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Scripture Reading: Psa. 42:1, 4; 43:3-4; 45:1-17
Now we come to Book Two, composed of Psalms 42 to 72. As this book indicates how the saints experience God and His house and city through the suffering, exalted, and reigning Christ, so it begins with the words: “As the hart pants / After the streams of water, / So my soul pants / For You, O God” (42:1). The saints, being stripped by God, desire to seek God Himself. Then the psalmist goes on: “My soul thirsts for God, / For the living God” (v. 2a) — not for the law, not for knowledge, but for the living God Himself. The psalmist continues by asking, “When will I come and appear / Before God?” (v. 2b). Today we have the answer to this question. We come and appear before God when we come into the local church. Verse 4 says, “These things I remember, / And I pour out my soul within me: / That I passed through with the throng; / I led them to the house of God.” This was the remembrance of the enjoyment of the house of God. That was the time when he appeared before God. When will I come and appear before God? When I come with the throng to the house of God, when I enter His house, when I am in His presence, that is the time I appear before Him.
Brothers and sisters, let me check with you. Where is it that you sense most deeply that you are in God’s presence? I believe you must answer that you sense God’s presence the most when you are in the local churches. I cannot tell you how many times, when I was in the meetings of the local churches, I was just before God. When I came with the throng to the house of God, to the local church, I appeared before Him.
Then we read, “I led them to the house of God / With the voice of a joyous shout and praise” (v. 4b). Even before we enter the house, there is a joyous shout and praise. I believe that this is the best verse to tell us the way to come to the meetings. First, we must come with the throng — it is better not to come by ourselves. Second, we should come with the voice of a joyous shout and praise. While we are on the way, either walking or driving, we may start the praising. Come to the meetings with the throng; come to the meetings with the voice of a joyous shout and praise. I hope that one day, when Christians are going to the church meetings, everyone around will realize that they are on their way to the meeting because they are praising. Even in ancient times the Old Testament saints came to the house of God in such a wonderful way. How much more should we!
Psalm 43:3-4 says, “Send forth Your light and Your truth.” For what? For knowledge, for teaching, for doctrines? No. “They will lead me; / They will bring me to Your holy mountain / And to Your tabernacles.” The divine light plus the divine truth, the light and the reality, will bring us to the holy mountain. How can we ascend to the mountain of His holiness? By being led by the divine light and the divine reality. Hence, we should pray today, “O God, send me Your light and Your reality; let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy mountain and to Your tabernacles, the local churches.”
Again, have you seen the improvement? Now the saints desire to enjoy the house of God. They are so much for the mountain and for the house of the Lord. This is far beyond any human concept we may naturally have. We need heavenly vision.
We enjoy the house so much now and we are praising, but after this we enjoy something of Christ in a much deeper way. In Psalm 45 Christ, being known by the saints more deeply, becomes the saints’ sweeter experience in the local churches, and it is realized that His reign will be over all the earth through His believers, and He will be praised by all the peoples. None of those six psalms of Christ — Psalms 2, 8, 16, 22, 23, and 24 — can compare with Psalm 45. It is so deep, so high, so sweet, so intimate, so precious, and so tender. I do not have words to describe how good Psalm 45 is. Listen to the opening verse: “My heart overflows with a good matter.” The meaning in Hebrew is that there is something boiling, or bubbling up, within me. There is something burning within me; I am set on fire with a good matter. What is this good matter? We could fill an entire book with the description of this good matter from this psalm and yet not exhaust it.
The psalmist says, “I speak what I have composed concerning the King.” He did not say, “concerning justification by faith,” or, “concerning eternal security.” He said, “concerning the King” — Christ. Christ as the King is the good matter worthy of praising. When we speak of the King, we naturally respond with a sense of reverence. There is reverence here in Psalm 45, but it is a reverence with a sweet and tender feeling, an inner feeling of preciousness. “I speak what I have composed concerning the King. / My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” When I speak about the King, my tongue is better than any kind of pen; it is the living pen of a ready writer.
