Chapter 7—Psalm 45
From Psalms which speak in part of the past and present, we turn next to two which speak wholly of the future. The Lord's present place we learn from Psalm 110, and the deductions to be drawn from such a position, the New Testament opens out to us. There we are directed to a different subject—the reappearance in person of the Lord Jesus on the theater of these events, connected with His humiliation and death.
There is a peculiarity about Him in this respect that is predicated of no one else. In common with thousands, nay, myriads of God's saints, He passed away from this scene by death. But of Him alone it is revealed that, having gone out of the world by that door, He shall stand again in person upon this globe. When He returns to reign, His heavenly people will come with Him (Zech. 14:55And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. (Zechariah 14:5); 1 Thess. 3:1313To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. (1 Thessalonians 3:13)), for seated as John saw Him in the vision, on a white horse, the armies of heaven will follow in His train (Rev. 19:11-1411And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:11‑14)), and the saints of the high, or heavenly places, shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever—even forever and ever (Dan. 7:1818But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. (Daniel 7:18)). But of none of the heavenly saints, who have gone down into death, is it predicted that they shall tread again on this earth. The Lord Jesus, however, will. On the Mount of Olives, from which, in the presence of His disciples, He went up to heaven, He will again stand; and, in keeping with the circumstances of that day, creation shall acknowledge, by commotion, the presence of her Creator and Lord (Zech. 14:4-54And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. (Zechariah 14:4‑5)).
Man's place, after he has died, knows him no more. Not so with the Lord Jesus Christ. At Jerusalem He died; at Jerusalem shall He reappear; and the city of the great King shall welcome with acclamations His return in power, moved with a more real and deeper emotion than when the populace, on the occasion of his triumphant entry on the ass's colt, asked of the multitude, "Who is this?" Their question betrayed ignorance of what they ought to have known, and unconcern about Him, without whom their blessings can never be enjoyed. "Ye shall not see Me henceforth," said the Lord, apostrophizing Jerusalem, "till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." Concerned she will be then on His return, and will welcome it with gladness (Matt. 23:3939For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Matthew 23:39)), herself to be known henceforth by a new name, Jehovah Shammah; that is, Jehovah is there. Of the associations of the Lord Jesus with Jerusalem this Psalm treats.
How different were the feelings of the psalmist, as he sung by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost about the return in power to Jerusalem of David's Son and Lord, from that manifested by its inhabitants when the Lord entered it in accordance with the terms of Zechariah's prediction. Great indeed was his emotion, as looking through the vista of ages, he described the personal appearance of One whom he had never seen, but with whose Person he will be made acquainted, and whose triumphal progress he will with his eyes behold. "My heart is inditing [or has bubbled up] a good matter." What interest this had for him! Evidently he was full of it. The things he had made about the King stirred his soul to its very depths; and like one whose thoughts are engrossed with his subject, he mentions not the Lord by name, but at first only tells us of one of His titles, as if all must know equally with himself to whom the appellation of the "King" rightly belongs. To the writer, all was plain as, under the immediate guidance of the Holy Ghost, he penned the words which clothed, by divine appointment, the thoughts of the Spirit of God. His tongue was the pen of a ready writer. Thus the words we read are the words he uttered, written down probably by himself, that the inspired prophet and the reader might rejoice together.
Two leading thoughts form the subject of this song—the personal description of the Lord Jesus returned from heaven to earth, and the beauty and adornment of the Queen, Jerusalem, in the days of her restoration to Jehovah's favor. Now she is as the wife put away for her transgressions (Isa. 50:11Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. (Isaiah 50:1)); then she will be the wife publicly acknowledged, having Jehovah for her husband (Isa. 54:4, 54Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. 5For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. (Isaiah 54:4‑5)) and clad in her beautiful garments (Isa. 52:11Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. (Isaiah 52:1)).
On Zion the King had been firmly set by God's decree (Psalm 2:66Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. (Psalm 2:6)); from Jerusalem the word is to go forth (Isa. 2:33And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3)); and here we have a description of the metropolis of the whole earth, as the Queen at the Lord's right hand, clad in gold of Ophir (Psalm 45:99Kings' daughters were among thy honorable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. (Psalm 45:9)). When facing death as man and Messiah in Psalm 102 He looked forward to Zion being rebuilt, and to Jehovah's praise being declared in Jerusalem. Now we see how fully that will be accomplished, and how the words of Isaiah will be fulfilled—"Thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken." Isa. 62:1212And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken. (Isaiah 62:12). In the day of her distress she was called an "Outcast... Zion, whom no man seeketh after." Jer. 30:1717For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after. (Jeremiah 30:17). Here she is described as sought out indeed, for the rich among the people are to entreat her favor (v. 12) and the daughter of Tire, that city, the synonym for commercial greatness and wealth, will be there with a gift, the substance of the world being then placed at Jerusalem's disposal.
