THE GLORY OF MESSIAH....Understanding important truths from the Bible….

Psalm 45:2-6  NIV

² You are the most excellent of men
    and your lips have been anointed with grace,
    since God has blessed you forever.

³ Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one;
    clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.
⁴ In your majesty ride forth victoriously
    in the cause of truth, humility and justice;
    let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.
⁵ Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;
    let the nations fall beneath your feet.
⁶ Your throne, O God,^[c] will last for ever and ever;
    a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

The judicious Calvin, as I have read, allowed that only those Psalms quoted in the New Testament as Messianic were to be treated as Messianic Psalms.  This seems a safe way to understand those ancient writings.  This degree of conservatism became unpopular in the 18^th century and has been nearly forgotten in our time.  Be that as it may, the 45^th Psalm is accepted by all Evangelicals as a Messianic Psalm.

This assures us that we receive real truth about the Person and Work of the Messiah in such a Psalm.  The New Testament will give us no information about Messiah that does not agree with and confirm the Psalmist.  So whatever truth is found in the 45^th Psalm will be true about Messiah as He is the deliverer of God’s people.

The translation used is the NIV.  It is not my favorite, though my copy is the translation completed in about 1972 and I find it very helpful particularly in the Old Testament.  This Psalm is one of the Old Testament examples of the accuracy of translation.

There are 4 principle truths in this passage.  When these truths are recognized the Person and Work of Christ becomes increasingly clear.  They are:

1.       VS 2  The excellence of Messiah is declared and that in the superlative degree.  Two results of His excellence is named.

a. His speech is gracious, Luke 4:14-15, 17-22.  However angry His auditors would become, the fulfillment of Scripture and their attestation had already been given to the grace and authority of His words.

b.  He, in all He did, is blessed or accredited by God and that forever.  Christ failed in nothing He did; attempted anything He did not complete; taught anything that was not absolute truth.  He, as He said of Himself, always pleased the Father.

     2.   VS 3  Messiah is a warrior King.

a.  His armor is complete.  He has all the equipment He needs to guarantee His victory.  In Revelation 19:15 this sword is seen coming from His mouth and subduing His enemies.  He is the mighty conqueror.

b.  His armor, described so perfectly in Revelation 1, is perfect to protect Him and overwhelm His enemies.  The description in Psalm 45 is “splendor and majesty.”  In the words of Scripture and the hymns of the church, His majesty is overwhelming.

   3.  VS 4  Messiah does not enter the list with any doubt in the outcome.  Just as He comes in majesty (His 

         birth and His baptism), He comes victoriously.  When on the cross the world saw a condemned and  

        defeated revolutionary, God displayed his victory banner in Messiah’s atoning sacrifice.

            a.  Messiah’s kingdom is described in its boundaries, truth, humility, and righteousness.

In the beatitudes kingdom nature conduct is described.  In Matt. 6:33 the guarantee of Kingdom provision is announced.  But note the qualification, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness.”

b.  Who can count His deeds.  It is enough to exclaim with John,  21:25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

    4.  VSS 5-6  Messiah’s Kingdom is guaranteed to have success and longevity.

            a.  The King has enemies and they will be defeated.  Phil. 2:10-11 ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.    The absolute Lordship of Messiah is stated.  It has been well said that all, each and every soul, will bow to the resurrected Christ.  Some by grace and some by judgment--but all shall bow.

Let me complete this by stating without doubt and emphatically Jesus’ Kingdom is not waiting.  He came into the world as King and He has never been less than that.  As He was King first in the stable, then King upon the Cross, he now reigns as absolute monarch of all at the Father’s right hand. 

Even so, “Come Lord Jesus.”