Then the psalmist goes on to describe the King: “You are fairer than the sons of men” (v. 2). First, he mentions the fairness of the Lord. He is a man, a fair man, the man who is fairer than all men. He does not say, “He is fairer,” but, “You are fairer.” This means that while he is speaking, he is in the sweet presence of the King. “Grace is poured upon Your lips; / Therefore God has blessed You forever.” Can you sense the tender and precious feeling? Do you share the feeling of the King being so dear and precious to you? He is fairer than all men, full of grace, blessed by God.
Then verse 3 says, “Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O mighty One, / In Your majesty and Your splendor.” To us He is fair, but to the enemy He is mighty, and most mighty with glory and majesty. To us He has grace upon His lips, but to the enemy He has a sword upon His thigh. “And in Your splendor ride on victoriously” (v. 4). This is the riding on of Christ. As the Victor, Christ, in His majesty, is riding on victoriously. At the time He ascended into the heavens He began His ride, and He is still riding on. Regardless of what the situation is on this earth, regardless of what the nations are doing, Christ is riding on victoriously, prosperously. He is riding victoriously “because of truth.” Only He is the truth. All that this world and its rulers have is vanity and falsehood. I have read the biographies, histories, and stories of many people who have been a help to the great of this earth. Eventually, they say that they have been cheated. Eventually, they realize the vanity, the falsehood, of this world’s leaders. Not one of Christ’s followers, not one believer in Christ, could ever say that he has been cheated by Christ. I have been following Him for more than forty-five years, and I am so happy, so very happy, because I have the truth, the reality, forever with me. Nothing in my experience is empty or vain. It is because of His reality that Christ is riding on victoriously.
It is also “because of...meekness” that Christ rides victoriously. Meekness is reality without any pride. Christ is riding on in a meek way with reality. Consider today’s situation: how meek the Lord is! People scorn and blaspheme Him, and it seems that there is no Christ in this universe. He is so meek! He also rides on victoriously “because of...righteousness,” and His right hand will “teach You awesome deeds.” I believe that these are the judgments of Christ. On one hand, He is so meek, but on the other hand, He is waging a war. Christ has done many awesome deeds, and He will do even more in the coming days. Read the book of Revelation. “Your arrows are sharp...in the heart of the King’s enemies” (Psa. 45:5). No doubt this is Christ fighting, and this is the victory in His fighting. “The people fall under You.” That means that all the nations fall under Him. The book of Revelation records the fulfillment.
Verses 3, 4, and 5 mention His riding on and His fighting. This undoubtedly includes His coming back. He is riding, and He will continue to ride until He comes back in victory. From the day He ascended to the heavens, He began to come back. Do you realize this? Never imagine that He has not yet begun to move. From the day of His ascension He began to ride on and ride back. He is riding back and fighting back in many ways, and one day He will be here — that will be the kingdom.
Verse 6 speaks of His kingdom: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; / The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.” No doubt this is the kingdom age. After His riding, fighting, and coming back, we have the kingdom with the throne. His throne is forever and ever, the eternal throne. The authority, the scepter of His kingdom, is the scepter of righteousness. This is His reigning. He is God Himself; He will be the King, and He will reign over the entire earth.
Following this, the psalmist comes back to Christ’s character, to His being. “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness” (v. 7). Righteousness represents everything related to God; anything righteous is related to God. Wickedness represents everything related to the wicked one, Satan. This means that the Lord loves all the things related to God and hates everything related to the evil one; He loves God and hates Satan. The psalmist continues, “Therefore God, Your God...” In verse 6 he says, “O God,” but in this verse he says, “Your God.” This means that Christ is God, and God is Christ’s. “O God...Your God!” Praise the Lord, it is wonderful; we cannot explain it.
“Your God, has anointed You / With the oil of gladness above Your companions.” Because He loves righteousness and hates wickedness, God has anointed Him with the oil of gladness above His companions. This verse does not mean that His companions are not anointed, but that they are anointed under Him. We are His companions, His anointed companions. He is anointed above us, and we are anointed under Him. He is the anointed One, and we are the anointed ones, His anointed companions.
