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Here in Psalm 45 we have some principles for composing praises to the Lord. The first principle is that the heart is overflowing with a good matter. When we look into the entire psalm, we see that this good matter concerns the King and the queen. The King, we know, is Christ, and the queen is the church; hence, the good matter with which the heart of the psalmist overflows is Christ and the church. We do need something concerning Christ and the church overflowing within us. The word inditing in verse 1 of the King James Version means “boiling up” in the original language. Something is so burning within us that we boil or overflow. We need to be burned with the good matter of Christ, the King, and we need to be burned with the beauty of the church, the queen. We need to be so burned that our heart simply overflows. This is the first principle of composing praises to the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, if you come to the meetings and do not have anything overflowing within you, you are certainly wrong. I say this politely. If I were not so polite, I would say (forgive me) that you are dead. You are not only wrong but dead. Why are you so quiet in the meetings? Do not say that you are just “being nice.” If so, you are deadly nice. I hope that you will be nice in a living way. If you would praise the Lord, you need something overflowing within you. Of course, this requires experiences.
The second principle concerning the praising of the Lord is found in the psalmist’s statement: “I speak what I have composed.” The psalmist has prepared something; he has composed something to speak. What he speaks is what he has already composed. So we all need to learn how to compose. Do not compose in the meeting — that is too late. You must bring to the meetings what you have already prepared and composed before coming. First Corinthians 14:26 says, “Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.” This verse clearly indicates that at the time of meeting, those who gather together already have something. It does not say that everyone will have something but that everyone has something. When you come to the meeting, you should be able to say, “Hallelujah, I come to the meeting with a praise already composed. I speak what I have composed.”
I do not mean that we must compose our praises with knowledge in our mentality but with experiences in the spirit. For example, consider the knowledge we have just received in the past chapters concerning the incense. We should not compose praises simply according to this teaching. We need fresh composition drawn from our fresh experiences. Perhaps in the past few days you have experienced the sweet odor of the incense expelling the enemy. Whenever you utter something as incense to the Lord, the evil one is driven away. You have learned this experientially; therefore, you need to compose something out of this experience as a kind of new and living composition. When you come to the meeting, you can offer this at the proper time as an overflowing of what you have already composed. Our meetings then will all be new — not new in doctrine, teaching, or knowledge, but new in the freshness of praises from our current experiences. We must forever gather new experiences and put them into praise, either by singing, testimony, or worship directed to the Lord Himself. We all need such preparation for the meetings.
This is a matter for professionals, and this is our profession. Our job is the priesthood; we are all priests of God. As priests we need to be professional; we need to be experts in burning the incense. From this there is no vacation: every day is a day for exercising our profession in composing praises to the Lord from our fresh experience.
If we have composed something beforehand, when we arrive in the meeting, our tongue will be the pen of a ready writer. This is the third principle. First, we need the experience with which to overflow; second, we need the composition before coming to the meeting; and third, we need to exercise our tongue. We all must be the writers, so equipped and ready with our tongue. We need to be overflowing with Christ and the church, we need to compose something before coming to the meeting, and we need to practice speaking what we have already composed when we come to the meeting. In the meeting we do some writing with our tongue. Our writing is speaking, first about Christ and then about the church.
From verse 2 to verse 8 we have what the psalmist has composed concerning the King, Christ. First we must speak about Christ. Then from verse 9 through verse 15 we have the psalmist’s composition concerning the queen with the virgins, the daughters, or the women — the church with the saints. Finally, in verses 16 and 17 we see what he has composed regarding the King’s children.
We have already mentioned how seldom praises concerning Christ Himself are heard in the meetings of today’s Christianity. There are frequent thanksgivings made for material blessings of every kind, whereas praises such as those found in Psalms 68 and 45 are practically nonexistent. Rarely can you hear someone praising, “You are fairer than the sons of men; / Grace is poured upon Your lips; / Therefore God has blessed You forever.” There is nothing about material blessing here. We must learn whenever we open our mouths to praise with Christ plus the church, the King and the queen.
