Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 45:11

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 45:0 A royal wedding song

This song was written to be sung at the wedding of some Israelite king. The anticipation of such an occasion causes the writer’s heart to overflow with joy (1).
First the writer addresses his comments to the king. Handsome in appearance, gracious in speech and strong in purpose, this one has been supremely blessed by God to fight for truth and justice (2-5). Since he is God’s representative, the king will have an enduring kingdom. Since he fights for all that is right, God has given him honour and glory above all others (6-7). The writer sees this honour and glory reflected in the splendour of the wedding ceremony - the king’s magnificent robes, the music being played in the ivory-decorated palace, the attendant princesses from many countries, and the presence of the queen mother (8-9).
The writer then addresses his comments to the queen. She is reminded to transfer her loyalty from her former family to the king, and is assured that he will return her love. People of subject nations will bring her gifts (10-12). The psalmist describes the majestic beauty of her bridal robes and the joyous scene as her bridesmaids and musical attendants lead her to the king (13-15). The king is then addressed again. He is given the assurance that he will have a line of royal descendants more glorious than that of his ancestors, so that his name will be honoured for ever (16-17).

As in most ceremonial songs, the words of this psalm are extravagant when applied to the Israelite king. But the same words, when applied to the King of kings, are scarcely enough to begin to describe his glory and power (cf. Hebrews 1:8-9; Revelation 19:6-9).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"So will the king desire thy beauty; For he is thy lord, and reverence thou him."

"Reverence thou him." The meaning here is "bow down before him," "worship him," "adore him." "He is thy lord." Certainly, Leupold was correct in his opinion that, "This profitable lesson the church of the Old Testament needed as much as the church of the New Testament needs it now. It is always the first requirement of the Church."H. C. Leupold, p. 358.

"So will the king desire your beauty." Addis found what he thought to be a contradiction here. "The king is said to desire the beauty of the Bride, while on the contrary religion (Christianity) teaches that Israel must first be united with God and Messiah: then and then only does she become beautiful."W. E. Addis, p. 380. There is no contradiction. The King does indeed desire the beauty of the Bride; and the union of that Bride with Himself will never take place unless the Bride indeed "becomes beautiful." The entire dispensation of Christianity is the period in which the Bride, schooled in the Word of God, shall indeed become that "glorious Church" of Ephesians 5:27.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty - That is, in consequence of your love to him, and your entire devotion of yourself to him. The word “desire” here is equivalent to having pleasure in; as meaning that his affliction would thus be fixed on her. In this way - by forgetting her own home, and devoting herself to him - she would secure his affection. In the married life, mere “beauty” will not secure permanently the love of a husband. The heart, as given to him, and as faithful to him, will alone secure his love. In like manner, it is nothing but sincere affection - true love on the part of the professed friends of the Saviour - the forgetting and forsaking of all else - that will secure his love, or make the church to him an object of desire.

For he is thy Lord - That is, as a husband he sustains this relation to thee; or, this appellation may be given to him. In what sense this is true in respect to a husband, see the notes at 1 Peter 3:6; notes at 1 Corinthians 11:3. In respect to the Saviour, the dominion implied in the word “Lord” is absolute and entire.

And worship thou him - That is, as applicable to a bride, Show him respect, honor, reverence. See the notes at Ephesians 5:33. The word means properly to bow down; then, to show respect, as to a superior; and then, to show proper respect to God, to wit, by worshipping or adoring him. See the notes at Matthew 2:11; see Matthew 8:2; Matthew 14:33; Matthew 15:25; Matthew 18:26; Matthew 28:9; Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:9; compare the notes at Hebrews 1:6.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 45:1-17

The forty-fifth psalm is one of those beautiful psalms that refers to Christ, a Messianic psalm. The glorious king. But in this same psalm is seen the church, the bride of Jesus Christ. And so we have in Psalms 45:1-17 the beautiful mystery of Christ and the church. The King and His bride.

My heart is indicting a good matter: I speak of things which I have made touching the King: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer ( Psalms 45:1 ).

Describing the king,

Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee awesome things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre ( Psalms 45:2-6 ).

