; let your right hand teach you awesome deeds! 5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; the peoples fall under you. 6 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. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad; 9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir. 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 people2 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.
PSALM 45 3 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. DAY 1 Read through Psalm 45 once writing down what you find interesting, what you find helpful, and what you don t fully understand. Psalm 45 is not like the other Psalms. According to the notes on Psalm 45 in The ESV Study Bible*, This is a hymn celebrating a royal wedding... it is a love song. It is to be read first as a song sung at the wedding of a royal couple, a song sung by God s people in praise of God s king (and therefore God, since the king was God s anointed one). As such, it not only was a song of praise, it was also a song of longing; longing for God s greatest king, Jesus Christ. Read through the notes on Psalm 45 in the ESV Study Bible. Write at least one paragraph highlighting what you learned from the study notes. Reread Psalm 45, personalizing the Psalm as your own prayer. Write out that prayer. DAY 2 Read Psalm 45 again, focusing on verses 1-9. In verse 1, the Psalmist lets us in on his state of mind: The glory of Israel s king has so captured him he is bursting with praise for that king. Read verses 2-9 again, noting some of the reasons the Psalmist praises the king. Though the praise may have been true of that king, no human king could live up to the expectations in the Psalmist s praise. And so the Psalmist and his praise ultimately find themselves longing for the perfect king who will exceed his people s expectations. The connection between the king described in verses 1-9 and Jesus is more than a guess or a hope. Hebrews 1:8-9 quotes verses 6-7 to describe the supremacy of Jesus, showing that ultimately the praise of Psalm 45 was to find its end in Jesus. Though the language of verses 1-9 might seem uncommon in its description of Jesus, it is not improper. C. S. Lewis rightly connected Psalm 45 to Jesus coming to earth: The Psalm restores Christmas to its proper complexity. The birth of Christ is the arrival of the great warrior and the great king. Also of the Lover, the Bridegroom, whose beauty surpasses that of man. But not only the Bridegroom as the lover, the desired; the Bridegroom who also makes fruitful, the father of children still to be begotten and born. 1 1 C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms. New York: Hartcourt, 1958, p. 130.
PSALM 45 4 This type of praise is found in the German Jesuit hymn Fairest Lord Jesus. Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature, Son of God and Son of Man! Thee will I cherish, thee will I honor, Thou, my soul's glory, joy, and crown. Fair are the meadows, fair are the woodlands, Robed in the blooming garb of spring: Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer, Who makes the woeful heart to sing. Fair is the sunshine, fair is the moonlight, And all the twinkling, starry host: Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer Than all the angels heav n can boast. Beautiful Saviour! Lord of the nations! Son of God and Son of Man! Glory and honor, praise, adoration, Now and for evermore be thine. Write out a prayer of praise to Jesus, quoting verse 1 to start your prayer: My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. DAY 3 Read Psalm 45 again. In verses 10-11 the bride is encouraged to be loyal to her new husband: Forget your people and your father s house... Since he is your lord, bow to him. In ancient Israel, the king was God s anointed representative. Loyalty to him was loyalty to God. Submission to him was submission to God. The bride was to pledge allegiance and submission to God, as she pledged her allegiance to God and his people and, in a symbolic gesture of her belonging to God s people, submit herself to God s king. These verses provide a picture for how God s people (the Church) respond to their king (Jesus). Like the bride in Psalm 45, they forget their loyalty to other people and things and pledge that they will worship and serve God alone. They submit to Jesus, not simply as a symbolic gesture, but instead in recognition that he is the King of Kings and he alone is worthy of their complete obedience. Read verses 1-9 again, writing down ways those verses remind you of Jesus beauty. Read verse 11a, reminding yourself that Jesus desires your beauty. And read verses 12-15, reminding yourself of what God has committed to provide to God s people.
PSALM 45 5 Now think about one area of your life that you don t want to submit to Jesus. List what you believe not submitting that area of your life to Jesus will provide you. Now compare those promises with the beauty of Jesus, his desire for you, and his promised blessings. Write out a prayer to Jesus, asking him to forgive you for your sin and help you find him and his promises better and more beautiful than the empty promises of sin. DAY 4 Read Psalm 45 again, focusing on verses 10-15. These were originally words for the king s bride. Ultimately, they can serve as words for Jesus bride, the Church. Verse 11 speaks of the king s desire for his bride: The king will desire your beauty. In Ephesians 5, Paul writes that Jesus desires a beautiful church. In fact, Jesus died so that his church could become beautiful. He died so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:27). Think about your church. How have you seen Jesus make your church beautiful? Praise him for that. How do you long that Jesus continues to make your church beautiful? Ask him to do that. DAY 5 Read through Psalm 45 twice. Write out at least two paragraphs reflecting on what you ve learned about God, yourself, and others from Psalm 45. Write out at least one thing you hope to apply to your life from Psalm 45. Spend at least 15 minutes sharing what you wrote with a trusted friend or family member. If they read Psalm 45 this week, ask them to do the same. End your time in prayer, thanking God for what he taught you this week. * Purchasing an ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Bibles, 2008.) will aid you in your understanding of the Psalms. The first day s reading each week assumes you will have access to the notes in the ESV Study Bible. The ESV Study Bible is the most comprehensive study Bible ever published. It will help you
PSALM 45 6 understand not just the Psalms, but also the rest of the Bible in a deeper way. You can either buy the Bible (amazon.com, search: ESV Study Bible) or purchase online access to the notes at www.esvbible.org. Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 2013 Elliot Grudem.