TITLE. The many titles of this Psalm mark
its royalty, its deep and solemn import, and the delight the
writer had in it. To the Chief Musician upon Shoshannim. The most
probable translation of this word is upon the lilies, and it is
either a poetical title given to this noblest of songs after the
Oriental manner, or it may relate to the tune to which it was set,
or to the instrument which was meant to accompany it. We incline
to the first theory, and if it be the true one, it is easy to see
the fitness of borrowing a name for so beautiful, so pure, so
choice, so matchless a poem from the golden lilies, whose bright
array outshone the glory of Solomon. For the sons of Korah.
Special singers are appointed for so divine a hymn. King Jesus
deserves to be praised not with random, ranting ravings, but with
the sweetest and most skilful music of the best trained
choristers. The purest hearts in the spiritual temple are the most
harmonious songsters in the ears of God; acceptable song is not a
matter so much of tuneful voices as of sanctified affections, but
in no case should we sing of Jesus with unprepared hearts. Maschil,
an instructive ode, not an idle lay, or a romancing ballad, but a
Psalm of holy teaching, didactic and doctrinal. This proves that
it is to be spiritually understood. Blessed are the people who
know the meaning of its joyful sound. A Song of loves. Not a
carnal sentimental love song, but a celestial canticle of
everlasting love fit for the tongues and ears of angels.
SUBJECT. Some here see Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter
only—they are short sighted; others see both Solomon and
Christ—they are cross eyed; well focused spiritual eyes see here
Jesus only, or if Solomon be present at all, it must be like those
hazy shadows of by passers which cross the face of the camera, and
therefore are dimly traceable upon a photographic landscape.
"The King, "the God whose throne is for ever and ever,
is no mere mortal and his everlasting dominion is not bounded by
Lebanon and Egypt's river. This is no wedding song of earthly
nuptials, but an Epithalamium for the Heavenly Bridegroom and his
elect spouse.
DIVISION. Ps 45:1 is an announcement of
intention, a preface to the song; Ps 45:3 adores the matchless
beauty of Messiah; and from Ps 45:3-9, he is addressed in admiring
ascriptions of praise. Ps 45:10-12 are spoken to the bride. The
church is further spoken of in Ps 45:13-15, and the Psalm closes
with another address to the King, foretelling his eternal fame, Ps
45:16-17.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. My heart. There is no writing like that
dictated by the heart. Heartless hymns are insults to heaven. Is
inditing a good matter. A good heart will only be content with
good thoughts. Where the fountain is good good streams will flow
forth. The learned tell us that the word may be read overflows, or
as others, boils or bubbles up, denoting the warmth of the
writer's love, the fulness of his heart, and the consequent
richness and glow of his utterance, as though it were the
ebullition of his inmost soul, when most full of affection. We
have here no single cold expression; the writer is not one who
frigidly studies the elegancies and proprieties of poetry, his
stanzas are the natural outburst of his soul, comparable to the
boiling jets of the geysers of Hecla. As the corn offered in
sacrifice was parched in the pan, so is this tribute of love hot
with sincere devotion. It is a sad thing when the heart is cold
with a good matter, and worse when it is warm with a bad matter,
but incomparably well when a warm heart and a good matter meet
together. O that we may often offer to God an acceptable minchah,
a sweet oblation fresh from the pan of hearts warmed with
gratitude and admiration. I speak of the things which I have
made touching the King. This song has "the King" for
its only subject, and for the King's honour alone was it composed,
well might its writer call it a good matter. The psalmist did not
write carelessly; he calls his poem his works, or things which he
had made. We are not to offer to the Lord that which costs us
nothing. Good material deserves good workmanship. We should well
digest in our heart's affections and our mind's meditations any
discourse or poem in which we speak of one so great and glorious
as our Royal Lord. As our version reads it, the psalmist wrote
experimentally things which he had made his own, and personally
tasted and handled concerning the King. My tongue is the pen of
a ready writer, not so much for rapidity, for there the tongue
always has the preference, but for exactness, elaboration,
deliberation, and skilfulness of expression. Seldom are the
excited utterances of the mouth equal in real weight and accuracy
to the verba scripta of a thoughtful accomplished penman;
but here the writer, though filled with enthusiasm, speaks as
correctly as a practised writer; his utterances therefore are no
ephemeral sentences, but such as fall from men who sit down calmly
to write for eternity. It is not always that the best of men are
in such a key, and when they are they should not restrain the gush
of their hallowed feelings. Such a condition of heart in a gifted
mind creates that auspicious hour in which poetry pours forth her
tuneful numbers to enrich the service of song in the house of the
Lord.
Verse 2. Thou. As though the King himself had
suddenly appeared before him, the psalmist lost in admiration of
his person, turns from his preface to address his Lord. A loving
heart has the power to realise its object. The eyes of a true
heart see more than the eyes of the head. Moreover, Jesus reveals
himself when we are pouring forth our affections towards him. It
is usually the case that when we are ready Christ appears. If our
heart is warm it is an index that the sun is shining, and when we
enjoy his heat we shall soon behold his light. Thou art fairer
than the children of men. In person, but especially in mind
and character, the King of saints is peerless in beauty. The
Hebrew word is doubled, "Beautiful, beautiful art thou."
Jesus is so emphatically lovely that words must be doubled,
strained, yea, exhausted before he can be described. Among the
children of men many have through grace been lovely in character,
yet they have each had a flaw; but in Jesus we behold every
feature of a perfect character in harmonious proportion. He is
lovely everywhere, and from every point of view, but never more so
than when we view him in conjugal union with his church; then love
gives a ravishing flush of glory to his loveliness. Grace is
poured into thy lips. Beauty and eloquence make a man majestic
when they are united; they both dwell in perfection in the all
fair, all eloquent Lord Jesus. Grace of person and grace of speech
reach their highest point in him. Grace has in the most copious
manner been poured upon Christ, for it pleased the Father that in
him should all fulness dwell, and now grace is in superabundance,
poured forth from his lips to cheer and enrich his people. The
testimony, the promises, the invitations, the consolations of our
King pour forth from him in such volumes of meaning that we cannot
but contrast those cataracts of grace with the speech of Moses
which did but drop as the rain, and distil as the dew. Whoever in
personal communion with the Wellbeloved has listened to his voice
will feel that "never man spake like this man." Well did
the bride say of him, "his lips are like lilies dropping
sweet smelling myrrh." One word from himself dissolved the
heart of Saul of Tarsus, and turned him into an apostle, another
word raised up John the Divine when fainting in the Isle of Patmos.
Oftentimes a sentence from his lips has turned our own midnight
into morning, our winter into spring. Therefore God hath
blessed thee for ever. Calvin reads it, Because God hath
blessed thee for ever. Christ is blessed of God, blessed for
ever, and this is to us one great reason for his beauty, and the
source of the gracious words which proceed out of his lips. The
rare endowments of the man Christ Jesus are given him of the
Father, that by them his people may be blessed with all spiritual
blessings in union with himself. But if we take our own
translation, we read that the Father has blessed the Mediator as a
reward for all his gracious labours; and right well does he
deserve the recompense. Whom God blesses we should bless, and the
more so because all his blessedness is communicated to us.
Verse 3. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh. Loving
spirits jealous of the Redeemer's glory long to see him putting
forth his power to vindicate his own most holy cause. Why should
the sword of the Spirit lie still, like a weapon hung up in an
armoury; it is sharp and strong, both for cutting and piercing: O
that the divine power of Jesus were put forth to use against
error. The words before us represent our great King as urged to
arm himself for battle, by placing his sword where it is ready for
use. Christ is the true champion of the church, others are but
underlings who must borrow strength from him; the single arm of
Immanuel is the sole hope of the faithful. Our prayer should be
that of this verse. There is at this moment an apparent suspension
of our Lord's former power, we must by importunate prayer call him
to the conflict, for like the Greeks without Achilles we are soon
overcome by our enemies, and we are but dead men if Jesus be not
in our midst. O most mighty. A title well deserved, and not
given from empty courtesy like the serenities, excellencies and
highnesses of our fellow mortals—titles, which are but sops for
vain glory. Jesus is the truest of heroes. Hero worship in his
case alone is commendable. He is mighty to save, mighty in love. With
thy glory and thy majesty. Let thy sword both win thee renown
and dominion, or as it may mean, gird on with thy sword thy robes
which indicate thy royal splendour. Love delights to see the
Beloved arrayed as beseemeth his excellency; she weeps as she sees
him in the garments of humiliation, she rejoices to behold him in
the vestments of his exaltation. Our precious Christ can never be
made too much of. Heaven itself is but just good enough for him.
All the pomp that angels and archangels, and thrones, and
dominions, and principalities, and powers can pour at his feet is
too little for him. Only his own essential glory is such as fully
answers to the desire of his people, who can never enough extol
him.
Verse 4. And in thy majesty ride prosperously.
The hero monarch armed and apparelled is now entreated to ascend
his triumphal car. Would to God that our Immanuel would come forth
in the chariot of love to conquer our spiritual foes and seize by
power the souls whom he has bought with blood. Because of truth
and meekness and righteousness. These words may be rendered, ride
forth upon truth and meekness and righteousness.—Three noble
chargers to draw the war chariot of the gospel. In the sense of
our translation it is a most potent argument to urge with our Lord
that the cause of the true, the humble, and the good, calls for
his advocacy. Truth will be ridiculed, meekness will be oppressed,
and righteousness slain, unless the God, the Man in whom these
precious things are incarnated, shall arise for their vindication.
Our earnest petition ought ever to be that Jesus would lay his
almighty arm to the work of grace lest the good cause languish and
wickedness prevail. And thy right hand shall teach thee
terrible things. Foreseeing the result of divine working, the
psalmist prophesies that the uplifted arm of Messiah will reveal
to the King's own eyes the terrible overthrow of his foes. Jesus
needs no guide but his own right hand, no teacher but his own
might; may he instruct us all in what he can perform, by achieving
it speedily before our gladdened eyes.
Verse 5. Thine arrows. Our King is master of all
weapons: he can strike those who are near and those afar off with
equal force. Are sharp. Nothing that Jesus does is ill
done, he uses no blunted shafts, no pointless darts. In the
heart of the King's enemies. Our Captain aims at men's hearts
rather than their heads, and he hits them too; point blank are his
shots, and they enter deep into the vital part of man's nature.
Whether for love or vengeance, Christ never misses aim, and when
his arrows stick, they cause a smart not soon forgotten, a wound
which only he can heal. Jesus' arrows of conviction are sharp in
the quiver of his word, and sharp when on the bow of his
ministers, but they are most known to be so when they find a way
into careless hearts. They are his arrows, he made them, he
shoots them. He makes them sharp, and he makes them enter the
heart. May none of us ever fall under the darts of his judgment,
for none kill so surely as they. Whereby the people fall under
thee. On either side the slain of the Lord are many when Jesus
leads on the war. Nations tremble and turn to him when he shoots
abroad his truth. Under his power and presence, men are stricken
down as though pricked in the heart. There is no standing against
the Son of God when his bow of might is in his hands. Terrible
will be that hour when his bow shall be made quite naked, and
bolts of devouring fire shall be hurled upon his adversaries: then
shall princes fall and nations perish.
Verse 6. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.