Now in the book of Hebrews it acknowledges that this was written concerning Jesus Christ. And as the author of the book of Hebrews is seeking to show the superiority of Jesus Christ over the angels, he quotes this particular psalm, showing that God called Him God. For this psalm is inspired by God, and God in inspiring the psalm saying of Jesus Christ, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever." So in the New Testament there are those that would challenge the deity of Jesus Christ, saying that it isn't really a biblical doctrine. In spite of the fact that in the first chapter of John we read, "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the same was in the beginning with God, and all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made."

In spite of the fact that Thomas, when Jesus said to him after the resurrection, "Thomas, you want to put your finger in My hand? Go ahead. You want to thrust your hand into My side? Go ahead. See if it isn't Me." And Thomas cried, "My Lord, and my God" ( John 20:28 ). In spite of the fact that Paul the Apostle called Him God, declaring that we look forward to the great appearing of our glorious God and Savior Jesus Christ. It is pointed out in the book of Hebrews that even God Himself called Him God. For the Lord said to Him, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre." So, John, Paul, Thomas, all were willing to acknowledge Him as God, and even the Father willing to acknowledge Him as God is good enough for me. I don't need the Jehovah Witnesses to come along and say that He is not God. There is ample biblical proof.

So inasmuch as this is quoted concerning Christ in the New Testament, we know we are on good ground as seeing the King as Christ.

Thou lovest righteousness, you hate wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. Kings' daughters were among thy honorable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir ( Psalms 45:7-9 ).

The queen, of course, the church.

Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him ( Psalms 45:10-11 ).

How beautiful. Speaking now of this intimate, beautiful relationship between Christ and His church. "Hearken, O daughter, consider, incline thine ear. Forget the world, thy father's house. For the King greatly desires thee, thy beauty. For He is thy Lord, worship Him."

And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favor. The King's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: and they shall enter into the King's palace. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever ( Psalms 45:12-17 ).

Much, much that is there to just go ahead and come back to this one and read it and meditate upon it. And just to see the beautiful picture of the bride of Christ. The glorious day when we are brought to Him. Unfolded for us in the book of Revelation, chapter 19. Invited. Now the other groups that will be there, outside of the church, the virgins, bringing their companions that follow, there's a lot there. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 45

This royal psalm glorified a king as he prepared for his wedding. The writer related the counsel that the bride had received as she anticipated the wedding. He then predicted that people would honor the king forever because of the descendants born to him. The psalmist also appears to have spoken prophetically of Christ (cf. Ephesians 5:32-33; Hebrews 1:8-9). [Note: Kidner, p. 170.]

"Psalms 45 is another example of a royal psalm which reflects the historical situation of ancient Israel, but which ultimately applies to Christ in that He is the one through whom the primary aspects of its idealistic portrayal of the Davidic ruler are fully realized." [Note: Chisholm, "A Theology . . .," p. 270.]

"Shoshannim" in the title means "lilies." This may have been a hymn tune. The meaning of "Maskil" is still unclear. "A song of love" (lit., NASB) probably means "a wedding song" (NIV).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The psalmist gave some good advice to the bride. She would be wise to make her husband her primary object of affection (cf. Genesis 2:24). This would make her even more attractive to him. She should also honor him because he was now her authority (cf. Genesis 2:18; Genesis 2:22).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. Advice for the bride 45:10-15

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty,.... Which lies in the comeliness or righteousness of Christ put upon her; in the holiness of Christ reckoned to her; in being washed from all sin in the blood of Christ; in the graces of the Spirit being implanted in her, in which the beauty of holiness lies; in the salvation she is interested in, and beautified with; in enjoying the order and ordinance of Christ's house, and in having the presence of God and Christ with her: and this beauty is not natural, nor acquired by her, but what is given her; it is not an outward, but an inward beauty; nor is it fictitious, but real; it is perfect through the comeliness of her Lord upon her; and it is durable as the olive tree: and this is greatly desired by Christ, who delights in her, and to behold her countenance; seeks after her company, and will have her where he is, that she may behold his glory, and he may behold her beauty;

for he [is] thy Lord; not only by creation, but by redemption, and in right of marriage, as well as on account of other relations he stands in to her, as Father, Head, King, and Master; and it is her privilege that he is her Lord, as well as her duty to own the relation; since, though he is a sovereign Lord, he is no tyrannical one, but governs with gentleness, and he has all power to protect her, and all fulness to supply her wants; and on account of his being her Husband, Lord, and Head, he has a right of worship from her, as follows;

and worship thou him; both internally, by the exercise of faith, hope, and love upon him; and externally, by praying to him, praising of him, and attending on all his ordinances, and doing everything in a religious way, in his name, according to his word, and by his authority; and such worship should be in spirit and in truth, in sincerity, and without hypocrisy, in righteousness and true holiness, and with reverence and godly fear.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house;   11 So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.   12 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.   13 The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.   14 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.   15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king's palace.   16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.   17 I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.

