(Personal Note: This is a passage that helped require me to give up my pre-mil fatih. I did this Psalm because I liked it.)
This Psalm describes the seating of the "Lord" at the right hand far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named.
Hebrews chapter one placed this Psalm into action when Christ ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high, Eph. 1:20, 21; Ps. 110; Lk. 20:42; Heb. 1:13, etc..
Here in Psalms 45, we have a description of our Lord as He sits upon His throne over God's heritage, as David did. This Psalm gives us one of the clearest views of the position as well as the work of our great King.
V.1 This Psalm is springing up from the Psalmist's heart.
inditing means moving or stirring. The Psalmist's heart is being stirred as he thinks on a good matter. "Good matter, the good spell, or gospel."
In this Psalm, we have a very good presentation and explanation of the gospel of the Kingdom which Christ came preaching, Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Acts 28:31.
As the Psalmist thinks and meditates on the goodness of the King and His Kingdom, his heart overflows and he has no choice but to write it down for others to hear and read.
I can well identify with the pen of a ready writer. I cannot read the Scriptures without writing something down, even if it is just in the margin of my Bible.
If we would take time to think and meditate on the wonders and glories of our Great King, we would find the same results. Our hearts also would overflow with His goodness.
If our testimony for Christ were an overflow of our realization of who He is, then we also could see the world turned upside down.
As touching the king:
The King: There can be no better subject of thought and speech than THE KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS.
Touching the king: All we can do is touch the subject. Someday, though, we will see Him in His fullness, but now all we can do is what the woman did, just touch the hem of His garment.
We have only ONE message which will be of any use to man, and will cure what ails him.
It is not new laws, but it is a new KING. Man's problem is that he serves the wrong king.
We have no message except the message as touching the king. We need to pray that our tongue would be as is the pen of a ready writer when it comes to speaking about the King of kings and Lord of lords. Let us take up our pen and write it down that we might be reminded of the beauty of our KING to us.
V.2 Thou are fairer... We are told in Isa. 53:2, He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
Christ does not appeal to the natural man. The natural man only sees that Christ will keep him from going his natural way.
It is the Spirit who makes Christ fairer than everyone else.
The Psalmist here has no one to compare this King to. All he can say is that, he is fairer than the children of men. Who would you compare "God with us" with? How would you describe "God incarnate in the flesh?" What standard could we use? He is fairer than ten thousand (times ten thousand and thousands of thousands) to my soul.
V. 2 uses just one sentence to describe what took place in Christ's earthly ministry. Grace is poured into thy lips. This speaks of His meditation work. The result of this meditation work is, God hath blessed him forever and He now sits at God's right hand of power.
The Psalmist saw only a very small portion of the human, earthly work of the King. Only one line is used to describe this work. Then he saw the results, Therefore, God hath blessed thee forever. Then the rest of what he sees is the reign of the King. The emphasis seems here to be more on His reign than on His work. But, of course, His reign is based upon His work with the one little word, therefore..
Illustration:
At one time I worked in construction. I worked for Tousley-Bixler in 1966 or so. When I went with them they were building the Eagle Creek Dam at I 74 and I 465 in Indianapolis. When I first went to the job site, they were digging the foundation for the dam. If I remember right, they had to go as deep as they went high. The draglines and pans (earthmovers) were down in this 'key way' preparing a foundation but there came a time when that foundation had to be built upon, or the project would have been a failure.
Paul here says in Heb. 6, "You are saved, you understand these foundation doctrines. The foundation of--repentance, faith, baptisms, hands, resurrection and judgment. Move on and built upon this. Now that you are saved, baptized, ready for the resurrection and judgment, build the house." We must start studying and emphasizing the King. How to please Him, how to advance His kingdom, how to work for Him, and how to bring all things into subjection to Him and His word.
To stay on the basic would be like working all your life on the foundation of a beautiful house, but never put up a brick or block on the walls. The foundation is firmly laid. Now we need to build.
V. 3 Here we have the King going to battle.
The King here seems to be coming straight from the exaltation on the right hand of His Father to His place as a conquering hero. Here the desire of the Psalmist is to see Him put His sword on and use it in battle.
Thy sword... Here is this King going forth to conquer. What does He use? (Would anyone care to take a guess at this?
We must always keep in mind that these OT authors wrote from their perspective. When they write of warfare, they only knew of one type of warfare, the blood and guts kind.
Isa 49:2
We must go elsewhere in Scripture to interpret Scripture, for no Scripture is of private interpretation. One of the clearest OT reference to this sword would be in Isaiah 49:2. There, prophetically, the Lord Jesus says that the Father hath made my mouth like a sharp sword.
The Psalmist saw a King with a sword on His thigh going forth to conquer His enemies.
Observe the order given in this Psalm.
1. --Fairer than-- The Son of man came, God with us.
2. --Grace is poured-- He completed the work given to Him by His Father.
3. --God hath blessed-- He is exalted above ALL because of His completed work.
4. --Gird thy sword-- He has the sword on now. He "put it on" when He was exalted. The KING is now going forth to conquer. All might, glory and majesty are His now. It was given to Him by the FATHER at His resurrection, Matt. 28:19, 20.
Isaiah gives us a glimpse of the conquering sword of the King. However, the NT clearly defines the sword of this King:
Heb. 4:12-13
First the King is exalted because of His perfect obedience.
Second, from His exalted position, He goes to battle. How does He use this sword? This is made extremely clear in 1 Corinthians.
1 Cor. 1:21. This is not talking of the manner of delivering the word of God, preaching. Rather, this is referring to the message, the word of God. The world considers the word of God foolish. But notice what it is!
I Cor. 3:9 For we are laborers together with God: ye are God's
husbandry, ye are God's building.
The saints go forth to battle under the leadership of the Captain of the Lord's host.
