Alright folks, good evening. We're in Psalm 45 this evening. Psalm 45, that's where we are. As you can see on the screen, it's the Psalm of the Bridegroom King. Psalm 45, beginning our reading in verse 1. My heart isn't doubting a good matter. I speak of the things which I've made touching the King. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore God hath blessed thee forever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O Most Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness. and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness. Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad. King's daughters were among thy honourable women upon thy right hand that stand the queen in gold of Ophir. Hearken, O daughter, and consider and incline thine ear, forget also thine own people and thy father's house. So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty, for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him. The daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift, even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour. The king's daughter is all glorious within. Her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework. The virgins, her companions that follow her, shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought. They shall enter into the king's palace. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore shall the people praise thee forever and ever. Shall we pray? Father we thank Thee tonight for the opportunity again to come apart midweek from the cares of this world and from the affairs of our everyday lives and to think just for a few moments about your word. Lord we want to hear you speak to us tonight. We want to see Jesus. in all that's said and done and we want to especially see him as we look into this psalm. Father it may have become a psalm that is real to us. We have read it. Perhaps we have wondered what many of these things mean and exactly what the psalmist was driving at. But Father we pray that as we as we begin to break down the psalm and to expound its truth that these things would become clearer to us so that this psalm along with the others we have studied already will become very dear to our hearts. Lord bless, I pray, your people and enlighten us and help us as we study together in Jesus name. Amen. Okay, the 45th Psalm. The 45th Psalm is a royal psalm. You notice that right in verse 1 where the psalmist says, I speak of the things which I have made touching the king. So it's a psalm about It celebrates the wedding of the King, the marriage of the King. Some people think the psalm is referring to King Solomon and his marriage. Others suggest it is Hezekiah's marriage to Hephzibah. Psalm is purely messianic. It's a gem among the book of Psalms. And we know that it's messianic because it is directly cited for us, particularly in verses 6 and 7, in Hebrews chapter 1 verses 8 and 9. Now before we get into the body of the Psalm, let's begin with the title. of the psalm. And that title comes to us in four stages. Notice the first thing, however, that we should observe about the psalm, is that there is no indication as to the writer. There's no writer that is particularly listed, as you see with the other psalms, where it says the psalm of David, the psalm of Asaph, It's not David, it's not Asaph, it's not Moses, it's not Solomon, it's not Hezekiah. And you say, well it has to be someone, of course there has to be a human writer, but there seems to be a deliberate omission. of the name of the writer of the psalm. And I say deliberate because everything in God's Word is deliberate. Nothing is unintended. Everything has a particular purpose. And so in that respect, I think that right from the very title, the focus of this psalm is away from men and unto God. Now Spurgeon said of this psalm, he said, some see in this psalm only Solomon, they are short sighted. Some see Solomon and Christ, they are cross eyed. Well focused spiritual eyes see Jesus only. Spurgeon was right. The thoughts in this psalm express thoughts that are far beyond that of any mere mortal or any earthly king. Now we're going to say absolutely nothing tonight about the kings of Israel. In the past we've showed you how some of the psalms have a historical connection and they relate to a particular historical event. But we're not going to do that with this psalm. Our focus is not on the Kings of Israel but upon the King of Israel, upon the King of Kings, the one who is yet to come, the one who is to reign from Jerusalem. Now let's look at that title which begins to the Chief Musician and scripture mentions a number of men who held this post Asaph, I've already alluded to, Haman and Ethan are others, and you'll find that this title is attached to 55 of the Psalms in all. And then we come to the next part of the title, and we've seen this before in Psalm 69. Do you remember this? It says to the chief musician, Apon Shoshanah. And if you recall from our previous study, Shoshana means lilies. It's a reference to lilies. And if you recall from our previous study, I mentioned how I always associate lilies with death. Because I've taken so many funerals and lilies are always present at funerals and as soon as I smell them I think somebody's dead. But in Bible times, these were the