Of course, if you have the King, you must also have the queen. The King introduces the queen. Therefore, from verse 9 through verse 15 we have the second section of this psalm, the praise to the King about the queen. In other words, the queen becomes the praise of the King. If we would praise the King, we cannot forget to utter something concerning the queen, for the queen is a part of the King. In the first section the praise is to the King about the King (vv. 1-8), but in the second section the praise is to the King but about the queen (vv. 9-15). Last we have the third section of the psalm — the praise to the King about His children (vv. 16-17). The entire psalm is a praise to the King, but the first part is the praise about the King, the second is the praise about the queen, and the third is the praise about the King’s children, the princes.
Psalm 45 is a psalm about Christ and full of Christ, yet it is written from the various standpoints of human relationships. As a human being you must, of course, have yourself. As a human being you also need a wife. Then, as a human being so complete, perfect, and full, you need your children. Christ is not a bachelor, nor is He childless: He is the King with the queen and all the children. If we would render Him complete praise, we must say something concerning Himself, we must speak about His queen, and we must also utter something regarding His children. His glory is not only in Himself but also in His queen and all His children. These are the three sections of this marvelous and unique praise of Christ. It is directed to one person in three parts — the King, the queen, and the royal children.
Christ’s glory is not only in Himself but also in the church. To see Christ’s glory in Himself, we must read the four Gospels. In these the divine and human glory of Christ blazes forth. But we know that following the four Gospels are many Epistles. In all these we may see the beauty of Christ in the church with many saints. There we see the queen with the virgins, daughters of kings, and most prized. When we come to the book of Revelation, we also see Christ’s glory in His church and in His children, His princes. Actually, in that last consummate book of the Holy Scriptures, we see the threefold glory and beauty of the Lord: in Himself, in His bride, and in His sons, the overcomers. How much we have with which to compose our praises! Christ and the church with the saints! The King and the queen with the princes! The Husband and the wife with the children! Hallelujah!
First we need to praise with what Christ is. In Psalm 45:2 we see this. “You are fairer than the sons of men; / Grace is poured upon Your lips; / Therefore God has blessed You forever.” This is Christ’s being, Christ’s person. He is a man, a fair man, the man who is fairer than all men. As a man He is full of grace, and God has blessed Him forever. Hence, in the person of Christ, there is the fairness, the grace, and the blessing. From verse 3 through verse 5 we have Christ’s accomplishments — the fighting, the overcoming, and the riding through. Today Christ is fighting, overcoming, spreading Himself, and riding triumphantly. Here it says, “Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O mighty One, / In Your majesty and Your splendor. / And in Your splendor ride on victoriously.” Do not think that the Lord is so silent. If we have spiritual eyes, we will see how the Lord is riding through the whole universe. He is spreading Himself by riding and overcoming — this is the way He takes to ride on. I am assured that it will not be long before He will be here; He will return.
In verse 6 we have the kingdom. “Your throne, O God [He is God] is forever and ever; / The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.” After riding through triumphantly, Christ comes to establish the kingdom. We need to praise Him along all these lines. In verse 7 we see the sweet relationship between Him and God. He loves righteousness and hates wickedness. Righteousness represents the things related to God, and wickedness represents the things related to the wicked one, Satan. This means that the Lord loves everything related to God and hates everything related to Satan. Therefore, God delights in Him and anoints Him with the oil of gladness above His companions. This does not mean that the companions are not anointed, but that they are anointed not above Him but under Him. We are the anointed ones under the anointed One, so we are His anointed companions. Hallelujah!
Following this, in verse 8 we have the fragrance of all His doings. The garments in this verse signify the Lord’s deeds. What He does is so filled with the fragrance of His death (the myrrh and aloes) and the fragrance of His resurrection (the cassia). Whatever the Lord does is always based upon the principle of His death and resurrection and therefore is filled with these fragrances.
At this point we read of palaces of ivory where there are harpstrings which make Him glad. What is the meaning of this? Ivory here signifies the unbroken life of resurrection. When Christ was on the cross, none of His bones were broken (John 19:36). Ivory is a kind of bone. Eve was formed out of a bone from Adam (Gen. 2:22), typifying the church which has come out of the unbroken, resurrection life of Christ. Hence, the palaces of ivory are not the heavenly mansions but the local churches, which issue from Christ’s resurrection life. Out of the local churches the music, the singing, and the praising rise unto Him. So, you see, what we need in the local churches is the raising up of praises. We need to praise Him according to all these verses.