Verse 8 says, “All Your garments smell of myrrh and aloes, of cassia.” Garments in typology signify deeds or acts. So here we have the Lord’s deeds and actions, which smell of myrrh and aloes. In John 19:39-40 we see that Christ was buried with these two spices — myrrh and aloes. Hence these signify the preciousness and sweetness of the Lord’s death. Cassia is a kind of root that produces a fragrant oil which is good for healing. Therefore, cassia signifies the fragrance of Christ’s resurrection. Thus, with all the doings of the Lord, there is the sweet fragrance of His death and resurrection. Whatever He does, whatever He works, is filled with the savor of His death and resurrection — the myrrh and the aloes plus the cassia.
The psalmist continues, “From palaces of ivory, harpstrings have made You glad.” Ivory is a kind of bone, and bone in typology signifies the unbroken resurrection life of Christ. Not one of Christ’s bones was broken (John 19:33, 36). This signifies that His life can never be broken. Hence, the palaces of ivory signify that all the local churches are built up with His resurrection life. From these palaces, harpstrings have made Him glad. All these verses are poetic expressions. Therefore, the harpstrings speak of the sweet, melodious, harmonious praises. Whenever we meet in all the local churches, the first thing, the main thing, the central thing, must be the singing, the praising. The outstanding feature of Christianity today is teaching. Henceforth, we must downgrade teaching and give first place in our meetings to praising the Lord. In all the local churches praising must be the central feature, because from the palaces of ivory, harpstrings make Him glad.
In Psalms 42, 43, and 44 we have the appreciation of the house. Now in the house the saints experience Christ in a deeper way. Hence, following Psalms 42 to 44, we have Psalm 45. Everything concerning Christ here is deeper in our experience. We do not have adequate utterance; we can only indicate a little.
The first section of Psalm 45 is praise to Christ as the King. He is a King who is so precious to His people, yet One who is so mighty, so awesome to His enemies. He is riding on, He is riding back, and He is riding into His kingdom, and all of His doings are full of the fragrance of His death and resurrection. He is really worthy of our praise. We must fill all the local churches with praises to Him; then we will make Him glad.
Beginning with verse 9, we enter the second section of Psalm 45. It is the praise to the King, but about the queen. In other words, the queen becomes the praise of the King. If you would praise the King, you must say something concerning the queen, because the queen is part of the King. In the first section, verses 1 to 8, the praises are to the King about the King. In the second section, verses 9 through 15, the praises are to the King, but about the queen. In the third and last section of the psalm, verses 16 and 17, the praises are also to the King, but about His children. Therefore, the whole psalm is praise to the King, but the first section is praise about the King, the second section is praise about the queen, and the third section is praise about the King’s children, the princes.
Psalm 45 in its entirety is written about Christ, yet it is written from the aspect of human relationships. As a human being, you, of course, have yourself, but as a normal human being you also need a wife. Eventually, to be completed and perfected as a human being, you need children. Christ is not a bachelor; He is the King with the queen and all the children. If you would render Him complete praise, you must say something about Himself, something about His queen, and something concerning His children. His glory is not only in Himself; it is also in His queen and His children. The riches and fullness of a man are in his wife and family; likewise, the riches and fullness of Christ are in His church with all His children. Thus, there are three sections of this wonderful, marvelous, unique praise of Christ: the praises about the King, about the queen, and about the royal children.
Christ’s glory is not only in Himself but also in the church. If we would see Christ’s glory in Himself, we must read the four Gospels. If we would see the glory and beauty of Christ in the church with so many saints, we must read the Epistles. It is the church “with” so many saints, not the church “and” so many saints (2 Cor. 1:1). It is the queen with so many virgins, the queen with the kings’ daughters, the queen with the most prized. We must also see Christ’s beauty in His children, in His princes. In the book of Revelation, we have the local churches, and we also have the princes, those who will reign with Christ (ch. 20). We see there the Lord’s beauty in His sons, the overcomers.
We have seen in the Psalms how God turned the saints’ concept from the law to Christ. We have also seen that out of Christ we have the church, the house. In the Psalms, Christ and the church are put together. Christ is here as the King, and the church is here as the queen, the husband and the wife. The two are one; they are no more two but one.
