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Psalm Forty-five
Psalm 45
Chapter Contents
This psalm is a prophecy of Messiah the Prince
and
points to him as a Bridegroom espousing the church to himself
and as a King
ruling in it
and for it.
Commentary on Psalm 45:1-5
(Read Psalm 45:1-5)
The psalmist's tongue was guided by the Spirit of God
as
the pen is by the hand of a ready writer. This psalm is touching the King
Jesus
his kingdom and government. It is a shame that this good matter is not
more the subject of our discourse. There is more in Christ to engage our love
than there is or can be in any creature. This world and its charms are ready to
draw away our hearts from Christ; therefore we are concerned to understand how
much more worthy he is of our love. By his word
his promise
his gospel
the
good will of God is made known to us
and the good work of God is begun and
carried on in us. The psalmist
verses 3-5
joyfully foretells the progress and
success of the Messiah. The arrows of conviction are very terrible in the
hearts of sinners
till they are humbled and reconciled; but the arrows of
vengeance will be more so to his enemies who refuse to submit. All who have
seen his glory and tasted his grace
rejoice to see him
by his word and
Spirit
bring enemies and strangers under his dominion.
Commentary on Psalm 45:6-9
(Read Psalm 45:6-9)
The throne of this almighty King is established for ever.
While the Holy Spirit leads Christ's people to look to his cross
he teaches
them to see the evil of sin and the beauty of holiness; so that none of them
can feel encouragement to continue in sin. The Mediator is God
else he had
been neither able to do the Mediator's work
nor fit to wear the Mediator's crown.
God the Father
as his God in respect to his human nature and mediatorial
offices
has given to him the Holy Spirit without measure. Thus anointed to be
a Prophet
Priest
and King
Christ has pre-eminence in the gladdening gifts
and graces of the spirit
and from his fulness communicates them to his
brethren in human nature. The Spirit is called the oil of gladness
because of
the delight wherewith Christ was filled
in carrying on his undertakings. The
salvation of sinners is the joy of angels
much more of the Son. And in
proportion as we are conformed to his holy image
we may expect the gladdening
gifts influences of the Comforter. The excellences of the Messiah
the
suitableness of his offices
and the sufficiency of his grace
seem to be intended
by the fragrance of his garments. The church formed of true believers
is here
compared to the queen
whom
by an everlasting covenant
the Lord Jesus has
betrothed to himself. This is the bride
the Lamb's wife
whose graces are
compared to fine linen
for their purity; to gold
for their costliness: for as
we owe our redemption
so we owe our adorning
to the precious blood of the Son
of God.
Commentary on Psalm 45:10-17
(Read Psalm 45:10-17)
If we desire to share these blessings
we must hearken to
Christ's word. We must forget our carnal and sinful attachments and pursuits.
He must be our Lord as well as our Saviour; all idols must be thrown away
that
we may give him our whole heart. And here is good encouragement
thus to break
off from former alliances. The beauty of holiness
both on the church and on
particular believers
is
in the sight of Christ
of great price
and very
amiable. The work of grace is the workmanship of the Spirit
it is the image of
Christ upon the soul
a partaking of the Divine nature. It is clear of all sin
there is none in it
nor any comes from it. There is nothing glorious in the
old man or corrupt nature; but in the new man
or work of grace upon the soul
every thing is glorious. The robe of Christ's righteousness
which he has
wrought out for his church
the Father imputes unto her
and bestows upon her.
None are brought to Christ
but those whom the Father brings. This notes the
conversion of souls to him. The robe of righteousness
and garments of
salvation
the change of raiment Christ has put upon her. Such as strictly
cleave to Christ
loving him in singleness of heart
are companions of the
bride
who partake of the very same grace
enjoy the same privileges
and share
in one common salvation. These
every one
shall be brought to the King; not
one lost or left behind. Instead of the Old Testament church
there shall be a
New Testament church
a Gentile church. In the believing hope of our everlasting
happiness in the other world
let us always keep up the remembrance of Christ
as our only way thither; and transmit the remembrance of him to succeeding
generations
that his name may endure for ever.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 45
Verse 1
[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.
Enditing —
Heb. boileth
or bubbleth up like water over the fire. This denotes that the
workings of his heart
were fervent and vehement
kindled by God's grace
and
the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
Made —
Have composed.
Pen — He
was only the pen or instrument in uttering this song; it was the spirit of God
by whose hand this pen was guided.
Verse 2
[2] Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips:
therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.
Fairer —
Than all other men: which is most true of Christ; but not of Solomon; whom many
have excelled
in holiness and righteousness
which is the chief part of the
beauty celebrated in this psalm.
Grace —
God hath plentifully poured into thy mind and tongue the gift of speaking
wisely
eloquently
and acceptably.
Therefore —
And because God hath so eminently qualified thee for rule
therefore he hath
blessed thee with an everlasting kingdom.
Verse 3
[3] Gird
thy sword upon thy thigh
O most mighty
with thy glory and thy majesty.
Thy sword — To
smite thine enemies. And the sword is here put for all his arms
as it is in
many other places.
Verse 4
[4] And
in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and
righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.
And —
Being thus magnificently girt and armed.
Ride — March
on speedily and successfully against thine enemies.
The word —
That is
the gospel: which is called the word of truth
Ephesians 1:13
and may no less truly be called
the word of meekness
because it is not delivered with terror
as the law was
at Sinai
but meekly and sweetly; and the word of righteousness
because it
brings in everlasting righteousness
and strongly excites all men to the
practice of righteousness and holiness. And so the gospel is compared
to an
horse or chariot
upon which Christ is said to ride
when the gospel is
preached
and carried about from place to place.
Teach thee —
Thou shalt do exploits
which shall be terrible to thine enemies. But the
phrase
thy right hand shall teach thee
is not to be taken properly; the
meaning is
his hand should shew him
discover and work before him.
Verse 5
[5] Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the
people fall under thee.
Arrows —
The same with the sword
and this is no other than his word
which is sharp and
powerful
and pierceth the hearts of men.
The kings — Of
thine enemies.
Fall —
Prostrate at thy feet
after the manner of conquered persons.
Verse 6
[6] Thy
throne
O God
is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right
sceptre.
O God — It
is evident
that the speech is still continued to the same person whom he calls
king
verse 1
11
and here God
to assure us that he doth
not speak of Solomon
but a far greater king
who is not only a man
but the
mighty God
Isaiah 9:6.
A right scepter —
Thou rulest with exact righteousness and equity.
Verse 7
[7] Thou
lovest righteousness
and hatest wickedness: therefore God
thy God
hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Therefore —
Therefore God hath exalted thee far above all men and angels
to a state of joy
and endless glory at his right hand; which is fitly compared by the oil of
gladness.
Thy God —
According to thy human nature
John 20:17
though in respect of thy Divine
nature
thou art his fellow
Zechariah 13:7
and his equal
Philemon 2:6
and one with him
John 10:30.
Oil — So
called
because it was a token of gladness
and used in feasts
and other
solemn occasions of rejoicing.
Fellows —
Above all them who partake with thee in this unction: above all that ever were
anointed for priests or prophets
or kings.
Verse 8
[8] All
thy garments smell of myrrh
and aloes
and cassia
out of the ivory palaces
whereby they have made thee glad.
Myrrh —
Wherewith they used to perfume their garments: this may denote those glorious
and sweet smelling virtues
which
as they were treasured up in Christ's heart
so did they manifest themselves outwardly
and give forth a grateful smell
in
the whole course of his life and actions.
Palaces —
The king is here supposed to reside in his ivory palaces
and his garments are
so fragrant
that they not only perfume the whole palace in which he is; but
the sweet favour is perceived by those that pass by them
all which is
poetically said
and with allusion to Solomon's glorious garments and palaces.
The heavenly mansions
may not unfitly be called ivory palaces
as elsewhere in
the same figurative manner they are said to be adorned with gold and precious
stones
from which mansions Christ came into the world
into which Christ went
and where he settled his abode after he went out of the world
and from whence
he poured forth all the fragrant gifts and graces of his spirit
although there
is no necessity to strain every particular circumstance in such poetical
descriptions; for some expressions may be used
only as ornaments
as they are
in parables; and it may suffice to know
that the excellencies of the king
Christ are described by things which earthly potentates place their glory.
Whereby — By
the sweet smell of thy garments out of those ivory palaces
or the effusion of
the gifts and graces of thy spirit from heaven; which as it is a great blessing
to those who receive them
so doth it rejoice the heart of Christ
both as it
is a demonstration of his own power and glory
and as it is the instrument of
bringing souls to God.
Made thee —
Thou art made glad.
Verse 9
[9]
Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand
the queen in gold of Ophir.
Among —
Among them that attend upon thy spouse
as the manner was in nuptial
solemnities. As the queen is the church in general
and so these honourable
women are particular believers
who are daily added to the church
Acts 2:47. And although the church is made up of
particular believers
yet she is distinguished from them
for the decency of
the parable. And these believers may be said to be Kings daughters
because
among others
many persons of royal race embraced the faith
and because they
are in a spiritual sense
Kings unto God
Revelation 1:6.
Right hand —
The most honourable place.
Ophir —
Clothed in garments made of the choicest gold. By which he designs the graces
wherewith the church is accomplished.
Verse 10
[10]
Hearken
O daughter
and consider
and incline thine ear; forget also thine own
people
and thy father's house;
Hearken —
The prophet having hitherto spoken to the bridegroom
now addresseth his speech
to the bride.
O daughter — He
speaks like an elder person
and as her spiritual father and counsellor.
Incline — He
uses several words
signifying the same thing
to shew his vehement desire of
her good.
Forget —
Comparatively.
Verse 11
[11] So
shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou
him.
So — So thou shalt be
acceptable to thy husband; which will abundantly recompence thee
for the loss
of thy father's house.
Thy Lord — As
he is thy husband
and also as he is thy king
and God.
Verse 12
[12] And
the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people
shall intreat thy favour.
The daughter —
The people of Tyre; as the daughter of Zion or Jerusalem
are put for their
inhabitants: he mentions the Tyrians; because they among others
and before
many others
were to be converted to Christ
but they are here put for all the
Gentiles
whom that city fitly represents
as being the mart of the nations.
A gift — To
testify their homage.
The rich — Of
other nations.
Verse 13
[13] The
king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.
Daughter —
The spouse; so called
because she was the daughter of one king
and the wife
of another.
Within — In
her soul.
Her cloathing —
She is outwardly adorned with virtuous and honourable actions.
Verse 14
[14] She
shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her
companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.
Brought — He
alludes to the custom of conducting the bride to the bride-groom's house.
Companions —
Her bride-maidens attending upon her.
Verse 16
[16]
Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children
whom thou mayest make princes in
all the earth.
Instead —
Having directed his speech to the bride
he now returns to the bridegroom
as
may be gathered both from the Hebrew words
which are of the masculine gender;
and from the next verse
which unquestionably belongs unto him
and therefore
this cannot be understood of Solomon
and his marriage with Pharaoh's daughter
because he had no children by her
and but very few by all his wives and
concubines; and his children were so far from being made Princes in all the
earth
that they enjoyed but a small part of their father's dominions
but this
was fully accomplished in Christ: who instead of his fathers of the Jewish nation
had a numerous posterity of Christians of all the nations of the earth
which
here and elsewhere are called princes and kings
because of their great power
with God and with men.
Verse 17
[17] I
will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the
people praise thee for ever and ever.
Remembered — As
he began the psalm with the celebration of the king's praises
so now he ends
with it
and adds this important circumstance
that this nuptial song should
not only serve for the present solemnity
but should be remembered and sung in
all successive generations.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
Other Works
TITLE. The many
titles of this Psalm mark its royalty
its deep and solemn import
and the
delight the writer had in it. To the Chief Musician upon Shoshannim. The most
probable translation of this word is upon the lilies
and it is either a
poetical title given to this noblest of songs after the Oriental manner
or it
may relate to the tune to which it was set
or to the instrument which was
meant to accompany it. We incline to the first theory
and if it be the true
one
it is easy to see the fitness of borrowing a name for so beautiful
so
pure
so choice
so matchless a poem from the golden lilies
whose bright array
outshone the glory of Solomon. For the sons of Korah. Special singers are
appointed for so divine a hymn. King Jesus deserves to be praised not with
random
ranting ravings
but with the sweetest and most skilful music of the best
trained choristers. The purest hearts in the spiritual temple are the most
harmonious songsters in the ears of God; acceptable song is not a matter so
much of tuneful voices as of sanctified affections
but in no case should we
sing of Jesus with unprepared hearts. Maschil
an instructive ode
not an idle
lay
or a romancing ballad
but a Psalm of holy teaching
didactic and
doctrinal. This proves that it is to be spiritually understood. Blessed are the
people who know the meaning of its joyful sound. A Song of loves. Not a carnal
sentimental love song
but a celestial canticle of everlasting love fit for the
tongues and ears of angels.
