Psalm 45:3-5
“Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty. In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds. Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet.”
This Psalm is called “A wedding song;” and it is supposed to have been written on occasion of Solomon’s marriage with Pharaoh’s daughter. But, beyond all doubt, a greater than Solomon is here. Solomon was altogether a man of peace; but the King here spoken of was “a man of war;” and all the address which is here made to him has reference to him under that character. It may seem strange that this view of him should be introduced on the occasion of a nuptial solemnity; but it must be remembered that as the Jews were accustomed, by God’s special permission, to connect themselves in marriage with females whom they had taken captive in war, allowing them a month to forget their former relatives—so the Messiah first conquers those whom he afterwards unites himself in the nuptial bonds.
This is particularly marked in the address to the spouse herself, “Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear; forget also your own people, and your father’s house; so shall the King greatly desire your beauty! verses 10, 11.” Hence, even while contemplating the Lord Jesus under the idea of a husband, we see why we should be anxious to behold his conquests extended over the face of the whole earth. That we may attain the spirit which David breathed, let us consider,
I. The frame of David’s mind.
In reading the Holy Scriptures, we should not be content with noticing the mere sense of any particular passage, (though that is surely in the first place, and with the greatest diligence, to be examined,) but we should mark the peculiar spirit of it, the spirit which the passage itself breathes, the spirit of the person who wrote it, or which it has a tendency to produce in those who read it.
When David penned this Psalm, his mind was full of zeal for Christ.
He had been contemplating the glory and excellency of Christ, “My heart,” says he, “is stirred by a noble thing; I speak of the things which I have made concerning the King.” And so full was his heart of this glorious subject, that “his tongue was as the pen of a ready writer,” which yet was scarcely capable of keeping pace with the ardor of his mind, or of giving utterance to the vast conceptions with which his soul labored! He beheld the Lord Jesus Christ as possessing in himself an excellency far beyond that of any created being, “You are fairer than the children of men.” He saw that, both in the subject and manner of his ministrations, there was a grace which nothing could equal, and which God would honor with the most wonderful success, “Grace is poured into your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.” And anxious to behold the full accomplishment of all that the Messiah had undertaken, he further calls upon him to take to him his great power, and to subdue the whole world unto himself, “Gird your sword upon your thigh, and let the people of every nation under Heaven fall under you!”
In all this you will perceive, that instead of speaking of Christ, as he had intended to do, he is constrained, by the ardor of his own mind, to address himself directly to Christ; and, instead of making his thoughts a subject of communication with man, he is led by them into the exercise of immediate communion with his God. Now,
Such should be the frame of our minds also.
We should be in the constant habit of meditating upon Christ; and of so musing upon his glorious excellencies, that a fire should be kindled in our bosoms! And what other subject is there under Heaven to be compared with this?
Reflect a moment, who the Savior is! He is “the mighty God!”
Consider what he has done! He has assumed our nature, and become a man, in order that, by substituting himself in our place and stead, he might deliver us out of the hands of our great enemy, and bring us into an everlasting union with himself, as “our Friend and our Beloved.”
Consider how rich and free and full are all his invitations and promises; and what blessings will attend the progress of his rule, wherever men shall be subdued unto him.
Should we not long to see his glory advance, and his kingdom established in the world?
Should it not be grievous to us to behold so great a part of the world both ignorant of him, and in rebellion against him?
Should we not be urgent with him in prayer, to make bare his arm, and to subdue the world unto himself?
Surely these are the meditations that befit us; and our hearts should be so full of them, that, wherever we go, and whatever we do, Jesus should be present to our minds; and his praise should be, as it were, the constant effusion of our souls.
But in my text we are more particularly led to notice,
II. The object of David’s desire.
He desires that Christ’s kingdom may be established in the world. But, that I may open this to you the more fully, I wish you to mark,
1. Wherein Christ’s kingdom consists.
It is “in the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness” that the Savior advances to the combat. The whole world is lying in darkness; and he comes to dispel error from their minds. The whole world is full of all manner of abominations; pride stalks through the earth, defying even God himself, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?” and every species of wickedness is indulged, without either remorse or fear.
