The Love of the Messiah and His Bride

Psalms 45:1-17
To the Chief Musician. Set to "The Lilies." A Contemplation of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.

1 My heart is overflowing with a good theme;
I recite my composition concerning the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

2 You are fairer than the sons of men;
Grace is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.

3 Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One,
With Your glory and Your majesty.
4 And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness;
And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.
5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies;
The peoples fall under You.

6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.

8 All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia,
Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad.
9 Kings' daughters are among Your honorable women;
At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

10 Listen, O daughter,
Consider and incline your ear;
Forget your own people also, and your father's house;
11 So the King will greatly desire your beauty;
Because He is your Lord, worship Him.

12 And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;
The rich among the people will seek your favor.
13 The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace;
Her clothing is woven with gold.

14 She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors;
The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You.
15 With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought;
They shall enter the King's palace.

16 Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons,
Whom You shall make princes in all the earth.
17 I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations;
Therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.

This song is about the love for the Anointed One and toward His bride.  The psalmist begins by praising God with a heart overflowing with love for His King and LORD, pen in hand to capture the thoughts and turn them to prose sung out loud in praise.  The Anointed is the Messiah, the Christ, and here is described as the fairest of them all, blessed eternal by God and with grace in His words to His bride.  He has a sword ready for battle, arrayed with glory and majesty as the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14, 19:16).  The Anointed is prosperous because He has truth, humility, and righteousness on His side (Jude 1:25), and teaches awesome things as He rides to conquer all opposed to Him.  His throne is eternal and He reigns with and by righteousness (Hebrews 1:8-9), a clear reference to Christ as the Messiah anointed by God the Father.  This Christ hates wickedness because it is evil and loves righteousness because God is righteous and holy.  He is adorned in a way which makes Him winsome to His bride and greatly to be desired.  We as His bride are called by these word pictures to listen carefully and consider who we love most, counting all others as if hated in comparison to the Bridegroom (Luke 14:26).  Our Lord and Sovereign King greatly desires the beauty of His bride who prepares herself for Him, and our response should be to worship Him in love because He first loved us (1 John 4:9-10, 19).  People will come to Him for His grace and glory, being clothed in beauty (1 Chronicles 16:29, Psalm 96:9, Isaiah 61:10) as a virgin brought in purity to her husband and entering into His palace.  We as the church are His bride, and these things apply to us figuratively.  Our Messiah is remembered by name to all generations as Jesus the Christ our Lord, and we shall sing our praises to Him forevermore before His throne in the New Jerusalem!  This is the love of the Messiah, the Christ, for His bride whom He calls to Himself, and our love for Him because of who He is and all He has done to redeem us for Himself.  He greatly desires us made beautiful and we worship Him in that beauty of holiness.