A Goodly Theme of the King

His Sons and His Bride

 

Mary Easterling

9/15/03

 

 

Text is Psalms 45

 

This is a maschil of the sons of Korah to the shoshanim.  A maschil is a didactic or teaching poem and the shoshanim are the lilies or straight trumpets so named because of their long lily like shape.  

 

It opens with the psalmist declaring that his heart overflows with the goodly theme and his tongue is the pen of a ready writer whose verses are addressed to the king.  The concept of the king is dual in nature as there are two kings addressed here. One is the king of Israel either David or Solomon and the King’s KING; The Messiah.  The king , his sons and his bride are the three characters of the poem.  Of the king it is written; that he is fairer than the sons of men or the children of mortal men.  This concept is also found in the Song of songs as spoken by the bride to the groom.  The words here are actually variation of the same word.  they appear as Strongs #s 3302 and 33023 respectively.  They are Yapha and Yaphe.  Yapha is the primary root word of yaphe and means to be bright, ie by implication to be beautiful as in having made oneself beautiful or fair or decked oneself out in beauty.  Yaphe is the more direct address of one as being beautiful comely fair goodly pleasant or well pleasing where as yapha is descriptive.  What catches the eye of the student is the idea of the brightness of this beauty and it’s a royally decked out splendor of bright shining beauty that can only apply to Jesus as John the revelator saw Him on Patmos.

 

Upon thre lips  of this beauteous one is grace poured out.  Grace here is Chen (Strongs# 2580) which is derived from (#2603) chanan the primary root which properly means to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior.  Therefore Chen is actual graciousness ie subjectively (kindness favor)or objectively (beauty) favor pleasant precious grace.  Its ort of the concept of the queen of England who is hugged by and over zealous commoner and doesn’t say or intervene in any manner practically overlooking the breach in protocol.  Or in biblical terms the Lord when the women wanted their babies blessed and he stopped his talmudin (disciples) from discouraging them. Of course He being the consummate teacher had an object lesson in it as profound as any He ever gave about the childlike approach to the throne of grace.   This is not a condescending grace but genuine and loving. This is poured out and the word poured here is yatsaq (strongs # 3332) which can mean poured or by implication melted or cast as in metal or hardened stiffened.   This is the idea of the determined will hardened into a firm resolve to be nothing and utter nothing but genuine love which is a grace to everyone.  Such a ruler might be well adored.   But this is no soft mushy king of tender insipidness but rather a regal eternally God blessed majestic victorious sword toting warrior king. Shades of revelation!   Here is the picture of the great high King astride the white charger sword on thigh victoriously marching with the captive king open display.  This king wars for truth, emet, truth and faithfulness  and meekness anvah the mildness or oppressed or gentle ones.  It also reminds one of the Son of God who opened not His mouth in front of His accusers. 

 

His right hand teaches Him awesome (fearful) things and the enemies of the king to whom this maschil is addressed fall under the piercing of His arrows so sharp are they.  Ergo this is the earthly kings king liege Lord and God.  The everlasting throne and the scepter of uprightness are this king’s.  This king is the one who is anointed with joy more than his fellows for that he loved righteousness and hated wickedness and of Jesus it is said that but for the joy set before him he endured the cross despising the shame thereof.  Tis king’s garments are fragrant with the scent of myrrh aloes and cassia.  Now these are precious ointments powders or gun resins all.  Myrrh and aloes are deep purgative and rejuvenators and speak of the working of the power of God through the death of self and resurrection of Christ in the believer. Cassia having the scent of cinnamon is the more common of the two. It is used in the recipe for the anointing oil of the tabernacle as it has the same properties as cinnamon but is not as strong.   Cinnamon in the Song of Songs is listed in the garden of the heart of the shulamite bride and speaks to prayer of a more intensive form than that of cassia, which might be seen as the daily relational abiding in the presence of the Lord whilst living in the humdrum of the daily grind.  The garment is of course the royal seamless robe of righteousness and rule of the king, which is our garment in Christ as well.  This sia king accustomed to the finer things of life such as the ivory palace and the sound of the stringed instrument.  Ivory (Shen) the actual stuff of the enamel of the tooth of an elephant per say, speaks to the concept of godhood.  This is the ivory palace of the gods of men far above the reach of the mere mortal where the gods rule the destinies of mankind.  However it has also been said the Jesus left a place far fairer than a man conceived ivory palace of a demigods to become as the elephant a sacrificial gift building out of himself a wondrous living monument to the Father for all the ages to see, namely the body of Christ.  The stringed instrument is one of the instruments used in temple worship.  Ivory also speaks to the brightness and purity of a thing.  I see the blinding hall of glory and the harp and lyre on which God is worshipped and adored.