To whom can this be spoken but our Lord? The psalmist cannot
restrain his adoration. His enlightened eye sees in the royal
Husband of the church, God, God to be adored, God reigning, God
reigning everlastingly. Blessed sight! Blind are the eyes that
cannot see God in Christ Jesus! We never appreciate the tender
condescension of our King in becoming one flesh with his church,
and placing her at his right hand, until we have fully rejoiced in
his essential glory and deity. What a mercy for us that our
Saviour is God, for who but a God could execute the work of
salvation? What a glad thing it is that he reigns on a throne
which will never pass away, for we need both sovereign grace and
eternal love to secure our happiness. Could Jesus cease to reign
we should cease to be blessed, and were he not God, and therefore
eternal, this must be the case. No throne can endure for ever, but
that on which God himself sitteth. The sceptre of thy kingdom
is a right sceptre. He is the lawful monarch of all things
that be. His rule is founded in right, its law is right, its
result is right. Our King is no usurper and no oppressor. Even
when he shall break his enemies with a rod of iron, he will do no
man wrong; his vengeance and his grace are both in conformity with
justice. Hence we trust him without suspicion; he cannot err; no
affliction is too severe, for he sends it; no judgment too harsh,
for he ordains it. O blessed hands of Jesus! the reigning power is
safe with you. All the just rejoice in the government of the King
who reigns in righteousness.
Verse 7. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest
wickedness. Christ Jesus is not neutral in the great contest
between right and wrong: as warmly as he loves the one he abhors
the other. What qualifications for a sovereign! what grounds of
confidence for a people! The whole of our Lord's life on earth
proved the truth of these words; his death to put away sin and
bring in the reign of righteousness, sealed the fact beyond all
question; his providence by which he rules from his mediatorial
throne, when rightly understood, reveals the same; and his final
assize will proclaim it before all worlds. We should imitate him
both in his love and hate; they are both needful to complete a
righteous character. Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee
with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Jesus as Mediator
owned God as his God, to whom, being found in fashion as a man, he
became obedient. On account of our Lord's perfect life he is now
rewarded with superior joy. Others there are to whom grace has
given a sacred fellowship with him, but by their universal consent
and his own merit, he is prince among them, the gladdest of all
because the cause of all their gladness. At Oriental feasts oil
was poured on the heads of distinguished and very welcome guests;
God himself anoints the man Christ Jesus, as he sits at the
heavenly feasts, anoints him as a reward for his work, with higher
and fuller joy than any else can know; thus is the Son of man
honoured and rewarded for all his pains. Observe the indisputable
testimony to Messiah's Deity in verse six, and to his manhood in
the present verse. Of whom could this be written but of Jesus of
Nazareth? Our Christ is our Elohim. Jesus is God with us.
Verse 8. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes,
and cassia. The divine anointing causes fragrance to distil
from the robes of the Mighty Hero. He is delightful to every
sense, to the eyes most fair, to the ear most gracious, to the
spiritual nostril most sweet. The excellences of Jesus are all
most precious, comparable to the rarest spices; they are most
varied, and to be likened not to myrrh alone, but to all the
perfumes blended in due proportion. The Father always finds a
pleasure in him, in him he is well pleased; and all regenerated
spirits rejoice in him, for he is made of God unto us,
"wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption."
Note that not only is Jesus most sweet, but even his garments are
so; everything that he has to do with is perfumed by his person. All
his garments are thus fragrant; not some of them, but all; we
delight as much in his purple of dominion as in the white of his
priesthood, his mantle as our prophet is as dear to us as his
seamless coat as our friend. All his dress is fragrant with all
sweetness. To attempt to spiritualise each spice here mentioned
would be unprofitable, the evident sense is that all sweetnesses
meet in Jesus, and are poured forth wherever he is present. Out
of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. The
abode of Jesus now is imperial in splendour, ivory and gold but
faintly image his royal seat; there is he made glad in the
presence of the Father, and in the company of his saints. Oh, to
behold him with his perfumed garments on! The very smell of him
from afar ravishes our spirit, what must it be to be on the other
side of the pearl gate, within the palace of ivory, amid those
halls of Zion, "conjubilant with song, "where is the
throne of David, and the abiding presence of the Prince! To think
of his gladness, to know that he is full of joy, gives
gladness at this moment to our souls. We poor exiles can sing in
our banishment since our King, our Wellbeloved, has come to his
throne.
Verse 9. King's daughters were among thy honourable
women. Our Lord's courts lack not for courtiers, and those the
fairest and noblest. Virgin souls are maids of honour to the
court, the true lilies of heaven. The lowly and pure in heart are
esteemed by the Lord Jesus as his most familiar friends, their
place in his palace is not among the menials but near the throne.
The day will come when those who are "king's daughters"
literally will count it their greatest honour to serve the church,
and, meanwhile every believing sister is spiritually a King's
daughter, a member of the royal family of heaven. Upon thy
right hand, in the place of love, honour, and power, did
stand the queen in gold of Ophir: the church shares her Lord's
honour and happiness, he sets her in the place of dignity, he
clothes her with the best of the best. Gold is the richest of
metals, and Ophir gold the purest known. Jesus bestows nothing
inferior or of secondary value upon his beloved church. In
imparted and imputed righteousness the church is divinely arrayed.
Happy those who are members of a church so honoured, so beloved;
unhappy those who persecute the beloved people, for as a husband
will not endure that his wife should be insulted or maltreated, so
neither will the heavenly Husband; he will speedily avenge his own
elect. Mark, then, the solemn pomp of the verses we have read. The
King is seen with rapture, he girds himself as a warrior, robes
himself as a monarch, mounts his chariot, darts his arrows, and
conquers his foes. Then he ascends his throne with his sceptre in
his hand, fills the palace hall with perfume brought from his
secret chambers, his retinue stand around him, and, fairest of
all, his bride is at his right hand, with daughters of subject
princes as her attendants. Faith is no stranger to this sight, and
every time she looks she adores, she loves, she rejoices, she
expects.
Verse 10. Hearken, O daughter, and consider. Ever
is this the great duty of the church. Faith cometh by hearing, and
confirmation by consideration. No precept can be more worthy of
the attention of those who are honoured to be espoused to Christ
that that which follows. And incline thine ear. Lean
forward so that no syllable may be unheard. The whole faculties of
the mind should be bent upon receiving holy teaching. Forget
also thine own people, and thy father's house. To renounce the
world is not easy, but it must be done by all who are affianced to
the Great King, for a divided heart he cannot endure; it would be
misery to the beloved one as well as dishonour to her Lord. Evil
acquaintances, and even those who are but neutral, must be
forsaken, they can confer no benefits, they must inflict injury.
The house of our nativity is the house of sin—we were shapen in
iniquity; the carnal mind is enmity against God, we must come
forth of the house of fallen nature, for it is built in the City
of Destruction. Not that natural ties are broken by grace, but
ties of the sinful nature, bonds of graceless affinity. We have
much to forget as well as to learn, and the unlearning is so
difficult that only diligent hearing, and considering, and bending
of the whole soul to it, can accomplish the work; and even these
would be too feeble did not divine grace assist. Yet why should we
remember the Egypt from which we cam out? Are the leeks and the
garlic, and the onions anything, when the iron bondage, and the
slavish tasks, and the death dealing Pharaoh of hell are
remembered? We part with folly for wisdom; with bubbles for
eternal joys; with deceit for truth; with misery for bliss; with
idols for the living God. O that Christians were more mindful of
the divine precept here recorded; but, alas! worldliness abounds;
the church is defiled; and the glory of the Great King is veiled.
Only when the whole church leads the separated life will the full
splendour and power of Christianity shine forth upon the world.
Verse 11. So shall the king greatly desire thy
beauty. Wholehearted love is the duty and bliss of the
marriage state in every case, but especially so in this lofty
mystic marriage. The church must forsake all others and cleave to
Jesus only, or she will not please him nor enjoy the full
manifestation of his love. What less can he ask, what less may she
dare propose than to be wholly his? Jesus sees a beauty in his
church, a beauty which he delights in most when it is not marred
by worldliness. He has always been most near and precious to his
saints when they have cheerfully taken up his cross and followed
him without the camp. His Spirit is grieved when they mingle
themselves among the people and learn their ways. No great and
lasting revival of religion can be granted us till the professed
lovers of Jesus prove their affection by coming out from an
ungodly world, being separated, and touching not the unclean
thing. For he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. He has
royal rights still; his condescending grace does not lessen but
rather enforce his authority. Our Saviour is also our Ruler. The
husband is the head of the wife; the love he bears her does not
lessen but strengthen her obligation to obey. The church must
reverence Jesus, and bow before him in prostrate adoration; his
tender union with her gives her liberty, but not license; it frees
her from all other burdens, but places his easy yoke upon her
neck. Who would wish it to be otherwise? The service of God is
heaven in heaven, and perfectly carried out it is heaven upon
earth. Jesus, thou art he whom thy church praises in her unceasing
songs, and adores in her perpetual service. Teach us to be wholly
thine. Bear with us, and work by thy Spirit in us till thy will is
done by us on earth as it is in heaven.
Verse 12. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there
with a gift. When the church abounds in holiness, she shall
know no lack of homage from the surrounding people. Her glory
shall then impress and attract the heathen around, till they also
unite in doing honour to her Lord. The power of missions abroad
lies at home: a holy church will be a powerful church. Nor shall
there be lack of treasure in her coffers when grace is in her
heart; the free gifts of a willing people shall enable the workers
for God to carry on their sacred enterprise without stint.
Commerce shall send in its revenue to endow, not with forced
levies and imperial taxes, but with willing gifts the church of
the Great King. Even the rich among the people shall intreat
thy favour. Not by pandering to their follies, but by
testifying against their sins, shall the wealthy be one to the
faith of Jesus. They shall come not to favour the church but to
beg for her favour. She shall not be the hireling of the great,
but as a queen shall she dispense her favours to the suppliant
throng of the rich among the people. We go about to beg for Christ
like beggars for alms, and many who should know better will make
compromises and become reticent of unpopular truth to please the
great ones of the earth; not so will the true bride of Christ
degrade herself, when her sanctification is more deep and more
visible; then will the hearts of men grow liberal, and offerings
from afar, abundant and continual, shall be presented at the
throne of the Pacific Prince.
Verse 13. The king's daughter is all glorious within.
Within her secret chambers her glory is great. Though unseen of
men her Lord sees her, and commends her. "It doth not yet
appear what we shall be." Or the passage may be understood as
meaning within herself—her beauty is not outward only or mainly;
the choicest of her charms are to be found in her heart, her
secret character, her inward desires. Truth and wisdom in the
hidden parts are what the Lord regards; mere skin deep beauty is
nothing in his eyes. The church is of royal extraction, of
imperial dignity, for she is a king's daughter; and she has been
purified and renewed in nature; for she is glorious within. Note
the word all. The Bridegroom was said to have all his
garments perfumed, and now the bride in all glorious
within—entireness and completeness are great points. There is no
mixture of ill savour in Jesus, nor shall there be alloy of
unholiness in his people, his church shall be presented without
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. Her clothing is of wrought
gold. Best material and best workmanship. How laboriously did
our Lord work out the precious material of his righteousness into
a vesture for his people! no embroidery of golden threads can
equal that masterpiece of holy art. Such clothing becomes on so
honoured by relationship to the Great King. The Lord looks to it
that nothing shall be wanting to the glory and beauty of his
bride.