But not only will earthly wealth flow to her, and temporal possessions be her portion, but what is far more valuable, she will possess an attraction for the King, who is here said to desire her beauty. All glorious within the house, her clothing of wrought gold, brought unto the King in raiment of needlework, surrounded by the virgins, her companions, how changed will her appearance and condition then be from what it was when Isaiah first described her (chap. 1:21.23). God's purposes are unchangeable; therefore He will fulfill His mind about her.
But how can such a change be brought about so that the polluted one, divorced for her transgressions, should become an object of beauty for the King? The close connection between Isa. 53 and 54 suggests the answer. In 53 we have the Lord's atoning work mentioned; in 54 the future glory of Jerusalem is described; and in 55 the grace which can be available for Jews and Gentiles is set forth, for what concerns Jerusalem and men is dependent on that mighty work treated of in 53. Hence we can understand how truly she will be an object of delight to Him whose death has availed for her. For though her filth will be washed away by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning (Isa. 4:44When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. (Isaiah 4:4)), she will owe all dealings with her for blessing to the atoning sacrifice of Christ. To deepen the sense of God's grace in the heart of the daughter of Zion, and surely in ours too, we read nothing in the Psalm about Jerusalem, but of her beauty and change of condition. Her Lord's joy in her (not hers in Him) is that of which the psalmist makes mention.
An analogy may here be traced between Jerusalem, the wife, and the Church, the bride, the pearl of great price. Both owe their position and relation to the Lord, to His death for them. To possess the Church He died, and to present her to Himself an object of beauty and of delight forever He still labors. To be to Jerusalem a husband, after all her sins and idolatry, He died; but with her Jehovah had relations before the cross, whereas the Church had no existence till after his death. Thus, though there is an analogy, there is also a great difference. Of Jerusalem it is written, "For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee." Isa. 54:77For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. (Isaiah 54:7). Divorced once, she will be publicly owned as the wife when the Lord returns in glory. The Church is now only the bride; her marriage has yet to take place. Restoring grace Jerusalem will know, and forgiveness of all her past iniquities. Jehovah's wrath she has experienced, of which the Church, the bride, has known, and will know, nothing. On earth, as the wife, Jerusalem will be enriched with the world's substance, and have the place of pre-eminence above all other cities on the face of the globe, being the joy of the whole earth; yet she will only be the footstool of Jehovah. The Church, however, then above, will be the center of government for the universe, and not merely for the earth—giving light even to Jerusalem below her-for through her crystal walls' the light of the glory of God will illumine continually the city on earth (Rev. 21; Isa. 60:2020Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. (Isaiah 60:20)).
Jerusalem thus described as the Queen, telling of the complete putting away of her defilement, and the full favor of Jehovah again, and that to be enjoyed forever, we have also in this Psalm the personal description of the King as He will appear to men on earth. How He will appear when He comes into the air for His saints, we read not, for that has to do with heaven; but how He will look when earth again beholds Him, the Word of God does reveal to us. His coming out of heaven, Rev. 19:11-1611And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:11‑16) describes; His personal appearance as King at Jerusalem, this Psalm depicts. There is, of course, a reason for this. Called here "The King," and rightly so, Scripture tells us that another will arrogate to himself that title, and by that name be known. The prophets Isaiah (30:33; 57:9) and Daniel (11:36) so speak of him, the antichrist of the future for Israel, the false prophet, who will support the blasphemous pretensions of the beast, for apostate Christendom (Rev. 13:11-1711And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:11‑17)). He will claim to be the Messiah, and be received by the apostate portion of the Jews, (John 5:4343I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (John 5:43); Zech. 11:16, 1716For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. 17Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. (Zechariah 11:16‑17)) so we can understand the importance of the description, personal and moral, of Him who is God's King, that the faithful may be on their guard, and be kept from following an apostate people.
On Christians who know what their hope is, and whence they are to look for its fulfillment (1 Thess. 1:1010And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10); Phil. 3:2020For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: (Philippians 3:20)), the presence of a man upon earth, claiming to be the Messiah, would have no effect. For from heaven He will come for whom we wait, and into the air, not to the earth, will the Lord descend when He comes to take us up to be forever with Himself (1 Thess. 4:1717Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)). But to the faithful remnant, who rightly will expect the appearance of Messiah upon earth, the importance of a personal description of Him, whom another will have been impersonating, all must admit. The current will run so strong in that day of abounding apostasy, that, without grace to stem it, the godly will be unable to keep their feet. The feelings of a saint, and his difficulties at that time, we have told us in Psalm 73. "My feet," he confesses, "were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped."
With the usual features of the antichrist, or false prophet, we are made familiar by the New Testament in 2 Thess. 2 and Rev. 13 Self-exaltation or desire to be looked upon as God and working miracles in support of his claim will be characteristics of the false king. Power to put forth in connection with, and under the protecting hand of the first beast, the imperial ruler or head of the Roman earth, will antichrist wield to make all apostatize, and to worship the image of that which Scripture, to show its moral character in God's eye, calls a wild beast, whose only object and aim is the gratification of itself at the expense and injury of others. At that time there will be two beasts, so-called—the one the head of the Roman earth, the other the pretended Messiah (Rev. 13). How different are the features of this horrid beast from those to be displayed in Him whom he will dare to impersonate! Though lamblike in outward appearance, yet his voice will betray his origin and his acts. Deceiving the world will indicate to God's saints his parentage.