SUBJECT. Some here see
Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter only—they are short sighted; others see both
Solomon and Christ—they are cross eyed; well focused spiritual eyes see here
Jesus only
or if Solomon be present at all
it must be like those hazy shadows
of by passers which cross the face of the camera
and therefore are dimly
traceable upon a photographic landscape. "The King
"the God whose
throne is for ever and ever
is no mere mortal and his everlasting dominion is
not bounded by Lebanon and Egypt's river. This is no wedding song of earthly
nuptials
but an Epithalamium for the Heavenly Bridegroom and his elect spouse.
DIVISION. Ps 45:1 is an
announcement of intention
a preface to the song; Ps 45:3 adores the matchless
beauty of Messiah; and from Ps 45:3-9
he is addressed in admiring ascriptions
of praise. Ps 45:10-12 are spoken to the bride. The church is further spoken of
in Ps 45:13-15
and the Psalm closes with another address to the King
foretelling his eternal fame
Ps 45:16-17.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. My heart. There is no writing like that dictated by the
heart. Heartless hymns are insults to heaven. Is inditing a good matter.
A good heart will only be content with good thoughts. Where the fountain is
good good streams will flow forth. The learned tell us that the word may be
read overflows
or as others
boils or bubbles up
denoting the warmth of the
writer's love
the fulness of his heart
and the consequent richness and glow
of his utterance
as though it were the ebullition of his inmost soul
when
most full of affection. We have here no single cold expression; the writer is
not one who frigidly studies the elegancies and proprieties of poetry
his
stanzas are the natural outburst of his soul
comparable to the boiling jets of
the geysers of Hecla. As the corn offered in sacrifice was parched in the pan
so is this tribute of love hot with sincere devotion. It is a sad thing when
the heart is cold with a good matter
and worse when it is warm with a bad
matter
but incomparably well when a warm heart and a good matter meet
together. O that we may often offer to God an acceptable minchah
a
sweet oblation fresh from the pan of hearts warmed with gratitude and
admiration. I speak of the things which I have made touching the King.
This song has "the King" for its only subject
and for the King's
honour alone was it composed
well might its writer call it a good matter. The
psalmist did not write carelessly; he calls his poem his works
or things which
he had made. We are not to offer to the Lord that which costs us nothing. Good
material deserves good workmanship. We should well digest in our heart's
affections and our mind's meditations any discourse or poem in which we speak
of one so great and glorious as our Royal Lord. As our version reads it
the
psalmist wrote experimentally things which he had made his own
and personally
tasted and handled concerning the King. My tongue is the pen of a ready
writer
not so much for rapidity
for there the tongue always has the
preference
but for exactness
elaboration
deliberation
and skilfulness of
expression. Seldom are the excited utterances of the mouth equal in real weight
and accuracy to the verba scripta of a thoughtful accomplished penman;
but here the writer
though filled with enthusiasm
speaks as correctly as a
practised writer; his utterances therefore are no ephemeral sentences
but such
as fall from men who sit down calmly to write for eternity. It is not always
that the best of men are in such a key
and when they are they should not
restrain the gush of their hallowed feelings. Such a condition of heart in a
gifted mind creates that auspicious hour in which poetry pours forth her
tuneful numbers to enrich the service of song in the house of the Lord.
Verse
2. Thou. As though the King himself had suddenly appeared
before him
the psalmist lost in admiration of his person
turns from his
preface to address his Lord. A loving heart has the power to realise its
object. The eyes of a true heart see more than the eyes of the head. Moreover
Jesus reveals himself when we are pouring forth our affections towards him. It
is usually the case that when we are ready Christ appears. If our heart is warm
it is an index that the sun is shining
and when we enjoy his heat we shall
soon behold his light. Thou art fairer than the children of men. In
person
but especially in mind and character
the King of saints is peerless in
beauty. The Hebrew word is doubled
"Beautiful
beautiful art thou."
Jesus is so emphatically lovely that words must be doubled
strained
yea
exhausted before he can be described. Among the children of men many have
through grace been lovely in character
yet they have each had a flaw; but in
Jesus we behold every feature of a perfect character in harmonious proportion.
He is lovely everywhere
and from every point of view
but never more so than
when we view him in conjugal union with his church; then love gives a ravishing
flush of glory to his loveliness. Grace is poured into thy lips. Beauty
and eloquence make a man majestic when they are united; they both dwell in
perfection in the all fair
all eloquent Lord Jesus. Grace of person and grace
of speech reach their highest point in him. Grace has in the most copious
manner been poured upon Christ
for it pleased the Father that in him should
all fulness dwell
and now grace is in superabundance
poured forth from his
lips to cheer and enrich his people. The testimony
the promises
the
invitations
the consolations of our King pour forth from him in such volumes
of meaning that we cannot but contrast those cataracts of grace with the speech
of Moses which did but drop as the rain
and distil as the dew. Whoever in
personal communion with the Wellbeloved has listened to his voice will feel
that "never man spake like this man." Well did the bride say of him
"his lips are like lilies dropping sweet smelling myrrh." One word
from himself dissolved the heart of Saul of Tarsus
and turned him into an
apostle
another word raised up John the Divine when fainting in the Isle of
Patmos. Oftentimes a sentence from his lips has turned our own midnight into
morning
our winter into spring. Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.
Calvin reads it
Because God hath blessed thee for ever. Christ is
blessed of God
blessed for ever
and this is to us one great reason for his
beauty
and the source of the gracious words which proceed out of his lips. The
rare endowments of the man Christ Jesus are given him of the Father
that by
them his people may be blessed with all spiritual blessings in union with
himself. But if we take our own translation
we read that the Father has
blessed the Mediator as a reward for all his gracious labours; and right well
does he deserve the recompense. Whom God blesses we should bless
and the more
so because all his blessedness is communicated to us.
Verse
3. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh. Loving spirits jealous of
the Redeemer's glory long to see him putting forth his power to vindicate his
own most holy cause. Why should the sword of the Spirit lie still
like a
weapon hung up in an armoury; it is sharp and strong
both for cutting and
piercing: O that the divine power of Jesus were put forth to use against error.
The words before us represent our great King as urged to arm himself for
battle
by placing his sword where it is ready for use. Christ is the true
champion of the church
others are but underlings who must borrow strength from
him; the single arm of Immanuel is the sole hope of the faithful. Our prayer
should be that of this verse. There is at this moment an apparent suspension of
our Lord's former power
we must by importunate prayer call him to the
conflict
for like the Greeks without Achilles we are soon overcome by our
enemies
and we are but dead men if Jesus be not in our midst. O most
mighty. A title well deserved
and not given from empty courtesy like the
serenities
excellencies and highnesses of our fellow mortals—titles
which are
but sops for vain glory. Jesus is the truest of heroes. Hero worship in his
case alone is commendable. He is mighty to save
mighty in love. With thy
glory and thy majesty. Let thy sword both win thee renown and dominion
or
as it may mean
gird on with thy sword thy robes which indicate thy royal
splendour. Love delights to see the Beloved arrayed as beseemeth his
excellency; she weeps as she sees him in the garments of humiliation
she
rejoices to behold him in the vestments of his exaltation. Our precious Christ
can never be made too much of. Heaven itself is but just good enough for him.
All the pomp that angels and archangels
and thrones
and dominions
and
principalities
and powers can pour at his feet is too little for him. Only his
own essential glory is such as fully answers to the desire of his people
who
can never enough extol him.
Verse
4. And in thy majesty ride prosperously. The hero monarch
armed and apparelled is now entreated to ascend his triumphal car. Would to God
that our Immanuel would come forth in the chariot of love to conquer our
spiritual foes and seize by power the souls whom he has bought with blood. Because
of truth and meekness and righteousness. These words may be rendered
ride
forth upon truth and meekness and righteousness.—Three noble chargers to
draw the war chariot of the gospel. In the sense of our translation it is a
most potent argument to urge with our Lord that the cause of the true
the
humble
and the good
calls for his advocacy. Truth will be ridiculed
meekness
will be oppressed
and righteousness slain
unless the God
the Man in whom
these precious things are incarnated
shall arise for their vindication. Our
earnest petition ought ever to be that Jesus would lay his almighty arm to the
work of grace lest the good cause languish and wickedness prevail. And thy
right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Foreseeing the result of
divine working
the psalmist prophesies that the uplifted arm of Messiah will
reveal to the King's own eyes the terrible overthrow of his foes. Jesus needs
no guide but his own right hand
no teacher but his own might; may he instruct
us all in what he can perform
by achieving it speedily before our gladdened
eyes.
Verse
5. Thine arrows. Our King is master of all weapons: he can
strike those who are near and those afar off with equal force. Are sharp.
Nothing that Jesus does is ill done
he uses no blunted shafts
no pointless
darts. In the heart of the King's enemies. Our Captain aims at men's
hearts rather than their heads
and he hits them too; point blank are his
shots
and they enter deep into the vital part of man's nature. Whether for
love or vengeance
Christ never misses aim
and when his arrows stick
they
cause a smart not soon forgotten
a wound which only he can heal. Jesus' arrows
of conviction are sharp in the quiver of his word
and sharp when on the bow of
his ministers
but they are most known to be so when they find a way into
careless hearts. They are his arrows
he made them
he shoots them. He
makes them sharp
and he makes them enter the heart. May none of us ever fall
under the darts of his judgment
for none kill so surely as they. Whereby
the people fall under thee. On either side the slain of the Lord are many
when Jesus leads on the war. Nations tremble and turn to him when he shoots
abroad his truth. Under his power and presence
men are stricken down as though
pricked in the heart. There is no standing against the Son of God when his bow
of might is in his hands. Terrible will be that hour when his bow shall be made
quite naked
and bolts of devouring fire shall be hurled upon his adversaries:
then shall princes fall and nations perish.
Verse
6. Thy throne
O God
is for ever and ever. To whom can this
be spoken but our Lord? The psalmist cannot restrain his adoration. His
enlightened eye sees in the royal Husband of the church
God
God to be adored
God reigning
God reigning everlastingly. Blessed sight! Blind are the eyes
that cannot see God in Christ Jesus! We never appreciate the tender condescension
of our King in becoming one flesh with his church
and placing her at his right
hand
until we have fully rejoiced in his essential glory and deity. What a
mercy for us that our Saviour is God
for who but a God could execute the work
of salvation? What a glad thing it is that he reigns on a throne which will
never pass away
for we need both sovereign grace and eternal love to secure
our happiness. Could Jesus cease to reign we should cease to be blessed
and
were he not God
and therefore eternal
this must be the case. No throne can
endure for ever
but that on which God himself sitteth. The sceptre of thy
kingdom is a right sceptre. He is the lawful monarch of all things that be.
His rule is founded in right
its law is right
its result is right. Our King
is no usurper and no oppressor. Even when he shall break his enemies with a rod
of iron
he will do no man wrong; his vengeance and his grace are both in
conformity with justice. Hence we trust him without suspicion; he cannot err;
no affliction is too severe
for he sends it; no judgment too harsh
for he
ordains it. O blessed hands of Jesus! the reigning power is safe with you. All
the just rejoice in the government of the King who reigns in righteousness.
Verse
7. Thou lovest righteousness
and hatest wickedness. Christ
Jesus is not neutral in the great contest between right and wrong: as warmly as
he loves the one he abhors the other. What qualifications for a sovereign! what
grounds of confidence for a people! The whole of our Lord's life on earth
proved the truth of these words; his death to put away sin and bring in the
reign of righteousness
sealed the fact beyond all question; his providence by
which he rules from his mediatorial throne
when rightly understood
reveals
the same; and his final assize will proclaim it before all worlds. We should
imitate him both in his love and hate; they are both needful to complete a
righteous character. Therefore God
thy God
hath anointed thee with the oil
of gladness above thy fellows. Jesus as Mediator owned God as his God
to
whom
being found in fashion as a man
he became obedient. On account of our
Lord's perfect life he is now rewarded with superior joy. Others there are to
whom grace has given a sacred fellowship with him
but by their universal
consent and his own merit
he is prince among them
the gladdest of all because
the cause of all their gladness. At Oriental feasts oil was poured on the heads
of distinguished and very welcome guests; God himself anoints the man Christ
Jesus
as he sits at the heavenly feasts
anoints him as a reward for his work
with higher and fuller joy than any else can know; thus is the Son of man
honoured and rewarded for all his pains. Observe the indisputable testimony to
Messiah's Deity in verse six
and to his manhood in the present verse. Of whom
could this be written but of Jesus of Nazareth? Our Christ is our Elohim. Jesus
is God with us.
Verse
8. All thy garments smell of myrrh
and aloes
and cassia.