Verse 14. She shall be brought unto the king in
raiment of needlework. The day comes when the celestial
marriage shall be openly celebrated, and these words describe the
nuptial procession wherein the queen is brought to her royal
Husband attended by her handmaidens. In the latter-day glory, and
in the consummation of all things, the glory of the bride, the
Lamb's wife, shall be seen by all the universe with admiration.
While she was within doors, and her saints hidden ones, the church
was glorious; what will be her splendour when she shall appear in
the likeness of her Lord in the day of his manifestation? The
finest embroidery is but a faint image of the perfection of the
church when sanctified by the Spirit. This verse tells us of the
ultimate rest of the church—the King's own bosom; of the way she
comes to it, she is brought by the power of sovereign
grace; of the time when this is done—in the future, she shall
be, it does not yet appear; of the state in which she shall
come—clad in richest array, and attended by brightest spirits. The
virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.
Those who love and serve the church for her Lord's sake shall
share in her bliss "in that day." In one sense they are
a part of the church, but for the sake of the imagery they are
represented as maids of honour; and, though the figure may seem
incongruous, they are represented as brought to the King with the
same loving familiarity as the bride, because the true servants of
the church are of the church, and partake in all her happiness.
Note that those who are admitted to everlasting communion with
Christ, are pure in heart—virgins, pure in company—her
companions, pure in walk—that follow her. Let none
hope to be brought into heaven at last who are not purified now.
Verse 15. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be
brought. Joy becomes a marriage feast. What joy will that be
which will be seen at the feasts of paradise when all the redeemed
shall be brought home! Gladness in the saints themselves, and
rejoicing from the angels shall make the halls of the New
Jerusalem ring again with shoutings. They shall enter into the
King's palace. Their peaceful abodes shall be where Jesus the
King reigns in state for ever. They shall not be shut out but shut
in. Rights of free entrance into the holiest of all shall be
accorded them. Brought by grace, they shall enter into glory. If
there was joy in the bringing, what in the entering? What in the
abiding? The glorified are not field labourers in the plains of
heaven, but sons who dwell at home, princes of the blood, resident
in the royal palace. Happy hour when we shall enjoy all this and
forget the sorrows of time in the triumph of eternity.
Verse 16. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy
children. The ancient saints who stood as fathers in the
service of the Great King have all passed away; but a spiritual
seed is found to fill their places. The veterans depart, but
volunteers fill up the vacant places. The line of grace never
becomes extinct. As long as time shall last, the true apostolical
succession will be maintained. Whom thou mayest make princes in
all the earth. Servants of Christ are kings. Where a man has
preached successfully, and evangelised a tribe or nation, he gets
to himself more than regal honours, and his name is like the name
of the great men that be upon the earth. Jesus is the king maker.
Ambition of the noblest kind shall win her desire in the army of
Christ; immortal crowns are distributed to his faithful soldiers.
The whole earth shall yet be subdued for Christ, and honoured are
they, who shall, through grace, have a share in the
conquest—these shall reign with Christ at his coming.
Verse 17. I will make thy name to be remembered in
all generations. Jehovah by the prophet's mouth promises to
the Prince of Peace eternal fame as well as a continuous progeny.
His name is his fame, his character, his person; these are dear to
his people now—they never can forget them; and it shall be so as
long as men exist. Names renowned in one generation have been
unknown to the next era, but the laurels of Jesus shall ever be
fresh, his renown ever new. God will see to this; his providence
and his grace shall make it so. The fame of Messiah is not left to
human guardianship; the Eternal guarantees it, and his promise
never fails. All down the ages the memories of Gethsemane and
Calvary shall glow with inextinguishable light; nor shall the
lapse of time, the smoke of error, or the malice of hell be able
to dim the glory of the Redeemer's fame. Therefore shall the
people praise thee for ever and ever. They shall confess thee
to be what thou art, and shall render to thee in perpetuity the
homage due. Praise is due from every heart to him who loved us,
and redeemed us by his blood; this praise will never be fully
paid, but will be ever a standing and growing debt. His daily
benefits enlarge our obligations, let them increase the number of
our songs. Age to age reveals more of his love, let every year
swell the volume of the music of earth and heaven, and let
thunders of song roll up in full diapason to the throne of him
that liveth, and was dead, and is alive for evermore, and hath the
keys of hell and of death.
"Let him be crowned with majesty
Who bowed his head to death,
And be his honours sounded high
By all things that have breath."
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. "Upon Shoshannim, "or upon lilies.
It will be remembered that lilies were an emblem of purity and
loveliness, and were introduced as such in the building of
Solomon's temple (see 1Ki 7:19,22,26 2Ch 4:5); and the church is
compared in the Canticles to a "lily among thorns." So
2:2. The Psalms which bear this title, "upon lilies,
"are the present, the sixty-ninth, and the eightieth (compare
Ps 60:1-12); and all these contain prophecies of Christ and his
church. The sixtieth is a parallel to the forty-fourth, and
represents her supplicating appeal to God, and Christ's victories.
The sixty-ninth displays the victories gained by Christ through
suffering. The eightieth is also parallel to the forty-fourth and
sixtieth, a plaintive lament of the church in distress and a
supplicating cry for deliverance. All these three Psalms are (if
we may venture to use this expression) like the voice of the
"lily among thorns." That there is, therefore, some
reference here to the spiritual meaning of the word (Mynvs), or lilies,
in this title, seems at least to be probable. Christopher
Wordsworth.
Title. We think that Shoshannim signifies an
instrument of six strings, or a song of rejoicing. Augustin
Calmet, 1672-1757. Kitto, on the other hand, says that the
word is so clearly lilies, that he is disinclined to go out
of the way to bring in the Hebrew word for six.
Title. "To the chief musician upon Shoshannim."
Some would have it that instruments whereon were many engravings
of lilies, which are six leaved flowers, are here meant. And,
indeed, some interpreters, because of that derivation of the word,
do thus translate it, upon Shoshannim, that is, upon
lilies; and that either in reference to their wedding
garlands, that were made much of lilies, or as intending by these
lilies Christ and his church. Arthur Jackson.
Title. "A song." The word (ryv), shir,
the meaning of which (song), is unquestioned, is prefixed
to many of the Psalms, three times simply and thirteen times in
connection with Mizmor. There is no mark of peculiarity in
their composition. The meaning of the word seems to be
discriminated from Mizmor, as signifying a thing to be
sung, with reference to its poetical structure. John Jebb.
Whole Psalm. The Psalter, which sets forth so much truth
respecting the person and work of Christ—truth more precious
than gold and sweeter than the honeycomb—is not silent
respecting the bond subsisting between him and his people, THE
MYSTICAL UNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND THE CHURCH. When a prince sets
his affections on a woman of lowly rank, and takes her home to be
his wife, the two are so united that her debts become his, his
wealth and honours become hers. Now, that there is formed between
Christ and the church, between Christ and every soul that will
consent to receive him, a connection, of which the most intimate
of all natural relations is the analogue and type, we have already
found to be not only taught in the Psalms, but to be implied in
the very structure of many of them. He takes his people's sins
upon him, and they receive the right to become the sons of God:
the One Spirit of God wherewith he was baptised without measure,
dwells in them according to the measure of the grace that is given
them. I will only add further, that this union, besides being
implied on so many places, is expressly set forth in one most
glorious Psalm—the Nuptial Song of Christ and the Church—which
has for its peculiar theme the home bringing of Christ's elect,
that they may be joined to him in a union that shall survive the
everlasting hills. William Binnie, D.D.
Verse 1. My heart is inditing a good matter, and
then My tongue shall be like the pen of a ready writer. Oh,
then I shall go merrily on in his service, when I have matter
prepared in my heart. And, indeed, as the mariner sees further new
stars the further he sails, he loseth sight of the old ones and
discovers new; so the growing Christian, the further he sails in
religion he discovers new wants, new Scriptures affect him, new
trials afflict him, new business he finds with God, and forgetting
those things that are behind, he reacheth after those things that
are before, and so finds every day new business with the Lord his
God; and he that's busy trifles not; the more business the less
distractions. Richard Steele.
Verse 1. My heart is inditing a good matter. (vxr)
(rakhash); boils or bubbles up; denotes the language of the
heart full and ready for utterance. Victorinus Bythner.
Verse 1. My heart is inditing a good matter. Here
you have the work of the Spirit of prophecy. By his operation the
good "matter" is engendered in the psalmist's bosom, and
now his heart is heaving and labouring under the load. It is just
beginning to throw it up, like water from a fountain, that it may
flow off in the channel of the tongue. Here, therefore, you have
some insight given you of the manner of the operation of the
Spirit in the heart of man. The psalmist says his heart is doing
what the spirit is doing in his heart. The heart does it, indeed,
but it is the Spirit's working. The psalmist took all the interest
and pleasure in his subject that he could have done, if the Spirit
had had nothing to do with it; for when the Spirit works, he works
not only by the heart, but in the heart; he seizes upon all its
affections, every fibre of it is bent to his will. George
Harpur, in "Christ in the Psalms, "1862.
Verse 1. Good matter, the good spell, or gospel.
Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse 1. A similitude taken from the mincah, or meat
offering in the law, which was dressed in the frying pan Le
7:9, and there boiled in oil, being made of fine flour unleavened,
mingled with oil Le 2:5, and afterwards was presented to the Lord
by the priest, verse 8. Here the matter of this Psalm is as the mincah
or oblation, which with the oil, the grace of the Spirit, was
boiled and prepared in the prophet's heart, and now presented. Henry
Ainsworth.
Verse 1. It is reported of Origen, saith Erasmus, that
he was ever earnest, but most of all when he discoursed of Christ.
Of Johannes Mollias, a Bononian, it is said, that whenever he
spake of Jesus Christ, his eyes dropped, for he was fraught with a
mighty fervency of God's Holy Spirit; and like the Baptist, he was
first a burning (boiling or bubbling), and then a shining light. John
Trapp.
Verse 1. Touching the king. It does not all
concern the king immediately, for much of it concerns the queen,
and about one half of it is directly addressed to her. But it
relates to him inasmuch as it relates to his family. Christ ever
identifies himself with his people; so that, whatever is done to
them, is done to himself. Their interests are his. George
Harpur.
Verse 1. My tongue shall be like the pen of one
that takes minutes or writes shorthand: for I shall speak very
briefly, and not in words at length, or so as to be understood in
a literal sense, but in figures and emblems. From "Holy
David and his old English Translators cleared," 1706. (Anon.)
Verse 1. The pen. We call the prophets the penmen
of Scripture, whereas they were but the pen.
Verse 2. Thou art fairer than the children of men:
grace is poured into thy lips. Thus he begins to set forth his
beauty, wherein is the delightfulness of any person; so is it with
the soul when God hath made known to man his own filthiness and
uncomeliness through sin, and that only by Jesus sin is taken
away; oh, how beautiful is this face, the first sight of him!
Secondly, Full of grace are thy lips: here is the second
commendation; which is, when Jesus hath opened his lips to us,
from them he pours out grace into our soul, when he makes known
the Father to us, and speaks peace to all that are far off and
near; when he calls, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden, and I will refresh you:" and all this is
because God hath blessed him for ever; we are assured he comes
from God, and that he and his works are eternal, and therefore all
his grace poured out upon us shall remain with us, and make us
blessed for ever; for he is the Word of God, and he speaks the
mind of God, for he speaks nothing but what he hath heard from the
Father; and when he speaks to our souls with his Word, the Spirit
is given, a certain testimony to our soul that we are the sons of
God, and a pledge of our inheritance; for the Spirit and the Word
cannot be separated. Richard Coore, in "Christ set
forth."
