Psalms 45:15

This psalm celebrates a royal wedding; it might have been sung on many occasions and not just at one wedding. As God’s representative, the king carried the responsibility of dispensing justice and maintaining order in God’s world (see Psalm 2).

shall they be brought--in solemn form (compare Job 10:19; Job 21:22). The entrance into the palace with great joy closes the scene. So shall the Church be finally brought to her Lord, and united amid the festivities of the holy beings in heaven.

This latter part of the psalm is addressed to the royal bride, standing on the right hand of the royal bridegroom. God, who said to the Son, Thy throne is for ever and ever, says this to the church, which, upon the account of her espousals to the Son, he here calls his daughter.
I. He tells her of the duties expected from her, which ought to be considered by all those that come into relation to the Lord Jesus: "Hearken, therefore, and consider this, and incline thy ear, that is, submit to those conditions of thy espousals, and bring thy will to comply with them." This is the method of profiting by the word of God. He that has ears, let him hear, let him hearken diligently; he that hearkens, let him consider and weigh it duly; he that considers, let him incline and yield to the force of what is laid before him. And what is it that is here required?
1. She must renounce all others.
(1.) Here is the law of her espousals: "Forget thy own people and thy father's house, according to the law of marriage. Retain not the affection thou hast had for them, nor covet to return to them again; banish all such remembrance (not only of thy people that were dear to thee, but of thy father's house that were dearer) as may incline thee to look back, as Lot's wife to Sodom." When Abraham, in obedience to God's call, had quitted his native soil, he was not so much as mindful of the country whence he came out. This shows, [1.] How necessary it was for those who were converted from Judaism or paganism to the faith of Christ wholly to cast out the old leaven, and not to bring into their Christian profession either the Jewish ceremonies or the heathen idolatries, for these would make such a mongrel religion in Christianity as the Samaritans had. [2.] How necessary it is for us all, when we give up our names to Jesus Christ, to hate father and mother, and all that is dear to us in this world, in comparison, that is, to love them less than Christ and his honour, and our interest in him, Luk 14:26.
(2.) Here is good encouragement given to the royal bride thus entirely to break off from her former alliances: So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty, which intimates that the mixing of her old rites and customs, whether Jewish or Gentile, with her religion, would blemish her beauty and would hazard her interest in the affections of the royal bridegroom, but that, if she entirely conformed to his will, he would delight in her. The beauty of holiness, both on the church and on particular believers, is in the sight of Christ of great price and very amiable. Where that is he says, This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it. Among the golden candlesticks he walks with pleasure, Rev 2:1.
2. She must reverence him, must love, honour, and obey him: He is thy Lord, and worship thou him. The church is to be subject to Christ as the wife to the husband (Eph 5:24), to call him Lord, as Sarah called Abraham, and to obey him (Pe1 3:6), and so not only to submit to his government, but to give him divine honours. We must worship him as God, and our Lord; for this is the will of God, that all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father; nay, in so doing it is reckoned that they honour the Father. If we confess that Christ is Lord, and pay our homage to him accordingly, it is to the glory of God the Father, Phi 2:11.
II. He tells her of the honours designed for her.
1. Great court should be made to her, and rich presents brought her (Psa 45:12): "The daughter of Tyre," a rich and splendid city, "the daughter of the King of Tyre shall be there with a gift; every royal family round about shall send a branch, as a representative of the whole, to seek thy favour and to make an interest in thee; even the rich among the people, whose wealth might be thought to exempt them from dependence at court, even they shall entreat thy favour, for his sake to whom thou art espoused, that by thee they may make him their friend." The Jews, the pretending Jews, who are rich to a proverb (as rich as a Jew), shall come and worship before the church's feet in the Philadelphian period, and shall know that Christ has loved her, Rev 3:9. When the Gentiles, being converted to the faith of Christ, join themselves to the church, they then come with a gift, Co2 8:5; Rom 15:16. When with themselves they devote all they have to the honour of Christ, and the service of his kingdom, they then come with a gift.