And He sends His army against the very gates of hell armed with what has been provided for them on the cross, and the Word of God. Not even the gates of Hell can prevail against this army, Matt. 16:18.
I Tim. 1:17-19, His saints go forth armed with faith and a clear conscience and with this are able to war a good warfare. (Clear conscience-- when others accuse us of something, our conscience is clear.)
Our power against the enemy lies in the skillful use of this sword, not in any reasoning ability other than reasoning out of the scriptures; nor does it lie in numbers.
This King could have used His power to come charging into this world on a white horse as the Jews expected Him to do, with the battle cry "Repent or perish, death by the sword," as do the Muslims.
He chose to use people. As people use this sword of the Spirit - the word of God, then our King moves into action.
The Bible on the table never did anyone any good. It is not a magic charm to ward off evil, nor is a cross worn around the neck.
The Word of God defends our homes, but only when it is properly used. It arms the strong man, but only if he knows how to use it.
O most mighty... Only one Person rates this title, KING JESUS. He alone can claim all power, might and authority. And His claim is legitimate, as well as deserved.
V. 4 The King goes out with His army to conquer his enemies.
Prosperously means this King will not fail. As He goes forth in truth, meekness and righteousness He will not fail. He will not know the agony of defeat. 2 Tim 2:24-26.
Our prayer should be that King Jesus would "ride prosperously" against Hs enemies today. Only this prosperousness is the Spirit subduing those who are against Him to the King. We know some people that this is our desire for, that the King would subdue them to Himself.
There is a tremendous war going on right now. Col. 2:15, the enemy was defeated, but the army of God has a hard time grasping this, and rather than press the victory which was won, we have dropped our weapons and fled. Or when there is a slight victory as David over Goliath, rather than pressing the victory we spoil the tents of the enemy.
How is the King on His throne going to turn the tide of the battle? We do not know, but do know that one day, every living soul will bow before Him, Phil. 2:10.
How is the battle pressed today? Grace! God working through His spoken word through His people. This should give us the boldness of a lion to speak up with the word of God at every opportunity.
Notice the method of conquest used by this King and His army: truth, meekness and righteousness.
This is the Gospel of the KINGDOM of God (Romans 14:17)
This Kingdom stands in contrast to the kingdoms of men of war and mass slaughter. No wonder many writers desire to make the king of Ps. 45, King Solomon. They need an illustration of a physical kingdom advanced by death and destruction.
This King did not come to kill and destroy. He came to save sinners, and He is in the converting business today.
The feeling that the only way Christ can reign must be through slaughter and blood has left a 'church' waiting for, hoping for, and expecting this great slaughter, left it with really no motivation to obey Matt. 18:19, 20; "Go forth and conquer, subdue all kingdoms for our Great King".
V. 5, the Psalmist then saw the King's enemies fall before Him. Of course, they could only see this in the light of their understanding. They understood how Joshua went into Canaan and how David conquered his enemies, but they could only see a dim shadow of the NT grace.
Ps. 45:3. Christ is clearly presented as a man of war, and warlike terms are used to describe Him. Elsewhere we are told what these terms mean. We must understand them in the light of the Holy Scriptures, or we will find ourselves false teachers.
In Acts 2:34 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
The enemies of God were pricked in their heart, and they cried out for mercy.
The word of God will have an affect. We need to be confident in its power.
We might offer this thought. Are our modern day plagues of sexual diseases as well as the drug problems part of His arrows in the heart of the king's enemies.
Ps. 45:5, we have the Holy Spirit striking
in the hearts of the enemies of God.
Rom. 5:10 identifies who these enemies are. They are the sinner.
Rom. 3:10-12 also speaks of the whole of the human race as being
at 'odds' with their Creator.
The 'arrow' is shot by the Son into the heart of those He will (Rom., chp. 9, esp. vv. 16-19).
Ps. 45:5, tells us that the King is on His throne. The Holy Spirit is dwelling among men convicting them of sin as well as working out His good purpose in their lives
As the King rides, His arrows go out in all directions. They are sharp, aimed at the heart of men. When this well directed arrow strikes in the heart of men, they fall under Him. This is being fulfilled and will be completely fulfilled one day in the manner He sees fit to fulfill it. One day all peoples, tongues and nations will fall under Him
His people must see that they are the servants
of a conquering King.
We are to have no taste for 'blood and guts'.
His kingdom is not based upon this slaughter.
Our victory lies in the heavens with our risen Lord and Saviour.
Now we only see a shadow of this glorious, total, complete victory, but, one day it will be fully realized.
These arrows of v. 5; "1) Arrows of judicial wrath are sharp. 2) Arrows of providential goodness are sharper still. 3) Arrows of subduing grace are sharpest of all. The quiver of the almighty is full of these arrows"--He has arrows for every occasion.
V. 6 -- The Psalmist moves right on with no interruption. As we said, much of modern theology will try to make all of this Psalm a reference to Solomon except this verse and maybe the next one. This is needed in order to support the idea that King Jesus is not yet upon His throne over all of creation.
Spurgeon says of this (pg. 318) "To whom can this be spoken but our Lord? The Psalmist cannot restrain his adoration. His enlightened eye sees in the royal husband of the church, God, God to be adored, God reigning everlastingly. Blessed sight! Blind are the eyes that cannot see God in Christ Jesus! We never appreciated the tender condescension of our King in becoming one flesh with his church, and placing her at his right hand, until we have fully rejoiced in his essential glory and deity. What a mercy for us that our Saviour is God, for who but a God could execute the work of salvation? What a glad thing it is that he reigns on a throne which will never pass away, for we need both sovereign grace and eternal love to secure our happiness. Could Jesus cease to reign we should cease to be blessed, and were he not God, and therefore eternal, this must be the case. No throne can endure forever, but that on which God himself sitteth. "The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter." He is the lawful monarch of all things that be. His rule is founded in right, its law is right, its result is right. Our King is no usurper and no oppressor. Even when he shall break his enemies with a rod of iron, he will do no man wrong; his vengeance and his grace are both in conformity with justice. Hence we trust him without suspicion; he cannot err; no affliction is too severe, for he sends it; no judgment too harsh, for he ordains it. O blessed hands of Jesus! The reigning power is safe with you. All the just rejoice in the government of the King who reigns in righteousness."