Verse 2. Thou art fairer than the children of men,
etc. Nothing can be more beautiful than this abrupt way of
discourse. The prophet sets out with a professed design to speak
of the king. But as if in the moment he had so intended, the
glorious Person of whom he was going to speak appeared to
his view, he instantly leaves every other consideration to speak
to him himself. And what a rapturous address he makes! He first
describes the glories, the beauties, the astonishing loveliness,
of his person. Though to a carnal eye there was no beauty
to desire him, his visage was marred more than any man's, and his
form more than the sons on men, yet to an eye truly enlightened,
he is the king in his beauty, fairer, as the glorious Mediator,
the Head, the Bridegroom of his Church and people, than all the
children of men. And, in the Father's view, so greatly beloved, so
truly glorious, that grace was poured into his lips.
Reader, observe the expression; not simply grace put into his
heart, for the holiness and purity of his person, but poured into
his lips, that, like the honey, it might drop upon his people, and
be for ever communicated to all his redeemed, in an endless
perpetuity of all suited blessings here, and glory hereafter. Robert
Hawker, D.D.
Verse 2. Thou art fairer than the children of men.
Are you for beauty? That takes with most: for this none
like Christ. For beauty and comeliness he infinitely surpasses
both men and angels. We read of Moses, that he was exceeding fair;
and of David, that he was ruddy, and of a beautiful countenance;
and Josephus reports of the one of them, that all that saw him
were amazed at and enamoured of his beauty. Oh, but what was their
beauty to Christ's? Were their beauty, and with theirs the beauty
of men and angels put together, it would all be nothing to the
beauty of Christ; not so much as the light of a farthing candle is
to the light of the sun at noonday. Edward Pearse in "The
Best Match." 1673.
Verse 2. Thou art fairer, etc. Fair he was (1) in
his conception, conceived in purity, and a fair angel
brought the news. Fair (2) in his nativity: wraioz is the
word in the Septuagint, tempustivus, in time, that is, all
things are beautiful in their time, Ec 3:11. And in the fulness
of time it was that he was born, and a fair star pointed to
him. Fair (3) in his childhood; he grew up in grace and
favour, Lu 2:52. The doctors were much taken with him. Fair (4) in
his manhood; had he not been so, says S. Jerome, had there
not been something admirable in his countenance and presence, some
heavenly beauty, the apostles and the whole world (as the
Pharisees themselves confess) would not so suddenly have gone
after him. Fair (5) in his transfiguration, white as the
light, or as the snow, his face glittering as the sun Mt 17:2,
even to the ravishing the very soul of S. Peter, that "he
knew not what he said, "could let his eyes dwell upon that
face for ever, and never come down the mount again. Fair (6) in
his passion. Nihil indecorum, no uncomeliness, in his
nakedness; his very wounds, and the bloody prints of the whips and
scourges drew an ecce from the mouth of Pilate:
"Behold, the man!" the sweetness of his countenance and
carriage in the midst of filth and spittle, whips and buffets. His
very comeliness upon the cross, and his giving up the ghost, made
the centurion cry out, he "was the Son of God:"
there appeared so sweet a majesty, so heavenly a lustre in him
through that very darkness that encompassed him. Fair (7) in his resurrection;
so subtle a beauty, that mortal eyes, even the eyes of his own
disciples, were not able to see or apprehend it, but when he
veiled it from them. Fair (8) in his ascension; made his
disciples stand gazing after him so long (as if they never could
look long enough upon him), till an angel is sent from heaven to
rebuke them, to look home, Ac 1:2. Mark Frank.
Verse 2. O fair sun, and fair moon, and fair stars, and
fair flowers, and fair roses, and fair lilies; but O ten thousand
thousand times fairer Lord Jesus! Alas! I have wronged him in
making the comparison this way. O black sun and moon! but O fair
Lord Jesus! O black flowers, and black lilies, and roses! but O
fair, fair, ever fair, Lord Jesus! O black heaven! but O fair
Christ! O black angels! but O surpassingly fair Lord Jesus! Samuel
Rutherford.
Verse 2. In one Christ we may contemplate and must
confess all the beauty and loveliness both of heaven and earth;
the beauty of heaven is God, the beauty of earth is man; the
beauty of heaven and earth together is this God man. Edward
Hyde, D.D., 1658.
Verse 2. Thou. "I have a passion,
"observed Count Zinzendorf in one of his discourses to the
congregation at Herrnhut, "and it is He—He only."
Verse 2. Thou art fairer. Hebrew, thou art double
fairer; the Hebrew word is doubled, ad corroborandum,
saith Kimchi. John Trapp.
Verse 2. Grace is poured into thy lips. This is
said as if this grace were a gift, and not something inherent in
our Lord himself. And is not this exactly what we learn from the
histories of the evangelists? Before Jesus went forth to the work
of his public mission, the Holy Ghost descended from heaven like a
dove, and lit upon him. The Spirit who imparts all its graces to
the church of Christ, imparted his graces to Christ himself. Not
that the Son of God needed the anointing of the Spirit of God, but
he suffered it to be so that he might be in all things like his
brethren. If he was to be their example, he must show them wherein
their great strength lay. They see in him the fruits of the Holy
Ghost who is promised to themselves. All that Christ ever did as
the Head and Representative of his people, he did by that very
Spirit which is still resident in his church. George Harpur.
Verse 2. Grace is poured into thy lips. Full of grace
are thy lips. Full of grace for the matter, and full of
grace for the manner.
1. For the matter, he delivered acceptable doctrine:
"The law was given by Moses, but grace came by Jesus
Christ." Joh 1:17. Moses had harsh and hard words in his law;
"Cursed is he that continueth not in all things which are
written in the book of the law to do them; "but Christ on the
contrary speaks better things, the first words in his first sermon
are, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven." Mt 5:3. He cometh unto his people, cum
verbo gratiae, cum osculo gratae, saith Augustine: his lips
are full of grace, that is, pouring out gracious words
abundantly. Mt 11:28 Joh 3:16 Lu 4:18. "His lips are like
lilies dropping down myrrh" So 5:13; all that heard him
wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth,
Lu 4:22.
2. For the manner, he taught not as the scribes; he
spake so sweetly that the very catch poll officers, astonished at
his words, gave this testimony, "Never man spake like this
man," Joh 7:46. He spake so graciously that the apostles
forsook all things and followed him; at his call Andrew left his
nets straightway, James and John their father without tarrying,
Matthew from the receipt of custom, Zacchaeus from the like
worldly course came hastily to receive him joyfully. Mr 10:28 Mt
4:20-21 9:9 Lu 19:6. Nay, beloved, he was so powerful an orator,
that the very winds and waves obeyed his word, Mr 4:39. It is
reported in Holy Writ that all princes and people were desirous of
hearing Solomon's eloquence; the Queen of Sheba wondering at the
same, cried out," Happy are these thy servants which stand
continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom, "1Ki 10:8.
Solomon is type here, but Christ is the truth; and this showeth
evidently that Christ is not a tyrant, but a mild prince,
persuading obedience plausibly, not compelling his people
violently; his sayings are his sceptre and his sword: his
piercing exhortations are, as it were, his sharp arrows by
which his followers are subdued unto him.
To conclude this argument, his fair words (as the Scripture
speaks) "are as an honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and
health to the bones" Pr 16:24: "an honeycomb," and
what more toothsome?" sweetness to the soul and health to the
bones; "and what, I pray, more wholesome? The good man's soul
is Christ's own spouse, to which he speaks a great many ways
graciously; sometimes correcting, and what stronger argument of
love? for "whom he loveth he chasteneth" Heb 12:6;
sometimes instructing, and his gospel is able to make "the
man of God perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works"
2Ti 3:17; sometimes wooing in amorous terms, as in his love song
everywhere: "my beloved, ""my sister,
""my spouse, " "the fairest among women,
""my love," "my dove." etc.; sometimes
promising, and that both the blessings of this life present. Fear
thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God:
etc., Isa 41:10, and of that life which is to come. Joh 17:21,24.
But Christ's excellent intercession every day to God the Father,
appearing in the court of heaven, and as an advocate pleading for
us, is yet fuller of grace; for if Caleb easily granted his
daughter's request, and bestowed on her "the springs above
and the springs beneath" Jud 1:15, how shall Almighty God
(whose mercies are above all his works) deny the suits of such a
Son in whom he is well pleased? John Boys.
Verse 2. Grace is poured into thy lips. The
former clause noted his inward perfections; and this signifies his
ability and readiness to communicate them to others. Matthew
Poole.
Verse 2. (second clause). Never were there such
words of love and sweetness spoken by any man as by him: never was
there such a loving and tender heart as the heart of Jesus Christ:
Grace was poured into his lips. Certainly never were there
such words of love, sweetness, and tenderness spoken here upon
this earth as those last words of his which were uttered a little
before his sufferings, and are recorded in the 13th, 14th, 15th,
16th and 17th chapters of John. Read over all the books of love
and friendship that were ever written by any of the sons of men,
they do all come far short of these melting strains of love that
are there expressed. So sweet and amiable was the conversation of
Jesus Christ, that it is reported of the apostle Peter in the
Ecclesiastical History, that after Christ's ascension he wept so
abundantly, that he was always seen wiping his face from the
tears; and being asked why he wept so, he answered, He could not
choose but weep as often as he thought of that most sweet
conversation of Jesus Christ. John Row.
Verse 3. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh. The
sword, according to ancient custom was hung in a belt put round
the shoulders, and reaching down to the thigh. It was suspended on
the back part of the thigh, almost to the ground, but was not
girded upon it; the horseman's sword was fixed on the saddle by a
girth. When David, in spirit invites the Redeemer of the church to
gird his sword upon his thigh, and the spouse says of the valiant
of Israel, "every man hath his sword upon his thigh because
of fear in the night" So 3:8, they do not mean that the
weapon was literally bound upon their thigh, but hung in the
girdle on the back part of it; for this was the mode in which, by
the universal testimony of ancient writers, the infantry wore
their swords. It is still the practice in the East to wear swords
in this manner, for Chardin informs us, that "the Eastern
people wear their swords hanging down at length; and the Turks
wear their swords on horseback, and on their thigh." But in
his poetical invitation to the Redeemer, to gird his sword upon
his thigh, David manifestly points to some special occasion of
solemn and official character; and a clear light is thrown upon
his meaning by a custom to this day observed in the East.
"When a Persian or an Ottoman prince ascends the throne,
"says Mr. Morier, "he girds on his sabre. Mohammed
Jaffer, for example, was proclaimed by the Khan, governor pro
tempore, till the arrival of his brother, and was invested in
this dignity by the girding of a sword upon his thigh, and
honour which he accepted with a reluctance perhaps not wholly
feigned."—"This ceremony, "says Dr. Davey, giving
an account of an Eastern coronation, "remained to be
performed before the prince could be considered completely
king—it was that of choosing a new name, and putting on the
regal sword. The prince went in great state to the temple, where
he presented offerings, and then, the sword having been girded on
his thigh, the priest presented a pot of sandal powder, in which
the prince, who may now be called king, dipped his
fingers." From these anecdotes, it is evident girding a sword
on the thigh is part of the ceremony of royal inauguration; and
that when the psalmist addresses the Messiah, he refers to his
receiving the honours and powers of the Lord of all. G.
