Psalm 45: To the Chief Musician. Set to Shoshannim [The Lilies] A Contemplation of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
“The title— Some have thought that the word Shoshannim means an instrument, and as such is addressed to the chief Musician of the temple service. But others, and with much greater probability of being right, as it is a Song of loves, and professedly treating of the love of Christ to his Church, make the word Shoshannim to mean, Roses or Lilies; thereby corresponding to what Christ himself hath said, ‘I am the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the Valley,’ Song of Solomon 2:1. And as it is well known that flowers were made use of at nuptial ceremonies among the Jews and this Song of loves is an epithalamium, it should seem that nothing can be more probable.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
“There is no doubt that this psalm was originally the marriage hymn of some Jewish king. All attempts to settle who that was have failed, for the very obvious reason that neither the history nor the character of any of them correspond to the psalm. Its language is a world too wide for the diminutive stature and stained virtues of the greatest and best of them, and it is almost ludicrous to attempt to fit its glowing sentences even to a Solomon. They all look like little David in Saul’s armour.” (Alexander MacLaren) A Greater than David and Solomon is here.
“‘My heart is overflowing’—... bubbleth up like water over the fire— ‘a good matter.’ This denotes that the workings of his heart, were fervent and vehement, kindled by God's grace, and the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. ‘I speak of the things which I have made’— have composed— ‘touching the King: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.’ He was only the pen or instrument in uttering this song; it was the Spirit of God, by whose hand this pen was guided.” (Wesley) “Like Elihu, his heart is so full, in inditing this glorious subject, concerning the King, the Messiah, that he is ready to burst. Job 32:19.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Comm)
“’You are fairer than the sons of men; “double fairer.“ (Trapp)— “Thou art beautiful beyond any human standard or comparison.” (Albert Barnes)— “‘grace is poured upon Your lips;’ To rich personal attractions is added grace of the lips, captivating powers of speech. This is given, and becomes a source of power and proves a blessing. Christ is a prophet (Luke 4:22).” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown) "'Therefore God has blessed You'- Or better, because that God hath blessed thee, and endowed thee with such gifts and graces.” (John Trapp)
You came first to reveal and save but now “‘Gird Your sword upon Your thigh,’ That is, arm or prepare thyself for battle and conquest. The Messiah is introduced here as a Conquering King; as about to go forward to subdue the nations to Himself; as about to set up a permanent Kingdom.” (Albert Barnes)— “‘O Mighty One,’ This, I think, cannot be spoken of Solomon. He was not a warlike prince: he never did any feats of arms. It has been said he would have been a warrior, if he had had enemies; it might have been so: but the words more properly apply to Christ, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords; whose sword with two edges, proceeding from his mouth, cuts all his adversaries to pieces.” (Adam Clarke) “And the sword is here put synecdochically for all His arms, as it is in many other places, as appears from Psalms 45:5, where we read also of His arrows. And this sword of the Messias is nothing else but the Word of God coming out of His mouth; which is fitly compared to a sword, as may appear from Isaiah 49:2 Ephesians 6:17 Hebrews 4:12 Revelation 1:16, which is elsewhere called the rod of His mouth, Isaiah 11:4, and the rod of His power, Psalms 110:2. ‘With Your glory and thy majesty'; or, which is thy glory and thy majesty; or, magnificence or beauty; for these words are joined with the sword, by way of apposition; which sword or Word is the great instrument of maintaining and propagating thy honour, and glory, and kingdom.” (Matthew Poole)
“‘And in Your majesty ride prosperously,’ advancing as the victorious Hero, ‘because of truth and meekness and righteousness, and Your right hand shall teach You awesome things’ for as gentle and gracious as the King is toward those who bow under His merciful scepter, so majestic and terrible He is in dealing with His enemies. ‘Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies;’ the peoples fall under You. The battle is briefly described. The King takes His whetted arrows and sends them forth into the ranks of the enemies, into their hearts, so that the people fall before Him, wounded to death, utterly vanquished. Thus the exalted Christ exerts His almighty power. No matter how often the truth is suppressed, no matter how severely the righteous suffer, they are assured of the assistance of their almighty Redeemer. Every victory won by Christ is a judgment and punishment upon the enemies, who will be finally disposed of on the last Great Day.” (The Popular Commentary)
Paul taught the excellency of Christ over all things earthly. “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.’ [Psalm 45:6, 7]” (Hebrews 1:8-9) “Though the millennium will only last a thousand years, “our glorious King will encumber the throne of final judgment, and reign on forever over this world." (William Godbey)--
“a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.' the sceptre is an ensign of royalty; and a sceptre of righteousness, or rightness, is expressive of the justice of government; the Syriac version renders it, 'a sceptre stretched out'; which is a sceptre of mercy, as the instance of Ahasuerus stretching out his sceptre to Esther shows; and such is the Gospel of Christ, which holds forth and declares the mercy, grace, and love of God to men through Christ; and which may be called a sceptre of righteousness, since it reveals and directs to the righteousness of Christ, and encourages to works of righteousness." (John Gill) “You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
“The song of that which is lovely here reaches the height towards which it aspires from the beginning. It has portrayed the lovely king as a Man, as a Hero, and as a divine Ruler; now it describes Him as a bridegroom on the day of His nuptials. The sequence of the thoughts and of the figures corresponds to the history of the future. When Babylon is fallen, and the hero riding upon a white horse, upon whom is inscribed the name ‘King of kings and Lord of lords,’ shall have smitten the hostile nations with the sword that goeth out of His mouth, there then follows the marriage of the Lamb, for which the way has been prepared by these avenging victories (Rev 19:7.)” (Keil & Delitzsch)
“‘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 Exodus 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.” (Treasury of David) “The sweet smelling garments, no doubt, represent the graces and gifts of the Holy Ghost, which make the savour of the very name of Christ as ointment pouted forth. Song of Solomon 1:3. ” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
“And Kings’ daughters were among the most prestigious attendants in weddings. The ancients considered gold from Ophir, probably situated in Arabia, to be the best (cf. 1 Kings 9:28; 10:11; 22:48; Job 28:16; Isaiah 13:12). [Gold represents deity at this Royal Wedding at the Palace.] The total picture of this wedding ceremony is one of extreme elegance and beauty, fitting for such a Good King.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable)
Psalm 45 To the Chief Musician. Set to Shoshannim [The Lilies] A Contemplation of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
10 Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your own people also, and your father’s house; 11 so the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, worship Him. 12 And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift; the rich among the people will seek your favor. 13 The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace; her clothing is woven with gold. 14 She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors; the virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You. 15 With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought; they shall enter the King’s palace. 16 Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons, whom You shall make princes in all the earth. 17 I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.