But the Lord Jesus Christ comes to humble man in the dust before God; and to transform the children of the wicked one into the very image of their God, in righteousness and true holiness! Who must not wish for such a kingdom to be established throughout the whole world? Who must not make it his very first petition from day to day, “May Your kingdom come!” Truly, wherever that kingdom is, which consists “in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”—there is Heaven itself begun in the souls of men.
2. By what means Christ’s kingdom is to be erected.
The sword of the Messiah is the Word of God, which, proceeding from his mouth, Revelation 1:16; Revelation 19:15, subdues the universe before him. “That sword is living and powerful, and pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, Hebrews 4:12.” Nothing can effectually stand before it. As weak as it may appear, it is “mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strongholds, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ! 2 Corinthians 10:4-5.”
Look at the primitive ages of the Church—what was it that brought down all the power and policy both of men and devils? It was not human wisdom or worldly power. It was the simple exhibition of the cross of Christ, and the preaching of Christ crucified! “This Word came to the hearts of men in demonstration of the Spirit and of power;” and, to every soul who received it, it was made “the power of God to his everlasting salvation.”
3. The certainty of the establishment of Christ’s kingdom.
Very sharp were the arrows which were thus sent forth from the Messiah’s bow. Truly “he was a polished shaft in the quiver of Jehovah, Isaiah 49:2,” and nothing could stand before it, Isaiah 59:16-18.
True, indeed, God has not yet seen fit to accomplish all the purposes of his grace; but the time is quickly coming, when Satan, that great adversary of God and man, shall be bound, and “all the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ!” “Great things will God work,” either in a way of mercy or of judgment. He has sworn, that “unto his Messiah every knee shall bow! Isaiah 45:23.” And every soul that bows not to the scepter of his grace shall be broken in pieces, as a potter’s vessel! Psalm 2:8-9.”
Application. Methinks you will now be disposed to ask:
1. How shall I know whether Christ’s kingdom has begun within me?
Only consider wherein this kingdom consists; and you will be at no loss to ascertain the state of your souls before God.
Has the truth of the Gospel been so revealed in your hearts, as to “bring you out of darkness into marvelous light”?
Have you been so humbled by it, as to put your hand on your mouth, and your mouth in the dust, with a deep consciousness of your vileness, and of your desert of God a wrath and indignation?
And, lastly, are you so under “the constraining influence of the love of Christ, that you daily mortify sin, and live not unto yourselves, but unto Him who died for you, and rose again?”
These are questions which, if put to your consciences with fidelity, and answered with truth, will show you at once whose you are, and whom you serve. Truly, by such marks we may infallibly “distinguish the children of God from the children of the devil, 1 John 3:9-10;” and I entreat you to examine yourselves by them with all imaginable care; because, if you still continue to cast off the Savior’s yoke, the time will quickly come when he will say, “Bring here those that were my enemies, who would not have me reign over them, and slay them before me! Luke 19:27.”
2. How shall I get Christ’s kingdom established in my soul?
You have seen the frame of David’s mind. You have seen how he contemplated the Savior’s love, until his soul was ravished with it, and he burst forth into the devout raptures which we have been contemplating.
Just so, this is the way in which the Savior will acquire an ascendant over our souls. The Apostle tells us, “We, beholding as in a looking-glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord, 2 Corinthians 3:18.”
I am far from saying that we ought not to search out our own evil ways, and to mourn over them before God; for it is by such repentance that the preparatory work is usually wrought within us. But I do say that nothing but the love of Christ will ever perfect that work, or bring us into the full liberty of the children of God.
It is from a view of God’s “truth” that our “meekness” will be matured, and our “righteousness” be perfected; and when we are enabled to live by faith in Christ, and in dependence on his promises, then shall we be enabled to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God! 2 Corinthians 7:1.”
Charles Simeon