Paxton's Illustrations of Scripture.
Verse 3. Thy sword. The word of God is compared
to such a weapon, for the apostle informs us that it is quick, or
living, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and
of the joints and marrow, and laying open the thoughts and intents
of the heart. It must be observed, however, that this description
of the word of God is applicable to it only when Christ girds it
on, and employs it as his sword. Of what use is a sword, even
though it be the sword of Goliath, while it lies still in its
scabbard, or is grasped by the powerless hand of an infant? In
those circumstances it can neither conquer nor defend, however
well suited it might be to do both in the hand of a warrior. It is
the same with the sword of the Spirit. While it lies still in its
scabbard, or is wielded only by the infantile hand of Christ's
ministers, it is a powerless and useless weapon; a weapon at which
the weakest sinner can laugh, and against which he can defend
himself with the utmost ease. But not so when he who is the Most
Mighty girds it on. Then it becomes a weapon of tremendous power,
a weapon resistless as the bolt of heaven. "Is not my word
like a fire, and a hammer, saith the Lord, which breaketh the rock
in pieces?" It is indeed, for what can be more efficacious
and irresistible than a weapon sharper than a two edged sword,
wielded by the arm of omnipotence? What must his sword be whose
glance is lightning? Armed with this weapon, the Captain of our
salvation cuts his way to the sinner with infinite ease, though
surrounded by rocks and mountains, scatters his strongholds and
refuges of lies, and with a mighty blow cleaves asunder his heart
of adamant, and lays him prostrate and trembling at his feet.
Since such are the effects of this weapon in the hand of Christ,
it is with the utmost propriety that the psalmist begins by
requesting him to gird it on, and not suffer it to be
inactive in its scabbard, or powerless in the feeble grasp of his
ministers. Edward Payson.
Verse 3. O most mighty. Christ is almighty, and
so able to make good all that he speaketh, and to make his word of
precept, promise, and threatening effectual unto the errand for
which it is sent. David Dickson.
Verses 3-4. We may reflect with pleasure on the glorious
cause in which Christ is engaged, and the holy war which he
carries on, and in which he shall prosper. It is the cause of
truth, of meekness, and righteousness. His gospel, his sword,
which is the word of God, tends to rectify our errors by truth; to
control our passions by that meekness which it promotes, and to
regulate our lives by the laws of righteousness which it
inculcates. Let us rejoice that this sacred cause has hitherto
prospered, and shall prosper. Job Orton, 1717-1783.
Verse 4. And in thy majesty ride prosperously,
etc. The wheels of Christ's chariot, whereupon he rideth when he
goeth to conquer and subdue new converts to his kingdom, are majesty,
truth, meekness, righteousness, manifested in the preaching of
his gospel; majesty, when the stately magnificence of his
person and offices is declared; truth, when the certainty
of all that he teacheth in Scripture is known; meekness,
when his grace and mercy is offered to rebels; and righteousness,
when justification by faith in his name is clearly set forth.
Christ goeth no voyage in vain, he cometh not short of his intent
and purpose, but doth the work for which he cometh, preaching the
gospel; in his majesty, truth, meekness, and righteousness, he
rideth prosperously. David Dickson.
Verse 4. Ride prosperously, because of truth, and
meekness, and righteousness. The literal translation would be,
"Ride on the word of truth, and the meekness of
righteousness, "and so the Syriac has it. If this rendering
be adopted, the meaning will then be, that the great object of
Christ's gospel was to vindicate the cause of truth and
righteousness in the world. Christ is said to ride on the word of
truth, because the knowledge of the truth depends on the word—it
is by the word that truth is made known. He is said to ride on the
meekness or humility of righteousness, because meekness or
humility is its distinguishing characteristic. The former relates
to what man is to believe, the latter to how he is to live. George
Harpur.
Verse 4. Thy right hand shall teach thee terrible
things. This expression seems only used to imply, either that
by his power he should be enabled to do terrible things, because
teaching enables men to do what they are taught, or that by his
almighty power he should experimentally see what great and
terrible things should by done by him. Arthur Jackson.
Verse 5. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the
King's enemies. In a still bolder metaphor the arrows which
are discharged from the bow of Christ are the preachers of the
gospel, especially the apostles and evangelists. "His
sagittis, "says S. Jerome, "totus orbis
vulneratus et captus est." Paul, the apostle, was an
arrow of the Lord, discharged from his bow from Jerusalem to
Illyricum, and from Illyricum to Spain, flying from east to west,
and subduing Christ's enemies beneath his feet. Christopher
Wordsworth.
Verse 5. While beseeching the Redeemer to ride forth
prosperously, and predicting his success, he seems suddenly to
have seen his prayers answered and his predictions fulfilled. He
saw his all conquering Prince gird on his resistless sword, array
himself in glory and majesty, ascend the chariot of his gospel,
display the banner of his cross, and ride forth, as on the wings
of the wind, while the tremendous voice of a herald proclaimed
before him: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, "exalt the
valleys, and level the hills; make the crooked ways straight, and
the rough places plain; for, behold, the Lord God comes; he comes
with a strong hand, his reward is with him, and his work before
him. From the bright and fiery cloud which enveloped his chariot,
and concealed it from mortal eyes, he saw sharp arrows of
conviction shot forth on every side, deeply wounding the obdurate
hearts of sinners, and prostrating them in crowds around his path,
while his right hand extended raised them again, and healed the
wounds which his arrows had made; and his omnipotent voice spoke
peace to their despairing souls, and bade them follow in his
train, and witness and share in his triumph. From the same bright
cloud he saw the vengeful lightnings flashing thick and dreadful,
to blast and consume everything that opposed his progress; he saw
sin, and death, and hell, with all its legions, baffled, defeated,
and flying in trembling consternation before him; he saw them
overtaken, bound, and chained to his triumphant chariot wheels;
while enraptured voices were heard from heaven exclaiming,
"Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of God,
and the power of his Christ." Such was the scene which seems
to have burst upon the ravished sight of the entranced prophet.
Transported with the view, he exclaims, Thine arrows are sharp
in the heart of the King's enemies; whereby the people fall under
thee. Edward Payson.
Verse 5. The king's enemies, is not simply an
expression for "Thy enemies, "as some think, but rather
implies that Christ's kingship is the ground of their enmity; just
as in the second Psalm their cry was, "Let us break their bands
asunder." George Harpur.
Verse 6. Thy throne, O God. The original word is,
probably vocative, both in the Greek and in the Hebrew; and is so
taken by modern Unitarians, who seek their refuge by explaining
away yeos. Henry Alford, D.D., on Heb 1:8.
Verse 7. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest
wickedness. Many a one loves righteousness, but would not be
its champion; such a love is not Christ's love. Many a one hates
iniquity, not for its own sake, but for the sake of its
consequences; such a hate is not Christ's hate. To be like Christ
we must love righteousness as he loved, and hate wickedness as he
hated. To love and hate as he loves and hates is to be perfect as
he is perfect. The perfection of this love and hate is moral
perfection. George Harpur.
Verse 7. Therefore. Observe how usual it is to
impute Christ's exaltation to his merits. God blessed him for
ever, as in the second verse of this Psalm (if such be the sense
of that verse), because he was fairer than the children of
men, and grace was poured into his lips. And so the apostle. God
highly exalted him, and gave him a name above every name, because
he had humbled himself, and became obedient unto death. And here
God anointed him with the oil of gladness above his fellows, because
he loved righteousness and hated iniquity. George Harpur.
Verse 7. Therefore. He says not, "Wherefore
he anointed thee in order to thy being God, or King, or Son, or
Word; "for so he was before, and is for ever, as has been
shown; but rather, "Since thou art God and King, therefore
thou wast anointed, since none but thou couldest unite man to the
Holy Ghost, thou the image of the Father, in which we were made in
the beginning: for thine is even the Spirit." Athanasius.
Verse 7. Therefore God, thy God. God was the God
of Christ in covenant, that he might be our God in covenant; for
in his transactions, whole Christ, Head and members, are to be
considered Ga 3:16 1Co 12:12, the covenant being first transacted
with the Head (who is given for a covenant to us, Isa 42:6), and
then with the members, with him in reference to us and for us. As
God did not fail our surety, but supported him in his great
conflict, when out of the depths he called unto him; so neither
will he fail us in time of need. Heb 4:16 13:5-6. William
Troughton.
Verse 7. Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee
with the oil of gladness above thy fellows; i.e., enriched and
filled thee in a singular manner with the fulness of the Spirit,
whereby thou art consecrated to thy office; and by reason whereof
you out shine and excellest all the saints who are thy fellows,
or copartners in these graces. So that in these words you have two
parts, namely, first, the saint's dignity; and, secondly, Christ's
preeminence. First. The saint's dignity, which consists
in this, that they are Christ's fellows. The Hebrew word (Kyrkxm),
is very full and copious, and is translated consorts, companions,
copartners, partakers; or as ours reads it, fellows; i.e.,
such as are partakers with him in the anointing of the Spirit, who
do in their measure receive the same Spirit, every Christian being
appointed, modo sibi proportionato, with the same grace and
dignified with the same titles. 1Jo 2:27 Re 1:6. Christ and the
saints are in common one with another. Doth the Spirit of holiness
dwell in him? So he doth in them too. Is Christ King and Priest?
Why, so are they, too, by the grace of union with him. He hath
made us kings and priests to God and his Father. This is the
saints' dignity, to be Christ's fellows, consorts, or copartners;
so that look whatever grace or excellency is in Christ, it is not
impropriated to himself, but they do share with him; for indeed he
was filled with the fulness of the Spirit for their sakes and use.
As the sun is filled with light not to shine to itself, but to
others, so is Christ with grace; and therefore some translate the
text not prae consortibus, above thy fellows, but propter
consortes, for thy fellows; (Rivetus), making Christ the first
receptacle of all grace, who first and immediately is filled from
the fountain of the Godhead, but it is for his people who receive
and derive from him according to their proportion. This is a great
truth; and the dignity of the saints lies chiefly in the
partnership with Christ, though our translation, above thy
fellows, suits best both with the importance of the word and
scope of the place. Secondly. But then, whatever dignity is
ascribed herein to the saints, there is, and still must be, a preeminence
acknowledged and ascribed to Christ: if they are anointed with the
spirit of grace, much more abundantly is Christ: God, thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
John Flavel.
Verse 7. Oil of gladness. For sweet smelling oils
were also used to beautify the face upon occasions of feasting and
mirth. Ps 23:5 104:15 Isa 61:3. And likewise this oil of
consecration and infusion of the gifts of the Holy Ghost hath been
the cause and foundation of Christ's human nature's obtaining of
the everlasting joys and glory. Php 2:9 Heb 12:2. John Diodati.