Of the true Messiah we have, in Isa. 52:1414As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: (Isaiah 52:14), a description as He once appeared upon earth—"His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men." We know how true that was. Isaiah and other writers predicted His sufferings when in humiliation; and we can point to Him alone as the One in whom they were all fulfilled. How correct will this description of Him which we have in the Psalm prove to be, time will show. "Thou art fairer," we read, "than the children of men: grace is poured into Thy lips: therefore God hath blessed Thee forever." When manifested to the world all will see who is the King of God's choice. His personal appearance will mark Him out as the Head to whom all creation is to be subject. Grace, truth, meekness, and righteousness, are characteristics of the King. Oppression, deceit, arrogance, and persecution of God's saints, even unto death, will be features by which antichrist will be known. Comparing the ways of the latter when in the zenith of his power, with the picture given us in this Psalm by the Spirit of the true Messiah, the saints of that day will see that they have still to wait for the One who will correspond to the psalmist's description. The world may be captivated by false prophets and miracles, and many of the returned remnant may be ensnared (Daniel tells us, "the many"; that is, mass of them), so great will be his influence and apparently convincing his claims; but the true Conqueror and Hope of Israel, the godly among them will still desiderate. What their trials will be, Psalms 52.59 in some measure recount. What the deliverance will be, Psalms 45.48 in some degree depict; the answer to the cry of the afflicted saints is found in Psalm 44. The King is described in 45; God's presence in Jerusalem is announced in 46; the conquest and subjection of the nations to Israel is declared in 47; and the security of Zion from all attacks of her foe is celebrated in 48.
Who then is "the King?" He is a man, the virgin's Son, David's heir, Abraham's seed; He is God also, as verse 6 proves. To Him it can be said, "Thy God," speaking of His humanity, and, "0 God" speaking of His deity. Antichrist has never yet been seen on earth; but the Christ has been on this globe. "Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness" (v. 7), speaks of His character and ways when here in humiliation. Here then we see the end of a life in dependence upon God Meek, He was faithful at all cost to Jehovah; so dominion and might are to be His, nay, are His now, and the world will become part of His inheritance. What a thought for those in trial in all ages, as they read in the Word what the Lord was, and what He will be some day. He was meek and righteous; He will be King, and execute judgment. As in the history of Joseph, so it will be exemplified in that of the Lord, that waiting for God, time ends in deliverance by God's power, salvation by God's good pleasure.
As might, conquest, and dominion will be His in that day (vss. 3-5) so a throne too which endures forever He will have, and the right, as Father of His people (Isa. 9:66For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)) to make them princes over all the earth; for of him, the King, not of Jerusalem, does verse 16 speak. So great, so glorious will be His kingdom on earth; that not as with sovereigns now will His ancestors be spoken of. David and Solomon will reflect no luster on His reign, for men will perceive that He is the fountain of power in Himself. The glory that has been will not be remembered, for the surpassing glory which will then be first and only seen in Him. With glory will be fame. His name will be remembered in all generations; therefore shall nations praise Him forever and ever. A sun we read of here which rises and never sets. None before Him have attained to that pre-eminence, nor will any after Him, for He will have no successor. In the last occupant of David's throne the glory will culminate, but never decline.
The marked difference between antichrist and the Lord we have briefly noticed. The portion of each, when God shall stop the reign of lawlessness and cut short the trials of His elect, the Word also foretells. Cast alive into the lake of fire will be the doom of antichrist (Rev. 19:2020And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Revelation 19:20)); anointed by God with the oil of gladness above His fellows will be the portion of the Christ (v. 7).
But some may ask, what part do we have in all this? Christ's glory and Christ's kingdom do concern us. The Psalm does not touch on the heavenly portion; but it does just intimate the existence of heavenly saints. It speaks of the King's fellows, and we know from Heb. 3:1414For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; (Hebrews 3:14) who these are. In Psalm 16 the Lord calls them saints; in 22 He speaks of them as His brethren; here they are styled His fellows; in each place the proper term is used for the subject in hand. If He speaks of the class with which He would associate on earth, He calls them saints, separated unto God from the evil around them. When about to leave earth for heaven, He surnames them His brethren that, though deprived of His presence outwardly, they might know the relationship which He acknowledges to exist between God Himself and them. And here, when the day of trial is looked at as over, and the day of His glory is about to dawn, we learn that those will not be forgotten in the time of His greatness who confessed Him in the days of His rejection. Saints, describes the class morally; brethren, describes the relationship between Him and them; and fellows, declares the association that will forever exist between Him and them. As His brethren, God, who is His Father, is theirs also; as His fellows, the kingdom, which belongs to Christ, they will share with Him.