Ps. 45:6, we have Christ ascending to His throne, not only over His people as was David's throne, but also over all creation. He ascended to this throne when He returned to His Father. Really His reign did not start at that time but it was from eternity past. Jn. 17:2, the Father gave Jesus power over all flesh. Even the power which is exercised contrary to righteousness must come from Jesus. (See our book on Rom. 13:1-5.)
Jn. 17:6 points out that Christ's glory was established before the world was established. So we see that Christ always has reigned. He took a 33 1/2 years "leave" from that reign to come as a man to pay the price of redemption. That job complete, He returned and sat back down on His throne of all power and authority where He is at this time.
From His throne He spoke and the worlds were made. From His throne He moved in history to bring about all of the circumstances surrounding His birth, death and resurrection. He ascended back to His throne and from there once again, He is directing all of history (past, present, future) and preparing once again, for His second coming in His power and glory.
Read Heb. 1 and 2. Ps. 45:6, as will the rest of the OT, will lose its full significance without the context of the NT.
The impressive thing here in v. 6, is that His throne is forever and ever. From eternity past--to eternity future, with no hint of a "time out" while the price of darkness rules. There is no way around a uninterrupted rule of this King. Neither from Ps. 45 nor from Heb. 1 and 2, as well as Acts chp. 2 and many other passages. Peter asserts that Christ has already ascended to the place of all power and authority once again and in no uncertain terms I Pet. 3:21, 22.
We realize that all circumstances point to a time of undisputed rule by the prince of darkness, but we can find no hint of this in these passages. There seem to be references elsewhere to the "victorious rule" of the prince of darkness but we will not find a break in rule of the KING of kings which will permit adding the prince of darkness in power over HIM.
Example: The passage such as Ps. 45 and Heb. 1 and 2, speak of King Jesus leaving His home in glory, coming to this earth and dyeing for the redemption of man. The next step is His ascension to His throne and there waiting until all His enemies are subdued. In this outline, as far as we can tell, there is no provision for His enemies prevailing over Him. Now, there are passages which seem to fit well when inserted, and there seems to be 'spaces' where they can be inserted. But they are not in the "outlines" of these passages before us. II Thess. 2 would seem to show the triumph of evil over God but notice Paul said it was already at work, and gave no timetable. Even Rev. 13 takes place because God gave the power to do that and even then it is to perform His will, Rev. 17:17. The Examiner, "Why Does God Exalt The Ungodly".
Again, what is God's timetable to work His purpose for His glory? Only He knows. There could still be the rise and fall of many social orders such as the world has never seen. We do know that in the past Christianity has triumphed over paganism and in the present paganism seems to be triumphing over Christianity. We could be considered the early church fathers some day. We just don't know God's timetable. We cannot 'second guess' Him nor advise Him.
His throne is from everlasting to everlasting and all of the combined effort of the enemy, as he tries to replace God's law with his own, is met with laughter from heaven as well as defeat, destruction and death, Ps. 2.
We might mention that even His people can be His enemy in this sense of replacing His law with their own. They, too, can reap the results which the raging heathen will reap as they try to do away with God's law.
Scepter... The O.T. references here is to a rod, staff, club, scepter (see Zech. 10:11). It is a mark of authority.
The N.T. reference of Heb. 1:8 bears looking at. Thayer's Lexicon (republished by APAI, Lafayette, IN 47903, first printed in 1878) identifies this word of Heb. 1:8 on pg. 560:
"A rod: with which one is beaten, I Cor. 4:21; A staff: as used on a journey, Matt. 10:10; or to lean upon, Heb. 11:21; or by shepherds, Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, in which passages as (Greek words) is fig. applied to a king, so (Greek words), with a rod of iron, indicating the severest, most rigorous, rule; hence (Greek word) is equip. to a royal scepter like (Hebrew word--Ps. 2:9; 45:8; Heb. 1:8; Ps. 45:8)." We would strongly recommend looking these up.
Now, this also raises some interesting observations. Thayer identifies the scepter of Heb. 1:8, of course, with the one of Ps. 45:6. But what is even more interesting is that he also identifies the scepter (rod) of Heb. 1:8; Ps. 45:6 with the rod of Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, and tieing them together also with the rod of Ps. 2:9.
As we read these passages the conclusion which these point to is that King Jesus is right now on His throne and ruling with a rod of iron.
The question might be raised, "How can we say that Christ is right now ruling with a 'rod of iron?'" Let's consider some things. What is this rod of iron? If we compare scripture with scripture we find that the exact same word translated rod in "rod of iron" is also translated scepter in "scepter of righteousness," which is the scepter of His kingdom (Heb. 1:8). Both the OT and NT use this word interchangeably Ps. 2; Ps. 45; Heb. 1 and Rev. 2.
This makes the rod and the scepter the same thing. When He had His scepter of rule, even before the foundation of the world, it was also the rod of iron. He today, then, according to Ps. 2:45 and Heb. 1, is ruling with His rod of iron. It is the same word.
Scepter of righteousness. This is a "two edged sword." If mankind will seek and obey His righteousness, God will supply all of his needs as well as bless him beyond measure. Matt. 5 and 6; Lk. 6 and 8 and many more. If mankind ignores His righteousness and fails to glorify God as God then nothing but death and destruction waits for him Ecc. 8:11; Ps. 37; Gal. 6:9 and many more.
