Weddings are generally momentous occasions when two single people give themselves to each other to make a union that no other person should part. This is because he is sealed and wounded by God. After all, our weddings are one of the four most sacred activities we will ever undertake, along with our births, the birth of our children, and our deaths.
This leads us to reflect on a beautiful and poetic psalm, rich in vocabulary about the king, the Bridegroom. This is a very special psalm; he is suggesting the Marriage of Christ with the Church in the final analysis. So important is this psalm that AW Tozer believed that if we were to reduce the Bible to two chapters that speak of the coming of Christ, they would be Psalm 45 and Isaiah 53 (the suffering servant Messiah).[1]
Key Advantage Points in the Psalm
The psalmist – spectator, participant, worshiper
The psalmist speaks in the first person as a spectator and participant in the Wedding initially in verse 1, and then as a faithful transmitter of the message of the life and “memory” of the King in the last verse seventeen. This provides us with an inclusio, framing the psalm. The psalmist conveys the feeling of worship throughout the intervening verses.
He or she is thoughtful and expectant, in the run-up to the Wedding. The kind of state the church should be in as she watches with patient vigilance for her Bridegroom to appear.
The King – splendid and majestic; true, humble and correct – the essence of uncreated wisdom
Verses 2-4 speak in glowing terms of the King’s family line, genome, character, and attributes. These charismatic words speak of the grace and charm of the King. He has a way with words, speaking of the inherent wisdom of him.
He is “more excellent” and “more beautiful” than any person or thing that ever was, is, or is to come. He is the Man for the time; for the “hour” no less. The Septuagint (also known as the LXX) has compounded the allusions here with Greek horaios kallei; the very suggestion that it is ‘timely’, ‘seasonal’, at its ‘prime’ and in full bloom, as well as being ‘well regarded’, ‘better’ than and ultimately ‘productive’ i.e. fruitful and mature.[2]
Putting the entire previous paragraph together in the description of the King, it could be said that he is ‘the most respected and beautiful person of this present hour, more than the ‘sons of all mankind’ speaking in the eternal present tense–so God has blessed him forever.
Tea reign of this Majesty is based on his perpetual role of calling all creation to truth, humility and righteousness.[3] The king is tea right way.
The characteristic of the wedding itself – the culmination of all things
It is a day for which everyone is prepared and, like all weddings, it happens suddenly, as all things inevitably do in time. Everything that is ready can be used, what is not ready is left aside. All that is good, pure and fair gains entrance to the atriums where the ceremony will take place. There is not a blemish in sight; everything has been done Correct.
The Church – the radiant bride
Verses 10-11 speak not only of the bride’s dedication to the King, but also calls the church to leave worldliness for complete love and fidelity toward her fiancé, the eternal King and Savior. Like Israel, all your attention must be on the Lord who is your God. There is no room for any feeling of infidelity.
The central and guiding verse of the entire psalm is verse 11. The Amplified one says: “Thus will the King desire your beauty; for He is your Lord, be submissive and reverence and honor him.” The LXX says: “Because the king has desired your beauty, because he is your Lord”, speaking of a very personal and monogamous deity. He cannot accept anything less than full observance, because he is a jealous God.
It is, after all, marriage. Our Supreme Lord God is totally faithful; we must be as totally devoted as his vassal. We love each other, although from different points of view. And this is heavenly sacrosanct care and adoration all rolled into one, as the blessed Union becomes a spiritual ideal of one flesh. In the perfect sense, nothing could interrupt him, nothing.
GRADES:
[1] aw tozer, Life driven by worship, the reason we were created – Ed. James L. Snyder (London: Monarch Books, 2008).
[2] See Wesley J. Perschbacher (Ed.), The New Analytical Greek Lexicon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1990), p. 218, 445. [3] Perhaps there are allusions here to John 14:6 and Philippians 2:5-11.