We have seen that the church is mentioned as the palaces of ivory in Psalm 45:8. In other words, the church in this verse is pictured as a building. Then in verse 9 the church is mentioned again 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. In Genesis 2 there are first all the materials for the building and second a bride, Eve. Then when we come to the end of the Scriptures, we see the completed building; it is the bride, the wife of the Lamb. So in this psalm we see the church on one hand as the dwelling place of the Lord and on the other hand as the wife of Christ. How many praises we can compose out of such experience! If we are praising Christ, we can never forget the church. Christ and the church are forever joined together.
Now let us read verse 9: “The daughters of kings are among Your most prized.” This is the praise to Christ, but about the saints, the daughters of kings. Spiritually speaking, before the Lord we are all females; we are the daughters of kings. We were poor sinners, but now we are royal, we are kingly, we belong to the King’s family. Do not imagine that the daughters of kings are one group and the most prized another. No, the daughters of kings are the most prized. The daughters of kings speak of our royalty; the most prized speak of our honor and majesty. We should not be proud, but we must all realize that we are so kingly, so honorable. What praise this will inspire! When you walk on the street, do people sense something honorable about you? We should not forget our royal state and our honor. This is praise about us, but this is praise to Christ. If others say, “Look at those poor Christians; what miserable beggars they are!” that would be a shame to Christ. However, when people recognize or sense something in us of our royal and honorable nature, though they may not agree with us, that is a real glory to Christ. How much praise we too can render to Christ for all we see of Him in the daughters of kings and the most prized.
Verse 9 goes on to say, “The queen stands at Your right hand in gold of Ophir.” The daughters of kings 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. The queen 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 quite happy. The praise is about your 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 Los Angeles,” or, “Praise the Lord for the church in Houston,” He is well pleased. Whenever we commend or speak well of the local churches, it is a kind of praise to Christ.
The praise about the King must undoubtedly come first, but the praise regarding 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 not only be 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.” Here, instead of praises, we have an instruction to the queen which is exceedingly meaningful. But, I tell you, sometimes even the instructions given to the local churches are the same as praises in the ears of Christ. Why? Because the proper instructions given to the church make the church more real; therefore, these too are praises. 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 way, and 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. 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 eyes of the King.
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. “Because 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 the proper worship, because it is the 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 garment 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, is our garment, our righteousness, that we may stand in the presence of God. We are all justified with Christ; Christ becomes our righteousness before God. Hallelujah! What a source of praise!
In verse 14 we read, “She [the queen] will be led to the King.” You see, it does not say that she will be led to God, but to the King. Inwrought gold is sufficient for us to be in the presence of God, but we need an added factor that we may stand in the presence of the King. “She will be led to the King in embroidered clothing.” This embroidered clothing is the pure and white linen as the righteousnesses of the saints mentioned 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 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; it is one that is worked into us, stitch by stitch. Christ as the inwrought gold is the righteousness put upon us — that is our salvation. But following that, the Holy Spirit day by day is working to embroider Christ into us stitch after stitch. Thus, we will have another garment. We will have two robes: the first is for God 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 queen but praises unto Christ.
I believe that nearly all of you have upon you the inwrought gold as your clothing. But I also believe that there is a real shortage of the embroidery. 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 another garment that will be a real praise to Christ. In Revelation 19 we see that it is by this garment that the bride is made ready. Praise the Lord, we have the first robe, but we need the second robe 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 brought with rejoicing and exultation — they are all praises to Christ. They will enter the King’s palace. All the saints will enter the New Jerusalem.
Then we come to the third section, 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 we are the virgins, but on the other hand, we are the princes, the children of Christ, who will rule the earth under Christ. 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” (8:1).
Psalm 45:17 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? Through the princes, through His children, through us. To satisfy Him we are the virgins, the daughters of kings. To rule for Him we are the princes.
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 points, how many aspects, how many items there are, all from which we may compose our praises to Christ. How much we have with which to overflow! May the Lord bring us more deeply into all these things, and may we exercise our spirit to compose and use our tongue as a pen to write praises touching Christ, the church, and all the saints.