"Rod of iron right now?" Yes, in the sense that no man will escape the results of righteousness no matter where he might flee to. Either the good results of "kissing the son" and seeking to obey what the scepter of righteousness represents (His law) or trying to overthrow the Lord and His Anointed and trying to get away from the scepter of righteousness. Either way, He rules, and MAN WILL NOT ESCAPE HIS RULE no matter where he might hide. A lone nation on a island in the South Pacific will not avoid the results of sin. That lone island will also reap the results of righteousness. Every individual will be judged by the same standard, Ps. 139:7-13; Rom. 2.
"But I thought He is a God of mercy and grace." He has always been. Let the wicked forsake his wicked ways and he will find abundant mercy. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The grace to restore man to the place which Adam fell from.
The grace to do what Adam failed to do. The grace to inherit the promises of God, this grace available through Jesus Christ our Lord. My, how blessed we are today to have this free access to the throne of grace, the access which men only heard about for 4,000 years. We can know it in its fullness in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If Heb. 1:8, is in effect today, then we have a righteous King upon His throne with all of creation being ruled by His Word. Is it any wonder that many try to put Ps. 45 as referring to Solomon? All of it, that is except 6 and 7, and that is put off into the distant future.
Christ is King now and every atom of creation is ruled by His law-word, whether seen or unseen, whether man will admit this or not.
Ps. 45:6 ..is a right scepter... Heb. 1:8 .. a scepter of righteousness... No one will ever be able to accuse this King of not doing the right thing. Many today do accuse him of being unfair, we hear them quit often. But when the truth is known all doubts will flee away. It will be just the opposite. We will wonder why He didn't do more sooner. Rom. 9:19-20, covers this well.
Another thing here: we are so controlled by time that we feel if justice is not rendered today, that the guilty have escaped. Not so with our King. His mercy holds back the just reward for our guilt, giving the chance to return to Him. When the results do come they will be righteous. He has no ego to uphold and no threats to His power to deal with. He is beyond all human emotion of malice and envy therefore He can and does judge with righteousness judgment, Rom. 2:1-11.
One more thing before leaving this verse. Plumer says (pg. 516) "This verse and the next are quoted entirely by Paul in Heb. 1:8, 9, for the purpose of establishing the divinity of Jesus Christ. We may rely with infallible certainty upon the interpretation there given. The true and proper divinity of Christ is plainly and beyond all question here asserted."
Spurgeon says of Ps. 45:7, "Christ Jesus is not neutral in the great contest between right and wrong: as warmly as he loves the one he abhors the other. What qualifications for a sovereign! What grounds of confidence for a people! The whole of our Lord's life on earth proved the truth of these words; his death to put away sin and bring in the reign of righteousness, sealed the fact beyond all question; his providence by which he rules from his mediatorial throne, when rightly understood, reveals the same; and his final assize will proclaim it before all worlds. We should imitate him both in his love and hate; they are both needful to complete a righteous character."
Now, let's consider something here. He is righteousness. Therefore His Kingdom is a Kingdom of righteousness. He is both the King and the Kingdom because by Him do all things consist and have their being, Heb. 2:9, 10.
This is why John the Baptist could preach "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand". Christ was at hand, Matt. 3:2.
Christ's total purpose here was to do the will of the Father. Here is where He found His strength, and so can we, Jn. 4:34; 5:30; 6:38. Jn. 5:30-35 shows us that the more we do the will of the Father, the brighter we shine. Christ did His will perfectly and shined perfectly. Far to often I'm afraid we cast off sort of a flickering glow as would a candle and even that candle hid under a cover.
Phil. 2:8-11 fits these two verses, Ps. 45:6, 7, perfectly.
Ps. 45:7, He delighted in righteousness, pleasing
God. He abhorred anything which displeased the Father, and this
was from His birth. Even as a twelve-year old, His consuming desire
was to please His Father, Heb. 10:7-9; Ps. 40:7-17. The result
was the anointing of the Holy Spirit in its fullness, Lk. 2:49;
Isa. 61:1.
In this anointing we see the custom of anointing honored guests
at feasts.
...above thy fellows... United, associate, companion--as is used in Ecc. 4:10, "The one will lift up his fellow:" or Jud. 20:11, "knit together as one man." This word "fellows" also refers to one of like rank. Referring to the redeemed, the joint heirs with Christ. We are his fellow brethren, but he is anointed above us by the Father because of His work. In this we see the dignity of the saints as well as--
John Flavel said, "in this we see the dignity of the saints as well as the preeminence of Christ. We have both of these thoughts summed up in II Pet. 1:4, "--that by these (promises) ye might be partakers of the divine nature," also in I Jn. 4:17 "--because as he is so are we in this world." Whatever we find in scripture that He has, we have access to it also. We are heirs to all Christ is and with humility we can claim what we need to please the Father, the same as Christ could."
Christ is above all of us who claim His name, but we can lay claim to all He is and all He has by faith. Our hope is in what He is, not in what we are, other than that we are an obedient child of God. We are His co-partners, but even as co-partners we find all of our strength only in Him, I Cor. 3:9.
Athanasius says here (pg. 330, Treasury of David): "--And, therefore, he is here "anointed," not that he may become God, for he was so even before; nor that he may become king, for he had the kingdom eternally, existing as God's image, as the sacred oracles shows; but in our behalf is this written, as before."
V. 8 thy garments... Spurgeon said here "all his garments are thus fragrant; not some of them, but all; we delight as much in his purple of dominion as in the white linen of his priesthood, his mantle as our prophet is as dear to us as his seamless coat as our friend. All his dress is fragrant with all sweetness."
Here we see that His perfect obedience to the Father resulted in his anointing with this delightful oil that is very pleasant to the senses. We can be partakers in this "oil" as we obey the Father as did our Saviour. Our lives also can have a sweet savor before the Father. The same way Christ's did. And really, He is the only one we are to be concerned about. Pleasing Him with our lives and having a pleasant savor before Him.