In 45:8 the church is mentioned as the palaces of ivory; then in verse 9 the church is pictured as the queen. The palaces are the building, and the queen is the wife. In the entire Bible, God always uses these two figures to signify the church — the building and the bride. Even in Genesis 2 we have these two figures: first, the materials for the building, and second, a bride, Eve. Then, when we come to the end of the Bible, we have a building, a city, which is the bride. The church on one hand is a palace to Christ, and on the other hand, it is His queen. On one hand, it is the house of God, and on the other hand, it is the bride of Christ.
Now let us read Psalm 45:9: “The daughters of kings are among Your most prized.” If you are praising Christ, you can never forget the church. This verse is a praise to Christ, but about the saints, the kings’ daughters. Spiritually speaking, we are all females before the Lord, we are all the kings’ daughters. We were poor sinners, but now we are royal, we are kingly. The kings’ daughters are the most prized. The saints are the saints among the saints. Do not imagine that the kings’ daughters are one group and the most prized are another. They are both one. The kings’ daughters speak of our royalty, and the most prized of our honor and majesty. We should not be proud, but we must all realize that we are kingly and most prized. When we walk on the street, do people sense something most prized about us? We should not forget our royal and most prized status. We are the kings’ daughters and the most prized. This is praise about us, but it is praise to Christ. If others say, “Look at those poor Christians, what miserable beggars they are!” that is a shame to Christ. However, when people recognize or sense in us something of our royal and most prized status, though they may not agree with us, that is a real glory to Christ.
Verse 9 goes on to say, “The queen stands at Your right hand in the gold of Ophir.” The kings’ daughters are the saints, and the queen is the church. Individually speaking, we are the saints, but corporately speaking, we are the church. We are all one queen; the queen is a corporate body. She is at His right hand. Brothers, if you have your dear wife standing at your side, and I speak commendably of her, you will feel happy. The praise is about your dear wife, but it goes to you. The praise here is about the queen, but it goes to the King. When we say, “Look, look at the resplendent glory of that golden queen,” the glory goes to Christ. Every time we speak well of the church, Christ in heaven is made glad. When we say, “Praise the Lord for the church in Chicago,” or, “Praise the Lord for the church in Atlanta,” He is well pleased. Whenever we speak well of the local churches, it is a kind of praise to Christ.
The praise about the King should undoubtedly come first, but the praise concerning the queen should follow. Suppose you were the King: what part of the praise would make you happier? If I were the King, I would delight more in the praise about the queen. Christ is deeply gratified when we speak well of the local churches. Our praises must be not only about Christ but many times about the queen, about the churches.
The queen is seen in gold of Ophir. Gold in typology signifies the divine nature. The church’s beauty is not in anything but the divine nature. She is royal, and she is divine; she is in gold of Ophir, the best gold.
Then the psalmist immediately turns to the queen and says, “Hear, O daughter, and see; and incline your ear; / And forget your people and your father’s house” (v. 10). Instead of praises here we have an instruction to the queen which is exceedingly meaningful. Sometimes even the instructions given to the local churches are the same as praises in the ears of Christ because proper instructions given to the church make the church more of a reality; therefore, these too are praises. These are the instructions: Hear and forget. All the local churches must learn how to hear and how to forget, how to hear the Spirit’s living, up-to-date speaking, and how to forget the past — the old relationships, the old ways, the old background. We must forget our people and our father’s house — “Thus the King will desire your beauty.” The more we forget the past, the more beautiful we become in His eyes. Whenever I hear some people speak of their past, I have the sense of ugliness. If we would leave all the past and go on with the Lord in a new way, we would obtain beauty in the King’s eyes.
In verse 1 of this psalm Christ is the King, in verse 2 He is a man, in verse 6 He is God, and in verse 11 He is the Lord. Because He is the Lord, He is worthy of our worship. “He is your Lord, / Worship Him.” The Bible allows us to worship only God; anything or anyone that is not God, we should not worship. But here we have proper worship, because it is worship of the Lord. He is the King, He is a man, He is God, and He is the Lord — He is everything! Worship Him!
Verse 12 says, “The daughter of Tyre will come with a gift; / The rich among the people will entreat your favor.” Here we see that if the local church is in a proper condition, the people of the earth will come to it. Not only the poor and the lowly will come, but the rich and the honorable, on the one hand with a gift, and on the other hand to entreat the church’s favor. All these are praises about the church, but praises to Christ.