daffodils of the Near East. They sprung up in the muddy places in springtime, and they were an indicator that winter was past, that spring had come, and that summer was on its way. And so the lilies represent a new beginning, the joy of spring and of summer. Then it says, for the sons of Korah, that's the Levitical family choir. And then another term, that is a Hebrew term, that appears again and again in the Psalms, is the word Maskal. This is a psalm of instruction. That's what the word Masculine means. So there's going to be a teaching here. That's the idea. This psalm is designated as a teaching psalm. It's purpose is to instruct us. You know, all the greatest songs teach you something. Do you realize that? That's the problem with so many of the modern choruses, that they don't actually teach you a whole lot, you know. But really good songs teach you something. They actually convey Bible doctrine. Now I want to say right off, That's true of all good hymns, but equally untrue of most Christmas carols, which usually teach a terrible doctrine, with one or two exceptions. So, you know, in the bleak midwinter, snow upon snow, you're in the Middle East here. Jesus wasn't born in winter, so you're all over the place, OK? There wasn't a drop of snow in sight the night that Jesus was born. And so you get the picture. I'm not heartbroken about that. I'll try to be more festive, OK? And then you have this last phrase, a song of loves and that is literally alluding to the fact that it is a wedding song. Now isn't this interesting, here is a song that is about Christ And it is a song of loves. It's a wedding song. Do you ever think that Jesus might someday sing a love song? The Bible tells us he will. In Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 17. Let's look there for a moment. Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 17. Zephaniah is the fourth but last book of the Old Testament, if you're struggling to find it. Sephaniah chapter 3 and verse 17. I should have asked JJ about that one. We've been doing the order of the books of the Bible all term. You knew that right? Sephaniah chapter 3 and verse 17. Notice it says, the Lord thy God in the midst of thee, in the midst of Jerusalem, in the midst of the heart of Israel, the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy, and notice this last line He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing. That's the only place in the Bible that God is said to sing. Now, we know the Lord Jesus sang, we know He sang on the night of the Last Supper, and He instituted the Lord's Supper. It says they, afterward they sang a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives. So we know He sang, and He sang congregationally on the various feast days and so forth. But here is a song that is specific to God Himself. God is seen to be singing, And he seemed to be singing a love song. So he is serenading his people during the Millennial Kingdom. I can't wait to hear that song. I tell you what, we've heard some singers in our time. But I guarantee you, when God sings, people will listen. When God sings. Can you imagine that? That would make me have goosebumps already, the thought of hearing the Lord sing. It's going to be tremendous. He's going to make all the great singers that we think of sound like they're tone deaf. He's going to be pitch perfect, absolutely bang on. It's going to be a great song. I just can't wait to hear it. But anyway, we see here that the Lord is a singer. And this is a love song. And the Lord sings love songs. Now let's go to the psalm itself, and the psalm really divides itself in two. The first section is talking about the bridegroom king, and the second section is talking about the bride. Now we're going to look at the the characteristics of each of these in turn, beginning in verses 1 and 2 with the bridegroom king and his charm. Notice in verse 1-2, it says, my heart is indicting a good matter. I speak of the things which I have made touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore God hath blessed thee forever. Now the introductory verse, first one, really sounds a note of excitement. It says there that my heart is inditing a good matter. And the word inditing means bubbling over. You know, like a pot that's boiling over. If you ever put potatoes on and you leave the lid on pretty soon, they're bubbling over. That's the idea. that it's hard to start up. It's full of excitement and anticipation. This is a groom who cannot contain himself, who is thrilled at the prospect of meeting his bride at the altar, so to speak. And when you read this kind of description of the Lord, how he's bubbling over in the anticipation of being united to his bride, you begin to get an understanding of the way in which he loves us. Personally, I think many times, I'm just speaking for me, I'm not speaking for anybody else, but many times I underestimate the love of God for me. You say, well Pastor, how could you possibly underestimate that? You've got Calvary, and of course Calvary is love. We never preach about Calvary, but we preach about the love of God. I can understand that, but sometimes in my mind I see in Calvary a legal transaction taking place, the imputation of my sin upon him and his righteousness to me, and it becomes quite an