Is our life offering up a sweet savor to the Father? Is our life offered on the altar of obedience to Him as was Christ's our Lord. If it is we can have an offering which is pleasing to the Father also. Or is our life a smoke in His nose, a fire that burneth all the day, Isa. 65:1-5.
People which walk in their own way after their own thoughts, is not pleasing to Him at all. Humility and submission to Him, as Christ did, is a beautiful savor to Him, I Sam. 15:22. He is "above" us but He is also our goal. His life of obedience to the Father was perfect and the call of our life is to be perfect and holy as He is Holy. This is a call above our abilities but not above the abilities of the Holy Spirit within us. He does not require us to do one thing which He did not do nor does He require us to do it on our own. The way has been provided that we too, might offer the sweet savor of a life pleasing to the Father, I Pet. 1:15, 16. But provision made for failure, I Jn. 1:9.
How do we smell to the Father? What kind of a savor do we offer up to Him with our lives? O, that we might have the sweetness of Christ in our offering.
Out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. Spurgeon's statement here merits our attention (Vol. I, pg. 319). "The abode of Jesus now is imperial in splendor, ivory and gold but faintly image his royal seat; There is he made glad in the presence of the Father, and in the company of his saints. Oh, to behold him with his perfumed garments on! The very smell of him from afar ravishes our spirit, what must it be to be on the other side of the pearl gates within the palace of ivory, amid those halls of Zion," conjubilant with song," where is the throne of David, and the abiding presence of the Prince! To think of his gladness, to know that he is full of joy, gives gladness at this moment to our souls. We poor exiles can sing in our banishment since our King, our well-believed, has come to his throne."
Notice a couple of things that Spurgeon brings
out.
First, Jesus is right now in His imperial splendor of ivory and
gold.
Next, He now dwells in the ivory palace, the halls of Zion.
Next, this is where the throne of David is found. Christ is now
seated in His splendor on the throne of David upon Mt. Zion. This
is Spurgeon as he comments on Ps. 45:8. We must say that we don't
see any other way this passage can be viewed, unless, we make
this king here King Solomon. Keep in mind that Heb. 12:22 identifies
the Church as Mt. Zion.
This makes us wonder why there is such a effort today to do away with this teaching which we see from reading these early authors. The teaching which does away or ignores the things of Ps. 45 seems to have really come in since around 1900. The only reason which makes any sense; first, before our Christian foundation could be overthrown Christians had to be made to believe that they were not responsible to make every area of life Christ-like. Our only responsibility is to win people to the Lord and wait for the end. Second, by doing this the enemy could take over many areas which Christians withdrew from to wait for the end.
This nation was built on the view that Christ is on His throne in His splendor and His people are to render to Him the fruits of the earth, Matt. 21:41. They do this by bringing every area under the control of His law-word. We should add, it is impossible to return to the freedoms which were prevalent back then without a return to the same faith and faithfulness as what was prevalent back then.
V.9 "The day will come when those who are "kings daughters" literally will count it their greatest honor to serve the church, and, meanwhile every believing sister is spiritually a king's daughter, a member of the royal family of heaven," quotes Spurgeon.
"Upon thy right hand--" "The place of love, honor and power."
"Did stand the queen--" "The church shares her Lord's honor and happiness, he sets her in the place of dignity, he clothes her with the best of the best--Jesus bestows nothing inferior or of secondary value upon his beloved church."
Spurgeon goes on here with "Mark, then the solemn pomp of the verses we have read. The king is seen with rapture, he girds himself as a warrior, robes himself as a monarch, mounts his chariot, darts his arrows, and conquers his foes. Then he ascends his throne with his scepter in his hand, fills the places hall with perfume brought from his secret chambers, his retinue (attendants) stand around him, and, fairest of all, his bride is at his right hand, with daughters of subject princes as her attendants. Faith is no stranger to this sight, and every time she looks she adores, she loves, she rejoices, she expects."
The freedom that post-mil faith brought cannot be regained without the same post-mil faith.
Here then for V. 9, Spurgeon identifies this as the church in present fulfillment. Plumer quotes Scott here (pg. 518) which sums this up best for me. "By the queen' the collective body of believers seems to be intended, who, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, enriched by his bounty, and adorned by the grace of his spirit, adhered to him in singleness of affection and fidelity, and are admitted to the most endeared union and communion."
The church, clothed in the purity (gold) of our Lord is presented to him without spot or blemish. Paul, as he speaks of this presentation in II Cor. 11:2 is referring to Hosea 2:19, as he tells of the believer being presented to Christ. The bride of the king presented to Him and standing at His side. When is this referring to time wise? Only time will tell.
V. 10
Now we are given two sets of instructions here followed by a promised result. Harken and forget; with the promised result, v. 11, So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty.
First, let's consider the promised result. The king greatly pleased with the believer and desiring them. There is not a true believer that does not desire to please the King, that does not want Him to desire us as a king would desire the beauty of a princesses.
We see here two beauty marks which will cause this kind of a desire by our King toward His people. The first mark would be... Harken.
The N.T. references to this would be many. Some of which are Matt. 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them... Also, Ja. 1:22 But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only. Hear the word of the Lord and do it. Not only listen for His voice but seek it out in His word. Knowing God's word by itself is not what pleases Him. The devil knows God's word. His people must hear and do if they aim to please this King.
No doubt one of the major problems today is that even the ones who have that sincere desire to hear and do His word have been so mislead by their teachers, that even as they do all they know to do, their training prevents them from the obedience which brings the blessings of God.
An example of this would be in the area of politics. The "spiritual leaders" have taught that a Christian should not be involved in politics. Those who have a strong desire to please God hear this kind of teaching. They then avoid this area of life which the word of God gives clear instruction in. The natural results then take over. Rather than Christians being in these places of authority and seeing that civil laws reflect God's principles of life for mankind, the wicked take over that area of life and their laws will reflect their anti-christ attitude. Then Christianity becomes a persecuted minority with no protection under the anti-christ laws.
