USB ~ Psalms 45

Song for a Royal Wedding

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

2 My heart is stirred by a noble theme, as I sing my ode to the king. My tongue is the pen of a nimble scribe.

3 You are the most handsome of men; fair speech has graced your lips, for God has blessed you forever. a

4 Gird your sword upon your hip, mighty warrior! In splendor and majesty ride on triumphant! b

5 In the cause of truth, meekness, and justice may your right hand show your wondrous deeds.

6 Your arrows are sharp; peoples will cower at your feet; the king’s enemies will lose heart.

7 Your throne, O God,† stands forever; c your royal scepter is a scepter for justice.

8 You love justice and hate wrongdoing; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellow kings.

9 With myrrh, aloes, and cassia your robes are fragrant. From ivory-paneled palaces† stringed instruments bring you joy.

10 Daughters of kings are your lovely wives; a princess arrayed in Ophir’s gold† comes to stand at your right hand.

III

11 Listen, my daughter, and understand; pay me careful heed. Forget your people and your father’s house,†

12 that 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.

14 All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters, e her raiment threaded with gold;

15 In embroidered apparel she is led to the king. The maids of her train are presented to the king.

16 They are led in with glad and joyous acclaim; they enter the palace of the king.

17 The throne of your fathers your sons will have; you shall make them princes through all the land. f

18 I will make your name renowned through all generations; thus nations shall praise you forever. g

Footnotes

†. 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.

45:3 Sg 5:10-16.
45:4 Ps 21:5.
45:7-8 Heb 1:8-9.
45:13 Ps 72:10-11; Is 60:5f.
45:14-16 Ez 16:10-13.
45:17 Gn 17:6.
45:18 Is 60:15.