 

Now the text gives way to another from the great king we come to a queen.   Daughters of kings are among the King’s courtiers but the queen stands on His right in gold of Ophir. This is appropriate enough because the word for queen is Shegal from the primary root word shagal.  Shegal is queen (from cohabitation) where as shagal its root means to copulate with, be ravished by.  Ophir gold was at the time of this writing the finest purest costliest gold that existed, there was no more a quality product than gold of Ophir mines.  This woman and women stands to His right as he stands to the right of the Father.   The next several versus are a telling portrait of the queen. 10 Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear: Forget your people and your father's house;.  11 Then the King will desireyour beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him. Its as if the father of the “would be” queen is giving his daughter away at a royal wedding and is giving her advice. In fact one is made to wonder if these weren’t some of the words that Mordecai said to Esther.  She is told to forget or be separated from her people and fathers house from her own people and lands to become, as the Kings would have her to be. This is the same type of separation Abraham endured before his greatness. The word forget (Strongs # 7911) is Shakach to forget, ignore, and wither to literally forget and put out from mind all that was hers in order to conform to the King. So that king she is going to will desire (Strongs #183 avah a primary root word meaning to wish for covet (greatly) desire be desirous long lust after *) her beauty Strongs 3308 yophi or literal beauty like Esther. Therefore she is to bow down (bow) (strongs # 7812) to bow down (figuratively) to depress to bow down, prostrate oneself before superior in homage before God in worship, before false gods, before an angel. because he is her Lord. That word is Adonai the name for Jehovah.  12 The daughter of Tyre  (Tsor or rock){will come} with a gift. The rich among the people will seek your favor. This is position and prominence and power! 13 The King's daughter is all-glorious [K’buwddah (Strongs # 03520) abundance, riches, wealth gloriousness, glorious] within; Her clothing is interwoven (intermingled or a gold spun linen or silk fabric) with gold. (Melchizadek) 14 She will be led to the King in embroidered (possibly where the gold comes in as well) work; the virgins, (the wise virgins as opposed to the foolish) 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.   What I see here is the parable of the wedding dinner which the king of the land invited certain people to who dismissed the invitation with fools excuses and were destroyed for it.  This king was able to go to war with all the lands of these “ambassadors”.  This was the nuptial to end all nuptials the weddings of the prince!  For us it’s the weddings of the Lamb in revelation nineteen. 

 

Now the focus shifts back to the great King who in place of the fathers; (apostolic prophetic) are the sons (the Melchizadek the king priests of the millennial reign,) for they are made princes in the earth.   The great Kings name will be remembered in the generations to come because even though the king priests walk the earth there are also mortals.  And in that day and eternity thanksgiving will be given to the great king, which is none other than the Father in the person of the Son.

 

The bride and the sons of God appear here to be two different entities.  

 

* a word on avah and desire and covet.

Avah is also the word used in Deut 5:21 in the ten commandments referring to what one was not to covet.  Interestingly enough the first writing of the same cmmandment in ex 20:17 uses a different word Strongs # 2530 chamad which is also a primary root word meaning to delight in beauty greatly beloved covet delectable thing – delight desire goodly lust (be ) pleasant, precious (thing).  Both words are used in the negative connotation of not coveting the neighbors goods animals servants or spouse.  Chamad almost sounds like the act of the delightful lusting sort of the guy slipping in the back door to the little woman where as avah has him  drooling at the back fence!