almost almost a cold transaction. It's not a cold transaction and I never view it that way. But you get the picture. It's a swap of my condition with righteousness and him dying for my sin. And so sometimes I see Calvary that way in legal terms. But I think we need to start viewing these things in love terms. We need to see that this is the love of God. for us. The Lord loves me and the giving of himself to the cross is the ultimate proof of that love. Christ also loved the church, wrote Paul, and gave himself for it. And there is the motivation in his going to the cross. He loved the church and gave himself for it. Now verse 2 reveals something of the charm of our bridegroom, something of his glory in the first place and something of his grace. Notice it says, verse 2, thou art fairer than the children of men. Now this is a tough translation because really it has no parallel, the word fairer has no parallel in the Hebrew language. In some translations they would use the word handsome here. You are more handsome than the sons of men, the children of men or however they put it. But this is not just external beauty that is being referred to here. Rather this is something that is both external and internal. It's not just speaking about the outside. It's contrasting him with other men. And yet, in that respect, he's peerless. How can you possibly contrast the Lord with other men? He has no peer. There's none like him. He's the perfect man. Physically, when he appears, he will be the perfect man. Morally, he will be the perfect man. Spiritually, the perfect man. Mentally, the perfect man. Emotionally, the perfect man. T.E. Wilson says of him, he is the man outside of time, above time, the God man. He is fair in every aspect and gracious in speech. And I like this, good to look at and good to listen to. Good to look at and good to listen to. That's a lovely little phrase, isn't it? When you think about the Lord and He comes, it'll be good to see Him, but it'll be equally good to hear Him. Now that brings us to our next thought, because not only is he fairer than the children of men, but notice also he has grace poured into his lips. Grace is poured into thy lips. Now do you remember what Jesus taught us about the things that come out of our mouths? What did he say? Do you remember? He says not what goes in that defies you, but what comes out. But he says something about the heart in relation to the mouth. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. So our words are really the overflow of the inner man. So obviously if there are foul words coming out, that's indicative of a foul heart. But here we see the words associated with Christ are words of grace. So that raises the idea that within him there is an abundance of grace. Isn't this great? You know, right off we see he's singing us a love song. Now we see he is full of grace. And that's what John says of him. He is full of grace and truth. So no surprise then that grace is poured into thy lips. His words are gracious words. That's why they said of him, even his enemies said of him, never man speak Like this man. Look in the Gospel of Luke chapter 4 and verse 22. Luke's Gospel chapter 4 and verse 22. A lovely little statement made concerning the Lord and His conversation, His speech, His teaching. Luke chapter 4 and verse 22. It says, And all And all bear him witness, and notice, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. The gracious words. You know, again, sometimes we see the Lord, and maybe he's scathing of the Pharisees, or the points often made he talked more about hell than heaven, and so on. And sometimes we may even get the idea he's a real... blood and thunder type preacher. But you've got to understand that the Lord Jesus was gracious. Even with his enemies he was gracious. He was gracious. There's nothing wrong with being a gracious person. I wish I was more gracious to be honest. grasp one aspect of the Lord's character more than others, I perhaps would like that aspect, particularly in my speech. But you think about the Lord, you think about the interaction he had with people when he encountered the sinful and the sick, he was gracious. Think about the woman at the well. Here's a woman who had five husbands, she'd been through five divorces, and now she's living with a guy. And I can just imagine what some preachers might have to say to her today. But the Lord Jesus treated her with grace. He was gracious toward her. You think about the woman caught up in adultery. He was gracious toward her. You think about the Saraphenician woman, this Gentile woman who comes and petitions him for her demoniac daughter. And yet what? He is gracious toward her. Even his own disciples, even though he knows Peter's going to deny him, he's still gracious toward Peter. And when Peter does deny him, you know, he's still gracious toward Peter. You know, if that'd been me, let me tell you, I don't think I'd have been nearly as gracious, okay? If he'd have denied me, it might have been a different story. It might have been fisticuffs at dawn. But, you know, the Lord Jesus totally gracious. You know, just this grace is flowing from him. And I like that so many of those examples I give you also are in his dealings with women. You know, the Bible is often accused of being