      This latter part of the psalm is addressed to the royal bride, standing on the right hand of the royal bridegroom. God, who said to the Son, Thy throne is for ever and ever, says this to the church, which, upon the account of her espousals to the Son, he here calls his daughter.

      I. He tells her of the duties expected from her, which ought to be considered by all those that come into relation to the Lord Jesus: "Hearken, therefore, and consider this, and incline thy ear, that is, submit to those conditions of thy espousals, and bring thy will to comply with them." This is the method of profiting by the word of God. He that has ears, let him hear, let him hearken diligently; he that hearkens, let him consider and weigh it duly; he that considers, let him incline and yield to the force of what is laid before him. And what is it that is here required?

      1. She must renounce all others.

      (1.) Here is the law of her espousals: "Forget thy own people and thy father's house, according to the law of marriage. Retain not the affection thou hast had for them, nor covet to return to them again; banish all such remembrance (not only of thy people that were dear to thee, but of thy father's house that were dearer) as may incline thee to look back, as Lot's wife to Sodom." When Abraham, in obedience to God's call, had quitted his native soil, he was not so much as mindful of the country whence he came out. This shows, [1.] How necessary it was for those who were converted from Judaism or paganism to the faith of Christ wholly to cast out the old leaven, and not to bring into their Christian profession either the Jewish ceremonies or the heathen idolatries, for these would make such a mongrel religion in Christianity as the Samaritans had. [2.] How necessary it is for us all, when we give up our names to Jesus Christ, to hate father and mother, and all that is dear to us in this world, in comparison, that is, to love them less than Christ and his honour, and our interest in him, Luke 14:26.

      (2.) Here is good encouragement given to the royal bride thus entirely to break off from her former alliances: So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty, which intimates that the mixing of her old rites and customs, whether Jewish or Gentile, with her religion, would blemish her beauty and would hazard her interest in the affections of the royal bridegroom, but that, if she entirely conformed to his will, he would delight in her. The beauty of holiness, both on the church and on particular believers, is in the sight of Christ of great price and very amiable. Where that is he says, This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it. Among the golden candlesticks he walks with pleasure, Revelation 2:1.

      2. She must reverence him, must love, honour, and obey him: He is thy Lord, and worship thou him. The church is to be subject to Christ as the wife to the husband (Ephesians 5:24), to call him Lord, as Sarah called Abraham, and to obey him (1 Peter 3:6), and so not only to submit to his government, but to give him divine honours. We must worship him as God, and our Lord; for this is the will of God, that all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father; nay, in so doing it is reckoned that they honour the Father. If we confess that Christ is Lord, and pay our homage to him accordingly, it is to the glory of God the Father,Philippians 2:11.

      II. He tells her of the honours designed for her.

      1. Great court should be made to her, and rich presents brought her (Psalms 45:12; Psalms 45:12): "The daughter of Tyre," a rich and splendid city, "the daughter of the King of Tyre shall be there with a gift; every royal family round about shall send a branch, as a representative of the whole, to seek thy favour and to make an interest in thee; even the rich among the people, whose wealth might be thought to exempt them from dependence at court, even they shall entreat thy favour, for his sake to whom thou art espoused, that by thee they may make him their friend." The Jews, the pretending Jews, who are rich to a proverb (as rich as a Jew), shall come and worship before the church's feet in the Philadelphian period, and shall know that Christ has loved her,Revelation 3:9. When the Gentiles, being converted to the faith of Christ, join themselves to the church, they then come with a gift,2 Corinthians 8:5; Romans 15:16. When with themselves they devote all they have to the honour of Christ, and the service of his kingdom, they then come with a gift.