Verse 7. Behold, O ye Arians, and acknowledge even hence
the truth. The psalmist speaks of us all as fellows or partakers
of the Lord, but were he one of things which come out of nothing,
and of things generate, he himself had been one of those who
partake. But since he hymned him as the eternal God, saying, Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever, and has declared that all
other things partake of him, what conclusion must we draw, but
that he is distinct from generated things, and he only the
Father's veritable Word, Radiance, and Wisdom, which all things
generate partake, being sanctified by him in Spirit? And,
therefore, he is here anointed, not that he may become God,
for he was so even before; nor that he may become king, for he has
the kingdom eternally, existing as God's image, as the sacred
oracle shows; but in our behalf is this written, as before. For
the Israelitish kings, upon their being anointed, then became
kings, not being so before, as David, as Ezekias, as Josias, and
the rest; but the Saviour, on the contrary, being God, and ever
ruling in the Father's kingdom, and being himself the dispenser of
the Holy Ghost, nevertheless is here said to be anointed, that, as
before, being said as man to be anointed with the Spirit, he might
provide for us more, not only exaltation and resurrection, but the
indwelling and intimacy of the Spirit...And when he received the
Spirit, we it was who, by him were made recipients of it. And,
moreover, for this reason, not as Aaron, or David, or the rest,
was he anointed with oil, but in another way, above all his
fellows, with the oil of gladness, which he himself
interprets to be the Spirit, saying by the prophet, "The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me;
"as also the apostle has said, "How God anointed him
with the Holy Ghost." Athanasius.
Verse 8. 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 Ex 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. Ivory was in early times, as it still is, rare and
costly, and it was highly esteemed as a material for household
decoration, on which the finest workmanship and the most princely
expenditures were displayed. In palaces of ivory, therefore, it
was to be expected that, in correspondence with the magnificence
of their structure and the costliness of their furniture, the
ointment employed for anointing would be of the richest perfume,
and in the greatest profusion. According to our version of the
Psalm, the divine Saviour is thus represented as being anointed
with oil of the very best kind, even oil taken from the ivory
palaces; and also as receiving it in no ordinary measure. His
anointing was not confined to a few ceremonial drops poured upon
the head, but so abundant is it said to have been, that all
his garments smelled of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia.
Bishop Horsley has proposed a change in the translation, by which
means the idea of abundance is connected, not with the fragrance
arising from the anointing, but with the anointing itself, which
is a different and far more important thing. "Thy garments
are all myrrh, aloes, and cassia, excelling the palaces of ivory,
excelling those which delight thee." This translation, which
is strictly literal as well as poetical, is at the same time
comparatively free from obscurity, and it visibly sets forth,
under the most expressive imagery, the surpassing measure of that
anointing which was conferred on our Lord above all his fellows.
His garments are supposed not merely to have been all richly
perfumed, or even thoroughly saturated with the oil of gladness,
but to have consisted of the very articles which entered into the
composition of the most precious and odoriferous unguent: Thy
garments are all myrrh, aloes, and cassia. This is figurative
language, but nothing could more emphatically exhibit how truly
"the Spirit rested on Jesus, and abode with him" in all
the plenitude of his heavenly gifts. That heavenly anointing
constituted, as it were, his very dress, "excelling" in
the quantity or measure of the anointing "the palaces of
ivory; "because their furniture, however highly scented, were
not made of aromatic materials. The strength of the perfumes would
evaporate, the fragrance would soon diminish; but permanent as
well as plentiful fragrance is secured to him whose "garments
are all myrrh, aloes, and cassia." It is added, in the way of
parallelism, "excelling those which delight in thee, "or
those which make thee glad. To say that the persons here alluded
to are the occupiers of the ivory palaces, might perhaps be
objected to as fanciful; but palaces are the abodes of kings; and
anointed kings wither literally, or typically, or spiritually, are
the fellows of the Lord's Anointed One; and it does seem manifest
that, as his anointing causes joy and gladness to all the parties
concerned in it, so likewise there is an anointing of those who
are honoured to be his fellows which causes joy and gladness to
him. The persons who are in the one verse spoken of as giving
delight to Christ, there is no reason to regard as any other than
the persons spoken of in the former verse as his "fellows."
And if this is the case, then we have a comparison drawn betwixt
the one and the other in the matter of their anointing, and to
that of Christ a decided superiority is ascribed. David
Pitcairn, in "The Anointed Saviour, "1846.
Verse 8. All thy garments smell of myrrh, etc.
These things are true in Jesus; by his garments in meant his
righteousness; for it is written, He clothed himself with
righteousness and zeal. And here the translator hath put in smell,
which rather should have been are, for "his
garments are of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, " that is,
truly purging, cleansing, and making sound; for his righteousness,
which is the righteousness of faith, maketh sound hearted
Christians; whereas, man's righteousness, which is the
righteousness of works, maketh filthy hypocrites. And by "ivory
palaces, "is meant the true faith and fear of God; for
ivory is solid and white, and palaces are king's houses; and by
Christ we are made kings, and our dwelling is in faith and fear of
God; and this is the gladness and joy of our Lord Jesus, that he
brings many sons and daughters unto God. Richard Coore,
1683.
Verse 8. Out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have
made thee glad. Commentators have been more perplexed in
explaining these words than any other part of the Psalm. Not to
detain you with the various expositions that have been proposed, I
will give you what I conceive to be the meaning of the passage.
The word rendered whereby, is also the name of a region in
Arabia Felix, namely, Minnaea, which, according to the geographer
Strabo, "abounded in myrrh and frankincense." Now, it is
singular that, according to the historian, Diodorus Siculus,
"the inhabitants of Arabia Felix had sumptuous houses,
adorned with ivory and precious stones." Putting these
two things together, therefore, namely, that this region abounded
in myrrh and frankincense, and that its inhabitants adorned their
houses with ivory, we may, I conceive, find a clue to the
psalmist's meaning. If we substitute "Minnaea" for
"whereby, "the passage will run thus—
"Myrrh, aloes, and cassia, are all thy garments.
From ivory palaces of Minnaea they have made thee glad."
You recollect in the verse just going before, the oil with
which Christ was said to be anointed, is called the oil of "gladness."
Accordingly, he is here said to be made glad (it is the
same word in both places in the Hebrew), by the spices of which
that oil is composed. This spices are said to have been brought
out of the most spicy region of the land of spices, and it is
implied that they are the best spices of that spicy region. Out
of the ivory palaces, says the psalmist; not only houses, but
palaces—the mansions of the great, where the best spices would
naturally be kept—out of these have come the myrrh, aloes, and
cassia, that have composed the oil of gladness whereby thou art
made glad. God anointed Christ, when he set him on his everlasting
throne, with the oil of gladness; and this anointing was so
profuse, his garments were so overspread with it, that they seemed
to be nothing but myrrh, aloes, and cassia. The spices, moreover,
of which the anointing oil was composed, were the best of their
kind, brought, as they were, from the ivory palaces of Minnaea.
Such appears to be the psalmist's meaning; and when thus
understood, the passage becomes most beautifully expressive of the
excellency and unmeasured supply of the gifts and
graces of that Spirit with which Christ was anointed by his
Father. George Harpur.
Verse 8. The ivory palaces. The ivory courts.
Probably so called from the great quantity of ivory used in
ornamenting and inlaying them; as the emperor Nero's palace,
mentioned by Suetonius, was named, "aurea, "or
"golden, "because "lita auro, ""overlaid
with gold." This method of ornamenting or inlaying rooms was
very ancient among the Greeks. Homer in the fourth book of the
Odyssey, seems to mention it, as employed in Menelaus's palace at
Lacedaemon; and that the Romans sometimes ornamented their
apartments in like manner, seems evident from Horace and Ovid. So
in modern times, the winter apartment of the fair Fatima at
Constantinople, has been described by an eye witness as "wainscotted
with inlaid work of mother of pearl, ivory of different colours,
and olive wood." Ivory is likewise employed at Aleppo, as Dr.
Russell informs us, in the decoration of some of the more
expensive apartments. Richard Mant.
Verse 8. Ivory palaces. Either edifices 1Ki 22:39
So 7:14, or ivory coffers, and wardrobes, whence those garments
were taken, and are kept. Westminster Assembly's Annotations.
Verse 8. Whereby they have made thee glad. The
best sense of the phrase—from which they rejoice thee—is
had by making they refer to the king's daughters
mentioned in the next verse. William S. Plumer.
Verse 8. Gesenius and Delitzsch consider (ynm) an
abbreviated form of the plural (Mynm) Ps 105:4, "strings,
"or "stringed instruments, "and would render
thus:—"Thee glad out of the ivory palaces stringed
instruments have made." Dalman Hapstone. (With this
rendering Ewald and Lange agree.) J. L. K.
Verse 9. King's daughters. Albeit the Catholic
church consisting of true converts or real saints be but the one
and only true spouse of Christ, yet particular visible churches
consisting of saints by calling, by obligation, by profession, and
common estimation, their own or others, are many. The true church
consisting of true converts (whose praise is of God, to whom only
they are certainly known, and not of men), being but one, is
compared to the queen; but the particular, whose
collections and consociations are known to men, being many, are
compared to ladies of honour who serve the queen. David
Dickson.
Verse 9. The queen. It is written of Matilda, the
empress, that she was the daughter of a king, the mother of a
king, and the wife of a king.
Ortu magna, viro major, sed maxima prole,
Hic jacet Henrici filia, nupta, parens.
So David intimates in this hymn, that the church is the
daughter of a King, at the 13th verse, "The king's daughter
is all glorious within; "and the mother of a king, at the
16th verse, "Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children,
whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth; "and the wife
of a king, in this verse, Upon thy right hand did stand the
queen, as being (I speak in the language of Canaan),
spiritually the wedded and bedded wife to the king of glory. John
Boys.
Verse 10. Forget also thine own people, and thy
father's house. Three alls I expect you to part with,
saith Christ. 1. All your sinful lusts, all the ways of the old
Adam, our Father's house. Ever since Adam's apostasy, God and man
have parted houses. Ever since, our Father's house is a house of
ill manners, a house of sin and wickedness. 2. All your worldly
advantages. "If any man come unto me, and hate not his
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and
sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my
disciple." He that hath all these must be ready to part with
all; they are joined not disjunctively but copulatively. 3. All
self, self will, self righteousness, self sufficiencies, self
confidence, and self seekings. Lewis Stuckley.
Verse 10. Forget also thine own people, and thy
father's house. If you see a bee leave a fair flower and stick
upon another, you may conclude that she finds most honey dew in
that flower she most sticks upon: so here God's people would never
leave so many fair flowers in the world's garden, had they not
some other in which they find most sweetness. Christ hath his
garden, into which he brings his beloved, and there she finds
other manner of flowers than any the world hath, in which there is
sweetness of a higher nature, even the honey dew of the choice
mercy and goodness and blessing of God himself: if God's people do
leave the full breasts of the world, it is because they have found
the breasts of consolation from which they have sucked other
manner of sweetness than the breast of the world can afford. Jeremiah
Burroughs, in "Moses, his self denial." 1649.
Verse 10. Forget. If thou be on the mountain,
have no love to look back to Sodom. If thou be in the ark, fly not
back to the world, as the raven did. If thou be set on Canaan,
forget the flesh pots of Egypt. If marching against Midian, forget
stooping to the waters of Harod. Jud 7:1-25. If on the house top,
forget that is below thee. Mr 13:15. If thy hand be put to the
plough, forget that is behind thee. Lu 9:62. Themistocles desired
rather to learn the art of forgetfulness than of memory.
