By: Dr. Dale Weckbacher
Text: Psalm
45-46
Psalm
45:17
I
will make Your name to be remembered in all generations;
Therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.
(NKJV)
In these two psalms, the
psalmist gives glory to the Messiah and His bride, the one who is a refuge of
His people and conqueror of nations. However, as we observe world events, it
can be difficult to find glory in the Lord as a conqueror of nations. This is
where we, as believers in Jesus Christ, must be patient and learn to wait on
the Lord, so our strength is renewed (Isaiah
40:31). The Lord is returning to straighten out this messed-up world with
us, his bride, given the mission of letting the world know about Jesus Christ (Acts
1:8; Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19-20).
The psalmist’s heart is overflowing
with a good theme and his tongue, the pen of a ready writer (Psalm
45:1). He praises the one who is fairer than the sons of men, full of grace,
girded with His sword on his thigh and full of glory and majesty (Psalm
45:2-3). The King rides with majesty and prosperity because of truth,
humility, and righteousness, teaching awesome things (Psalm
45:4). The King’s arrows are sharp in the heart of His enemies, and people
fall under Him (Psalm
45:5).
The throne of the King is
eternal, with Him ruling with a scepter of righteousness, hating wickedness and
loving righteousness, and anointed with the oil of gladness (Psalm
45:6-7). The King’s garments are scented with Myrrh, aloes, and cassia
coming from ivory palaces made glad by the King’s presence (Psalm
45:8). The King’s daughters are among His honorable women with the queen
standing at His right hand, adorned in gold from Ophir (Psalm
45:9).
The psalmist then urges
us to listen and incline our ear, forgetting our own people and our father’s
house, so the King will desire our beauty, with us worshipping Him because He
is our Lord (Psalm
45:10-11). The daughter of Tyre will lavish gifts with the rich among the people
seeking our favor (Psalm
45:12). The royal daughter is all glorious in the palace adorned with
clothing of woven gold (Psalm
45:13). She shall come to the King adorned with robes of many colors accompanied
with virgins, her companions as they enter the King’s palace (Psalm
45:14-15). The King will make his Sons princes in the earth with the Lord’s
name remembered in all generations, forever and ever (Psalm
45:16-17).
In Psalm
46, the psalmist declares God as his refuge and strength in times of
trouble, with him not having fear even though chaos is all around him (Psalm
46:1-3). He knows that God dwells in His tabernacle and will not be moved
with God helping His people just in time (Psalm
46:4-5). The nations raged, and the kingdoms were moved, and when the Lord
uttered His voice, the earth melted (Psalm
46:6). The Lord of hosts is with us, and the God of Jacob is our refuge (Psalm
46:7).
The psalmist then invites
us to come and behold the works of the Lord who has made desolations in the
earth (Psalm
46:8). He is the Lord who makes wars cease to the end of the earth,
breaking the bow, cutting the spear in two, and burning the chariot in the fire
(Psalm
46:9). We must be still and know God is God and will be exalted among the
nations and in the earth (Psalm
46:10). The Lord of hosts is with us and the God of Jacob our refuge (Psalm
46:11).
The psalms are a
collection of emotional praise and worship of God. Since we live in a fallen
world full of evil and sin, they begin with someone crying out to God in
anguish over what is happening in their life. Psalm
45 represents a contemplation of the glory of the Messiah and His bride.
For the psalmist, it is a desire to look forward to the coming Messiah foretold
in scripture beginning with Genesis
3:15. For believers living today it is a look forward to the second coming
of Jesus, the Messiah, who has already come to save us from our sins (2
Corinthians 5:21) and is coming again to transform this fallen world (Revelation
20:11-21).
In Psalm
46, the psalmist praises God as the refuge for His people and the conqueror
of the nations. The psalm is also a vow by the author to remain solid in his
faith, no matter what was going on around him. While we do not know the
circumstances and context in which this psalm was written, its words provide
encouragement for anyone in trouble, reaching out to God for help.
The world in which we
live has not changed much from that of the psalmist and is still a world full
of trouble, something Jesus warned us would happen (John
16:33). However, Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead in victory. The
Church, the bride of Christ has one simple mission, take this message of the
death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to a fallen world (Matthew
28:19-20; Romans 10:9-10). To help with this, we have two things at our
disposal. First, the Bible, the Word of God, to validate what we say. It is
also a love letter from the bridegroom to the bride and something a good bride
will read and cherish. However, you do not need to be a great theologian to
share Christ, you simply need to share your testimony like the Samaritan woman
at the well (John
4:1-42). This is the second tool a believer has at his or her disposal and
is something many may relate to and want to experience what you have
experienced.
I now want to invite
anyone reading this who has not prayed to receive the gift of grace, a full
pardon and forgiveness of your sins, to pray with me now.
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23)
and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse
me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe
you died, spent three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now
declare you Lord of my life.
If you just prayed, rest
assured that God has totally forgiven you and that you are a child of God (2
Corinthians 5:21; John 1:12). Find a Church where teaching the truth of the
Bible is so you can learn more about the Lord. May God convict, challenge, and
bless everyone reading this post.
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