      2. She shall be very splendid, and highly esteemed in the eyes of all, (1.) For her personal qualifications, the endowments of her mind, which every one shall admire (Psalms 45:13; Psalms 45:13): The king's daughter is all glorious within. Note, The glory of the church is spiritual glory, and that is indeed all glory; it is the glory of the soul, and that is the man; it is glory in God's sight, and it is an earnest of eternal glory. The glory of the saints falls not within the view of a carnal eye. As their life, so their glory, is hidden with Christ in God, neither can the natural man know it, for it is spiritually discerned; but those who do so discern it highly value it. Let us see here what is that true glory which we should be ambitious of, not that which makes a fair show in the flesh, but which is in the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible (1 Peter 3:4), whose praise is not of men, but of God,Romans 2:29. (2.) For her rich apparel. Though all her glory is within, that for which she is truly valuable, yet her clothing also is of wrought gold; the conversation of Christians, in which they appear in the world, must be enriched with good works, not gay and gaudy ones, like paint and flourish, but substantially good, like gold; and it must be accurate and exact, like wrought gold, which is worked with a great deal of care and caution.

      3. Her nuptials shall be celebrated with a great deal of honour and joy (Psalms 45:14; Psalms 45:15): She shall be brought to the king, as the Lord God brought the woman to the man (Genesis 2:22), which was a type of this mystical marriage between Christ and his church. None are brought to Christ but whom the Father brings, and he has undertaken to do it; none besides are so brought to the king (Psalms 45:14; Psalms 45:14) as to enter into the king's palace,Psalms 45:15; Psalms 45:15.

      (1.) This intimates a two-fold bringing of the spouse to Christ. [1.] In the conversion of souls to Christ; then they are espoused to him, privately contracted, as chaste virgins, 2 Corinthians 11:2; Romans 7:4. [2.] In the completing of the mystical body, and the glorification of all the saints, at the end of time; then the bride, the Lamb's wife, shall be made completely ready, when all that belong to the election of grace shall be called in and called home, and all gathered together to Christ, 2 Thessalonians 2:1. Then is the marriage of the Lamb come (Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:2), and the virgins go forth to meet the bridegroom,Matthew 25:1. Then they shall enter into the king's palaces, into the heavenly mansions, to be ever with the Lord.

      (2.) In both these espousals, observe, to the honour of the royal bride, [1.] Her wedding clothes--raiment of needle-work, the righteousness of Christ, the graces of the Spirit; both curiously wrought by divine wisdom. [2.] Her bride-maids--the virgins her companions, the wise virgins who have oil in their vessels as well as in their lamps, those who, being joined to the church, cleave to it and follow it, these shall go in to the marriage. [3.] The mirth with which the nuptials will be celebrated: With gladness and rejoicing shall she be brought. When the prodigal is brought home to his father it is meet that we should make merry and be glad (Luke 15:32); and when the marriage of the Lamb has come let us be glad and rejoice (Revelation 19:7); for the day of his espousals is the day of the gladness of his heart,Song of Solomon 3:11.

      4. The progeny of this marriage shall be illustrious (Psalms 45:16; Psalms 45:16): Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children. Instead of the Old-Testament church, the economy of which had waxed old, and ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:13), as the fathers that are going off, there shall be a New-Testament church, a Gentile-church, that shall be grafted into the same olive and partake of its root and fatness (Romans 11:17); more and more eminent shall be the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,Isaiah 54:1. This promise to Christ is of the same import with that Isaiah 53:10, He shall see his seed; and these shall be made princes in all the earth; there shall be some of all nations brought into subjection to Christ, and so made princes, made to our God kings and priests,Revelation 1:6. Or it may intimate that there should be a much greater number of Christian kings than ever there was of Jewish kings (those in Canaan only, these in all the earth), nursing fathers and nursing mothers to the church, which shall suck the breasts of kings. They are princes of Christ's making; for by him kings reign and princes decree justice.

      5. The praise of this marriage shall be perpetual in the praises of the royal bridegroom (Psalms 45:18; Psalms 45:18): I will make thy name to be remembered. His Father has given him a name above every name, and here promises to make it perpetual, by keeping up a succession of ministers and Christians in every age, that shall bear up his name, which shall thus endure for ever (Psalms 72:17), by being remembered in all the generations of time; for the entail of Christianity shall not be cut off. "Therefore, because they shall remember thee in all generations, they shall praise thee for ever and ever." Those that help to support the honour of Christ on earth shall in heaven see his glory, and share in it, and be for ever praising him. 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, in our generation; and, in assurance of the perpetuating of the kingdom of the Redeemer in the world, let us transmit the remembrance of him to succeeding generations, that his name may endure for ever and be as the days of heaven.