– 14 Min Read
Introduction
Chapters 45 and 46 in the Psalter are connected, not only because they are in the same book and one is after the other, but because they both contribute to one grand story of redemption. As we will see, the Sons of Korah wrote these songs and the Psalmist decided to place them in this particular order for a reason. I would assert the reason is that from their conception they were meant to be sung in this order. They are not only rich in their theological truth but have a profound prophetic voice to them. In these two Psalms, we get a glimpse into all the work Christ is going to do from His first coming to His second coming.
This is not a commentary on these two chapters but is simply a brief survey of them both while pointing out the hints and symbols the inspired authors were putting forth into a poetic song about the divine King who loves and will rescue His bride.
Psalm 45
This Psalm from the Sons of Korah offers an obvious typological fulfillment of Christ as THE King of Israel. The poetic language employed by the Sons of Korah to describe the king of Israel is obviously hyperbolic and even divine (v.7). It is right to say that this is a Psalm of the Messiah who would come from David’s line and yet be David’s Lord (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 22:43-45). James M. Hamilton points out that the structure of the Psalm can be best seen under three headings; The King’s Conquest (v.1-5), The King’s Throne (v.6-8), and The King’s Wedding (v.9-17) [1].
My heart overflows with a good theme;
Psalm 45 (LSB)
I address my verses to the King;
My tongue is the pen of a skillful scribe.
2 You are fairer than the sons of men;
Grace is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.
3 Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One,
In Your splendor and Your majesty!
4 And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,
For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;
Let Your right hand teach You awesome things.
5 Your arrows are sharp;
The peoples fall under You;
Your arrows are in the heart of the King’s enemies.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your companions.
8 All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad.
9 Kings’ daughters are among Your noble ladies;
At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.
10 Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:
Forget your people and your father’s house;
11 Then the King will desire your beauty.
Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him.
12 The daughter of Tyre will come with a present;
The rich among the people will seek your favor.
13 The King’s daughter is all glorious within her chamber;
Her clothing is interwoven with gold.
14 She will be led to the King in embroidered work;
The virgins, her companions who follow her,
Will be brought to You.
15 They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing;
They will enter into the King’s palace.
16 In place of your fathers will be your sons;
You shall set them up as princes in all the earth.
17 I will cause Your name to be remembered from generation to every generation;
Therefore the peoples will give You thanks forever and ever.
Concerning The King’s Conquest we see that in v.5 “the peoples fall under [Him]” and that His “arrows are in the heart[s] of [His] enemies.” This is communicating the fact that this King, (whom we interpret to be the greater David, Christ), will conquer the nations and that because He conquers over all of them, He therefore can establish a throne for Himself forever (v.6). This is certainly a reference to 2 Samuel 7:13; “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” The Sons of Korah sing on in v.6 that; “a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.” The scepter is certainly a symbol of ruling (Deut. 17) but it is primarily an Old Testament reference to the coming Messiah (Gen. 49:10; Num. 24:17).
Then we arrive at v.7, which says “God, Your God, has anointed You. . .” It is at this point that the reader clearly understands that the king this Psalm is speaking of is not merely human, but is indeed divine. We read that just as David was anointed by God (1 Sam. 16:13), Jesus Christ the Godman was also anointed by the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38).
As we look at The King’s Wedding (v.9-17), it becomes clearer based on our typological interpretations that this is going to speak of the Church. Though yes, Solomon had many, many wives, this serves as a typological illustration of the many nations of people that will make up the bride of Christ. We see that the kings of the conquered nations have daughters that are “among [the new King’s] noble ladies” (v.9). We see that these daughters are addressed in the song by the Psalmist to do four things; “give attention“, “incline your ear“, “forget your people and your father’s house,” and “bow down to [the King]” (v.10-11). All of these things get to the main point of obedience. The bride of the King should be obedient, for when she is obedient “Then the King will desire [her] beauty” (v.11)
Forgetting her people is to forget the pagan nation that she came from and to forget her father’s house is twofold; she is no longer under her father’s authority but is now prepared to be under the authority of her new King husband, and she is to forget her identity of daughter because her new identity is in union to her husband (Gen. 2:24; Eph. 5:22-32). There is a reward offered to those who are “brought to [the King]” (v.14), for “in place of [their] fathers will be [their] sons” (v.16). The promise offered to Christ’s bride, the Church, is an eternal reward. It is something comparable to the “gladness” and “rejoicing” (v.15) a woman feels when she discovers that she is going to have a child and become a mother. Calvin said of this text;
“By the word daughter, the prophet gently and sweetly soothes the new Church; and he also sets before her the promise of a bountiful reward, to induce her, for the sake of Christ, willingly to despise and forsake whatever she made account of heretofore. It is certainly no small consolation to know that the Son of God will delight in us, when we shall have put off our earthly nature. In the meantime, let us learn, that to deny ourselves is the beginning of that sacred union which ought to exist between us and Christ.”
