The Glories of the Messiah and His Bride
To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lilies.” A Contemplation of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
“My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. You are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever.
Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, with Your glory and Your majesty. And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness; and Your right hand shall teach You awesome things. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies; the peoples fall under You.
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions. All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad. Kings’ daughters are among Your honorable women; at Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.
Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your own people also, and your father’s house; so the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, worship Him. And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift; the rich among the people will seek your favor.
The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace; her clothing is woven with gold. She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors; the virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You. With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought; they shall enter the King’s palace.
Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons, whom You shall make princes in all the earth. I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.”
“My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. You are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever.”
You might be excused for wondering how this particular psalm has made it into the Bible and has been venerated by Jews and Christians for centuries. The beginning of this psalm sounds suspiciously like something we would call a “puff piece, “a piece of flattery designed specifically to curry favor from a ruler. We might wonder what the writer is hoping to gain with all these compliments. According to this psalm, the king is incredibly handsome, a smooth talker, and blessed by God. As if these attributes weren’t enough, the writer also continues to describe the king’s might, glory, majesty, truth, humility, righteousness, and consummate victories. Whew! And then the psalmist goes on to describe the royal bride and how lucky she is to be marrying the king.
“Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your own people also, and your father’s house; so the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, worship Him. And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift; the rich among the people will seek your favor.
The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace; her clothing is woven with gold. She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors; the virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You. With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought; they shall enter the King’s palace.
Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons, whom You shall make princes in all the earth. I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.”
This certainly sounds like a royal wedding with the promise that the king will desire the bride’s beauty and that their sons will become princes. Because of the king’s magnificence, God will make his bride to be remembered and praised forever.
But wait! Is this writer describing a human king and his bride or the coming Messiah and the Church? Many sources suggest the answer is “both.” Some sources feel this psalm was written in honor of the marriage between King Solomon and the daughter of Pharaoh, his first recorded wife, for whom he built a gorgeous palace. Others feel that the psalmist is using some other human king as a forerunner of the Messiah.
If you remember King Solomon’s career and his 700 wives and 300 concubines, you might be excused for rejecting the idea that this psalm refers to Solomon. (My personal reaction is “Yuck!” Maintaining a faithful loving relationship with one person is tough enough, let alone trying to do it with one thousand.) And most of the other Israelite kings weren’t much better. Even King David had several wives and at least ten concubines. But if we consider this psalm as a description of the Messiah, it becomes a wonderful prophecy.
The apostle John probably knew the human Jesus better than any of the other disciples, yet when John saw Jesus in the vision God gave him on the island of Patmos, John was struck dumb by Jesus’ majesty. “And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.” (Revelation 1:12-17)
If the first verses describe the Messiah, who is the bride referred to in the rest of the psalm? Again referring to Revelation, we find that God refers to believers in His Church as the Bride of the Messiah. This relationship will have nothing to do with sexual intercourse and everything to do with a magnificent love, one that will last through the ages.
APPLICATION: These days, many churches have developed praise services that have little to do with being awe-struck in the presence of God. These services frequently involve noisy Christian rock band music with the congregation hopping up and down enthusiastically. We thoroughly enjoy Ghanaian praise services with lots of dancing; however, this psalm is one of quiet adoration, and awe. Sometimes it’s necessary to stop to consider God’s magnificence and His glory. When the psalmists write “Selah,” one interpretation of that word is “pause and calmly think on that.”
If the idea of a lecherous king eying a beautiful virgin is off-putting, forget the human interpretation and meditate on the spiritual one, the coming of the Messiah and his eventual marriage with His bride, the Church, “a glorious church without spot or wrinkle.”
For all those who are serving God, we must view things in the light of eternity. Some day Messiah will return to claim His kingdom, and when He does, we will be part of it. No matter what your reservations are, that news is something to celebrate.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to understand Your Word. May Your Word bring light and joy and peace into our hearts. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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