Saturday, March 6, 2021

Jesus in Psalm 45

      My heart overflows with a good theme; I

address my verses to the King;

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

You are fairer than the sons of men;

Grace is poured upon Your lips;

Therefore God has blessed You forever. 

Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty

 One, in Your splendor and Your majesty!

And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,

for the cause of truth and meekness  

and righteousness.

Let Your right hand teach You awesome 

things. Your arrows are sharp;

The peoples fall under You;

Your arrows are in the heart of the 

King's enemies.

Your throne, O God, is forever

and ever; A scepter of uprightness

is the scepter of Your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness 

and hated wickedness; Therefore

God, Your God, has anointed You 

with the oil of joy above Your fellows.

Psalm 45:1-7 NASB

     

     This psalm, in the first section, describes a King who is fairer than men, one who speaks with grace, and is forever blessed by God (Psalm 45:1-2). Next we read that this same King has splendor and majesty ascribed to Him (Psalm 3-4) and will ride in victory for righteousness, meekness, and truth (Psalm 45:3-4). And yes, we read in these verses that this King is a mighty warrior who will inflict judgement upon His enemies (Psalm 45:3, 5). 


     In Psalm 45:6 we see that this King is God, who rules forever, in uprightness. As God, He loves righteousness and hates wickedness (Psalm 45:7). This is the very foundation of His kingdom. 


     What we read next is quite amazing. Because the King (God), loves righteousness and hates wickedness, He is anointed by God, His God with the oil of Joy above His fellows (Psalm 45:7). This is a profound statement describing a plurality in the Godhead, and ultimately describes the reign of Jesus Christ.


     The writer of Hebrews has this to say,


But of the Son He says, " Your throne O God,

is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter 

is the scepter of His kingdom. 

You have loved righteousness and

hated lawlessness; therefore

God, Your God, has anointed You

with the oil of gladness above Your companions."

Hebrews 1:8-9 NASB


     In this passage we see Psalm applied to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. From this we see plainly that, yes, Jesus is divine, He is God. We also see that as God, He was anointed by God, and that even though Christ is God, He still has a God (Psalm 45:7, Heb 1:9). As the God who became flesh to dwell among us (John 1:14), He lived in subjection to the Father. This helps to bring clarity to passages such as John 20:17 where Jesus states that He must ascend to My Father and Your Father, and My God and Your God, and Ephesians 1:3 which speaks of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We in our finite minds cannot always comprehend the deep things of God, but yet we see scriptures revealing God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.