Philosophy is an art of remembering, divinity includes in it an
art of forgetting. The first lesson that Socrates taught his
scholars was, Remember; for he thought that knowledge was nothing
else but a calling to remembrance of those things the mind knew
ere it knew the body. But the first lesson that Christ teacheth
his scholars is, Forget:Forget thine own people;
"Repent" Mt 4:17; first, "eschew evil, "1Pe
3:11. Thomas Adams.
Verse 11. So shall the king greatly desire thy
beauty. This is a most sweet promise. For the Holy Spirit
knoweth that this monster, Monk, sticks fast in our heart—that
we want to be pure and without spot before God. Thus, under
Popery, all my temptation was this. I used to say, `that I would
willingly go to the sacrament if I were but worthy.' Thus we seek,
naturally, a purity in ourselves; and we examine our whole life
and want to find a purity in ourselves, that we might have no need
of grace, but might be pronounced righteous upon the grounds of
our own merit...Thou wilt certainly never become righteous by
thyself and thine own works...The Holy Spirit saith, therefore, I
will give thee wholesome counsel; and if thou wilt hear me, thou
shalt become a virgin all fair. For, if thou wouldst be beautiful
in the sight of God, so that all thy works should please him, and
he should say, "Thy prayer pleaseth me; all that thou sayest,
doest, and thinkest, pleaseth me!" proceed thou thus:
"hear, see, and incline thine ear; "and thou shalt thus
become all fair. When thou hast heard, hast seen, hast forgotten
all thine own righteousness, all the law, all traditions, and all
that monkery, and hast believed, then art thou fair; not in thine
own beauty, but in the beauty of the King who has adorned thee
with his Word; because he has brought unto thee thereby his
righteousness, his holiness, truth, and fortitude, and all the
gifts of the Holy Spirit...The Holy Spirit uses the most exalted
language. So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: that
is, thou wilt by this faith prevail upon him to do whatever thou
desirest: so that, as one urged by the power of love, he will
spontaneously follow thee, abide with thee, and take up his abode
with thee. For wherever God has given his Word, there he does not
leave his work which he has begun in thee; but he brings upon thee
first the temptations of the world, the devil, and the flesh; that
by them he may work upon thee. These are his embraces whereby he
embraces his spouse through impatience of love...The sum of the
whole therefore, is this: That our beauty does not consist in our
own virtues, now even in the gifts which we have received from
God, by which we put forth virtues, and do all those things which
pertain unto the life of the law; but in this—our apprehending
Christ and believing in him. Then it is that we are truly
beautiful: and it is this beauty alone that Christ looks upon, and
upon no other. Martin Luther.
Verse 11. In this Psalm Christ is set forth in all his
royalty and majesty; yet he is said greatly to desire or
delight in the beauty of his queen, that is, the graces of the
saints; and that not with an ordinary delight, but he "greatly
desires; "his desire is increased as her beauty is. For that
is there brought in as a motive unto her to be more holy and
conformed unto him, "to incline her ear, and forsake her
father's house." So shall the king greatly desire thy
beauty. Christ hath a beauty that pleaseth him as well as we
have, though of another kind; and, therefore, ceaseth not till he
hath got out every spot and wrinkle out of his spouse's face, as
the apostle speaks Eph 5:27, "so as to present her glorious
unto himself, "that it, delightful and pleasing in his eyes. Thomas
Goodwin.
Verse 12. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there
with a gift. The daughters of Tyre are the daughters of the
Gentiles, the part standing for the whole. Tyre, a city bordering
on this country where the prophecy was delivered, typified the
nations that were to believe in Christ. Thence came that
Canaanitish woman, who was at first called a dog; for that
ye may know that she was from thence, the gospel speaks thus Mt
15:21-28, "Jesus departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts,
"with all the rest that is related there. She who at first,
at the house of her "father, "and among her "own
people, "was but a dog, who by coming to, and crying
after that "King, "was made beautiful by believing in
him, what did she obtain to hear? "O woman, great is thy
faith." The King has greatly desired thy beauty. Augustine.
Verse 12. With a gift. Those who sold their
property, came with presents to entreat the face of this
"queen, "and "laid what they brought at the
apostle's feet." Warm then was love in the church. Augustine.
Verse 12. The rich. They are, indeed, rich in
grace, whose graces are not hindered by riches, whose souls
prosper when their bodies prosper, as the apostle John speaks in
his third Epistle; or, who, as it is prophesied in the verse,
being full of worldly blessings, are yet hungry and eager in their
pursuit after Christ. The daughter of Tyre shall be there with
a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour,
saith the psalmist; that is, either the favour of Christ himself,
or the favour of the church, by reason of that spiritual
excellence and inward glory which she hath received from Christ.
Now, to see the rich bring their gifts, and, which is the thing
chiefly aimed at here, giving up themselves to Christ, this is a
rare sight, and a remarkable work of grace. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 13. The king's daughter is all glorious within,
etc. When the children of God recollect their glorious and
heavenly pedigree, they endeavour to excel others, both in the
beautiful disposition of soul and manner of life. The king's
daughter, that is, the daughter of the heavenly Father, who is
also the bride of the king's Son; every believing soul is all
glorious, adorned with a holiness not only glorious to
herself, but also to the Father and the Bridegroom, and is the
beginning of a heavenly glory; and that chiefly within, not
only when she appears abroad, and presents herself to the view of
men, but also when she sits in the inner bed chamber in the secret
exercises of religion, in which she in private pleases the Father
and the Bridegroom, who having a regard to the inward man, she
above all endeavours to keep that pure and chaste. Her clothing is
of gold; in comparison of which whatever excellency natural
men were even possessed of, is but a shining vanity; nay, it was wrought
gold, curiously beautified with various resemblances, which
represents the perfections of God himself; and of different
colours, on account of the different yet harmoniously
corresponding graces of the Holy Spirit; or of needlework of the
Phrygian embroiderers, or rather the work of the cunning workman,
mentioned in So 7:1. Nor is the spouse only beautiful within, but
also without; "holding forth the word of life, "Php
2:16, she practises charity, glorifies Christ, edifies her
neighbour, and in this manner she is brought unto the king, worthy
to be presented to him. This is the only way by which we are to
endeavour to obtain familiarity with him, and the sweetest
intercourse of the most chaste love, both on earth and in heaven. Hermann
Witsius. 1636-1708.
Verse 13. The king's daughter is all glorious within.
The meaning is, either (1.) that her chief glory consisted in
this, that she was admitted to such a familiar privacy with the
king; or, (2.) that when she sat in the inmost rooms of the king's
palace, she was there in her greatest glory, because those rooms
were most gorgeously set forth with all kinds of bravery and
glorious furniture; or, (3.) that she used to be gloriously
attired, not only when she went abroad in public, but also when
she stayed within, as being indeed adorned (which may be implied)
only for the delight of the king, and not that others might gaze
upon her; or, (4.)—which I like best—that the inward virtues
and endowments of her mind were her greatest ornament and glory. Arthur
Jackson.
Verse 13. All glorious within. Saints must shine
by the comeliness of Christ, as a gracious husband labours to
change his spouse into his own image and likeness by kindnesses,
precepts, and example, that he may take the more delight in her
person; so does our spiritual Solomon change the hue of his
Egyptian queen to deem of things and persons as her Lord and
husband judges, and frames her spirit to delight in doing his will
and pleasure, and take the highest solace in obedience, to enjoy a
heavenly freedom, mixed with amiable and joyful reverence. He
roots out of her heart all changeable affections and worldly
fancies, and hankering longings after the fond fashions of Shechem,
and all carnal inclinations to the daughters of Canaan's lineage,
and all the beggardly humours of the besotted world, and to pass
by with a holy scorn all the pitiful pageantry of this perishing
and fading life, and rise to a mean estimate of the baubles and
trifles that enchant a carnal heart. At length she arrives to a
noble and generous judgment, counting all but dung and dross that
she may win Christ. As her prince of life was crucified by the
world for her redemption, so she begins to be crucified to it in
token of conformity to him, and at length becomes all glorious
within. Samuel Lee, in "The Triumph of Mercy." 1676.
Verse 13. Within. The ark was pitched within by
the same pitch with which it was pitched withal; such is the
sincere man, within and without alike, inside and outside, all
one. Yea, he is rather better than he shows, as the king's
daughter, whose outside might sometimes be sackcloth,
yet was all glorious within, and her inward garments of wrought
gold. Or as the temple, outwardly nothing but wood and stone
to be seen, inwardly all rich and beautiful, especially the sanctum
sanctorum (when the veil was drawn) was all gold. The very
floor, as well as the roof, was overlaid with gold. 1Ki 6:30. John
Sheffield.
Verse 13. Her clothing is of wrought gold. Some
read it purled works, or closures of gold, enamelled
gold, such as precious stones were set in, which were
exceeding splendid and glorious; such were the clothes
of service in the tabernacle, and the garments and robes of the high
priest, which shadowed forth Christ's righteousness. Ex
28:11-14 Ex 39:1-6. William Troughton.
Verse 13. About this time, Father La Combe was called to
preach on some public occasion. The new doctrine, as it was
termed, was not altogether a secret. Public curiosity had become
excited. He choose for his text the passage in Ps 45:13, The
king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought
gold. By the king he understood Christ; by the king's
daughter, the church. His doctrine was, whatever might be
true in regard to men's original depravity, that those who are
truly given to Christ, and are in full harmony with him, are
delivered from it: that is to say, are all glorious within.
Like Christ, they love God with a love free from selfishness, with
pure love. Like Christ, they are come to do the will of the
Father. Christ is formed in them. They not only have faith in
Christ, and faith in God through Christ, but, as the result of
this faith, they have Christ's disposition. They are now in a
situation to say of themselves individually, in the language of
the apostle Paul, "I live, and yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me." He did not maintain that all Christians
are necessarily the subjects of this advanced state of Christian
experience, but endeavoured to show that this is a possible
state; that, however intense human depravity may be, the grace of
God has power to overcome it; that the example of Christ, the full
and rich promises, and even the commands, give encouragement to
effort, and confidence in ultimate victory. From the
"Life, Religious Opinions and Experience of Madame de la
Mothe Guyon."
Verse 14. The virgins, her companions that follow
her, shall be brought unto thee. The highest and most
excellent Christian cannot say, I have no need of
thee: the queen will not be without any of her true companions.
As it is in the body natural, so it is in the church of
Christ, or body mystical; all the members being fitly
joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body to the edifying of itself in love.
Eph 4:16 Col 2:19. William Troughton.
Verse 14. The virgins her companions that follow her.
These are members of the church, but the figure of a bridal train
is employed to sustain the allegory. What bright train the Royal
Bride will have as she goes forth to meet the Bridegroom! King's
daughters will be there, for every crowned head on earth shall one
day bow at the foot of the cross. The daughter of Tyre shall be
there—Tyre, the ancient emporium of the nations—to show that
the merchandise of the world shall be holiness from the Lord. The
kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Jews and Gentiles will
be there—representatives from all peoples, and tongues, and
nations. They are virgins. They keep themselves unspotted
from the world. They are weaned from its idols; they dread its
contaminations. Their first care is to preserve the whiteness of
their souls by daily washing in the blood of the Lamb...They follow
the royal Bride. They keep by her side in storm and sunshine. They
follow her in the regeneration. They follow her in the search
after her Beloved. So 3:2-3. They follow her to the green pastures
and the still waters. They follow her without the camp bearing his
reproach. Like Ruth, they leave father and mother to follow her.