The divine anointing causes fragrance to distil from the robes of the Mighty
Hero. He is delightful to every sense
to the eyes most fair
to the ear most
gracious
to the spiritual nostril most sweet. The excellences of Jesus are all
most precious
comparable to the rarest spices; they are most varied
and to be
likened not to myrrh alone
but to all the perfumes blended in due proportion.
The Father always finds a pleasure in him
in him he is well pleased; and all
regenerated spirits rejoice in him
for he is made of God unto us
"wisdom
righteousness
sanctification
and redemption." Note that
not only is Jesus most sweet
but even his garments are so; everything that he
has to do with is perfumed by his person. All his garments are thus
fragrant; not some of them
but all; we delight as much in his purple of
dominion as in the white of his priesthood
his mantle as our prophet is as
dear to us as his seamless coat as our friend. All his dress is fragrant with
all sweetness. To attempt to spiritualise each spice here mentioned would be
unprofitable
the evident sense is that all sweetnesses meet in Jesus
and are
poured forth wherever he is present. Out of the ivory palaces
whereby they
have made thee glad. The abode of Jesus now is imperial in splendour
ivory
and gold but faintly image his royal seat; there is he made glad in the
presence of the Father
and in the company of his saints. Oh
to behold him
with his perfumed garments on! The very smell of him from afar ravishes our
spirit
what must it be to be on the other side of the pearl gate
within the
palace of ivory
amid those halls of Zion
"conjubilant with song
"where is the throne of David
and the abiding presence of the Prince! To
think of his gladness
to know that he is full of joy
gives gladness at
this moment to our souls. We poor exiles can sing in our banishment since our
King
our Wellbeloved
has come to his throne.
Verse
9. King's daughters were among thy honourable women. Our
Lord's courts lack not for courtiers
and those the fairest and noblest. Virgin
souls are maids of honour to the court
the true lilies of heaven. The lowly
and pure in heart are esteemed by the Lord Jesus as his most familiar friends
their place in his palace is not among the menials but near the throne. The day
will come when those who are "king's daughters" literally will count
it their greatest honour to serve the church
and
meanwhile every believing
sister is spiritually a King's daughter
a member of the royal family of
heaven. Upon thy right hand
in the place of love
honour
and power
did
stand the queen in gold of Ophir: the church shares her Lord's honour and
happiness
he sets her in the place of dignity
he clothes her with the best of
the best. Gold is the richest of metals
and Ophir gold the purest known. Jesus
bestows nothing inferior or of secondary value upon his beloved church. In
imparted and imputed righteousness the church is divinely arrayed. Happy those
who are members of a church so honoured
so beloved; unhappy those who
persecute the beloved people
for as a husband will not endure that his wife
should be insulted or maltreated
so neither will the heavenly Husband; he will
speedily avenge his own elect. Mark
then
the solemn pomp of the verses we
have read. The King is seen with rapture
he girds himself as a warrior
robes
himself as a monarch
mounts his chariot
darts his arrows
and conquers his
foes. Then he ascends his throne with his sceptre in his hand
fills the palace
hall with perfume brought from his secret chambers
his retinue stand around
him
and
fairest of all
his bride is at his right hand
with daughters of
subject princes as her attendants. Faith is no stranger to this sight
and
every time she looks she adores
she loves
she rejoices
she expects.
Verse
10. Hearken
O daughter
and consider. Ever is this the great
duty of the church. Faith cometh by hearing
and confirmation by consideration.
No precept can be more worthy of the attention of those who are honoured to be
espoused to Christ that that which follows. And incline thine ear. Lean
forward so that no syllable may be unheard. The whole faculties of the mind
should be bent upon receiving holy teaching. Forget also thine own people
and thy father's house. To renounce the world is not easy
but it must be
done by all who are affianced to the Great King
for a divided heart he cannot
endure; it would be misery to the beloved one as well as dishonour to her Lord.
Evil acquaintances
and even those who are but neutral
must be forsaken
they
can confer no benefits
they must inflict injury. The house of our nativity is
the house of sin—we were shapen in iniquity; the carnal mind is enmity against
God
we must come forth of the house of fallen nature
for it is built in the
City of Destruction. Not that natural ties are broken by grace
but ties of the
sinful nature
bonds of graceless affinity. We have much to forget as well as
to learn
and the unlearning is so difficult that only diligent hearing
and
considering
and bending of the whole soul to it
can accomplish the work; and
even these would be too feeble did not divine grace assist. Yet why should we
remember the Egypt from which we cam out? Are the leeks and the garlic
and the
onions anything
when the iron bondage
and the slavish tasks
and the death
dealing Pharaoh of hell are remembered? We part with folly for wisdom; with
bubbles for eternal joys; with deceit for truth; with misery for bliss; with
idols for the living God. O that Christians were more mindful of the divine
precept here recorded; but
alas! worldliness abounds; the church is defiled; and
the glory of the Great King is veiled. Only when the whole church leads the
separated life will the full splendour and power of Christianity shine forth
upon the world.
Verse
11. So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty. Wholehearted
love is the duty and bliss of the marriage state in every case
but especially
so in this lofty mystic marriage. The church must forsake all others and cleave
to Jesus only
or she will not please him nor enjoy the full manifestation of
his love. What less can he ask
what less may she dare propose than to be
wholly his? Jesus sees a beauty in his church
a beauty which he delights in
most when it is not marred by worldliness. He has always been most near and
precious to his saints when they have cheerfully taken up his cross and
followed him without the camp. His Spirit is grieved when they mingle
themselves among the people and learn their ways. No great and lasting revival
of religion can be granted us till the professed lovers of Jesus prove their
affection by coming out from an ungodly world
being separated
and touching
not the unclean thing. For he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. He has
royal rights still; his condescending grace does not lessen but rather enforce
his authority. Our Saviour is also our Ruler. The husband is the head of the
wife; the love he bears her does not lessen but strengthen her obligation to
obey. The church must reverence Jesus
and bow before him in prostrate
adoration; his tender union with her gives her liberty
but not license; it frees
her from all other burdens
but places his easy yoke upon her neck. Who would
wish it to be otherwise? The service of God is heaven in heaven
and perfectly
carried out it is heaven upon earth. Jesus
thou art he whom thy church praises
in her unceasing songs
and adores in her perpetual service. Teach us to be
wholly thine. Bear with us
and work by thy Spirit in us till thy will is done
by us on earth as it is in heaven.
Verse
12. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift. When
the church abounds in holiness
she shall know no lack of homage from the
surrounding people. Her glory shall then impress and attract the heathen
around
till they also unite in doing honour to her Lord. The power of missions
abroad lies at home: a holy church will be a powerful church. Nor shall there
be lack of treasure in her coffers when grace is in her heart; the free gifts
of a willing people shall enable the workers for God to carry on their sacred
enterprise without stint. Commerce shall send in its revenue to endow
not with
forced levies and imperial taxes
but with willing gifts the church of the
Great King. Even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour. Not
by pandering to their follies
but by testifying against their sins
shall the
wealthy be one to the faith of Jesus. They shall come not to favour the church
but to beg for her favour. She shall not be the hireling of the great
but as a
queen shall she dispense her favours to the suppliant throng of the rich among
the people. We go about to beg for Christ like beggars for alms
and many who
should know better will make compromises and become reticent of unpopular truth
to please the great ones of the earth; not so will the true bride of Christ
degrade herself
when her sanctification is more deep and more visible; then
will the hearts of men grow liberal
and offerings from afar
abundant and
continual
shall be presented at the throne of the Pacific Prince.
Verse
13. The king's daughter is all glorious within. Within her
secret chambers her glory is great. Though unseen of men her Lord sees her
and
commends her. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be." Or the
passage may be understood as meaning within herself—her beauty is not outward
only or mainly; the choicest of her charms are to be found in her heart
her
secret character
her inward desires. Truth and wisdom in the hidden parts are
what the Lord regards; mere skin deep beauty is nothing in his eyes. The church
is of royal extraction
of imperial dignity
for she is a king's daughter; and
she has been purified and renewed in nature; for she is glorious within. Note
the word all. The Bridegroom was said to have all his garments perfumed
and now the bride in all glorious within—entireness and completeness are
great points. There is no mixture of ill savour in Jesus
nor shall there be
alloy of unholiness in his people
his church shall be presented without spot
or wrinkle
or any such thing. Her clothing is of wrought gold. Best
material and best workmanship. How laboriously did our Lord work out the
precious material of his righteousness into a vesture for his people! no
embroidery of golden threads can equal that masterpiece of holy art. Such
clothing becomes on so honoured by relationship to the Great King. The Lord
looks to it that nothing shall be wanting to the glory and beauty of his bride.
Verse
14. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework.
The day comes when the celestial marriage shall be openly celebrated
and these
words describe the nuptial procession wherein the queen is brought to her royal
Husband attended by her handmaidens. In the latter-day glory
and in the
consummation of all things
the glory of the bride
the Lamb's wife
shall be
seen by all the universe with admiration. While she was within doors
and her
saints hidden ones
the church was glorious; what will be her splendour when
she shall appear in the likeness of her Lord in the day of his manifestation?
The finest embroidery is but a faint image of the perfection of the church when
sanctified by the Spirit. This verse tells us of the ultimate rest of the
church—the King's own bosom; of the way she comes to it
she is brought
by the power of sovereign grace; of the time when this is done—in the future
she
shall be
it does not yet appear; of the state in which she shall come—clad
in richest array
and attended by brightest spirits. The virgins her
companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. Those who love and
serve the church for her Lord's sake shall share in her bliss "in that
day." In one sense they are a part of the church
but for the sake of the
imagery they are represented as maids of honour; and
though the figure may
seem incongruous
they are represented as brought to the King with the same
loving familiarity as the bride
because the true servants of the church are of
the church
and partake in all her happiness. Note that those who are admitted
to everlasting communion with Christ
are pure in heart—virgins
pure in
company—her companions
pure in walk—that follow her. Let none hope
to be brought into heaven at last who are not purified now.
Verse
15. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought. Joy
becomes a marriage feast. What joy will that be which will be seen at the
feasts of paradise when all the redeemed shall be brought home! Gladness in the
saints themselves
and rejoicing from the angels shall make the halls of the
New Jerusalem ring again with shoutings. They shall enter into the King's
palace. Their peaceful abodes shall be where Jesus the King reigns in state
for ever. They shall not be shut out but shut in. Rights of free entrance into
the holiest of all shall be accorded them. Brought by grace
they shall enter
into glory. If there was joy in the bringing
what in the entering? What in the
abiding? The glorified are not field labourers in the plains of heaven
but
sons who dwell at home
princes of the blood
resident in the royal palace.
Happy hour when we shall enjoy all this and forget the sorrows of time in the
triumph of eternity.
Verse
16. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children. The ancient
saints who stood as fathers in the service of the Great King have all passed
away; but a spiritual seed is found to fill their places. The veterans depart
but volunteers fill up the vacant places. The line of grace never becomes
extinct. As long as time shall last
the true apostolical succession will be
maintained. Whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. Servants of
Christ are kings. Where a man has preached successfully
and evangelised a
tribe or nation
he gets to himself more than regal honours
and his name is
like the name of the great men that be upon the earth. Jesus is the king maker.
Ambition of the noblest kind shall win her desire in the army of Christ;
immortal crowns are distributed to his faithful soldiers. The whole earth shall
yet be subdued for Christ
and honoured are they
who shall
through grace
have a share in the conquest—these shall reign with Christ at his coming.
Verse
17. I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations.
Jehovah by the prophet's mouth promises to the Prince of Peace eternal fame as
well as a continuous progeny. His name is his fame
his character
his person;
these are dear to his people now—they never can forget them; and it shall be so
as long as men exist. Names renowned in one generation have been unknown to the
next era
but the laurels of Jesus shall ever be fresh
his renown ever new.
God will see to this; his providence and his grace shall make it so. The fame
of Messiah is not left to human guardianship; the Eternal guarantees it
and
his promise never fails. All down the ages the memories of Gethsemane and
Calvary shall glow with inextinguishable light; nor shall the lapse of time
the smoke of error
or the malice of hell be able to dim the glory of the
Redeemer's fame. Therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.
They shall confess thee to be what thou art
and shall render to thee in
perpetuity the homage due. Praise is due from every heart to him who loved us
and redeemed us by his blood; this praise will never be fully paid
but will be
ever a standing and growing debt. His daily benefits enlarge our obligations
let them increase the number of our songs. Age to age reveals more of his love
let every year swell the volume of the music of earth and heaven
and let
thunders of song roll up in full diapason to the throne of him that liveth
and
was dead
and is alive for evermore
and hath the keys of hell and of death.
"Let
him be crowned with majesty
Who bowed his head to death
And be his honours sounded high
By all things that have breath."