Also, Christians have been taught by their spiritual leaders that there is nothing wrong with a secular education, an education without God. They allow the "secular" movement to teach their children and then wonder why their kids do not reflect the parents to please God, Jer. 10:2.
In both of these cases, the Christians love God, their main desire is to please Him. But, their teachers fail to teach them how to please God in these areas of life and the results come to pass even in the lives of these sincere people. They lose out on the promised results here of Ps. 45:11.
Why? Because they didn't love God nor desire to please Him? NO! But because they were not taught the absolute requirement of glorifying God as God over everything, Rom. 1:21; I Cor. 10:31.
Harken to His word. Search it out, study to show thyself approved unto God. Do not take any teaching for granted. Compare scripture with scripture. It just doesn't matter how "respected" the teacher is, "the whole facilities of the mind (body and spirit also) should be bent upon receiving holy teaching."
Let us add, that until the church once again does this, only destruction lies ahead. Might the Lord open the eyes first of all of the teacher, then of His people.
Secondly, here in order to have the Kings delight in us we see what? Forget! Here is a strange requirement, and, my how we need some good sermons on forgetting. Some things we must forget in order to have the promised results of v.11.
The first two things we are to forget is found right here in the verse.
1. forget also thine own people... The church is called on to lay aside all other loves and desires. We are called on to cast aside all idols and anything that would hinder our faithfulness to our Lord.
2. and thy father's house... This is the first law of marriage, Gen 2:24; Mt 19:5. The man and woman's responsibility to their parents stop when they get married, other than honor and respect. And, obviously, if the parents require care in their old age, the responsibility is on their children.
That is, as long as the parents do not undermine the godly authority in the home. I heard of a family who took in the wife's aged mother. The family had been saved since they got married. They were now serving the Lord, but the mother despised the Lord. She continually undermined the husband's godly authority in the home, and the wife would not take her stand against her mother. The result was that the children picked up the grandmother's attitude and all of them went to the devil.
The godly authority in the home must be protected at all cost, no matter, how much the devil might put the parents on a guilt trip. Our first responsibility, after marriage, is always to our spouse and children under God. If we allow someone to undermine that authority, the blood of our own children will be on our hands.
Husbands, wives, it is a violation of the marriage vows which we made to God if we allow our parents to continue to dominate us, in our actions and/or emotions, after we are married. When parents get better treatment than our spouse or children, something is desperately wrong.
Young people, you watch out for that person that you might be interested in, if they act one way around their parents, and another around you. You could be in for some serious problems. We could not count the number of marriages which have been destroyed because one (or both) spouse could not make the break from their parents.
Our Lord addressed this plainly in Lk 14:26.
Thus, we see that if we bring anything which would hinder our faithful obedience into this relationship with the King, we have violated our vows which we made at our salvation. This is just as sure as if we bring in a love for another man or woman or parents before our spouse, into the marriage relationship.
Now, some other things we are to forget:
3. Phil. 3:13, we are to forget the things behind us if we expect to be able to move ahead. Yes, we need to learn from them, the mistakes, failures and even the victories. But we cannot be "past oriented". We cannot build a future with our emphasis on the past nor really even if it is on the present. Every action we do must be in terms of the fourth and fifth generation, Ex. 20:5.
We must learn to retrain our thinking to be future oriented, and we are not talking about being RETIREMENT oriented.
Our adversary is sharp. He will load us down with the past. Past failures which he uses to say "you can't do it any better now." Past failures which he uses to say "you are a terrible, wicked sinner. God can't use you anymore." Even after we have confessed that sin and it is under the blood, he will give false convictions of sin. Conviction with no answer from God's Word, is not conviction from God. Conviction from God has His answer to the problem.
He will use past victories with "look how much you have done in the past. You have done your share, let someone else get in the battle." Or he will even keep us so engrossed in the past victories that we live in them rather than press on for new ones, Ecc. 8:8.
4. Heb. 11:14-15, and also vs. 24-27. Here we see that we should not look back at the worldly pleasures. This will pull us back into them. Yes, many of them did bring 'pleasure' for a season. But if we look back at those things it will not be long before we will be back in them.
Notice the command here is not even to do things which remind of the past worldly pleasures, sins. Maybe these things are okay in themselves but if it reminds of the past, it will draw us back into those things.
An example would be movie houses. The unsaved man used to be hung up on dirty movies. He gets saved and turns from that sin. Now he still goes to the movies. Every time he now goes into a movie house he will be reminded of what he used to go see there. Here is just one of the problems with "Christian rock music," it reminds him of the hard rock.
God instructs us here to forget those past things which brought worldly, sensual pleasure and to also avoid anything which would remind us of them. Moses here was able to turn his back on all of the pleasures of Egypt and never looked back, rather he looked to the future of how he could please God.
Anything which does not reflect the character of our Lord must be forsaken and forgotten.
5. Next we see the call to forget the past wrongs which others have done to us. We see from Matt. 6:12-15 that our forgiveness is based on how well we forgive others. Here would be the clear conscience before God based on a clear conscience before men, Matt. 5:7, 39, 40; 6:12; 18:21-35; Mk. 11:25; Rom. 12:14-21.
We cannot carry around in our mind how wrong others have done us. It just won't work. It will result in very ill will toward both them and toward God for allowing it to happen to us.
While we are this close we need to pursue some things we should not forget:
1. Prov. 2:17-- God
2. Deut. 4:32-- His covenant
3. Ps. 78:7, 11-- His works
4. Ps. 103:2-- His benefits
5. Heb. 12:5; Ja. 1:25-- His word
6. Ps. 119:153; Hosea 4:6-- His law
7. Ps. 137:5-- His church
8. Judges 8:34; Ps. 78:42-- His past deliverance
9. Isa. 51:13-15-- His power to deliver
Also keep in mind that prosperity leads to forgetting God, Deut. 8:12-14; Ps. 44:17-20. Trials should not lead to forgetting God; and we should determine not to forget God.