Ru 1:16. Like Caleb, they follow the Lord fully. When a crisis
comes, and the question, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
involves heavy issues, and hollow hearted professors fly away like
swallows before the storm, they follow her. When persecution
comes, and Christ's faithful witnesses have to prophesy clothed in
sackcloth, and perhaps to pass through a baptism of blood to the
crown, they follow her: like Peden, when—the bloodhounds of
persecution in full chase after him, and the lone moor his
home—he thought of Richard Cameron gone to glory, and sighed
"Oh, to be with Richie!" Duncan Macgregor, M.A., in
"The Shepherd of Israel; or, Illustrations of the Inner
Life," 1869.
Verse 15. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be
brought. No marriage was ever consummated with that triumphal
solemnity as the marriage of Christ and believers shall be in
heaven. Among the Jews the marriage house was called bethillulah—the
house of praise; there was joy on all hands, but not like the joy
that will be in heaven when believers, the spouse of Christ, shall
be brought thither. God the Father will rejoice to behold
the blessed accomplishment and consummation of that glorious
design and project of his love. Jesus Christ the Bridegroom
will rejoice to see the travail of his soul, the blessed birth and
issue of all his bitter pangs and agonies. Isa 53:11. The Holy
Spirit will rejoice to see the complement and perfection of
that sanctifying design which was committed to his hand 2Co 5:5;
to see those souls, whom he once found as rough stones, now to
shine as the bright polished stones of the spiritual temple. Angels
will rejoice; great was the joy when the foundation of this design
was laid, in the incarnation of Christ Lu 2:13; great, therefore,
must their joy be when the top stone is set up with shouting,
crying, Grace, grace. The saints themselves shall rejoice
unspeakably, when they shall enter into the king's palace, and be
for ever with the Lord. 1Th 4:17. Indeed, there will be joy on all
hands, except among the devils and damned, who shall gnash their
teeth with envy, at the everlasting advancement and glory of
believers. John Flavel.
Verse 15. They shall be brought. Reader! do not
fail to observe the manner of expression, the church is brought,
she doth not come of herself. No, she must be convinced,
converted, made willing. No one can come to Christ, except the
Father, who hath sent Christ, draw him. Joh 6:44. Robert
Hawker, D.D.
Verse 15. They shall enter into the king's palace.
There are two rich palaces mentioned in this Psalm: the one an
ivory palace Ps 45:8, whereby is signified the assemblies of the
saints, and ordinances of divine worship, in which the Lord
manifests himself graciously. Here the presence of the Lord is
sweet and amiable. So 1:8 Ps 84:2. The other "palace" is
mentioned in this fifteenth verse, and it is a palace of glory, a
palace more bright and splendid than the finest gold glorious
mansions. Joh 14:2. William Troughton.
Verse 16. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy
children. O church of God, think not thyself abandoned then,
because thou seest not Peter, nor seest Paul—seest not those
through whom thou wast born. Out of thine own offspring has a body
of "fathers" been raised up to thee. Augustine.
Verse 16. Thy children, whom thou mayest make princes
in all the earth. The new connexion is glorious to the King.
Many were his glorious and royal ancestors down to Jesse, but now
there are born to him, the Eternal King, sons as the dew from the
womb of the morning Ps 110:3, who shall, as princes, occupy the
thrones of the world. So our Lord promised to his disciples,
"Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in
the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of
his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel." Mt 19:28. And Paul says, "Do
ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?" 1Co 6:2. Augustus
F. Tholuck.
Verse 16. Princes in all the earth. Others are
but princes in their own dominion, but he will make you princes in
all lands...Such a kingdom you shall have, if you will come into
Christ, you shall have the liberty of kings, the abundance and
plenty of kings, the power of kings, the victory of kings, and the
glory of kings. John Preston.
Verse 17. Therefore shall the people praise thee.
Christ's espousing unto himself a church, and gathering more and
more from age to age by his word and Spirit unto it, his
converting souls and bringing them into the fellowship of his
family, and giving unto them princely minds and affections,
wherever they live, is a large matter of growing and everlasting
glory unto his majesty; for in regard of this point, and what is
said before in this Psalm, he addeth as the close of all, Therefore
shall the people praise thee. David Dickson.
Verse 17. In the Hebrew text, which is here quoted,
there is a particle added to the word ever, which in that
case intends a proper everlastingness, without any period or end
at all, and thereupon translated for ever and ever. William
Gouge, D.D., on Heb 1:8.
Verse 17. (last clause):
"When morning gilds the skies,
My heart awakening cries;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"When sleep her balm denies,
My silent spirit sighs;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"In heaven's eternal bliss,
The loveliest strain is this;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"To God the Word on high.
The hosts of angels cry;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"Let mortals too, upraise
Their voice in hymns of praise;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"Let earth's wide circle round,
In joyful notes resound;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"Let air, and sea, and sky,
From depths to height reply;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"Be this while life is mine,
My canticles divine;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
"Be this the eternal song
Through all the ages on;
May Jesus Christ be praised."
—Translated by Edward Caswall, in "Poems." 1861.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. In the preface, the prophet commends the
subject he is to treat of, signifying,
1. That it is a good matter—good as speaking of the
Son of God, who is the chief good.
2. Good for us; for upon the marriage of Christ to his
church depends our good. Bishop Nicholson.
Verse 1. Character read by heart writing.
1. The true lover of Christ is sincere—my heart?
2. He is a man of emotion.
3. A man of holy meditation.
4. A man of experience—things I have made.
5. A man who bears witness for his Lord.
Verse 1. Three things requisite for Christian teaching:
1. That the matter be good; and concerning the best of all
subjects, touching the King.
2. That the language be fluent like the pen, etc.—(a) Partly
from nature, (b) Partly from cultivation, (c) Partly from the
Spirit of God.
3. That the heart be absorbed in it—My heart is inditing.
G. R.
Verse 2. In what respects Jesus is fairer than the best
of men.
Verse 2. Jesus—his person, his gospel, his fulness of
blessing.
Verse 2.
1. We may and ought to praise Christ. Angels do, God does,
Scripture does, Old Testament saints and New, so should we. It is
the work of heaven begun on earth.
2. For what should we praise him? (a) For his beauty. Is wisdom
beauty? Is righteousness? Is love? Is meekness? All are found in
him supremely—"All human beauties, all divine, In our
Redeemer meet and shine." (b) For his grace. Grace of God
treasured up in him.
3. For his blessedness—of God and for ever. G.R.
Verses 2-5. In these verses the Lord Jesus is presented,
1. As most amiable in himself.
2. As the great favourite of heaven.
3. As victorious over his enemies.
—Matthew Henry.
Verses 3-5. Messiah's victory predicted and desired. E.
Payson's Sermon.
Verse 5.
1. Arrows of judicial wrath are sharp.
2. Arrows of providential goodness are sharper still.
3. Arrows of subduing grace are sharpest of all. The quiver of
the Almighty is full of these arrows. G.R.
Verse 5. Arrows—what they are; whose they are; whom
they strike; where they strike; what they do; and what follows.
Verse 6. The God, the King, his throne, its duration,
his sceptre. Let us worship, obey, trust, acquiesce, rejoice.
Verses 6-7. Empire, Eternity, Equity, Establishment,
Exultation.
Verse 7. Thou hatest wickedness. He hated it when
it assailed him in his temptation, hated it in others, denounced
it, died to slay it, will come to condemn it.
Verse 7. Christ's love and hate.
Verse 8. Christ's garments—his offices, his two
natures, his ordinances, his honours, all are full of fragrance.
Verse 8. Whereby they have made thee glad. We
make Jesus glad by our love, our praise, our service, our gifts,
our holiness, our fellowship with him.
Verse 8.
1. The odour of his garments, not of blood and battle, but of
sweet perfume.
2. The splendour of his palaces—ivory for rareness, purity,
durability, etc.
3. The source of his delight. (a) Himself, the sweet odour of
his own graces. (b) His people, the savour of those who are saved.
(c) His enemies, "even in them that perish." (d) All
holy happy creatures who unite to make him glad. G.R.
Verses 9-10. The connections of the Bridegroom are to be
remembered, those of the Bride to be forgotten.
Verse 10. "Christ the best husband: or, an earnest
invitation to young women to come and see Christ." George
Whitefield's "Sermon, Preached to a Society of Young Women,
in Fetter Lane."
Verse 11. So shall the king greatly desire thy
beauty. Christ delighting in the Beauty of the Righteous. Martin
Luther. (Select Works, by H. Cole. I. 281.)
Verses 13-15.
1. The Bride's new name—"The king's
daughter." She is the king's daughter for two reasons. (a)
She is born of God; and (b) She is espoused to the
Son of God.
2. The Bride's character—"All glorious
within." (a) Because Christ reigns on the throne of her
heart. (b) Because she is the temple of the Holy Ghost.
3. The Bride's raiment—"wrought gold, "
"needlework:" this is the righteousness of Christ;
in other words, His perfect obedience, and His atoning
death.
4. The Bride's companion—"Virgins that follow
her."
5. The Bride's home going—"She shall be brought
unto the king in raiment of needlework...With gladness and
rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king's
palace." (a) She shall see the king in his beauty. (b)
There will be an open declaration of his love to her before all
worlds. Duncan Macgregor, M.A.
Verse 17.
1. Christ is the Father's delight. "I will make,
"etc.
2. He is the church's theme—his name shall be remembered; and
3. He is heaven's glory, "Shall praise thee, "etc. G.R.
WORKS UPON THE FORTY-FIFTH PSALM
Exposition of Psalm XLV, in the works of JOHN
BOYS, Dean of Canterbury. 1638. Folio edition, pages 920-931.
The Mystery of the Marriage Song, and Mutual
Spiritual Embraces between Christ and his Spouse, opened as an
Exposition with practical notes and observations on the whole
Forty-fifth Psalm. By W. TROUGHTON, Minister of the Gospel.
1656.
In "Christ set forth in all types,
figures, and obscure places of the Scripture, by RICHARD COORE,
1683, "there is an Exposition of this Psalm.
A Treatise of Solomon's Marriage; or, a
Congratulation for the happie and hopeful Marriage betweene the
most illustrious and Noble Prince, Fredericke the V. Count
Palatine of Rhine...and the most gratious and excellent Princisse,
the Lady Elizabeth, sole daughter unto the high and mighty Prince
James, by the grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and
Ireland. Joyfully solemnized on the 14th day of February,
1612...(On Ps 45:10-16. By ANDREW WILLET.)
The Bride Royall; or, the Spirituall Marriage
betweene Christ and his Church. Delivered by way of
congratulation upon the happy and hopeful marriage betweene the
two incomparable Princes, the Palsegrave, and the Ladie Elizabeth.
In a sermon...By GEORGE WEBBE. 1613...(On Ps 45:13-15)
Psalm XLV applied to Messiah's First Advent,
and Psalm XLV applied to Messiah's Second Advent, in pages
242-341, of The Anointed Saviour set forth as the Principal
Object of Saving Faith. By the Rev. DAVID PITCAIRN. 1846.
Five Discourses on Christ in the Psalms.
An Exposition of the second, forty-fifth and hundred and tenth
Psalms. In a series of Discourses. By the Rev. GEORGE HARPUR, B.A.
London: Wertheim, Macintosh, and Hunt. 1862.