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. "Upon
Shoshannim
"or upon lilies. It will be remembered that lilies
were an emblem of purity and loveliness
and were introduced as such in the
building of Solomon's temple (see 1Ki 7:19
22
26 2Ch 4:5); and the church is
compared in the Canticles to a "lily among thorns." So 2:2. The
Psalms which bear this title
"upon lilies
"are the present
the
sixty-ninth
and the eightieth (compare Ps 60:1-12); and all these contain
prophecies of Christ and his church. The sixtieth is a parallel to the
forty-fourth
and represents her supplicating appeal to God
and Christ's
victories. The sixty-ninth displays the victories gained by Christ through
suffering. The eightieth is also parallel to the forty-fourth and sixtieth
a
plaintive lament of the church in distress and a supplicating cry for
deliverance. All these three Psalms are (if we may venture to use this
expression) like the voice of the "lily among thorns." That there is
therefore
some reference here to the spiritual meaning of the word (Mynvs)
or
lilies
in this title
seems at least to be probable. Christopher
Wordsworth.
Title. We think that Shoshannim
signifies an instrument of six strings
or a song of rejoicing. Augustin
Calmet
1672-1757. Kitto
on the other hand
says that the word is so
clearly lilies
that he is disinclined to go out of the way to bring in
the Hebrew word for six.
Title. "To
the chief musician upon Shoshannim." Some would have it that
instruments whereon were many engravings of lilies
which are six leaved
flowers
are here meant. And
indeed
some interpreters
because of that
derivation of the word
do thus translate it
upon Shoshannim
that is
upon
lilies; and that either in reference to their wedding garlands
that were
made much of lilies
or as intending by these lilies Christ and his church. Arthur
Jackson.
Title. "A
song." The word (ryv)
shir
the meaning of which (song)
is unquestioned
is prefixed to many of the Psalms
three times simply and
thirteen times in connection with Mizmor. There is no mark of
peculiarity in their composition. The meaning of the word seems to be
discriminated from Mizmor
as signifying a thing to be sung
with
reference to its poetical structure. John Jebb.
Whole
Psalm. The Psalter
which sets forth so much truth respecting the person
and work of Christ—truth more precious than gold and sweeter than the
honeycomb—is not silent respecting the bond subsisting between him and his people
THE MYSTICAL UNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND THE CHURCH. When a prince sets his
affections on a woman of lowly rank
and takes her home to be his wife
the two
are so united that her debts become his
his wealth and honours become hers.
Now
that there is formed between Christ and the church
between Christ and
every soul that will consent to receive him
a connection
of which the most
intimate of all natural relations is the analogue and type
we have already
found to be not only taught in the Psalms
but to be implied in the very
structure of many of them. He takes his people's sins upon him
and they
receive the right to become the sons of God: the One Spirit of God wherewith he
was baptised without measure
dwells in them according to the measure of the grace
that is given them. I will only add further
that this union
besides being
implied on so many places
is expressly set forth in one most glorious
Psalm—the Nuptial Song of Christ and the Church—which has for its peculiar
theme the home bringing of Christ's elect
that they may be joined to him in a
union that shall survive the everlasting hills. William Binnie
D.D.
Verse
1. My heart is inditing a good matter
and then My tongue
shall be like the pen of a ready writer. Oh
then I shall go merrily on in
his service
when I have matter prepared in my heart. And
indeed
as the
mariner sees further new stars the further he sails
he loseth sight of the old
ones and discovers new; so the growing Christian
the further he sails in
religion he discovers new wants
new Scriptures affect him
new trials afflict
him
new business he finds with God
and forgetting those things that are
behind
he reacheth after those things that are before
and so finds every day
new business with the Lord his God; and he that's busy trifles not; the more
business the less distractions. Richard Steele.
Verse
1. My heart is inditing a good matter. (vxr) (rakhash);
boils or bubbles up; denotes the language of the heart full and ready for
utterance. Victorinus Bythner.
Verse
1. My heart is inditing a good matter. Here you have the work
of the Spirit of prophecy. By his operation the good "matter" is
engendered in the psalmist's bosom
and now his heart is heaving and labouring
under the load. It is just beginning to throw it up
like water from a
fountain
that it may flow off in the channel of the tongue. Here
therefore
you have some insight given you of the manner of the operation of the Spirit in
the heart of man. The psalmist says his heart is doing what the spirit is doing
in his heart. The heart does it
indeed
but it is the Spirit's working. The
psalmist took all the interest and pleasure in his subject that he could have
done
if the Spirit had had nothing to do with it; for when the Spirit works
he works not only by the heart
but in the heart; he seizes upon all its
affections
every fibre of it is bent to his will. George Harpur
in
"Christ in the Psalms
"1862.
Verse
1. Good matter
the good spell
or gospel. Christopher
Wordsworth.
Verse
1. A similitude taken from the mincah
or meat offering
in the law
which was dressed in the frying pan Le 7:9
and there boiled in
oil
being made of fine flour unleavened
mingled with oil Le 2:5
and
afterwards was presented to the Lord by the priest
verse 8. Here the matter of
this Psalm is as the mincah or oblation
which with the oil
the grace
of the Spirit
was boiled and prepared in the prophet's heart
and now
presented. Henry Ainsworth.
Verse
1. It is reported of Origen
saith Erasmus
that he was ever
earnest
but most of all when he discoursed of Christ. Of Johannes Mollias
a
Bononian
it is said
that whenever he spake of Jesus Christ
his eyes dropped
for he was fraught with a mighty fervency of God's Holy Spirit; and like the
Baptist
he was first a burning (boiling or bubbling)
and then a shining
light. John Trapp.
Verse
1. Touching the king. It does not all concern the king
immediately
for much of it concerns the queen
and about one half of it is
directly addressed to her. But it relates to him inasmuch as it relates to his
family. Christ ever identifies himself with his people; so that
whatever is
done to them
is done to himself. Their interests are his. George Harpur.
Verse
1. My tongue shall be like the pen of one that takes minutes
or writes shorthand: for I shall speak very briefly
and not in words at
length
or so as to be understood in a literal sense
but in figures and
emblems. From "Holy David and his old English Translators
cleared
" 1706. (Anon.)
Verse
1. The pen. We call the prophets the penmen of
Scripture
whereas they were but the pen.
Verse
2. Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into
thy lips. Thus he begins to set forth his beauty
wherein is the
delightfulness of any person; so is it with the soul when God hath made known
to man his own filthiness and uncomeliness through sin
and that only by Jesus
sin is taken away; oh
how beautiful is this face
the first sight of him!
Secondly
Full of grace are thy lips: here is the second commendation;
which is
when Jesus hath opened his lips to us
from them he pours out grace
into our soul
when he makes known the Father to us
and speaks peace to all
that are far off and near; when he calls
"Come unto me
all ye that
labour and are heavy laden
and I will refresh you:" and all this is
because God hath blessed him for ever; we are assured he comes from God
and
that he and his works are eternal
and therefore all his grace poured out upon
us shall remain with us
and make us blessed for ever; for he is the Word of
God
and he speaks the mind of God
for he speaks nothing but what he hath
heard from the Father; and when he speaks to our souls with his Word
the
Spirit is given
a certain testimony to our soul that we are the sons of God
and a pledge of our inheritance; for the Spirit and the Word cannot be
separated. Richard Coore
in "Christ set forth."
Verse
2. Thou art fairer than the children of men
etc. Nothing can
be more beautiful than this abrupt way of discourse. The prophet sets out with
a professed design to speak of the king. But as if in the moment he had so
intended
the glorious Person of whom he was going to speak appeared to
his view
he instantly leaves every other consideration to speak to him
himself. And what a rapturous address he makes! He first describes the glories
the beauties
the astonishing loveliness
of his person. Though to a
carnal eye there was no beauty to desire him
his visage was marred more than
any man's
and his form more than the sons on men
yet to an eye truly
enlightened
he is the king in his beauty
fairer
as the glorious Mediator
the Head
the Bridegroom of his Church and people
than all the children of
men. And
in the Father's view
so greatly beloved
so truly glorious
that grace
was poured into his lips. Reader
observe the expression; not simply grace
put into his heart
for the holiness and purity of his person
but poured into
his lips
that
like the honey
it might drop upon his people
and be for ever
communicated to all his redeemed
in an endless perpetuity of all suited
blessings here
and glory hereafter. Robert Hawker
D.D.
Verse
2. Thou art fairer than the children of men. Are you for beauty?
That takes with most: for this none like Christ. For beauty and comeliness he
infinitely surpasses both men and angels. We read of Moses
that he was
exceeding fair; and of David
that he was ruddy
and of a beautiful
countenance; and Josephus reports of the one of them
that all that saw him
were amazed at and enamoured of his beauty. Oh
but what was their beauty to
Christ's? Were their beauty
and with theirs the beauty of men and angels put
together
it would all be nothing to the beauty of Christ; not so much as the
light of a farthing candle is to the light of the sun at noonday. Edward
Pearse in "The Best Match." 1673.
Verse
2. Thou art fairer
etc. Fair he was (1) in his conception
conceived in purity
and a fair angel brought the news. Fair (2) in his nativity:
wraioz is the word in the Septuagint
tempustivus
in time
that is
all things are beautiful in their time
Ec 3:11. And in the fulness of time
it was that he was born
and a fair star pointed to him. Fair (3) in his childhood;
he grew up in grace and favour
Lu 2:52. The doctors were much taken with him.
Fair (4) in his manhood; had he not been so
says S. Jerome
had there
not been something admirable in his countenance and presence
some heavenly
beauty
the apostles and the whole world (as the Pharisees themselves confess)
would not so suddenly have gone after him. Fair (5) in his transfiguration
white as the light
or as the snow
his face glittering as the sun Mt 17:2
even to the ravishing the very soul of S. Peter
that "he knew not what he
said
"could let his eyes dwell upon that face for ever
and never come
down the mount again. Fair (6) in his passion. Nihil indecorum
no
uncomeliness
in his nakedness; his very wounds
and the bloody prints of the
whips and scourges drew an ecce from the mouth of Pilate: "Behold
the man!" the sweetness of his countenance and carriage in the midst of
filth and spittle
whips and buffets. His very comeliness upon the cross
and
his giving up the ghost
made the centurion cry out
he "was the Son of
God:" there appeared so sweet a majesty
so heavenly a lustre in him
through that very darkness that encompassed him. Fair (7) in his resurrection;
so subtle a beauty
that mortal eyes
even the eyes of his own disciples
were
not able to see or apprehend it
but when he veiled it from them. Fair (8) in
his ascension; made his disciples stand gazing after him so long (as if
they never could look long enough upon him)
till an angel is sent from heaven
to rebuke them
to look home
Ac 1:2. Mark Frank.
Verse
2. O fair sun
and fair moon
and fair stars
and fair flowers
and
fair roses
and fair lilies; but O ten thousand thousand times fairer Lord
Jesus! Alas! I have wronged him in making the comparison this way. O black sun
and moon! but O fair Lord Jesus! O black flowers
and black lilies
and roses!
but O fair
fair
ever fair
Lord Jesus! O black heaven! but O fair Christ! O
black angels! but O surpassingly fair Lord Jesus! Samuel Rutherford.
Verse
2. In one Christ we may contemplate and must confess all the beauty
and loveliness both of heaven and earth; the beauty of heaven is God
the
beauty of earth is man; the beauty of heaven and earth together is this God
man. Edward Hyde
D.D.
1658.
Verse
2. Thou. "I have a passion
"observed Count
Zinzendorf in one of his discourses to the congregation at Herrnhut
"and
it is He—He only."
Verse
2. Thou art fairer. Hebrew
thou art double fairer;
the Hebrew word is doubled
ad corroborandum
saith Kimchi. John
Trapp.
Verse
2. Grace is poured into thy lips. This is said as if this
grace were a gift
and not something inherent in our Lord himself. And is not
this exactly what we learn from the histories of the evangelists? Before Jesus
went forth to the work of his public mission
the Holy Ghost descended from
heaven like a dove
and lit upon him. The Spirit who imparts all its graces to
the church of Christ
imparted his graces to Christ himself. Not that the Son
of God needed the anointing of the Spirit of God
but he suffered it to be so
that he might be in all things like his brethren. If he was to be their
example
he must show them wherein their great strength lay. They see in him
the fruits of the Holy Ghost who is promised to themselves. All that Christ
ever did as the Head and Representative of his people
he did by that very
Spirit which is still resident in his church. George Harpur.
Verse
2. Grace is poured into thy lips. Full of grace are thy lips.
Full of grace for the matter
and full of grace for the manner.
1.
For the matter
he delivered acceptable doctrine: "The law was
given by Moses
but grace came by Jesus Christ." Joh 1:17. Moses had harsh
and hard words in his law; "Cursed is he that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them; "but Christ on the
contrary speaks better things
the first words in his first sermon are
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven." Mt 5:3. He cometh unto his people
cum verbo gratiae
cum
osculo gratae
saith Augustine: his lips are full of grace
that is
pouring out gracious words abundantly. Mt 11:28 Joh 3:16 Lu 4:18. "His
lips are like lilies dropping down myrrh" So 5:13; all that heard him
wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth
Lu 4:22.