V. 11 Now we have the promised results. The desires of the King toward the Church. Spurgeon here says, "His Spirit is grieved when they mingle themselves among the people and learn their ways. No great and lasting revival of religion can be granted us till the professed lovers of Jesus proves their affection by coming out from an ungodly world, being separated, and touching not the unclean thing."
The "cleaner" the Church remains the more Her King desires Her but the other side of the coin is that the more the Church compromises with the world the more distasteful it becomes to Her King until He finally spews it out of his mouth, Rev. 3:16.
"The church must forsake all others and cleave to Jesus only, or she will not please him nor enjoy the full manifestation of his love. What less can he ask? What less may she dare propose than to be wholly his?"
Plumer here says, "Serving Christ in simplicity and godly sincerity, with purity and fidelity is the way to please him. The whole tenor of scripture shows the necessity of personal holiness. Woe to him that makes Christ the minister of sin, and from his grace infers that we may live in uncleanness. Christ is to be obeyed and worshipped. For he is thy Lord, others have dominion over us; but to Christ only may we yield implicit and supreme obedience. He is the Lord of all to the glory of God the Father and to the comfort of all his saints."
As I have done a study in the social and political climate during the time of the writing of the NT, particularly the book of Romans (8/18/91), I have come across some interesting facts. The civil authorities were, almost without exception, total moreal perverts. Abortion was condoned by the civil authority, as well as commonly practiced in society. Marriage was close to extinct, fraud and misuse of public funds was common. Everything we can imagine was taxed by Rome. Rome sold the right to collect taxes to the highest bidder. Whoever got the contract to collect the taxes in that providence would then hire men to collect the taxes--whatever the traffic would bare. Matthew was one such man. We meet them many times in Scriptures, called publicans.
The greated for the tax man was so great that he wasn't permitted to testify at Jewish trials nor would his charitable gifts be accepted. They went so far in their identification of the publicans with murders and harlots, that publicans were excommunicated.
(I'll do a series of a couple of messages on the historical social and political climate of the first years of the church one of these days. 3 B.C. and 70 A. D.)
All of that to say this. There is nothing going on today in the corrupt religious or political realms that was not common during the ministry of Christ and the writing of the NT, including a nationalist party who considered themselves free men, answerable to no one but the Lord.
This party was centered in Galilee and it was some members of this movement who asked Christ the question about the lawfulness of paying tribute to Caesar.
The nationalist, in their tax-revolt against Rome, are the ones who brought on the destruction of Her. in 70 A.D, Josephus identifies them as the zealots.
The civil government, as a whole, was more wicked than what we have today. The amazing thing is that the church just quietly went about its business, preaching the gospel and doing good. Winning people to Christ and teaching them a proper understanding of the law of God and its application.
The result was that within 300 years, Rome fell to Christianity. Here is ISBE's account of this fall:
Many heathen would gladly accept Christ along with Mithra and Isis and Serapis. But Christianity demanded complete separation. The Jesus cult could tolerate no rival: it claimed to be absolute, and worshippers of Jesus must be separate from the world. The Christian church was absolute in its demands; would not rank with, but above, all worships. This spirit was of course at enmity with that of the day which enabled rival cults to co-exist with the greatest indifference. Add to this the exclusive state of Christian society. No pious heathen who had purified his soul by asceticism and the sacraments of antiquity could be admitted into membership unless he renounced things dear to him and of some spiritual value. In every detail of public life this exclusive spirit made itself felt.
This is the first of three points given by ISBE (vol vi. pg 2604, 5) which made Christianity the most mighty power on earth.
As we see above in the first point,
1. The demand for complete and total separation from the world. No member was allowed who tried to serve two gods, whether that other god was the state, a religious cult or self.
In additions, ISBE gives these two points.
2. the Christian refusal to take part in any state worship at all, even to the death.
3. their uncompromising assault against the pagan cults of their day, including the worship of the emperor. They held these as doctrines of demons.
Thus, the strength of Christianity lay in its absolute refusal to compromise. It followed the teachings of the Law of God and the example of Christ in the face of death. It stood in defiance of the State in the fact that Christianity forbad any of its members to take part in any worship of the State in any way manner whatsoever. This moral strength gave it the power to convert the masses of barbarians who overran the Western Empire. The result was "the famous edict of toleration from Milan, March 30, 313, by which all religions were granted equal tolerance, and Christianity was thus placed on an equal footing with heathenism. (ibid, 2610)"
It was the "irresistible influence of the Christian spirit" that caused legislation to take a Christian turn. (Schaff, vol. iii, pg. 107.) In other words, Christian laws came because of a committed Christians within the Empire. They came from the bottom up, not from the top down. The only kind of reform which will work is a moral reform, used in Christ and must start in the hearts of the individuals. This is true in the East today. If the reform is not religious in nature, from the bottom up, the result will be more of the same, socialism.
A return to these basic stands would see the same result as these early Christians saw; persecution, and final victory over the State.
Here we have another reason why modern theology tries to make this King Solomon. Here is the command to worship Him as the Lord of all with the forbidding of any other authority or power over Him. There can be no authority recognized over God's Word by God's people. Remember Peter's statement of Acts 2:36--"both Lord and Christ."
Modern man desires to avoid recognizing Him as Lord. This is one of the end time heresies and brings upon these people swift destruction, II Pet. 2:1-3.
Ps. 45:10, 11 is directed to the church. The blood bought believers. The command is to worship Him alone as Lord over all creation. To do this will cause the same conflict which Daniel had as well as the same conflict which the early church had as these refused to recognize any authority other than Christ over His Church. If the church as well as the individual believer will only recognize that authority other than God's Word, then all kinds of problems from the world can be avoided. But to do this is to deny the Lord which bought them.