“‘Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your own people also,’ This is said on the supposition that the bride was a foreign princess. As such, it is to be supposed that she had been trained under other customs, under other forms of religion, and with reference to other interests than those which would now pertain to her…,” (Albert Barnes) as we all were. “All evil opinions must be unlearned, and all evil practices abandoned, and all our love transferred and transfused upon Christ; or we cannot be a fit spouse for him.” (Trapp)—> “‘[and] forget also thy father’s house;' not simply, but comparatively, so far as they oppose or hinder the discharge of thy duty to thy husband; or so far as they are corrupted in doctrine, or worship, or practice. He alludes to the law of matrimony, Genesis 2:24...” (Matthew Poole) “Christ’s spouse must {as Deut. 21:11-13} shave her head, pare her nails, and bewail her father and mother, that is, her natural inbred evils and corruptions.” (John Trapp)
“‘So the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, worship Him,' which he implies that her Husband was no mere man, but God also, and therefore might be adored without any violation of that known and immutable precept of worshipping God only.” (Matthew Poole)
“As applied to the Church - the bride of the Lamb - the idea here is that which we find so often enforced in the New Testament, that they who become the followers of the Saviour must be willing to forsake all for Him, and to identify themselves with Him and His cause…. We are to forsake the world, and devote ourselves to Him; we are to break away from all worldly attachments, and to consecrate all to Him; we are to bid adieu to worldly companions as our chosen friends, and make the friends of Christ our friends: we are not to pine after the world, to seek to return to it, to pant for its pleasures; we are not to take advantage of our position in the church to promote the objects which we had pursued before we entered it; we are not to introduce the customs, the habits, the plans which we before pursued, ‘into’ the church. We are in all things to become identified with Him to whom we have become ‘espoused’ 2 Corinthians 11:2; we are to live with Him; to go with Him; to die with Him; to be His forever.— ‘And [forget] thy father‘s house’—The home of thy childhood; the house where thy father dwells. The strongest earthly ties are to be made subservient to a higher and stronger tie, if we would become true followers of the Saviour. See Luke 9:59-62.” (Albert Barnes)
“‘And the daughter of Tyre,’ i.e. the people or citizens of Tyre; as the daughter of Zion, or Jerusalem, or Babel, etc., are put for their inhabitants, 2 Kings 19:21 Psalms 137:8 Zechariah 9:9.“ (Poole)— “‘shall be there with a gift,’... it is a prophecy of the conversion of the Tyrians, and their admission into a Gospel church, state, which had its accomplishment in the times of Christ and his apostles, Mark 7:24;... and though Tyre is only mentioned, it being, as Kimchi on this place observes, near to the land of Judea; yet all other Gentiles are meant, to whom the Gospel should come to the conversion of them, and thereby become members of churches…” (John Gill) Thus these converted souls no longer hoard and heap; but rather employing their substance "to feed and clothe God’s saints, and maintain his ministers.” (John Trapp)
“‘The king’s daughter is all glorious within’— In the inner man, Ephesians 3:16, the hidden man of the heart, 1 Peter 3:4. Great is the glory of the new creature; but not discerned by the world.” (John Trapp) “‘She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needlework,’ Not in her sins,… ; nor in the rags of her own righteousness; but in the robe of [His] righteousness, and garments of [His] salvation, the change of raiment Christ has put upon her, having before this caused her iniquities to pass from her; or in the shining robes of immortality and glory: for this introduction of the church to Christ, her King, Head, and Husband, will be upon the first resurrection; when she being as a bride adorned and prepared for her husband, will be brought unto him, and presented to him by himself, a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing: and she will be introduced, either by the angels, who will be employed in gathering the elect from the four winds; or by the ministers of the Gospel, who, at the general harvest, in the end of the world will bring their sheaves with them; those souls they have been the instruments of converting, comforting, and ripening for glory; who will be their joy and crown of rejoicing then; these will be brought in several companies, which joining together, will make up the general assembly and church of the firstborn, that will then be presented to Christ.” (John Gill) With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought;... in and “presented to Christ a glorious Church, not having spot, wrinkle, or any such thing, Ephesians 5:27, Revelation 21:2.” (John Trapp)— “they shall enter the King’s palace.”
“‘Instead of thy fathers,’ etc.— i.e. Instead of the patriarchs, of their descent from whom the Jews were apt to boast, shall be pastors and ecclesiastical rulers throughout the world, and, at length, the temporal princes and governors thereof shall own thee for their mother.” (Thomas Coke)— “whom You shall make princes in all the earth.’ As earthly monarchs govern widely extended empires by viceroys, this glorious king is represented as supplying all the principalities of earth with princes of his own numerous progeny.” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown)
“‘I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.’ 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) “From thenceforth the Name, which is above every other name, will be remembered and His people will praise Him forever and ever.” (Arno Gaebelein)