A Messianic Love Song

Psalm 45 is generally acknowledged to be, at least in part, a Messianic psalm, foretelling the coming of Christ and His splendor.  Verses 6 and 7 read:

"Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.  The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.  Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions."

These verses are quoted in Hebrews 1:8-9 as referring to Christ, and are used to prove that He is superior to angels, for He is worshiped, He reigns, and they serve and minister.

Taken this way, the Psalm is an awesome celebration of Christ in His divine splendor.  It begins by praising His appearance and His speech:

"You are the most handsome of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever."

Then it goes on to praise His might, and how He wields it righteously, to defeat evildoers and subdue His enemies in the cause of all that is good:

"In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!  Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; the peoples fall under you."

Clearly this is not Christ you want to mess with!  This is not the stereotypical image of Christ the meek and mild wouldn't-hurt-a-fly bearded woman--which is totally unbiblical anyway.  This Christ is the guy that those money changers in the temple had the misfortune of meeting--and getting whipped by as he chased them out of the temple.  This is the Christ who, on the last day, stands on the mount of Armageddon with His robes dipped in the blood of His enemies and at whose feet the world bows, conquered and subjected.

The psalm then talks of His reign, in verse six and seven, which also establish Christ's divinity and His godly reign over the world.  But immediately following that, the psalm makes a sudden shift.  A new character enters:

"From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you [Christ] glad; daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir."

At the first mention of this queen-consort, I did a double take.  I thought this psalm was just about Christ!  Where did the pretty lady come from?  One might think that she is, like the ivory palaces, just to set off the incredible majesty, power, and worthiness of Christ the King, but she is not a mere passing mention.  Most of the rest of the psalm focuses on her alone.  Obviously she is someone of importance to Christ.  With a start, I realized there was only one person she could be: the Bride of Christ, the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32)!  With more of a start, I realized that, as a Christian, I am a member of that Church.  I'm in a psalm!!!


Just look at how God describes the Bride!  She is a queen (verse 9),  she is clothed in gold of Ophir--not just gold, mind you, but imported gold!  Exotic stuff--(verse 9), she is a princess (verse 13), she is all glorious--What a strong phrase!--in her chamber (verse 13), she is clothed in robes interwoven with gold (verse 13), and further visits the King, Her Beloved, in many colored robes (verse 14).  Wow!  She's a knockout!  Talk about fashion!  Sounds like she owns the industry, and shows them how it's done.  Talk about nobility and dignity, royalty...she's got it all.

At this point, I want to ask God if this is some sort of super-Christian He's describing.  I certainly don't feel like an all-glorious princess reclining in my richly-colored, gold-embroidered robe surrounded by my retinue.  But God isn't describing a super-Christian.  The Bride doesn't have it all together, despite her overwhelming beauty.  God still has some tips for her (verses 10-12).  Still, Christ sees Her as beautiful, ineffably, breathtakingly, captivatingly beautiful.  He sees me as beautiful.  He sees you as beautiful.  To His eyes--which are the only eyes in all the universe that never lie--, you are the all-glorious princess in robes of many-colors intertwined with gold; you are the queen at His right hand in gold of Ophir.

In light of this, the Psalm offers some words of wisdom for the Bride:

"Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear: forget your people and your father's house, and the King will desire your beauty.  Since he is your lord, bow to him.  The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people."

I see several different pieces of advise here:

(1) Our identity is not in our origins.  Now we are the Bride of Christ, the Beloved of God, unified with Him.  Where we come from, what we did, who we were...none of that matters now.  Our identity is in our relationship with Him.  Nothing else has the right to define us.

(2) God thinks we're hott.  Yup.  And He totally wants us!  I don't know about you, but I find that encouraging in my spiritual life, and life in general.  Nothing like the confidence boost you can get from being pursued by a deity (THE Deity) Who thinks you're all that and then some.

(3) Christ is our Lord.  We have no other master.  He may place other authorities over us, but they are temporary matters.  Because Christ is our lover and our Lord, we owe Him our respect, reverence, and obedience.  We owe no such obedience to the appetites of our flesh, the whims of the world, or even the well-intended expectation of friends and family.  God supersedes all this, and it is to Him we are to bow.

(4) We have something even the wealthiest people in the world don't have.  Our love relationship with Christ is something they would give every red cent they own to buy from us--and it's not for sale!  We don't have to play the game of keeping up with the Jones'.  We have already beaten the Jones', permanently.  Our relationship with Christ is something we can never lose, and even if we stand naked in a sewer, it gives us more net worth than Bill Gate and Rockefeller put together...times ten!