2.
For the manner
he taught not as the scribes; he spake so sweetly that
the very catch poll officers
astonished at his words
gave this testimony
"Never man spake like this man
" Joh 7:46. He spake so graciously
that the apostles forsook all things and followed him; at his call Andrew left
his nets straightway
James and John their father without tarrying
Matthew
from the receipt of custom
Zacchaeus from the like worldly course came hastily
to receive him joyfully. Mr 10:28 Mt 4:20-21 9:9 Lu 19:6. Nay
beloved
he was
so powerful an orator
that the very winds and waves obeyed his word
Mr 4:39.
It is reported in Holy Writ that all princes and people were desirous of
hearing Solomon's eloquence; the Queen of Sheba wondering at the same
cried
out
" Happy are these thy servants which stand continually before thee
and that hear thy wisdom
"1Ki 10:8. Solomon is type here
but Christ is
the truth; and this showeth evidently that Christ is not a tyrant
but a mild
prince
persuading obedience plausibly
not compelling his people violently;
his sayings are his sceptre and his sword: his piercing exhortations
are
as it were
his sharp arrows by which his followers are subdued
unto him.
To
conclude this argument
his fair words (as the Scripture speaks) "are as
an honeycomb
sweetness to the soul and health to the bones" Pr 16:24:
"an honeycomb
" and what more toothsome?" sweetness to the soul
and health to the bones; "and what
I pray
more wholesome? The good man's
soul is Christ's own spouse
to which he speaks a great many ways graciously;
sometimes correcting
and what stronger argument of love? for "whom he
loveth he chasteneth" Heb 12:6; sometimes instructing
and his gospel is
able to make "the man of God perfect
throughly furnished unto all good
works" 2Ti 3:17; sometimes wooing in amorous terms
as in his love song
everywhere: "my beloved
""my sister
""my spouse
" "the fairest among women
""my love
" "my
dove." etc.; sometimes promising
and that both the blessings of this life
present. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God:
etc.
Isa 41:10
and of that life which is to come. Joh 17:21
24. But Christ's
excellent intercession every day to God the Father
appearing in the court of
heaven
and as an advocate pleading for us
is yet fuller of grace; for if
Caleb easily granted his daughter's request
and bestowed on her "the
springs above and the springs beneath" Jud 1:15
how shall Almighty God
(whose mercies are above all his works) deny the suits of such a Son in whom he
is well pleased? John Boys.
Verse
2. Grace is poured into thy lips. The former clause noted his
inward perfections; and this signifies his ability and readiness to communicate
them to others. Matthew Poole.
Verse
2. (second clause). Never were there such words of love and
sweetness spoken by any man as by him: never was there such a loving and tender
heart as the heart of Jesus Christ: Grace was poured into his lips.
Certainly never were there such words of love
sweetness
and tenderness spoken
here upon this earth as those last words of his which were uttered a little
before his sufferings
and are recorded in the 13th
14th
15th
16th and 17th
chapters of John. Read over all the books of love and friendship that were ever
written by any of the sons of men
they do all come far short of these melting
strains of love that are there expressed. So sweet and amiable was the
conversation of Jesus Christ
that it is reported of the apostle Peter in the
Ecclesiastical History
that after Christ's ascension he wept so abundantly
that he was always seen wiping his face from the tears; and being asked why he
wept so
he answered
He could not choose but weep as often as he thought of
that most sweet conversation of Jesus Christ. John Row.
Verse
3. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh. The sword
according to
ancient custom was hung in a belt put round the shoulders
and reaching down to
the thigh. It was suspended on the back part of the thigh
almost to the
ground
but was not girded upon it; the horseman's sword was fixed on the
saddle by a girth. When David
in spirit invites the Redeemer of the church to
gird his sword upon his thigh
and the spouse says of the valiant of Israel
"every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the
night" So 3:8
they do not mean that the weapon was literally bound upon
their thigh
but hung in the girdle on the back part of it; for this was the
mode in which
by the universal testimony of ancient writers
the infantry wore
their swords. It is still the practice in the East to wear swords in this
manner
for Chardin informs us
that "the Eastern people wear their swords
hanging down at length; and the Turks wear their swords on horseback
and on
their thigh." But in his poetical invitation to the Redeemer
to gird his
sword upon his thigh
David manifestly points to some special occasion of
solemn and official character; and a clear light is thrown upon his meaning by
a custom to this day observed in the East. "When a Persian or an Ottoman
prince ascends the throne
"says Mr. Morier
"he girds on his
sabre. Mohammed Jaffer
for example
was proclaimed by the Khan
governor pro
tempore
till the arrival of his brother
and was invested in this dignity
by the girding of a sword upon his thigh
and honour which he accepted
with a reluctance perhaps not wholly feigned."—"This ceremony
"says Dr. Davey
giving an account of an Eastern coronation
"remained to be performed before the prince could be considered completely
king—it was that of choosing a new name
and putting on the regal sword. The
prince went in great state to the temple
where he presented offerings
and
then
the sword having been girded on his thigh
the priest presented a pot of
sandal powder
in which the prince
who may now be called king
dipped
his fingers." From these anecdotes
it is evident girding a sword on the
thigh is part of the ceremony of royal inauguration; and that when the psalmist
addresses the Messiah
he refers to his receiving the honours and powers of the
Lord of all. G. Paxton's Illustrations of Scripture.
Verse
3. Thy sword. The word of God is compared to such a weapon
for the apostle informs us that it is quick
or living
and powerful
and
sharper than any two edged sword
piercing even to the dividing asunder of the
soul and spirit
and of the joints and marrow
and laying open the thoughts and
intents of the heart. It must be observed
however
that this description of
the word of God is applicable to it only when Christ girds it on
and employs
it as his sword. Of what use is a sword
even though it be the sword of
Goliath
while it lies still in its scabbard
or is grasped by the powerless
hand of an infant? In those circumstances it can neither conquer nor defend
however well suited it might be to do both in the hand of a warrior. It is the
same with the sword of the Spirit. While it lies still in its scabbard
or is
wielded only by the infantile hand of Christ's ministers
it is a powerless and
useless weapon; a weapon at which the weakest sinner can laugh
and against
which he can defend himself with the utmost ease. But not so when he who is the
Most Mighty girds it on. Then it becomes a weapon of tremendous power
a weapon
resistless as the bolt of heaven. "Is not my word like a fire
and a
hammer
saith the Lord
which breaketh the rock in pieces?" It is indeed
for what can be more efficacious and irresistible than a weapon sharper than a
two edged sword
wielded by the arm of omnipotence? What must his sword be
whose glance is lightning? Armed with this weapon
the Captain of our salvation
cuts his way to the sinner with infinite ease
though surrounded by rocks and
mountains
scatters his strongholds and refuges of lies
and with a mighty blow
cleaves asunder his heart of adamant
and lays him prostrate and trembling at
his feet. Since such are the effects of this weapon in the hand of Christ
it
is with the utmost propriety that the psalmist begins by requesting him to
gird it on
and not suffer it to be inactive in its scabbard
or powerless
in the feeble grasp of his ministers. Edward Payson.
Verse
3. O most mighty. Christ is almighty
and so able to make
good all that he speaketh
and to make his word of precept
promise
and threatening
effectual unto the errand for which it is sent. David Dickson.
Verses
3-4. We may reflect with pleasure on the glorious cause in which
Christ is engaged
and the holy war which he carries on
and in which he shall
prosper. It is the cause of truth
of meekness
and righteousness. His gospel
his sword
which is the word of God
tends to rectify our errors by truth; to
control our passions by that meekness which it promotes
and to regulate our
lives by the laws of righteousness which it inculcates. Let us rejoice that
this sacred cause has hitherto prospered
and shall prosper. Job Orton
1717-1783.
Verse
4. And in thy majesty ride prosperously
etc. The wheels of
Christ's chariot
whereupon he rideth when he goeth to conquer and subdue new
converts to his kingdom
are majesty
truth
meekness
righteousness
manifested in the preaching of his gospel; majesty
when the stately
magnificence of his person and offices is declared; truth
when the
certainty of all that he teacheth in Scripture is known; meekness
when
his grace and mercy is offered to rebels; and righteousness
when
justification by faith in his name is clearly set forth. Christ goeth no voyage
in vain
he cometh not short of his intent and purpose
but doth the work for
which he cometh
preaching the gospel; in his majesty
truth
meekness
and
righteousness
he rideth prosperously. David Dickson.
Verse
4. Ride prosperously
because of truth
and meekness
and
righteousness. The literal translation would be
"Ride on the word of
truth
and the meekness of righteousness
"and so the Syriac has it. If
this rendering be adopted
the meaning will then be
that the great object of
Christ's gospel was to vindicate the cause of truth and righteousness in the
world. Christ is said to ride on the word of truth
because the knowledge of
the truth depends on the word—it is by the word that truth is made known. He is
said to ride on the meekness or humility of righteousness
because meekness or
humility is its distinguishing characteristic. The former relates to what man
is to believe
the latter to how he is to live. George Harpur.
Verse
4. Thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. This
expression seems only used to imply
either that by his power he should be
enabled to do terrible things
because teaching enables men to do what they are
taught
or that by his almighty power he should experimentally see what great
and terrible things should by done by him. Arthur Jackson.
Verse
5. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies.
In a still bolder metaphor the arrows which are discharged from the bow of
Christ are the preachers of the gospel
especially the apostles and
evangelists. "His sagittis
"says S. Jerome
"totus
orbis vulneratus et captus est." Paul
the apostle
was an arrow of
the Lord
discharged from his bow from Jerusalem to Illyricum
and from
Illyricum to Spain
flying from east to west
and subduing Christ's enemies
beneath his feet. Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse
5. While beseeching the Redeemer to ride forth prosperously
and
predicting his success
he seems suddenly to have seen his prayers answered and
his predictions fulfilled. He saw his all conquering Prince gird on his
resistless sword
array himself in glory and majesty
ascend the chariot of his
gospel
display the banner of his cross
and ride forth
as on the wings of the
wind
while the tremendous voice of a herald proclaimed before him:
"Prepare ye the way of the Lord
"exalt the valleys
and level the
hills; make the crooked ways straight
and the rough places plain; for
behold
the Lord God comes; he comes with a strong hand
his reward is with him
and
his work before him. From the bright and fiery cloud which enveloped his
chariot
and concealed it from mortal eyes
he saw sharp arrows of conviction
shot forth on every side
deeply wounding the obdurate hearts of sinners
and
prostrating them in crowds around his path
while his right hand extended
raised them again
and healed the wounds which his arrows had made; and his
omnipotent voice spoke peace to their despairing souls
and bade them follow in
his train
and witness and share in his triumph. From the same bright cloud he
saw the vengeful lightnings flashing thick and dreadful
to blast and consume
everything that opposed his progress; he saw sin
and death
and hell
with all
its legions
baffled
defeated
and flying in trembling consternation before
him; he saw them overtaken
bound
and chained to his triumphant chariot
wheels; while enraptured voices were heard from heaven exclaiming
"Now is
come salvation
and strength
and the kingdom of God
and the power of his
Christ." Such was the scene which seems to have burst upon the ravished
sight of the entranced prophet. Transported with the view
he exclaims
Thine
arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies; whereby the people fall
under thee. Edward Payson.
Verse
5. The king's enemies
is not simply an expression for
"Thy enemies
"as some think
but rather implies that Christ's
kingship is the ground of their enmity; just as in the second Psalm their cry
was
"Let us break their bands asunder." George Harpur.
Verse
6. Thy throne
O God. The original word is
probably
vocative
both in the Greek and in the Hebrew; and is so taken by modern
Unitarians
who seek their refuge by explaining away yeos. Henry Alford
D.D.
on Heb 1:8.
Verse
7. Thou lovest righteousness
and hatest wickedness. Many a
one loves righteousness
but would not be its champion; such a love is not
Christ's love. Many a one hates iniquity
not for its own sake
but for the
sake of its consequences; such a hate is not Christ's hate. To be like Christ
we must love righteousness as he loved
and hate wickedness as he hated. To
love and hate as he loves and hates is to be perfect as he is perfect. The
perfection of this love and hate is moral perfection. George Harpur.
Verse
7. Therefore. Observe how usual it is to impute Christ's
exaltation to his merits. God blessed him for ever
as in the second verse of
this Psalm (if such be the sense of that verse)
because he was fairer
than the children of men
and grace was poured into his lips. And so the
apostle. God highly exalted him
and gave him a name above every name
because
he had humbled himself
and became obedient unto death. And here God anointed
him with the oil of gladness above his fellows
because he loved
righteousness and hated iniquity. George Harpur.