– John Calvin [2]
This is a great Psalm that offers much typological fulfillment to be appreciated and seen in Christ. In this Psalm, we get a glimpse into the New Testament work of the Son of God through imagery and poetry. It is in the next Psalm that we see a work of God that has yet to come because it is reserved for the end.
Psalm 46
From 1604 to 1611 the King James translators worked on producing the best English translation they could and when they arrived at translating the poetic Scriptures they sought to consult with England’s most famous playwright of their time. William Shakespeare was brought in to give special attention to these poetic Scriptures, particularly the Psalms. As Shakespeare was working through the Psalms he arrived at Psalm 46 on his forty-sixth birthday. Shakespeare could not resist leaving his mark in the English translation of now his “Birthday Psalm” and translated the 46th word from the beginning as “shake” (v.3) and the 46th word from the end as “spear” (v.9) [2].
This Psalm is being built upon 45. It fits in a chronological flow that makes sense to the New Testament reader; Jesus comes and conquers the earth by way of His cross (Psalm 45:3-5; Col. 2:14-15; Heb. 2:14; Matt. 28:18), He ascends to His throne (Psalm 45:6-8; Acts 1:11; Heb. 8:1, 12:2), by His great work He has taken for Himself a bride (Psalm 45:9-16; Eph. 5:22-32; Rev. 19:7, 21:2,9), and will keep His bride safe as He “appoints desolations in the earth” (v.8), because He is her refuge.
God is our refuge and strength,
Psalm 46 (LSB)
A very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains shake into the heart of the sea;
3 Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its lofty pride. Selah.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her, she will not be shaken;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations roar, the kingdoms shake;
He gives His voice, the earth melts.
7 Yahweh of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.
8 Come, behold the works of Yahweh,
Who has appointed desolations in the earth.
9 He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts up the spear;
He burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 Yahweh of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.
This Psalm is popularly known for v.10, which in translations besides the LSB says; “Be still and know that I am God.” This is a good summary of this eschatological song. Like what we have seen in the Exodus account and see in the judgments of Revelation, God keeps His people safe while pouring out His wrath on unbelieving “Egyptians/earth dwellers” (Exod. 8:22, 10:2,21-23, 12:12-13; Rev. 6:10, 8:13, 11:10, 13:8, 17:12).
The Sons of Korah write in their song of praise “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains shake into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake…” (v.1-2). That even when God appoints desolations in the earth, melts the earth by His voice, makes wars cease, breaks bows, cuts up spears, and burns chariots with fire (v.6,8-9); God’s people are not to fear because they will be protected from God’s wrath. God is a refuge for His people and a terror against His enemies. This is similar to what we see in Revelation Chapter 19. After God destroys Babylon the Great we see heaven and all of God’s saints rejoice.
After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great crowd in heaven, saying,
Revelation 19:1-6 (LSB)
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; 2 because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her sexual immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His slaves shed by her hand.” 3 And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever.” 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And a voice came from the throne, saying,
“Give praise to our God, all you His slaves, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” 6 Then I heard something like the voice of a great crowd and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.
The Sons of Korah also write in Psalm 46:4 that “there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High.” This is identical to what John tells us he sees in the New Heavens and the New Earth; “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, bright as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:1-2).
Then in v.5 we read “God is in the midst of her, she will not be shaken; God will help her when morning dawns.” Two things to observe here. 1) The “her” mentioned is in reference to the “city of God” in v.4. The Sons of Korah personify the city of God as a woman, or we could say “bride”. Again, this is the precise language of John when he sees the New Jerusalem, the City of God, descending out of the New Heavens.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them. . .
Revelation 21:2-3, 9-11 (LSB)
Then one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like precious stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
The City of God is the Church in this scene, just like it is in Psalm 46:5. For the Sons of Korah to say that “she will not be shaken” (v.5) means that the City of God, (the Church), is established forever. This is what we also see in Revelation 21-22.
2) v.5 continues by saying; “God will help her when morning dawns.” I believe the best way to appreciate this poetic language is by interpreting it as the resurrection of the people of God. Just as God helps the sun set and rise again, so God will help His bride resurrect to new life. If this interpretation of v.5 is right, then this would correspond to Revelation 20:4-6.
Conclusion
In Psalm 45 and 46 we can sing of what God has done for His Church and what God will do for His Church. These Psalms lay out in great chronological detail of God’s redemptive plan for His people. He has conquered the nations, He is sitting on His heavenly throne, He is betrothed to His bride, and is going to come back in judgment to rescue her.
Works Cited
[1] Psalms, Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary: Volume I: Psalms 1-72, by James M. Hamilton Jr., (Lexham Press, Bellingham, WA, 2021), 467-470.
[2] Calvins Commentaries Volume V, Commentary on The Book of Psalms Vol. II, John Calvin, (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1989), 189
[3] The Book of Psalms, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, by Nancy Walford, (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 2014), 425-426.