The King in His Glory (6)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 45.13-15
The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace;
Her clothing is woven with gold.
She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors;
The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You.
With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought;
They shall enter the King’s palace.

Sing Psalm 45.13-15
(Manoah: When All Your Mercies, O My God)
The Church in robes of woven gold assembles to the King.
With joy complete and gladness bold His praise she e’er shall sing.

Read Psalm 45.16, 17

Preparation
1. Who is speaking in these verses?

2. What promises are made?

Meditation
The NKJV gives the impression that someone (the queen? the sons of Korah?) is speaking to the King, Who is also, as we know, God. This is evident in the capitalization of the second person personal pronoun in both verses. I think this is a mistake.

Instead, these verses look like an exchange of vows to me. In verse 16, the King, having received His queen and her companions, speaks to them as one (recall that the queen has given up her father’s house to come and reign with the King, v. 10), promising to give them, in place of their faithers, sons to rule as princes in “all the earth.” He will give his queen offspring to continue His and her rule so that it extends throughout the world.

The queen replies with her own vow in verse 17 (where the capitalization of the pronoun is proper), saying that she will cause the generations to praise Him forever and ever. This sounds like her commitment to raise up the sons He will give her so that they might indeed extend His rule over all the peoples of the earth.

This seems a fitting way to conclude what is a song of love, the two lovers committing themselves to one another for the future of the entire earth, that the Kingdom over which they rule, and which He embodies and shares with and through her, should cover the earth with His glory as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2.14). This legacy matches nicely with what David prayed for Solomon and his kingdom – and for the Kingdom of David’s greater Son to come – in Psalm 72.

The marriage of the Church with her King brings the promise of a legacy of Kingdom citizens and rulers to bless all the families of the earth, just as God promised to Abram (Gen. 12.1-3).

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
We can now relish our relationship with our husband, the King. We can lean into the love that He has for us.
Imagine: He loved us so much that He died for us.

And the reason? To sanctify and cleanse us, to make us presentable to Him, a glorious spouse without spot or wrinkle or any kind of flaw (Eph. 5.25-27).

Why? So that we could be holy.
And to strengthen us for this calling, He nourishes and cherishes us (Eph. 5.29).

Because? We are chosen--called out of darkness.
And the purpose? That we will proclaim praises of Him, and walk faithfully in His glorious light (1 Pet. 2.9).

In response to this amazing love, we will never want to leave His Presence.
Where He goes, we will go. What He wants, we will do.
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2.20).

By His grace we have been chosen to be included in the King’s legacy.

Reflection
1. How should the queen’s vows to the King guide us as part of the household of faith?

2. How should we understand the King’s promises as applying to us?

3.  What “legacy of grace” are you working to leave for the glory of our King?

Where he began, there he concluded—in Christ.… Because you have achieved so much, you have appointed such rulers, you have driven out evil, you have planted virtue, you have plighted your troth to our nature, you have performed these wonderful good things. All the world will offer you hymns of praise, not for a short time, not for ten, not twenty, not a hundred years, or in one part of the world, but earth and sea, both inhabited and uninhabited, will sing praise for all time, giving thanks for all the good things accomplished. John Chrysostom (344-407), Commentary on the Psalms 45.13

Closing Prayer: Psalm 45.16, 17
Thank God that you are part of that promised legacy of grace. Call on Him to give you strength to cause His Name to be known and remembered today.

Sing Psalm 45.16, 17
(Manoah: When All Your Mercies, O My God)
When we at last Your palace gain, and others take our place,
then let our children with You reign, a legacy of grace!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.