Now let us go on to verse 13: “The king’s daughter is all glorious within the royal abode; / Her garment is a woven work inwrought with gold.” Here we have not the daughters but the daughter. In verse 9 we read that the queen was arrayed in gold, but here the clothing is a woven work inwrought with gold. Gold, as we have seen, signifies the nature of God. Inwrought gold, however, signifies Christ. Christ is not only gold but inwrought gold. He, with His divine nature, has undergone so many sufferings and has been dealt with in so many ways that the gold in Him has become inwrought gold. Now this inwrought gold, this Christ, has become our clothing, our righteousness, that we may stand justified in the presence of God. In the eyes of God, we are clothed with Christ as the acceptable righteousness. Christ is our righteousness before God.
Then verse 14 says, “She [the queen] will be led to the King.” It does not say that she will be brought to God, but to the King. Inwrought gold is sufficient for us to abide in the presence of God, but an added factor is necessary so that we may stand in the presence of the King. “She will be led to the King in embroidered clothing.” This clothing of embroidered work is the pure and white linen mentioned as the righteousnesses of the saints in Revelation 19. What is this? The garment of inwrought gold, as we have seen, is Christ. The embroidered clothing here is also Christ. But the first is the objective Christ; the second is the subjective Christ. The objective Christ is our righteousness so that we may stand in the presence of God; the subjective Christ is Christ Himself woven into our character, embroidered into our being, that we may stand before the King. The latter is not merely a garment that we put on, but one that is worked into us, stitch by stitch. Christ as the inwrought gold is the righteousness put upon us — that is our justification. But following that, the Holy Spirit is working day by day to embroider Christ into us stitch after stitch. Thus, we will have another garment. We will have two robes: the first is for the Father’s satisfaction; the second is for Christ’s satisfaction. It is by the second that we will be led to Christ. All these are definitions and descriptions of the church, but praises to Christ.
I believe that nearly all of you have the inwrought gold as your garment. You have joyful assurance that you have been justified. But suppose that today you should be led to Christ. How would you feel? On one hand, you have been justified, but on the other hand, you are short of Christ being wrought into your being. There is a real shortage of the embroidery. From the day you were justified until today, how many stitches have been embroidered into your being?
All the brothers and sisters in the church life are indeed precious, and we praise the Lord for them. But in another sense everyone is a little needle. In the local churches we need many needles to do the embroidery work that Christ may be wrought into our being. Then we will have embroidered clothing to satisfy Christ. In Revelation 19 we see that it is by this garment the bride is made ready for the wedding. This is the embroidered clothing mentioned in Psalm 45. Praise the Lord, we have the first robe, but we need the second that we may not only praise Christ but be a praise to Christ.
Verses 14 and 15 say, “The virgins behind her, her companions, / Will be brought to You. / They will be led with rejoicing and exultation; / They will enter the King’s palace.” The virgins also are the saints. They will be led with rejoicing and exultation — they are full of praises to Christ. They will enter the King’s palace. All the saints will be brought into the New Jerusalem.
Now we come to the third section of the psalm, the praise to the King about His children. Verse 16 says, “In the place of Your fathers will be Your sons; / You will make them princes in all the earth.” On one hand, we are the daughters and the virgins, but on the other hand, we are the princes, the children of Christ, who will rule the earth under Him. In that day the earth in a practical way will be possessed to the uttermost by the King through all His princes. Then all the earth, all the saints, and the entire universe will say, “O Jehovah our Lord, / How excellent is Your name / In all the earth!”
Verse 17 says, “I will cause Your name to be remembered in all generations; / Therefore the peoples will praise You forever and ever.” How could Christ be on earth with all the people praising Him forever and ever? It is through the princes, through His children, through us. To satisfy Him we are the virgins, the kings’ daughters. To rule for Him we are the princes. He will rule over all the earth through us as His princes and will be praised by all peoples through us.
I believe that this psalm, Psalm 45, is the richest psalm concerning Christ. No human mind could compose such a psalm; it is far beyond human mentality. In such a short psalm of only seventeen verses, how many aspects, how many points, how many items there are! What a good matter we have with which to bubble over!
