This Psalm can be like meeting a well-known celebrity and not knowing it. This Psalm offers much more than what initially meets the eye. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.
SERIES: Summer in the Psalms, Vol. 3
TEXT: Psalm 45
TITLE: A Pleasant Theme
PREACHER: Tim Lambros
BIG IDEA: Seeing the love of our bridegroom moves us to fresh affections for our Savior.
POINTS:
I. The Groom is King and Messiah
II. The Glorious Princess is the Bride and Church
SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.
ILLUSTRATION: Queen Elizabeth not being recognized by tourists
“The subscript says this is a love song. The context is a royal wedding with all the normal and expected emotions and pomp we would experience at a King’s wedding. This is a unique Psalm. There is no other Psalm like this one.”
“This Psalm is located at the beginning of Book 2 of the Psalms, follows some dark Psalms, and acts as a wedding celebration and a hint of future dynasty and victorious reign.”
“Structurally, the Psalmist speaks in first person in V. 1 and then at the end in V. 16-17, acting as bookends. Verses 2-9 address the groom, and V. 10-15 address the bride.”
“The Psalmist wrote this for the King. Whether it is sung by a choir or the entire congregation, it’s clear that it is addressed to the King. NOTICE V. 1. Scholars can’t be sure which king the Psalmist might be addressing. What’s clear is that he would be in the Davidic lineage.”
“ NOTICE the author says his heart overflows with a pleasing theme. Overflow is like the author is stirred up or moved. A pleasing theme is literally “a good word.” The author is stirred and moved and has this sense that he’s got a good word.”
“The Psalmist is indeed writing about a pleasing theme. In fact, we’ll see he’s writing about the theme of themes. So his heart appropriately overflows.”
“A king, and especially the royal wedding in this Psalm, can be difficult for many of us to imagine. Apart from God’s active, illuminating work of the Holy Spirit, the natural mind has difficulty imagining the king, the primary object of this poetic love song.”
“FIRST, we don’t live under a monarchy, have no day-to-day context for or about a king in our lives or American culture. So it’s difficult to imagine a royal wedding unless you are engaged with the gossip columns surrounding the British Monarchy. SECOND, the king in this wedding would be part of the Davidic line of kings. There’s a certain weight and future promise attached. God had promised that the Savior would come from David’s line. Scholars aren’t sure if this wedding was Solomon’s or some other king, but all agree this love song, this poem concerning a royal wedding, would be for a king in David’s lineage. THIRD, it gets even more difficult because we will see clear evidence in the NT that this royal wedding involves not just a king in the family tree of David, but it points ultimately to King Jesus. The bridegroom in this wedding will emerge as King and Messiah.”
“So, let’s allow God’s Word, through this poetic song, ILLUMINE our minds and hearts – helping us to SEE & KNOW - knowing we have the Holy Spirit helping us.”
“Verses 2-9 focus on the king. The Psalmist writes about his physical looks and his speech. He is handsome and skilled in using his words. Then in v. 3-4 he describes his military victories.”
“THE OLD TESTAMENT IS THE NEW TESTAMENT CONCEALED. THE NEW TESTAMENT IS THE OLD TESTAMENT REVEALED.”
“If V. 1 was a hint that maybe the author’s ‘pleasing theme’ has more to do with the future King of Kings, then notice V. 6. He doesn’t address him as King like in V. 1. He now calls Him God! To call an earthly king God would be blasphemous yet that’s what the Psalmist does.”
“So we have this paradox – The king is addressed as God, but God is his God. It’s clearly stated in God’s Word. But the best confirmation and clarity come from the NT. Hebrews 1:8- 9 shows us the Psalmist is speaking of another King.”
“The author of Hebrews is making the argument that Jesus is greater than any of the angels, and in that argument, he quotes Psalm 45:6-7 explicitly revealing that the text we’re looking at today refers to Jesus!”
“Handsome – Our eternal bridegroom didn’t come to be admired for His physical attributes – His beauty goes far beyond being handsome. The king of kings/Messiah – our eternal bridegroom is the essence of righteousness. He hates evil, and God sent Him to come and die for our rebellion and evil against him. He is victorious in battle – Jesus came from the glories of heaven to win the battle that you and I could not. NOTICE v. 6 – Your throne is FOREVER. God has made Him an eternal king.”
“If this royal wedding were to have been Solomon’s wedding, he could be regarded as one of the wisest kings known to man. But no one addressed him as God. No one addressed him as God, who had God as his God. This is a Psalm bursting the banks with OT language. The only fulfillment could be the future King of Kings, Jesus.”
“The romance, ceremony, a handsome king, a military conqueror, thrones, fragrant robes all in the context of a royal wedding – take on much more meaning when we see from holy Scripture it’s about our Savior Jesus Christ. Yet there’s another piece to this royal wedding scene. You don’t have a wedding without a bride.”
“Verse 10 now addresses the bride. First, a three-part exhortation. The bride is called to hear, consider, and to incline her ear. The exhortation calls her to forget her former people and her father’s household. Positively, she is to bow or submit to her bridegroom who is also her king.”
“Remember, Jewish weddings involved a procession from one house to another. Notice in v. 13 she is glorious in her beauty, adorned with robes like we heard earlier about the King. In her multi colored robes, she is led to the king. This hints at the original wedding of God bringing Eve to Adam. There is joy and gladness as she is led in this procession to meet her bridegroom and enter the palace of the king.”
“Since we know the king here is fulfilled in Christ, this amazing picture emerges of Christ and His love for His bride the Church. If the OT is the NT concealed and the NT is the OT revealed, then what Paul wrote in Ephesians 5 is another lens to understand some of the imagery we see in Psalm 45.”
“The bride gives up all allegiance to her prior people, father, and household, and fully gives herself – she bows to her new king. You and I, as Christians, are called to repent of our prior love for anything in this world and devote ourselves to Christ the King.
As the bride “leaves” her prior “chamber,” so we leave our prior place and are led to our King. There is joy and gladness not because an earthly king chose his bride but because the King of the universe left His place, His royal, perfect place of intimate fellowship with the Godhead, and came and died so create a way for His bride, the Church, to be led into relationship with Him!”
QUOTES:
ESV Study Bible - “You Are a King of Beauty, Majesty, and Justice. These words speak to the king, praising him for his appearance and gracious speech, military power, and commitment to promoting justice for his subjects. These words focus the attention of a young king on the ideals he should hold for his reign and character. These are what lead to God’s blessing for his people’s king, and to the king’s own respected position in the world.”
Derek Kidner - “This paradox is consistent with the incarnation but mystifying in any other context. It is an example of Old Testament language bursting its banks, to demand a more-than-human fulfilment.”
Christopher Ash - “Rather than try to twist the verse to make it plausible for an address to a historical Old Testament King, it is better to see this as another indication that these Spirit-inspired words look beyond Old Testament history to the coming of the Messiah.”
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Hebrews 1:8–9
2 Corinthians 11:2
APPLICATION:
Identity
We are the bride of Christ. Let the affections we see in the bride/groom freshly stir up in each of us the glory of our new identity. This can be a powerful weapon in your sanctification – the expulsive power of a new affection
Ambassador
For evangelism, knowing the love King Jesus has for His bride is a ‘theme’ or ‘matter’ of glad tidings all should hear – we are the aroma of Christ in this world. We bring an aroma as we live, speak, and do our deeds in a lost and dying world.
SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Be Thou My Vision
Our Song From Age To Age
The Steadfast Love of Christ
Turn Your Eyes
How Great (Psalm 145)
NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
GUEST PASTOR: KYLE HOULTON
THE BOOK OF THE QUARTER: