On Psalm 45—Part 2

(Ps 45:7)ASV Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness: Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
(Ps 45:8) All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia; Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad.

A more literal translation would be " ... Out of ivory palaces my stringed instruments have made thee glad." The word מני translated here "my stringed instruments" corresponds to מנים "stringed instruments" in Ps 150:4. The use of the first person in this verse fits the context of the first and last verses, which are spoken at the first person. But who is the speaker? Heb 1:8, quoting Ps 45:6, makes it clear that God the Father is the speaker. In the Scripture we read about the instruments of David that were used for praising the Lord (2Ch 7:6, 2Ch 29:26-27, Ne 12:36). Then, in view of Ps 45:8, we could understand that praise in heaven is carried out with instruments provided by God himself.

(Ps 45:9)ASV Kings' daughters are among thy honorable women: At thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir.

As for the meaning of this verse, we could recall first that the church is the bride of Christ.

(Eph 5:30)KJV For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
(Eph 5:31) For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
(Eph 5:32) This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

In Ps 45:9, the queen stands for the church, and thus represents all believers. Moreover, the word translated "honorable women" is also a metaphor for believers. It is a form of an adjective meaning "valuable, precious, splendid, ... ". Those who belong to the Lord are precious in his sight. "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth" (De 14:2)ESV. "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession ... " (1Pt 2:9)EMTV. Moreover, the Lord "hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father ... " (Rev 1:6). Then, the daughters of kings in Ps 45:9 would stand for believers who are descendants of other believers. There are various other passages in which the church appears as the bride of Christ, such as the following.

(Eph 5:25) Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

(Rev 19:6)ASV And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth.
(Rev 19:7) Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
(Rev 19:8) And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
(Rev 19:9) And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb. ...

(Rev 21:2)KJV And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

In the verse above, note that the new Jerusalem stands for its people. Commonly in the Bible, city and land names denote the people living in them. Speaking to Jerusalem, the Lord said "you shall be called My Delight Is in Her ... and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you" (Is 62:4-5)ESV. "For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called" (Is 54:5). In the days of Isaiah there were not many Israelites who had the faith of Abraham. Their godly forefathers, though having numerous descendants, did not have many spiritual descendants. Figuratively speaking, their fathers were like a forsaken city or like a desolated and barren woman (Is 54:1). The subsequent desolation of Jerusalem during the Babylonian exile illustrated this point. The Lord promised, however, that the forsaken city will be inhabited (Is 62:4-5) and the barren woman will have more children than a married woman (Is 54:1-5). "You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you" (Is 62:4-5)ESV. Note that the verb בעל that is translated here "to marry" has a meaning of "to possess", being closely related to the noun בעל "owner, lord, husband". Thus, this passage speaks not only of the great love of the Lord for his people, like the love of a bridegroom for his bride, but also of spiritual descendants that will be closely associated to them, just like people that hold on to the land they possess.

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