misogynistic. You know, God has this very anti-human nature. Well, actually, if you look at Jesus dealing with women, he's very gracious. And bearing in mind patriarchal society. Society is so patriarchal that women aren't even allowed to be educated. They can't be taught. They can't go to school with the boys. And so, you know, they're just seen as wives and those who bear children and, you know, basically are there to do domestic work at home. There's nothing wrong with any of that. But, you know, but the Lord Jesus comes and he just shows grace to these women. He doesn't treat them like other people treat them. You know it's interesting this word grace only appears twice in the book of Psalms. It's here in Psalm 45 and also in Psalm 84 in verse 11. And it says, Is that interesting? In both Psalm 45 and Psalm 84, Grace is coupled with glory. That was His charm. But then we come to verses 3 and 7. We see His crown. Let's go back to Psalm 45 and verse 3. It says, gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty, and then thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and rightness, and thy right hands shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. Thy love is righteousness, and hid is wickedness. Therefore, God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Now, you can't help but have noticed that the talk has now turned from grace to a sword. One has been exchanged for the other. And we think about grace, we think about invitation, we think about gentle persuasion. But now the Lord is speaking about, the Psalm is speaking about subjugation. It's talking about dominion. And make no mistake about this, when the Lord comes, he is coming to rule. and he's coming to overrule and what I'm saying here is this his coming is not dependent upon us getting the world into the right shape for his appearance. He will come and deal with his own enemies when he comes. Today is a day of grace, but his second coming, his second advent, is a day of conquering. He is coming bearing a sword. Remember Revelation 20.15? It talks about his appearance. It says, and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword. He is going to take the world by force and everything in this psalm suggests that His sword, His throne, His scepter, His anointing all of that speaks of His majesty and of His power of his determination to rule. These were the tools of a warrior king and beneath his feet the people shall fall. Verse 5, whereby the people fall under thee. He claims his throne, his reign is eternal. According to verse 6, there is no king after him. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. Now if you've been coming to these Bible studies, or indeed to this church for any length of time, you will have heard over and over again the phrase, the Millennial Kingdom. If you haven't heard that phrase, you haven't been paying attention. I'm sure I've said that once or twice. The Millennial Kingdom, the 1,000 year reign of Christ. Now, sometimes we get the idea, well that's it. But that's not it. The 1,000 year reign is the first phase of his reign. The kingdom itself is an everlasting kingdom. Isaiah 9, verse 7 tells us of his government there shall be no end. 2 Peter, let's look there, 2 Peter chapter 1 Now this is very important because if you were a Jehovah's Witness you would be taught that when Jesus comes he will rule for a thousand years and then he will turn the kingdom over to God. But the Bible tells us that of his kingdom there is no end. That there is no turning of the kingdom over to God. That he is God. and it's his kingdom. Here we see in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 11. See it's an everlasting kingdom. How important that is to know that it's an everlasting kingdom. And it's clear that the psalmist here is pointing his readers back to the qualities of what we call the Davidic Covenant. The promises that were made to King David pertaining to his descendants and their In 2 Samuel chapter 7 verse 16, the promise is, Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established forever. So it's an eternal reign. Now Hebrews quotes this part of the Psalm. Psalm 45 verses 6 and 7 are quoted in Hebrews chapter 1. And let's take a look there for a moment. Hebrews chapter 1. Again this is a great passage to keep in your arsenal if you're dealing with Jehovah's Witnesses on your doorstep. Sometimes I think what we should do is pin some notes on the inside of your door so as you're ready. And just close the door a little bit and say, hang on a minute, I've got something I want to ask. And just take out your notes. And deal with them. You know, be ready. Because they're going to knock your door, aren't they? And every time they knock your door, you're never ready, are you? You think, oh, I didn't know they were coming. All right. Well, surprise them. Be ready. And you know, put it up there somewhere on your fridge or something. Just say, hang on a second. I'll be with you. And go get your notes. All right? Hebrews chapter 1. You should have some notes on this. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse Let's start with verse 5. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And again I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And again when he bringeth in the firstborn into the world, he saith, Let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits. and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Now, notice there is a fourfold testimony here. First of all, there is a testimony to the sovereignty of Christ. It says, Thy throne. Who has a throne? Only kings. Kings have thrones. So it indicates that the Lord Jesus is Lord of all. He is King of kings. Then it is a testimony to His Deity, not just His Sovereignty, but to His Deity. Notice what God the Father says to God the Son. So God the Father calls God the Son God. Now that's very important. This is one of the most outstanding passages concerning the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder you'll find this passage is a text. And if you're using a modern version tonight, there's a possibility that it might say something like this. Your divine throne endures forever and ever. That changes the understanding a little bit because it puts the eternality on the throne and not upon the one who sits upon the throne. So the critical text upon which the modern versions are based is such that it wants to dilute or rob Christ of his deity, but thankfully we have the Bible that we use the text that the church has used, the believing church has used from the first, and it's revealed to us here in the authorized version, and this is the correct translation. Thy throne, O God, is forever. Now, the modernists say, well, the ancients, they deified their kings. They made their kings as gods. You remember, in ancient Egypt, Pharaoh was a god. in the Roman Empire, the Caesar was a god. And they say, you see, the ancient people, that's what they did. And that's all this means. It doesn't mean that Christ was God. They're just deifying him in that way. But wait a minute. The Israelites never deified their kings. Never deified their kings. In fact, quite the opposite. We just read this weekend past about King Saul and how he offered that offering. And Samuel came along and rebuked him. Remember? Well, if he was a god, Samuel wouldn't be rebuking him, would he? And you see that over and over again. King Uzziah who was smitten with leprosy for doing the same thing, for going into the holy place and trying to make an offering and he was smitten with leprosy because he's not a god. He has no right to do that. He's subject to the law of God as were all the kings of Israel. So really any effort to delete deity from the text or any effort to apply the divinity to the throne instead of to the person, is really a dishonor to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I think we ought to stick with our old King James Bible, and this one for sure, and say Thy throne, O God, is forever. and ever. So it's a testimony to the deity of Christ. It's a testimony to the authority of Christ. Notice he holds a scepter of righteousness. A scepter speaks of power and authority. Whoever holds the scepter has the power. Do you remember when King Aesirus was on the throne in ancient Persia? And when Esther came in to the king to petition the king, it all hinged upon what he did with the scepter. If he lifted that scepter and pointed at her, fair enough, she could come and address him. If not, she was in big trouble. and that scepter indicated his authority, his power. Now unlike that king, the scepter of the Lord Jesus is not one that is marked by cruelty and fear, but one that is marked by a love for righteousness and a hatred of wickedness. And then there's the testimony to the supremacy of Christ. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness, above thy fellows. He has preeminence. He has precedence over all. Okay? So all of that in just a verse or two. Now, that's His crown. Then we come to verse 8 and we see His clothing. Let's go back to Psalm 45 and verse 8 and we see His clothing. All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad. All thy garments smell of myrrh. Isn't that interesting? All thy garments smell of myrrh. In fact, the word smell is italicized, which would suggest that even the garments itself may be somehow fabriced with these fragrances, myrrh and aloes and cassia, that they're actually part of the fabric in some way. And this is the smell of heaven. You know, what I see when I read that verse, it says, all thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces. Do you ever walk through some place that's smelly? For good or for bad? You know, you ever go to a chip shop and you come out smelling like fish and chips? People want to eat you when they're hungry. Or you go through Debenhams to the perfume department and you smell the perfume a little bit. or whatever it is. And there's certain smells that you could just drag with you. And that's what I see of the Lord Jesus. He's coming out of the ivory palaces and He's dragging the fragrance of heaven with Him. It's just coming with Him. It's part of His fabric, you know. That smell is upon Him, of Him in all His glory. Now of course we're coming up to Christmas. and throughout this month again we'll be reminded of those gifts that were offered by the Magi, the wise men, the gold frankincense and myrrh but let's remember also that myrrh features not only at the outset of the Lord's life but also at the end of his life. John chapter 19 and verse 