2. She shall be very splendid, and highly esteemed in the eyes of all, (1.) For her personal qualifications, the endowments of her mind, which every one shall admire (Psa 45:13): The king's daughter is all glorious within. Note, The glory of the church is spiritual glory, and that is indeed all glory; it is the glory of the soul, and that is the man; it is glory in God's sight, and it is an earnest of eternal glory. The glory of the saints falls not within the view of a carnal eye. As their life, so their glory, is hidden with Christ in God, neither can the natural man know it, for it is spiritually discerned; but those who do so discern it highly value it. Let us see here what is that true glory which we should be ambitious of, not that which makes a fair show in the flesh, but which is in the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible (Pe1 3:4), whose praise is not of men, but of God, Rom 2:29. (2.) For her rich apparel. Though all her glory is within, that for which she is truly valuable, yet her clothing also is of wrought gold; the conversation of Christians, in which they appear in the world, must be enriched with good works, not gay and gaudy ones, like paint and flourish, but substantially good, like gold; and it must be accurate and exact, like wrought gold, which is worked with a great deal of care and caution.
3. Her nuptials shall be celebrated with a great deal of honour and joy (Psa 45:14, Psa 45:15): She shall be brought to the king, as the Lord God brought the woman to the man (Gen 2:22), which was a type of this mystical marriage between Christ and his church. None are brought to Christ but whom the Father brings, and he has undertaken to do it; none besides are so brought to the king (Psa 45:14) as to enter into the king's palace, Psa 45:15.
(1.) This intimates a two-fold bringing of the spouse to Christ. [1.] In the conversion of souls to Christ; then they are espoused to him, privately contracted, as chaste virgins, Co2 11:2; Rom 7:4. [2.] In the completing of the mystical body, and the glorification of all the saints, at the end of time; then the bride, the Lamb's wife, shall be made completely ready, when all that belong to the election of grace shall be called in and called home, and all gathered together to Christ, Th2 2:1. Then is the marriage of the Lamb come (Rev 19:7; Rev 21:2), and the virgins go forth to meet the bridegroom, Mat 25:1. Then they shall enter into the king's palaces, into the heavenly mansions, to be ever with the Lord.
(2.) In both these espousals, observe, to the honour of the royal bride, [1.] Her wedding clothes - raiment of needle-work, the righteousness of Christ, the graces of the Spirit; both curiously wrought by divine wisdom. [2.] Her bride-maids - the virgins her companions, the wise virgins who have oil in their vessels as well as in their lamps, those who, being joined to the church, cleave to it and follow it, these shall go in to the marriage. [3.] The mirth with which the nuptials will be celebrated: With gladness and rejoicing shall she be brought. When the prodigal is brought home to his father it is meet that we should make merry and be glad (Luk 15:32); and when the marriage of the Lamb has come let us be glad and rejoice (Rev 19:7); for the day of his espousals is the day of the gladness of his heart, Sol 3:11.
4. The progeny of this marriage shall be illustrious (Psa 45:16): Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children. Instead of the Old Testament church, the economy of which had waxed old, and ready to vanish away (Heb 8:13), as the fathers that are going off, there shall be a New Testament church, a Gentile-church, that shall be grafted into the same olive and partake of its root and fatness (Rom 11:17); more and more eminent shall be the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, Isa 54:1. This promise to Christ is of the same import with that Isa 53:10, He shall see his seed; and these shall be made princes in all the earth; there shall be some of all nations brought into subjection to Christ, and so made princes, made to our God kings and priests, Rev 1:6. Or it may intimate that there should be a much greater number of Christian kings than ever there was of Jewish kings (those in Canaan only, these in all the earth), nursing fathers and nursing mothers to the church, which shall suck the breasts of kings. They are princes of Christ's making; for by him kings reign and princes decree justice.
5. The praise of this marriage shall be perpetual in the praises of the royal bridegroom (Psa 45:17): I will make thy name to be remembered. His Father has given him a name above every name, and here promises to make it perpetual, by keeping up a succession of ministers and Christians in every age, that shall bear up his name, which shall thus endure for ever (Psa 72:17), by being remembered in all the generations of time; for the entail of Christianity shall not be cut off. "Therefore, because they shall remember thee in all generations, they shall praise thee for ever and ever." Those that help to support the honour of Christ on earth shall in heaven see his glory, and share in it, and be for ever praising him. In the believing hope of our everlasting happiness in the other world let us always keep up the remembrance of Christ, as our only way thither, in our generation; and, in assurance of the perpetuating of the kingdom of the Redeemer in the world, let us transmit the remembrance of him to succeeding generations, that his name may endure for ever and be as the days of heaven.