Verse
7. Therefore. He says not
"Wherefore he anointed thee
in order to thy being God
or King
or Son
or Word; "for so he was
before
and is for ever
as has been shown; but rather
"Since thou art
God and King
therefore thou wast anointed
since none but thou couldest unite
man to the Holy Ghost
thou the image of the Father
in which we were made in
the beginning: for thine is even the Spirit." Athanasius.
Verse
7. Therefore God
thy God. God was the God of Christ in
covenant
that he might be our God in covenant; for in his transactions
whole
Christ
Head and members
are to be considered Ga 3:16 1Co 12:12
the covenant
being first transacted with the Head (who is given for a covenant to us
Isa
42:6)
and then with the members
with him in reference to us and for us. As
God did not fail our surety
but supported him in his great conflict
when out
of the depths he called unto him; so neither will he fail us in time of need.
Heb 4:16 13:5-6. William Troughton.
Verse
7. Therefore God
thy God
hath anointed thee with the oil of
gladness above thy fellows; i.e.
enriched and filled thee in a singular
manner with the fulness of the Spirit
whereby thou art consecrated to thy
office; and by reason whereof you out shine and excellest all the saints who
are thy fellows
or copartners in these graces. So that in these words
you have two parts
namely
first
the saint's dignity; and
secondly
Christ's
preeminence. First. The saint's dignity
which consists in this
that they are Christ's fellows. The Hebrew word (Kyrkxm)
is very full
and copious
and is translated consorts
companions
copartners
partakers; or
as ours reads it
fellows; i.e.
such as are partakers with him in the
anointing of the Spirit
who do in their measure receive the same Spirit
every
Christian being appointed
modo sibi proportionato
with the same grace
and dignified with the same titles. 1Jo 2:27 Re 1:6. Christ and the saints are
in common one with another. Doth the Spirit of holiness dwell in him? So he
doth in them too. Is Christ King and Priest? Why
so are they
too
by the
grace of union with him. He hath made us kings and priests to God and his
Father. This is the saints' dignity
to be Christ's fellows
consorts
or
copartners; so that look whatever grace or excellency is in Christ
it is not
impropriated to himself
but they do share with him; for indeed he was filled
with the fulness of the Spirit for their sakes and use. As the sun is filled
with light not to shine to itself
but to others
so is Christ with grace; and
therefore some translate the text not prae consortibus
above thy
fellows
but propter consortes
for thy fellows; (Rivetus)
making
Christ the first receptacle of all grace
who first and immediately is filled
from the fountain of the Godhead
but it is for his people who receive and
derive from him according to their proportion. This is a great truth; and the
dignity of the saints lies chiefly in the partnership with Christ
though our
translation
above thy fellows
suits best both with the importance of
the word and scope of the place. Secondly. But then
whatever dignity is
ascribed herein to the saints
there is
and still must be
a preeminence
acknowledged and ascribed to Christ: if they are anointed with the spirit of
grace
much more abundantly is Christ: God
thy God
hath anointed thee with
the oil of gladness above thy fellows. John Flavel.
Verse
7. Oil of gladness. For sweet smelling oils were also used to
beautify the face upon occasions of feasting and mirth. Ps 23:5 104:15 Isa
61:3. And likewise this oil of consecration and infusion of the gifts of the
Holy Ghost hath been the cause and foundation of Christ's human nature's
obtaining of the everlasting joys and glory. Php 2:9 Heb 12:2. John Diodati.
Verse
7. Behold
O ye Arians
and acknowledge even hence the truth. The
psalmist speaks of us all as fellows or partakers of the Lord
but were he one of things which come out of nothing
and of things generate
he
himself had been one of those who partake. But since he hymned him as the
eternal God
saying
Thy throne
O God
is for ever and ever
and has
declared that all other things partake of him
what conclusion must we draw
but that he is distinct from generated things
and he only the Father's
veritable Word
Radiance
and Wisdom
which all things generate partake
being
sanctified by him in Spirit? And
therefore
he is here anointed
not
that he may become God
for he was so even before; nor that he may become king
for he has the kingdom eternally
existing as God's image
as the sacred oracle
shows; but in our behalf is this written
as before. For the Israelitish kings
upon their being anointed
then became kings
not being so before
as David
as
Ezekias
as Josias
and the rest; but the Saviour
on the contrary
being God
and ever ruling in the Father's kingdom
and being himself the dispenser of the
Holy Ghost
nevertheless is here said to be anointed
that
as before
being
said as man to be anointed with the Spirit
he might provide for us more
not
only exaltation and resurrection
but the indwelling and intimacy of the
Spirit...And when he received the Spirit
we it was who
by him were made
recipients of it. And
moreover
for this reason
not as Aaron
or David
or
the rest
was he anointed with oil
but in another way
above all his fellows
with
the oil of gladness
which he himself interprets to be the Spirit
saying
by the prophet
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
because the Lord hath
anointed me; "as also the apostle has said
"How God anointed him
with the Holy Ghost." Athanasius.
Verse
8. All thy garments smell of myrrh
and aloes
and cassia
out of
the ivory palaces
whereby they have made thee glad. Although there is considerable
obscurity overhanging these words
still the general idea of a supereminent
fulness of anointing is quite apparent
combined
however
with the other
idea that the anointing oil or ointment os of the most exquisite quality.
Myrrh
and aloes
and cassia were celebrated for their peculiar fragrance
on
which account they were used in compounding the choicest unguents. Myrrh and
cassia are mentioned in Ex 30:23-24
as two of the spices of which the holy
anointing oil was made up. All its ingredients were considered sacred. The
Israelites were forbidden to pour it upon man's flesh
or to attempt any
imitation of it in their own perfumes. Ivory was in early times
as it still
is
rare and costly
and it was highly esteemed as a material for household decoration
on which the finest workmanship and the most princely expenditures were
displayed. In palaces of ivory
therefore
it was to be expected that
in
correspondence with the magnificence of their structure and the costliness of
their furniture
the ointment employed for anointing would be of the richest
perfume
and in the greatest profusion. According to our version of the Psalm
the divine Saviour is thus represented as being anointed with oil of the very
best kind
even oil taken from the ivory palaces; and also as receiving it in
no ordinary measure. His anointing was not confined to a few ceremonial drops
poured upon the head
but so abundant is it said to have been
that all
his garments smelled of myrrh
and aloes
and cassia. Bishop Horsley has
proposed a change in the translation
by which means the idea of abundance is
connected
not with the fragrance arising from the anointing
but with the
anointing itself
which is a different and far more important thing. "Thy
garments are all myrrh
aloes
and cassia
excelling the palaces of ivory
excelling those which delight thee." This translation
which is strictly
literal as well as poetical
is at the same time comparatively free from
obscurity
and it visibly sets forth
under the most expressive imagery
the
surpassing measure of that anointing which was conferred on our Lord above all
his fellows. His garments are supposed not merely to have been all richly
perfumed
or even thoroughly saturated with the oil of gladness
but to have
consisted of the very articles which entered into the composition of the most
precious and odoriferous unguent: Thy garments are all myrrh
aloes
and
cassia. This is figurative language
but nothing could more emphatically
exhibit how truly "the Spirit rested on Jesus
and abode with him" in
all the plenitude of his heavenly gifts. That heavenly anointing constituted
as it were
his very dress
"excelling" in the quantity or measure of
the anointing "the palaces of ivory; "because their furniture
however highly scented
were not made of aromatic materials. The strength of
the perfumes would evaporate
the fragrance would soon diminish; but permanent
as well as plentiful fragrance is secured to him whose "garments are all
myrrh
aloes
and cassia." It is added
in the way of parallelism
"excelling those which delight in thee
"or those which make thee
glad. To say that the persons here alluded to are the occupiers of the ivory
palaces
might perhaps be objected to as fanciful; but palaces are the abodes
of kings; and anointed kings wither literally
or typically
or spiritually
are the fellows of the Lord's Anointed One; and it does seem manifest that
as
his anointing causes joy and gladness to all the parties concerned in it
so
likewise there is an anointing of those who are honoured to be his fellows
which causes joy and gladness to him. The persons who are in the one verse
spoken of as giving delight to Christ
there is no reason to regard as any
other than the persons spoken of in the former verse as his "fellows."
And if this is the case
then we have a comparison drawn betwixt the one and
the other in the matter of their anointing
and to that of Christ a decided
superiority is ascribed. David Pitcairn
in "The Anointed Saviour
"1846.
Verse
8. All thy garments smell of myrrh
etc. These things are
true in Jesus; by his garments in meant his righteousness; for it is written
He clothed himself with righteousness and zeal. And here the translator hath
put in smell
which rather should have been are
for "his
garments are of myrrh
and aloes
and cassia
" that is
truly
purging
cleansing
and making sound; for his righteousness
which is the
righteousness of faith
maketh sound hearted Christians; whereas
man's
righteousness
which is the righteousness of works
maketh filthy hypocrites.
And by "ivory palaces
"is meant the true faith and fear of
God; for ivory is solid and white
and palaces are king's houses; and by Christ
we are made kings
and our dwelling is in faith and fear of God; and this is
the gladness and joy of our Lord Jesus
that he brings many sons and daughters
unto God. Richard Coore
1683.
Verse
8. Out of the ivory palaces
whereby they have made thee glad.
Commentators have been more perplexed in explaining these words than any other
part of the Psalm. Not to detain you with the various expositions that have
been proposed
I will give you what I conceive to be the meaning of the
passage. The word rendered whereby
is also the name of a region in
Arabia Felix
namely
Minnaea
which
according to the geographer Strabo
"abounded in myrrh and frankincense." Now
it is singular that
according to the historian
Diodorus Siculus
"the inhabitants of Arabia
Felix had sumptuous houses
adorned with ivory and precious
stones." Putting these two things together
therefore
namely
that this
region abounded in myrrh and frankincense
and that its inhabitants adorned
their houses with ivory
we may
I conceive
find a clue to the psalmist's
meaning. If we substitute "Minnaea" for "whereby
"the
passage will run thus—
"Myrrh
aloes
and cassia
are all thy garments.
From ivory palaces of Minnaea they have made thee glad."
You
recollect in the verse just going before
the oil with which Christ was said to
be anointed
is called the oil of "gladness." Accordingly
he
is here said to be made glad (it is the same word in both places in the
Hebrew)
by the spices of which that oil is composed. This spices are said to
have been brought out of the most spicy region of the land of spices
and it is
implied that they are the best spices of that spicy region. Out of the ivory
palaces
says the psalmist; not only houses
but palaces—the mansions of
the great
where the best spices would naturally be kept—out of these have come
the myrrh
aloes
and cassia
that have composed the oil of gladness whereby
thou art made glad. God anointed Christ
when he set him on his everlasting
throne
with the oil of gladness; and this anointing was so profuse
his
garments were so overspread with it
that they seemed to be nothing but myrrh
aloes
and cassia. The spices
moreover
of which the anointing oil was
composed
were the best of their kind
brought
as they were
from the ivory
palaces of Minnaea. Such appears to be the psalmist's meaning; and when thus
understood
the passage becomes most beautifully expressive of the excellency
and unmeasured supply of the gifts and graces of that Spirit with which
Christ was anointed by his Father. George Harpur.
Verse
8. The ivory palaces. The ivory courts. Probably so called
from the great quantity of ivory used in ornamenting and inlaying them; as the
emperor Nero's palace
mentioned by Suetonius
was named
"aurea
"or
"golden
"because "lita auro
""overlaid with
gold." This method of ornamenting or inlaying rooms was very ancient among
the Greeks. Homer in the fourth book of the Odyssey
seems to mention it
as
employed in Menelaus's palace at Lacedaemon; and that the Romans sometimes
ornamented their apartments in like manner
seems evident from Horace and Ovid.
So in modern times
the winter apartment of the fair Fatima at Constantinople
has been described by an eye witness as "wainscotted with inlaid work of
mother of pearl
ivory of different colours
and olive wood." Ivory
is likewise employed at Aleppo
as Dr. Russell informs us
in the decoration of
some of the more expensive apartments. Richard Mant.
Verse
8. Ivory palaces. Either edifices 1Ki 22:39 So 7:14
or ivory
coffers
and wardrobes
whence those garments were taken
and are kept. Westminster
Assembly's Annotations.
Verse
8. Whereby they have made thee glad. The best sense of the
phrase—from which they rejoice thee—is had by making they refer
to the king's daughters mentioned in the next verse. William S.
Plumer.
Verse
8. Gesenius and Delitzsch consider (ynm) an abbreviated form of the
plural (Mynm) Ps 105:4
"strings
"or "stringed instruments
"and would render thus:—"Thee glad out of the ivory palaces
stringed instruments have made." Dalman Hapstone. (With this rendering
Ewald and Lange agree.) J. L. K.