39 John chapter 19 and verse 39 It says, and there came also Nicodemus which at the first came to Jesus by night and brought a mixture of myrrh and lotus and aloes and about a hundred pound weight. So we can safely say that these fragrances followed him from the heavens to the cradle to the grave. that he always had this smell upon him and you know that will be the scent I believe that surrounds his throne when he comes. They follow him from the ivory palaces. Brian gave us a lovely devotional on Sunday and spoke about the riches of the Lord and how he forsook those riches and he quoted 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich. Well here we see it again in a different way that he has come out of the ivory palaces. Ivory was associated with great kings. It was the ultimate statement of opulence. It was the last word in luxury. If you remember old King Ahab He had an ivory palace. If you went with us to the British Museum in London in July, you'll have seen ivory items that were in the case there that belonged to ancient kings. They suggest that they may have even belonged to Jezebel. But nevertheless, ivory was certainly associated with kings and with the wealth of kings. It's a bit like driving a Bentley or something like that today. The average Jew does not drive a Bentley, does he? If a Bentley came down Meadow Street, heads would turn. We'd say, well, maybe the Queen's come down Meadow Street. Because it's a statement, isn't it? It's a statement of wealth. Wealthy people buy those vehicles. And wealthy people invested in ivory in Bible times. And so this speaks again to us of the glory of our Lord, which he left behind when he stooped to inhabit a human body and to be born in Bethlehem. There's a beautiful hymn that goes as follows. It says, my Lord has garments so wondrous fine and myrrh that texture fills. Its fragrance reached to this heart of mine with joy my being thrills. Out of the ivory palaces into a world of woe, Only His great eternal love made my Saviour go. Isn't that lovely? That's a lovely hymn. I haven't heard it sung in a while. It hasn't been sung in a while, has it? We should sing it. Somebody should sing it. Put that on your list. Put it on your hit list of songs to be sung at Milton. That's a beautiful hymn. And it reminds us about the kind of glory and the opulence of heaven that Jesus left behind to come to earth. Now we come to verse 9. And the attention turns in the psalm from the bridegroom king toward the bride. And the question is, who is the bride? Now our natural instinct, because we're in the Old Testament, is to say that the bride is Israel. That's our temptation and that's fully understandable. Certainly Israel is presented as the wife of Jehovah and so on. And some will view her as the Queen here, forgiven, restored in her relation to the Messiah in the Kingdom Age. And that's a biblical position and that's certainly well supported if you want to take that position from Old Testament references. But there is something really peculiar or particular about the Hebrew here that kind of makes us think again. Because this is not the usual Hebrew word for Queen. This is the Hebrew word that is specific to a Gentile Queen. It refers to a Gentile Queen. It's the word that is used of Babylonian Queens, of Persian Queens. Look in Daniel chapter 5. Daniel chapter 5. Now you remember that the book of Daniel is written from Babylon whilst Daniel was in exile. And Daniel chapter 5 verses 2 and 3 This is Belshazzar's great feast. Do you remember where the finger comes out and writes on the wall? And here in verse 2 it says, Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his princes his wives. That's the same word as queen in Psalm 45. And it's referring to his queens, his wives, and his concubines might drink therein. So we see that same Hebrew word being used of the Gentile queens who were connected to ungodly King Belshazzar. Look in Nehemiah chapter 2. Nehemiah chapter 2. Nehemiah chapter 2 and verse 6 says and the king said unto me the queen also sitting by him for how long shall thy journey be okay so here we have the king of Persia being spoken of and the Queen, same word that's used in Psalm 45, also sitting by him. Now you keep that thought in mind and then you think as we read through scripture we periodically encounter men who serve to typify Christ who are Jewish men who marry Gentile brides. Can you think of any? A Jewish man who married a Gentile bride? Who's there? There's one. Moses, possibly. We'll give you Moses. Think of a great type of Christ. Who's the greatest type of Christ? Joseph. Joseph. Joseph marries Asenath, right? He's given this new name, Saphath-paneah, meaning saviour of the world. He's called the saviour of the world and then he is joined to a Gentile bride. There's another one that's a very telling type of Christ. Think of the word redeemer. Who's the kinsman redeemer? Boaz. Who does he marry? Ruth. What's Ruth? A Moabite. She's a Gentile. So you have this imagery all the way through the Old Testament of Jewish men who typify Christ marrying Gentile brides. Now, none of this is incidental. Certainly isn't in Hosea's case. He was told to marry one. It's intentional, and it's telling that the saviour of the world, the one who is called the saviour of