Psalm 45:13-17

13. The daughter of the King is all glorious within: her clothing is of garments embroidered with gold. 14. She shall be brought to the King in raiment of needle-work: the virgins after her, her companions, shall be brought to thee. 15. They shall be brought with joy and gladness; they shall enter into the palace of the King. 16. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children: thou shalt make them princes in all the earth. 17. I will make thy name to be remembered throughout all generations: therefore the people shall praise thee for ever and ever.

13 The daughter of the King is all glorious within [172] This verse may be understood in a twofold sense; either as meaning that the queen, not only when she appears in public before all the people, but also when sitting in private in her own chamber, is always sumptuously apparelled; or, that the splendor and gorgeous appearance of her attire is not merely a thing of display, designed to dazzle the eyes of the simple, but consists of expensive and really substantial material. The prophet accordingly enhances the happy and lofty condition of the queen by the circumstance, that she has not only sumptuous apparel in which she may appear on particular occasions, but also for her ordinary and daily attire. Others expound it in this sense, That all her glory consists in the king inviting her familiarity into his presence; and this opinion they rest on the ground that immediately after there is a description given of her as passing into the chamber of the king accompanied with a great and glorious train of followers. This display of pomp exceeds the bounds of due moderation; but, in the meantime, we are taught by it, that while the Church is thus richly apparelled, it is not designed to attract the notice of men, but only for the pleasure of the King. If in our day the Church is not so richly adorned with that spiritual beauty in which the glory of Christ shines forth, the fault ought to be imputed to the ingratitude of men, who either through their own indifference despise the goodness of God, or else, after having been enriched by him, again fall into a state of poverty and want.

16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children This also serves to show the glory and transcendent excellence of this kingdom, namely, that the children will not be inferior in dignity to their fathers, and that the nobility of the race will not be diminished after the death of Solomon; for the children which shall be born to him will equal those who had preceded them in the most excellent virtues. Then it is added, that they shall be princes in all the earth, because the empire shall enjoy such an extent of dominion on every side, that it might easily be divided into many kingdoms. It is easy to gather, that this prophecy is spoken expressly concerning Christ; for so far were the sons of Solomon from having a kingdom of such an extent, as to divide it into provinces among them, that his first successor retained only a small portion of his kingdom. There were none of his true and lawful successors who attained the same power which he had enjoyed, but being princes only over one tribe and a half of the people, they were, on this account, shut up within narrow limits, and, as we say, had their wings clipped. [173] But at the coming of Christ, who appeared at the close of the ancient Church, and the beginning of the new dispensation, it is an undoubted truth, that children were begotten by him, who were inferior in no respect to their fathers, either in number or in excellence, and whom he set as rulers over the whole world. In the estimation of the world, the ignominy of the cross obscures the glory of the Church; but when we consider how wonderfully it has increased, and how much it has been distinguished by spiritual gifts, we must confess that it is not without cause that her glory is in this passage celebrated in such sublime language. It ought, however, to be observed, that the sovereignty, of which mention is here made, consists not in the persons of men, but refers to the head. According to a frequent mode of expression in the Word of God, the dominion and power which belong properly to the head, and are applicable peculiarly to Christ alone, are in many places ascribed to his members. We know that those who occupy eminent stations in the Church, and who rule in the name of Christ, do not exercise a lordly dominion, but rather act as servants. As, however, Christ has committed to them his Gospel, which is the scepter of his kingdom, and intrusted it as it were to their keeping, they exercise, in some sort, his power. And, indeed, Christ, by his ministers, has subdued to his dominion the whole world, and has erected as many principalities under his authority as there have been churches gathered to him in divers nations by their preaching.

17 I will make thy name to be remembered, etc. This also is equally inapplicable to Solomon, who, by his shameful and impious rebellion, stained the memory of his name with disgrace. In polluting by superstitious abominations the land which was consecrated to God, did he not bring upon himself indelible ignominy and shame? For this deed alone his name deserves to be buried in everlasting oblivion. Nor was his son Rehoboam in any degree more deserving of praise; for through his own foolish presumption he lost the better part of his kingdom. To find, therefore, the true accomplishment of what is here said, we must come to Christ, the memory of whose name continues to prosper and prevail. It is no doubt despised by the world, nay, wicked men, in the pride of their hearts, even reproach his sacred name, and outrageously trample it under their feet; but still it survives in its undiminished majesty. It is also true, that his enemies rise up on all sides in vast numbers to overthrow his kingdom; but notwithstanding, men are already beginning to bow the knee before him, which they will continue to do, until the period arrive when he shall tread down all the powers that are opposed to him. The furious efforts of Satan and the whole world have not been able to extinguish the name of Christ, which, being transmitted from one generation to another, still retains its glory in every age, even as at this day we see it celebrated in every language. And although the greater part of the world tear it in pieces by their impious blasphemies, yet it is enough that God stirs up his servants every where to proclaim with fidelity and with unfeigned zeal the praises of Christ. In the meantime, it is our duty diligently to use our endeavors, that the memory of Christ, which ought to prosper and prevail throughout all ages, to the eternal salvation of men, may never at any time lose any of its renown.

