Psalms

Introduction
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PSALM 45^*

Song for a Royal Wedding

1For the leader; according to “Lilies.” A maskil of the Korahites. A love song.

I

2My heart is stirred by a noble theme,

as I sing my ode to the king.

My tongue is the pen of a nimble scribe.

II

3You are the most handsome of men;

fair speech has graced your lips,

for God has blessed you forever.^a

4Gird your sword upon your hip, mighty warrior!

In splendor and majesty ride on triumphant!^b

5In the cause of truth, meekness, and justice

may your right hand show your wondrous deeds.

6Your arrows are sharp;

peoples will cower at your feet;

the king’s enemies will lose heart.

7Your throne, O God,^* stands forever;^c

your royal scepter is a scepter for justice.

8You love justice and hate wrongdoing;

therefore God, your God, has anointed you

with the oil of gladness above your fellow kings.

9With myrrh, aloes, and cassia

your robes are fragrant.

From ivory-paneled palaces^*

stringed instruments bring you joy.

10Daughters of kings are your lovely wives;

a princess arrayed in Ophir’s gold^*

comes to stand at your right hand.

III

11Listen, my daughter, and understand;

pay me careful heed.

Forget your people and your father’s house,^*

12that the king might desire your beauty.

He is your lord;

13^dhonor him, daughter of Tyre.

Then the richest of the people

will seek your favor with gifts.

14All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters,^e

her raiment threaded with gold;

15In embroidered apparel she is led to the king.

The maids of her train are presented to the king.

16They are led in with glad and joyous acclaim;

they enter the palace of the king.

IV

17The throne of your fathers your sons will have;

you shall make them princes through all the land.^f

18I will make your name renowned through all generations;

thus nations shall praise you forever.^g

* [Psalm 45] A song for the Davidic king’s marriage to a foreign princess from Tyre in Phoenicia. The court poet sings (Ps 45:2, 18) of God’s choice of the king (Ps 45:3, 8), of his role in establishing divine rule (Ps 45:4–8), and of his splendor as he waits for his bride (Ps 45:9–10). The woman is to forget her own house when she becomes wife to the king (Ps 45:11–13). Her majestic beauty today is a sign of the future prosperity of the royal house (Ps 45:14–17). The Psalm was retained in the collection when there was no reigning king, and came to be applied to the king who was to come, the messiah.

* [45:7] O God: the king, in courtly language, is called “god,” i.e., more than human, representing God to the people. Heb 1:8–9 applies Ps 45:7–8 to Christ.

* [45:9] Ivory-paneled palaces: lit., “palaces of ivory.” Ivory paneling and furniture decoration have been found in Samaria and other ancient Near Eastern cities, cf. Am 3:15.

* [45:10] Ophir’s gold: uncertain location, possibly a region on the coast of southern Arabia or eastern Africa, famous for its gold, cf. 1 Kgs 9:28; 10:11; Jb 22:24.

* [45:11] Forget your people and your father’s house: the bride should no longer consider herself a daughter of her father’s house, but the wife of the king—the queen.

a. [45:3] Sg 5:10–16.

b. [45:4] Ps 21:5.

c. [45:7–8] Heb 1:8–9.

d. [45:13] Ps 72:10–11; Is 60:5f.

e. [45:14–16] Ez 16:10–13.

f. [45:17] Gn 17:6.

g. [45:18] Is 60:15.