Verse
9. King's daughters. Albeit the Catholic church consisting of
true converts or real saints be but the one and only true spouse of Christ
yet
particular visible churches consisting of saints by calling
by obligation
by
profession
and common estimation
their own or others
are many. The true
church consisting of true converts (whose praise is of God
to whom only they
are certainly known
and not of men)
being but one
is compared to the queen;
but the particular
whose collections and consociations are known to men
being
many
are compared to ladies of honour who serve the queen. David
Dickson.
Verse
9. The queen. It is written of Matilda
the empress
that she
was the daughter of a king
the mother of a king
and the wife of a king.
Ortu
magna
viro major
sed maxima prole
Hic jacet Henrici filia
nupta
parens.
So
David intimates in this hymn
that the church is the daughter of a King
at the
13th verse
"The king's daughter is all glorious within; "and the
mother of a king
at the 16th verse
"Instead of thy fathers shall be thy
children
whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth; "and the wife of
a king
in this verse
Upon thy right hand did stand the queen
as being
(I speak in the language of Canaan)
spiritually the wedded and bedded wife to
the king of glory. John Boys.
Verse
10. Forget also thine own people
and thy father's house.
Three alls I expect you to part with
saith Christ. 1. All your sinful
lusts
all the ways of the old Adam
our Father's house. Ever since Adam's
apostasy
God and man have parted houses. Ever since
our Father's house is a
house of ill manners
a house of sin and wickedness. 2. All your worldly
advantages. "If any man come unto me
and hate not his father
and mother
and wife
and children
and brethren
and sisters
yea
and his own life also
he cannot be my disciple." He that hath all these must be ready to part
with all; they are joined not disjunctively but copulatively. 3. All self
self
will
self righteousness
self sufficiencies
self confidence
and self seekings.
Lewis Stuckley.
Verse
10. Forget also thine own people
and thy father's house. If
you see a bee leave a fair flower and stick upon another
you may conclude that
she finds most honey dew in that flower she most sticks upon: so here God's
people would never leave so many fair flowers in the world's garden
had they
not some other in which they find most sweetness. Christ hath his garden
into
which he brings his beloved
and there she finds other manner of flowers than
any the world hath
in which there is sweetness of a higher nature
even the
honey dew of the choice mercy and goodness and blessing of God himself: if
God's people do leave the full breasts of the world
it is because they have
found the breasts of consolation from which they have sucked other manner of
sweetness than the breast of the world can afford. Jeremiah Burroughs
in
"Moses
his self denial." 1649.
Verse
10. Forget. If thou be on the mountain
have no love to look
back to Sodom. If thou be in the ark
fly not back to the world
as the raven
did. If thou be set on Canaan
forget the flesh pots of Egypt. If marching
against Midian
forget stooping to the waters of Harod. Jud 7:1-25. If on the
house top
forget that is below thee. Mr 13:15. If thy hand be put to the
plough
forget that is behind thee. Lu 9:62. Themistocles desired rather to
learn the art of forgetfulness than of memory. Philosophy is an art of
remembering
divinity includes in it an art of forgetting. The first lesson
that Socrates taught his scholars was
Remember; for he thought that knowledge
was nothing else but a calling to remembrance of those things the mind knew ere
it knew the body. But the first lesson that Christ teacheth his scholars is
Forget:Forget
thine own people; "Repent" Mt 4:17; first
"eschew evil
"1Pe 3:11. Thomas Adams.
Verse
11. So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty. This is a
most sweet promise. For the Holy Spirit knoweth that this monster
Monk
sticks
fast in our heart—that we want to be pure and without spot before God. Thus
under
Popery
all my temptation was this. I used to say
`that I would willingly go
to the sacrament if I were but worthy.' Thus we seek
naturally
a purity in
ourselves; and we examine our whole life and want to find a purity in
ourselves
that we might have no need of grace
but might be pronounced
righteous upon the grounds of our own merit...Thou wilt certainly never become
righteous by thyself and thine own works...The Holy Spirit saith
therefore
I
will give thee wholesome counsel; and if thou wilt hear me
thou shalt become a
virgin all fair. For
if thou wouldst be beautiful in the sight of God
so that
all thy works should please him
and he should say
"Thy prayer pleaseth
me; all that thou sayest
doest
and thinkest
pleaseth me!" proceed thou
thus: "hear
see
and incline thine ear; "and thou shalt thus become
all fair. When thou hast heard
hast seen
hast forgotten all thine own
righteousness
all the law
all traditions
and all that monkery
and hast
believed
then art thou fair; not in thine own beauty
but in the beauty of the
King who has adorned thee with his Word; because he has brought unto thee
thereby his righteousness
his holiness
truth
and fortitude
and all the
gifts of the Holy Spirit...The Holy Spirit uses the most exalted language. So
shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: that is
thou wilt by this faith
prevail upon him to do whatever thou desirest: so that
as one urged by the
power of love
he will spontaneously follow thee
abide with thee
and take up
his abode with thee. For wherever God has given his Word
there he does not
leave his work which he has begun in thee; but he brings upon thee first the
temptations of the world
the devil
and the flesh; that by them he may work
upon thee. These are his embraces whereby he embraces his spouse through
impatience of love...The sum of the whole therefore
is this: That our beauty
does not consist in our own virtues
now even in the gifts which we have
received from God
by which we put forth virtues
and do all those things which
pertain unto the life of the law; but in this—our apprehending Christ and
believing in him. Then it is that we are truly beautiful: and it is this beauty
alone that Christ looks upon
and upon no other. Martin Luther.
Verse
11. In this Psalm Christ is set forth in all his royalty and majesty;
yet he is said greatly to desire or delight in the beauty of his queen
that is
the graces of the saints; and that not with an ordinary delight
but
he "greatly desires; "his desire is increased as her beauty is.
For that is there brought in as a motive unto her to be more holy and conformed
unto him
"to incline her ear
and forsake her father's house." So
shall the king greatly desire thy beauty. Christ hath a beauty that
pleaseth him as well as we have
though of another kind; and
therefore
ceaseth not till he hath got out every spot and wrinkle out of his spouse's
face
as the apostle speaks Eph 5:27
"so as to present her glorious unto
himself
"that it
delightful and pleasing in his eyes. Thomas Goodwin.
Verse
12. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift. The
daughters of Tyre are the daughters of the Gentiles
the part standing for the
whole. Tyre
a city bordering on this country where the prophecy was delivered
typified the nations that were to believe in Christ. Thence came that
Canaanitish woman
who was at first called a dog; for that ye may know
that she was from thence
the gospel speaks thus Mt 15:21-28
"Jesus
departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And
behold
a woman of Canaan came
out of the same coasts
"with all the rest that is related there. She who
at first
at the house of her "father
"and among her "own
people
"was but a dog
who by coming to
and crying after that
"King
"was made beautiful by believing in him
what did she obtain
to hear? "O woman
great is thy faith." The King has greatly
desired thy beauty. Augustine.
Verse
12. With a gift. Those who sold their property
came with
presents to entreat the face of this "queen
"and "laid what
they brought at the apostle's feet." Warm then was love in the church. Augustine.
Verse
12. The rich. They are
indeed
rich in grace
whose graces
are not hindered by riches
whose souls prosper when their bodies prosper
as
the apostle John speaks in his third Epistle; or
who
as it is prophesied in
the verse
being full of worldly blessings
are yet hungry and eager in their
pursuit after Christ. The daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even
the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour
saith the psalmist;
that is
either the favour of Christ himself
or the favour of the church
by
reason of that spiritual excellence and inward glory which she hath received
from Christ. Now
to see the rich bring their gifts
and
which is the thing
chiefly aimed at here
giving up themselves to Christ
this is a rare sight
and a remarkable work of grace. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
13. The king's daughter is all glorious within
etc. When the
children of God recollect their glorious and heavenly pedigree
they endeavour
to excel others
both in the beautiful disposition of soul and manner of life. The
king's daughter
that is
the daughter of the heavenly Father
who is also
the bride of the king's Son; every believing soul is all glorious
adorned with a holiness not only glorious to herself
but also to the Father
and the Bridegroom
and is the beginning of a heavenly glory; and that chiefly within
not only when she appears abroad
and presents herself to the view of men
but
also when she sits in the inner bed chamber in the secret exercises of
religion
in which she in private pleases the Father and the Bridegroom
who
having a regard to the inward man
she above all endeavours to keep that pure
and chaste. Her clothing is of gold; in comparison of which whatever
excellency natural men were even possessed of
is but a shining vanity; nay
it
was wrought gold
curiously beautified with various resemblances
which
represents the perfections of God himself; and of different colours
on account
of the different yet harmoniously corresponding graces of the Holy Spirit; or
of needlework of the Phrygian embroiderers
or rather the work of the cunning
workman
mentioned in So 7:1. Nor is the spouse only beautiful within
but also
without; "holding forth the word of life
"Php 2:16
she practises
charity
glorifies Christ
edifies her neighbour
and in this manner she is
brought unto the king
worthy to be presented to him. This is the only way by
which we are to endeavour to obtain familiarity with him
and the sweetest
intercourse of the most chaste love
both on earth and in heaven. Hermann
Witsius. 1636-1708.
Verse
13. The king's daughter is all glorious within. The meaning
is
either (1.) that her chief glory consisted in this
that she was admitted
to such a familiar privacy with the king; or
(2.) that when she sat in the
inmost rooms of the king's palace
she was there in her greatest glory
because
those rooms were most gorgeously set forth with all kinds of bravery and
glorious furniture; or
(3.) that she used to be gloriously attired
not only
when she went abroad in public
but also when she stayed within
as being
indeed adorned (which may be implied) only for the delight of the king
and not
that others might gaze upon her; or
(4.)—which I like best—that the inward
virtues and endowments of her mind were her greatest ornament and glory. Arthur
Jackson.
Verse
13. All glorious within. Saints must shine by the comeliness
of Christ
as a gracious husband labours to change his spouse into his own
image and likeness by kindnesses
precepts
and example
that he may take the
more delight in her person; so does our spiritual Solomon change the hue of his
Egyptian queen to deem of things and persons as her Lord and husband judges
and frames her spirit to delight in doing his will and pleasure
and take the
highest solace in obedience
to enjoy a heavenly freedom
mixed with amiable
and joyful reverence. He roots out of her heart all changeable affections and
worldly fancies
and hankering longings after the fond fashions of Shechem
and
all carnal inclinations to the daughters of Canaan's lineage
and all the
beggardly humours of the besotted world
and to pass by with a holy scorn all
the pitiful pageantry of this perishing and fading life
and rise to a mean
estimate of the baubles and trifles that enchant a carnal heart. At length she
arrives to a noble and generous judgment
counting all but dung and dross that
she may win Christ. As her prince of life was crucified by the world for her
redemption
so she begins to be crucified to it in token of conformity to him
and at length becomes all glorious within. Samuel Lee
in "The Triumph
of Mercy." 1676.
Verse
13. Within. The ark was pitched within by the same pitch with
which it was pitched withal; such is the sincere man
within and without alike
inside and outside
all one. Yea
he is rather better than he shows
as the king's
daughter
whose outside might sometimes be sackcloth
yet was
all glorious within
and her inward garments of wrought gold. Or as the
temple
outwardly nothing but wood and stone to be seen
inwardly all rich and
beautiful
especially the sanctum sanctorum (when the veil was drawn)
was all gold. The very floor
as well as the roof
was overlaid with gold. 1Ki
6:30. John Sheffield.
Verse
13. Her clothing is of wrought gold. Some read it purled
works
or closures of gold
enamelled gold
such as precious stones
were set in
which were exceeding splendid and glorious; such were the clothes
of service in the tabernacle
and the garments and robes of the high priest
which shadowed forth Christ's righteousness. Ex 28:11-14 Ex 39:1-6. William
Troughton.
Verse
13. About this time
Father La Combe was called to preach on some
public occasion. The new doctrine
as it was termed
was not altogether a
secret. Public curiosity had become excited. He choose for his text the passage
in Ps 45:13
The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of
wrought gold. By the king he understood Christ; by the king's
daughter
the church. His doctrine was
whatever might be true in regard
to men's original depravity
that those who are truly given to Christ
and are
in full harmony with him
are delivered from it: that is to say
are all
glorious within. Like Christ
they love God with a love free from
selfishness
with pure love. Like Christ
they are come to do the will
of the Father. Christ is formed in them. They not only have faith in Christ
and faith in God through Christ
but
as the result of this faith
they have
Christ's disposition. They are now in a situation to say of themselves
individually
in the language of the apostle Paul
"I live
and yet not I
but Christ liveth in me." He did not maintain that all Christians
are necessarily the subjects of this advanced state of Christian experience
but endeavoured to show that this is a possible state; that
however
intense human depravity may be
the grace of God has power to overcome it; that
the example of Christ
the full and rich promises
and even the commands
give
encouragement to effort
and confidence in ultimate victory. From the
"Life
Religious Opinions and Experience of Madame de la Mothe
Guyon."