Footnotes:

[172] Dathe and Berlin refer within to the interior of the queen's palace, which seems to agree best with the context. The original word rendered within denotes the interior of a house in Leviticus 10:18, and 1 Kings 6:18. Fry explains the words thus: "Most splendid is the royal daughter within the awning of her covered vehicle;" and refers to the picture of a bridal procession in Mr Lane's Egypt. Dr Geddes reads: -- "All glorious is the queen in her apartment, Her robe is bespangled with gold; To the king she shall be brought in brocade, Attended by her virgin companions." "This," says he, namely, verse 13th, "and the two next verses, contain a fine description of Oriental manners. The queen, before she be led to the king's apartment, is gorgeously dressed in her own; and thence proceeds with her female train to the royal palace."

[173] "Et (comme on dit) ont eu les ailes rongnees." -- Fr.

With, gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought,.... With joy unspeakable, and full of glory in themselves, because of what they shall be delivered from; from all outward troubles and afflictions; from all inward distresses, darkness, doubts, and fears; from sin, Satan, and all spiritual enemies; and because of what they shall enjoy, communion with God, angels and saints, the vision of God in Christ, conformity to him, perfect knowledge, complete holiness and happiness, and a glory both upon their souls and bodies: they shall also be brought with the joy of Christ's faithful minister, who will rejoice in that day that they have not run nor laboured in vain; and with the joy of all the holy angels; and with the joy of Christ the King himself, who always rejoiced in them and over them; yea, with the rejoicing of Father, Son, and Spirit: the Father will rejoice to see those brought in whom he has loved with an everlasting love, has chosen in Christ, given to him, and whom he sent his Son to redeem: the Son of God will rejoice to see those presented to him whom he has loved and betrothed to himself; who are the purchase of his blood, and the travail of his soul; who are his jewels, treasure and portion: and the Holy Spirit will rejoice to see those brought to glory whom he has been the convincer, comforter, and sealer of; whom he has been at work upon, and has wrought them up for this selfsame thing:

they shall enter into the King's palace; into heaven, the palace of the King Messiah, the King of kings and King of saints; where are mansions preparing for them, suitable to their high birth and character, as the daughters of a king; and where they shall enter, not merely to see it and go out again, but to dwell in it with their Lord, Head, and Husband, for evermore; and that as in their own palace, upon the foot of their relation to Christ, interest in him, right and meetness by him.

Full of joy for the glory and felicity of the bride and bridegroom, and for the comfort and benefit which redoundeth to themselves from it.

(Heb.: 45:14-16) Now follows the description of the manner in which she absolutely leaves her father's house, and richly adorned and with a numerous train is led to the king and makes her entry into his palace; and in connection therewith we must bear in mind that the poet combines on the canvas of one picture (so to speak) things that lie wide apart both as to time and place. He sees her first of all in her own chamber (פּנימה, prop. towards the inside, then also in the inside, Ges. 90, 2, b), and how there
(Note: In Babylonia these words, according to B. Jebamoth 77a, are cited in favour of domesticity as a female virtue; in Palestine (במערבא), more appropriately, Gen 18:9. The lxx Codd. Vat. et Sinait. has Ἐσεβών (Eusebius), which is meaningless; Cod. Alex. correctly, ἔσωθεν (Italic, Jerome, Syriac, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Apollinaris).)
she is nothing but splendour (כּל־כּבוּדּה, prop. mere splendour, fem. of כבוד as in Eze 23:41; cf. כּל־הבל, Psa 39:6, mere nothingness), her clothing is gold-interwoven textures (i.e., such as are interwoven with threads of gold, or woven in squares or diamond patterns and adorned with gold in addition). She, just like Esther (Est 2:12), is being led to the king, her husband, and this takes place לרקמות, in variegated, embroidered garments (ל used just as adverbially as in Ch2 20:21, להדרת), with a retinue of virgins, her companions, who at the same time with herself become the property of her spouse. According to the accents it is to be rendered: virgines post eam, sociae ejus, adducuntur tibi, so that רעותיה is an apposition. This is also in harmony with the allegorical interpretation of the Psalm as a song of the church. The bride of the Lamb, whom the writer of the Apocalypse beheld, arrayed in shining white linen (byssus), which denotes her righteousness, just as here the variegated, golden garments denote her glory, is not just one person nor even one church, but the church of Israel together with the churches of the Gentiles united by one common faith, which have taken a hearty and active part in the restoration of the daughter of Zion. The procession moves on with joy and rejoicing; it is the march of honour of the one chosen one and of the many chosen together with her, of her friends or companions; and to what purpose, is shown by the hopes which to the mind of the poet spring up out of the contemplation of this scene.