the world, the one who is the Kinsman Redeemer, is coupled with a Gentile bride. And that's what we find concerning Christ. He's the saviour of the world, He is our Kinsman Redeemer, and He takes to Himself a Gentile bride. Now we combine that with what we know from Revelation chapter 19 through to chapter 22 concerning the marriage supper of the Lamb and the appearance in glory followed by the Millennium and we start to see a different shine on things. Israel, no doubt, Israel has a special relationship with the Messiah but they do it as an earthly people when Christ reigns from Jerusalem but the bride of Christ is the Church And that's composed both of Jew and Gentile, although primarily Gentile. And in that relationship, we will reign with Him over all the earth when the New Jerusalem, which is the home of the church, descends from heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. Remember what Jesus said, in my Father's house are many mansions. Where do you think the many mansions are? They're in the New Jerusalem, okay? That's where you're heading toward, the heavenly city, okay? You've got a place lined up there, a place in heaven that's reserved just for you. There's a place that has lot number, whatever your lot is, and someday the Lord will say, hey, here's your house. How good would that be, huh? See, being saved is just great, isn't it? I wish the world would wake up to it. It's just, they're missing such a blessing. But anyway, so it seems far more fitting in this context, when we're considering Christ as the bridegroom, to consider the Queen here to be the Church prophetically anticipated rather than Israel restored. Now let's think about some things very quickly. Let's look at her clothing. Her clothing in verse 9. King's daughters were among thy honourable women, upon thy right hand did stand the Queen in gold of Ophir The king's daughter is all glorious within. Her clothing is of wrought gold." Now the gold of Uphir, it was considered to be the finest gold available in that day. Uphir is a region in southern Arabia from which they extracted this gold, which was much sought after. in the ancient world. So it's the finest quality gold, the most expensive gold that money can buy. But notice in verse 13 all the way through verse 15 it speaks about her needlework and so forth. But it speaks about wrought gold. The king's daughter is all glorious within her. Her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework. The virgins her companions shall follow her. She shall be brought unto thee. with gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought. They shall enter into the king's palace. His daughter is glorious within. Some say she's glorious within the palace, others say she is glorious within herself, that she has her own glory. I think that the latter is the most likely situation because as you read the psalm, she enters into the palace when you get to verse 15. She's not actually in the palace in verse 13. So it's talking about her moral glory. It's talking about her being perfectly sanctified as she stands before the Lord. Remember she's coming before him spotless. She's going to have no blame upon her. Today, the church can be easily accused of all kinds of sin. But on that day, there will be not one sinful stain upon her. She will be spotless. And so, in that respect, I believe that her clothing here depicts what Revelation calls the righteousnesses of the saints. Let's look in Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19. Revelation 19, beginning our reading in verse 7. It says, Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come. And his wife, his bride, has made herself ready. She has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness, or righteousnesses, of saints. You'll probably have that marginal reading somewhere. If you have a marginal reading in your Bible, you'll probably see that that's the righteousnesses. In other words, the Bride makes herself ready by her acts of righteousness. Now you say, wait a minute, isn't salvation all of grace, not of us, not of works, lest any man's course it is? Salvation is a matter of God imputing His righteousness to us in exchange for our sin being imputed to His Son upon the cross. But that's not the righteousness on view here. These are rewarded righteousness. Has it ever occurred to you that our presence before the Lord is a matter of Christ's finished work? that our presentation before Christ is a matter of our own righteousness. And I don't mean that in the sense that it's righteousness that we have stirred, but the righteousness that we have expressed in Christ. Now I'm not talking about self-righteousness, I'm talking about the righteousness that grace works in and through us as we live. trusting and leaning upon the Lord. So every Christian will be wearing a wedding garment of his or her own making, which makes you wonder how some Christians are going to be dressed. Some will probably look rather resplendent and others maybe not quite so much. But certainly, the bride is considered as a figure of beauty. Now, let's look in verses 10. We see not only her clothing, but we see her commitment. Verse 10. Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear. Forget also thine own Now notice that she's called upon to forget her own people and her father's house. I think this is quite interesting. You know one of the questions that I am asked most often, and you all know that I teach around the country in prophetic conferences quite a bit, and one of the most recurrent questions that I'm asked is this one. When we get to the millennium, will we mourn the loss of our unsaved loved ones? Will we live through the whole of the millennium looking back and thinking about what they could have had and what they had missed? One of the things I've often pointed to people is this, well when you get to the millennium you'll be glorified, you'll be perfectly sanctified and you won't think the way you think now. You'll think the way Christ thinks. You'll see things from God's perspective. But this verse here is quite interesting because it tells us that we're to forget that the bride was to forget her own people and to forget her father's house. You see, when you get into the millennium, you'll not be in the same earthly relationships that we're in now. Marriage is dissolved. So if the Lord comes and I, guess what? We who are married are no longer married. We become His bride. We become connected to Him. And we're a heavenly people, we'd be living between the heavenly city and the new earth, and in that respect the Lord has called us to forget thine own people. It's the same as an earthly marriage. In an earthly marriage, once you're married, your first allegiance is to whom? Your spouse, isn't it? You can't go through marriage life constantly looking over your shoulder and hankering back for your mother and your father, your brothers and your sisters. No, you've got a new home, a new family. You've got to leave mother and father. You've got to start this new home. And you've got to put your spouse first. And their desires come first. Their wants come first. The fellow keeps saying, nobody cooks like my mother could cook. And she can say, well, you can't do DIY like my father could do. That's a marriage that's destined for trouble. In other words, you've got to forget. your own people. Forget your father's house to some degree. And that's especially true in the kingdom age. In that age and in the eternal state that follows, our commitment is wholesale to Christ. Our only thought is Him. And you know, Adam and his posterity are no longer where our loyalty is. All of its old affections and its old habits has passed away. It's gone. I honour him alone, for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him. So what am I going to be thinking about my poor Uncle Joe who didn't get saved? No, I'm going to be thinking about him. Worshipping him. Notice her commitment and then her commendation. The Daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift, even the rich among the people shall give her thy favour. The King shall be all-glorious, and her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the King in a garment of needlework. The virgins, her companions, with gladness and rejoicing, shall they king's palace. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. I will make thine in all generations. Therefore shall the people praise thee forever and ever." Now as the psalm closes there is tribute here prayed to the bride, prayed to her beauty, her external beauty, her internal beauty. She's the king's daughter but she is simultaneously the king's bride. Now understand this is a metaphor relating to the church. She is both God's brainchild going back to eternity past and he births her by means of Calvary, he breathes into her by means of Pentecost, but she's also his chosen bride, destined to meet him at the marriage supper, and determined to be with him for all eternity. So shrouded in glory, she is led to meet her groom. The psalm then closes with the charge to the King Breadgroom. Here we see three pronouns, all of them masculine. Thy fathers, thy children, thy name. Thy father speaks of the old Jewish economy of the patriarchs. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children. Thy children, those whom God makes to be princes in all the earth, speaks of the place of administration in the kingdom in which we are, and we continue to be, kings. The designation unique are thy children, whom thou mayst make princes. You know this is the this is the wonderful thing today the Lord's Neon Most times you hear it uses a byword isn't it choose the curse word? That's that's a seam. You know isn't amusing people never curse the other gods Everyone was that never curse Allah Never curse Krishna Never curse any other God. It's always Jesus, and that's true the world over What in that day His name will be forever praised. His name is above every name. What a majestic psalm this is. How focused is the love of Christ upon his bride, the church, upon you and me, and others also who meet with us in the great body that we call church. We're a greatly blessed and privileged people, and we have a great and wonderful Savior who loves us. far more and who's far more great than we ever begin to imagine. Well next week we're going to pick up with Psalm 24 and look at the King of Glory, the King of Glory. Who is this King of Glory? Great Psalm. And that's one of that trilogy of Psalms starting with Psalm 22. Alright, we'll leave it there for this evening.