Verse
14. The virgins
her companions that follow her
shall be brought
unto thee. The highest and most excellent Christian cannot say
I
have no need of thee: the queen will not be without any of her true companions.
As it is in the body natural
so it is in the church of Christ
or body mystical;
all the members being fitly joined together and compacted by that which every
joint supplieth
according to the effectual working in the measure of every
part
maketh increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love.
Eph 4:16 Col 2:19. William Troughton.
Verse
14. The virgins her companions that follow her. These are
members of the church
but the figure of a bridal train is employed to sustain
the allegory. What bright train the Royal Bride will have as she goes forth to
meet the Bridegroom! King's daughters will be there
for every crowned head on
earth shall one day bow at the foot of the cross. The daughter of Tyre shall be
there—Tyre
the ancient emporium of the nations—to show that the merchandise of
the world shall be holiness from the Lord. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall
offer gifts. Jews and Gentiles will be there—representatives from all peoples
and tongues
and nations. They are virgins. They keep themselves
unspotted from the world. They are weaned from its idols; they dread its
contaminations. Their first care is to preserve the whiteness of their souls by
daily washing in the blood of the Lamb...They follow the royal Bride.
They keep by her side in storm and sunshine. They follow her in the
regeneration. They follow her in the search after her Beloved. So 3:2-3. They
follow her to the green pastures and the still waters. They follow her without
the camp bearing his reproach. Like Ruth
they leave father and mother to
follow her. Ru 1:16. Like Caleb
they follow the Lord fully. When a crisis
comes
and the question
"Who is on the Lord's side?" involves heavy
issues
and hollow hearted professors fly away like swallows before the storm
they follow her. When persecution comes
and Christ's faithful witnesses have
to prophesy clothed in sackcloth
and perhaps to pass through a baptism of
blood to the crown
they follow her: like Peden
when—the bloodhounds of persecution
in full chase after him
and the lone moor his home—he thought of Richard
Cameron gone to glory
and sighed "Oh
to be with Richie!" Duncan
Macgregor
M.A.
in "The Shepherd of Israel; or
Illustrations of the
Inner Life
" 1869.
Verse
15. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought. No
marriage was ever consummated with that triumphal solemnity as the marriage of
Christ and believers shall be in heaven. Among the Jews the marriage house was
called bethillulah—the house of praise; there was joy on all hands
but
not like the joy that will be in heaven when believers
the spouse of Christ
shall be brought thither. God the Father will rejoice to behold the
blessed accomplishment and consummation of that glorious design and project of
his love. Jesus Christ the Bridegroom will rejoice to see the travail of
his soul
the blessed birth and issue of all his bitter pangs and agonies. Isa
53:11. The Holy Spirit will rejoice to see the complement and perfection
of that sanctifying design which was committed to his hand 2Co 5:5; to see
those souls
whom he once found as rough stones
now to shine as the bright
polished stones of the spiritual temple. Angels will rejoice; great was
the joy when the foundation of this design was laid
in the incarnation of
Christ Lu 2:13; great
therefore
must their joy be when the top stone is set
up with shouting
crying
Grace
grace. The saints themselves shall
rejoice unspeakably
when they shall enter into the king's palace
and be for
ever with the Lord. 1Th 4:17. Indeed
there will be joy on all hands
except
among the devils and damned
who shall gnash their teeth with envy
at the
everlasting advancement and glory of believers. John Flavel.
Verse
15. They shall be brought. Reader! do not fail to observe the
manner of expression
the church is brought
she doth not come of
herself. No
she must be convinced
converted
made willing. No one can come to
Christ
except the Father
who hath sent Christ
draw him. Joh 6:44. Robert
Hawker
D.D.
Verse
15. They shall enter into the king's palace. There are two
rich palaces mentioned in this Psalm: the one an ivory palace Ps 45:8
whereby
is signified the assemblies of the saints
and ordinances of divine worship
in
which the Lord manifests himself graciously. Here the presence of the Lord is
sweet and amiable. So 1:8 Ps 84:2. The other "palace" is mentioned in
this fifteenth verse
and it is a palace of glory
a palace more bright and
splendid than the finest gold glorious mansions. Joh 14:2. William
Troughton.
Verse
16. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children. O church of
God
think not thyself abandoned then
because thou seest not Peter
nor seest
Paul—seest not those through whom thou wast born. Out of thine own offspring
has a body of "fathers" been raised up to thee. Augustine.
Verse
16. Thy children
whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.
The new connexion is glorious to the King. Many were his glorious and royal
ancestors down to Jesse
but now there are born to him
the Eternal King
sons
as the dew from the womb of the morning Ps 110:3
who shall
as princes
occupy
the thrones of the world. So our Lord promised to his disciples
"Verily I
say unto you
that ye which have followed me
in the regeneration when the Son
of man shall sit in the throne of his glory
ye also shall sit upon twelve
thrones
judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Mt 19:28. And Paul says
"Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?" 1Co 6:2. Augustus
F. Tholuck.
Verse
16. Princes in all the earth. Others are but princes in their
own dominion
but he will make you princes in all lands...Such a kingdom you
shall have
if you will come into Christ
you shall have the liberty of kings
the abundance and plenty of kings
the power of kings
the victory of kings
and the glory of kings. John Preston.
Verse
17. Therefore shall the people praise thee. Christ's espousing
unto himself a church
and gathering more and more from age to age by his word
and Spirit unto it
his converting souls and bringing them into the fellowship of
his family
and giving unto them princely minds and affections
wherever they
live
is a large matter of growing and everlasting glory unto his majesty; for
in regard of this point
and what is said before in this Psalm
he addeth as
the close of all
Therefore shall the people praise thee. David Dickson.
Verse
17. In the Hebrew text
which is here quoted
there is a particle
added to the word ever
which in that case intends a proper
everlastingness
without any period or end at all
and thereupon translated for
ever and ever. William Gouge
D.D.
on Heb 1:8.
Verse
17. (last clause):
"When
morning gilds the skies
My heart awakening cries;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"When sleep her balm denies
My silent spirit sighs;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"In
heaven's eternal bliss
The loveliest strain is this;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"To
God the Word on high.
The hosts of angels cry;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"Let mortals too
upraise
Their voice in hymns of praise;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"Let
earth's wide circle round
In joyful notes resound;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"Let
air
and sea
and sky
From depths to height reply;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"Be
this while life is mine
My canticles divine;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"Be
this the eternal song
Through all the ages on;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
—Translated by Edward Caswall
in "Poems." 1861.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1. In the preface
the prophet commends the subject he is to treat
of
signifying
1.
That it is a good matter—good as speaking of the Son of God
who is the chief
good.
2. Good
for us; for upon the marriage of Christ to his church depends our good. Bishop
Nicholson.
Verse
1. Character read by heart writing.
1.
The true lover of Christ is sincere—my heart?
2. He is a man of emotion.
3. A man of holy meditation.
4. A man of experience—things I have made.
5. A man who bears witness for his Lord.
Verse
1. Three things requisite for Christian teaching:
1.
That the matter be good; and concerning the best of all subjects
touching
the King.
2.
That the language be fluent like the pen
etc.—(a) Partly from nature
(b)
Partly from cultivation
(c) Partly from the Spirit of God.
3.
That the heart be absorbed in it—My heart is inditing. G. R.
Verse
2. In what respects Jesus is fairer than the best of men.
Verse
2. Jesus—his person
his gospel
his fulness of blessing.
Verse
2.
1.
We may and ought to praise Christ. Angels do
God does
Scripture does
Old
Testament saints and New
so should we. It is the work of heaven begun on
earth.
2.
For what should we praise him? (a) For his beauty. Is wisdom beauty? Is
righteousness? Is love? Is meekness? All are found in him supremely—"All
human beauties
all divine
In our Redeemer meet and shine." (b) For his
grace. Grace of God treasured up in him.
3.
For his blessedness—of God and for ever. G.R.
Verses
2-5. In these verses the Lord Jesus is presented
1.
As most amiable in himself.
2. As the great favourite of heaven.
3. As victorious over his enemies.
—Matthew Henry.
Verses
3-5. Messiah's victory predicted and desired. E. Payson's Sermon.
Verse
5.
1.
Arrows of judicial wrath are sharp.
2.
Arrows of providential goodness are sharper still.
3.
Arrows of subduing grace are sharpest of all. The quiver of the Almighty is
full of these arrows. G.R.
Verse
5. Arrows—what they are; whose they are; whom they strike; where
they strike; what they do; and what follows.
Verse
6. The God
the King
his throne
its duration
his sceptre. Let us
worship
obey
trust
acquiesce
rejoice.
Verses
6-7. Empire
Eternity
Equity
Establishment
Exultation.
Verse
7. Thou hatest wickedness. He hated it when it assailed him
in his temptation
hated it in others
denounced it
died to slay it
will come
to condemn it.
Verse
7. Christ's love and hate.
Verse
8. Christ's garments—his offices
his two natures
his ordinances
his honours
all are full of fragrance.
Verse
8. Whereby they have made thee glad. We make Jesus glad by
our love
our praise
our service
our gifts
our holiness
our fellowship with
him.
Verse
8.
1.
The odour of his garments
not of blood and battle
but of sweet perfume.
2.
The splendour of his palaces—ivory for rareness
purity
durability
etc.
3.
The source of his delight. (a) Himself
the sweet odour of his own graces. (b)
His people
the savour of those who are saved. (c) His enemies
"even in
them that perish." (d) All holy happy creatures who unite to make him
glad. G.R.
Verses
9-10. The connections of the Bridegroom are to be remembered
those of
the Bride to be forgotten.
Verse
10. "Christ the best husband: or
an earnest invitation to young
women to come and see Christ." George Whitefield's "Sermon
Preached to a Society of Young Women
in Fetter Lane."
Verse
11. So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty. Christ
delighting in the Beauty of the Righteous. Martin Luther. (Select Works
by H. Cole. I. 281.)
Verses
13-15.
1.
The Bride's new name—"The king's daughter." She is the king's
daughter for two reasons. (a) She is born of God; and (b) She is espoused
to the Son of God.
2.
The Bride's character—"All glorious within." (a) Because Christ
reigns on the throne of her heart. (b) Because she is the temple of the
Holy Ghost.
3.
The Bride's raiment—"wrought gold
" "needlework:"
this is the righteousness of Christ; in other words
His perfect
obedience
and His atoning death.
4.
The Bride's companion—"Virgins that follow her."
5.
The Bride's home going—"She shall be brought unto the king in
raiment of needlework...With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they
shall enter into the king's palace." (a) She shall see the king in his
beauty. (b) There will be an open declaration of his love to her before
all worlds. Duncan Macgregor
M.A.
Verse
17.
1.
Christ is the Father's delight. "I will make
"etc.
2. He is the church's theme—his name shall be remembered; and
3. He is heaven's glory
"Shall praise thee
"etc. G.R.
WORKS UPON THE
FORTY-FIFTH PSALM
Exposition
of Psalm XLV
in the works of JOHN BOYS
Dean of Canterbury. 1638. Folio
edition
pages 920-931.
The
Mystery of the Marriage Song
and Mutual Spiritual Embraces between Christ
and his Spouse
opened as an Exposition with practical notes and observations
on the whole Forty-fifth Psalm. By W. TROUGHTON
Minister of the Gospel.
1656.
In "Christ
set forth in all types
figures
and obscure places of the Scripture
by
RICHARD COORE
1683
"there is an Exposition of this Psalm.
A
Treatise of Solomon's Marriage; or
a Congratulation for the happie and hopeful
Marriage betweene the most illustrious and Noble Prince
Fredericke the V.
Count Palatine of Rhine...and the most gratious and excellent Princisse
the
Lady Elizabeth
sole daughter unto the high and mighty Prince James
by the
grace of God
King of Great Britain
France
and Ireland. Joyfully solemnized
on the 14th day of February
1612...(On Ps 45:10-16. By ANDREW WILLET.)
The
Bride Royall; or
the Spirituall Marriage betweene Christ and his Church.
Delivered by way of congratulation upon the happy and hopeful marriage betweene
the two incomparable Princes
the Palsegrave
and the Ladie Elizabeth. In a
sermon...By GEORGE WEBBE. 1613...(On Ps 45:13-15)
Psalm
XLV applied to Messiah's First Advent
and Psalm XLV applied to Messiah's
Second Advent
in pages 242-341
of The Anointed Saviour set forth as
the Principal Object of Saving Faith. By the Rev. DAVID PITCAIRN. 1846.
Five
Discourses on Christ in the Psalms. An Exposition of the second
forty-fifth and hundred and tenth Psalms. In a series of Discourses. By the
Rev. GEORGE HARPUR
B.A. London: Wertheim
Macintosh
and Hunt. 1862.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》