If we do not have a KING who is reigning over all creation right now (and forever more) then we have no KING to comfort protect us when the hoards of darkness come against us. As the song goes, "Isn't he wonderful--?"
This brings us to a speculation. The modern teaching is that the reign of our King is yet to come. Does this leave the world in total control of the powers of darkness in the mind of the believer, with no hope of standing against the onslaught of evil? If this is true, it's no wonder the church has lost its power to hold back the evil and corruption of our day. My, how we need for God to command His light to shine out of the darkness into the hearts of His people so they can see the truth about their Lord and Christ. He is not only Saviour but He is Lord and we are seated with Him in the heavens. there is no need to "fall before" or be afraid of the powers of darkness, II Cor. 4:1-6; Eph. 2:6.
As Plumer says, "and to comfort all his saints." And what a comfort this is to know that we have everything we need to glorify God as God in every area of life. That is found in our Immanuel, God with us. Our resurrected Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
V.12 "When the church abounds in holiness, she shall know no lack of homage from the surrounding people. Her glory shall then impress and attract the heathen around, till they also unite in doing honour to the Lord--" Spurgeon.
Augustine said "The daughters of Tyre are the daughters of the Gentiles. The part standing for the whole."
We have the order here carried on: The King on His throne in His palace. The queen, His bride standing by His side with Him. The king desiring the beauty of the church. (Might mention also, that the King is working in His church to accomplish this beauty.) The church finding its hope in the King and worshipping Him as such. The heathens also seeking favor with the King.
The last point could speak of a couple of things. First, the church in its holiness and separation from sin, reflecting the power and glory of the king so brightly that the heathen willingly bring to it gifts to carry on its work. The heathen seeking favour of the church.
This seems far fetched, but is it? God can move anyway He sees fit and this could well fit into scripture. I know of a church today where the people take a strong stand for the Lord in every area including the area of civil government. We know of at least twice when they have been trying to do something for the Lord in an area, that a State Representative has given the pastor a $100.00 bill. As far as I know the Representative is not saved but he sees that what the church stands for is the only real hope we have as a nation.
So we see in this, that this very idea is being carried out even today. A major problem is that the church is now so wishy-washy that many times only those who are interested in the overthrow of society as a godly society invest in her activities because they see these "liberal churches" standing against a godly society. Of course, this comes from the "church" not recognizing Christ as both Lord and Christ--the King, and either seeing herself as the authority or civil government as the authority.
If the church would only get back to serving her Lord and King as her Lord and King, then the clear indication is that she will have the riches of even the heathen to carry on the King's work.
The heathens are not fools (sometimes). They can see the better results obtained by the church in education, welfare, and social programs so they work against the church. The church is seen as a threat to their power. The problem here is that the church just doesn't see the need of glorying God as God over EVERYTHING.
Again Spurgeon says it well, "We go about to beg for Christ like beggars for alms, and many who should know better will make compromises and become reticent of unpopular truth to please the great ones of the earth; no so will the true bride of Christ degrade herself, when her sanctification is more deep and more visible; then will the hearts of men grow liberal, and offerings from afar, abundant and continual, shall be presented at The Throne of the Pacific Prince."
He makes his point that he believes this will be the case of the church. God sanctifying it to such a point that even the heathens will seek its well being and favour for themselves.
Plumer quotes Dickson (pg. 521), "When the church honoreth Christ he will honor her, and make the noble and the potent in the world submit themselves to her, and seek communion with her."
Why should the King right now cause this to happen? The "church" today has almost totally forgotten who her Lord and King is. If the heathen would honor her today, she would keep it all to herself. This all rests upon the church returning to her Lord and glorifying Him once again as Lord over all.
We cannot emphasize too much that this all rests in God's hands. He alone can open the eyes of His people and show them where they have departed from His authority. He alone can instruct them from His Word. He alone can call His men, teachers and people, back to the truth of His Word. The overwhelming indication from these OT prophecies is that this is what He will do. As we pointed out earlier, there are many NT passages which indicate just the opposite. How do they fit together? Only time will tell because only HE knows.
Then we have the other way this verse 12 can go. Here we could have the heathen being attracted by the glory of the church, into the church through salvation. I am more inclined to go with the first one although both would fit into the context.
V. 13 The king's daughter here is also the queen of v. 9. The daughter of the King is also the bride of the Son of the King. He keeps the marriage within the family of the King.
This passage can go several ways but the best way seems to be that this is speaking of the inner glory of the saints. This is Christ in us the hope of glory. This is Christ being formed in us. This is not having any righteousness of my own but the righteousness of Christ, Col. 1:27; Gal. 4:19; Ph. 3:9.
Notice vv. 10-11, the beauty is within. This is what catches the Kings eye. It's not the natural beauty because there is no natural beauty which would attract the eye and desires of the King. The inside of the natural man is totally corrupt. Here is the amazing grace of God. The King choosing out a people based completely upon His sovereignty. Then He puts His beauty within us. His Holy Spirit, then working in us to conforms us to the image of his dear son, Rom. 8:29.
God did not look down through eternity future and see anyone who had the ability to chose His Son, then call them when they reached that point in time. This would be saying that a person had an ability for a work of righteousness within their breast and God saw that, therefore, chose them. This would be contrary to Titus 3:5. God, in His mercy and grace is choosing out a bride for His Son and He is doing the work of beautifying them. It is all of God that His purpose might stand, I Cor. 1:30; Ph. 2:13; Rom. 9:11, 16.
Her clothing is of wrought gold. We have no choice with this but to go with the clothing provided by the Father for the Saints, the righteousness of Christ. The key verse here would be Phil. 3:9 "--not having my own righteousness, but, righteousness which is of God by faith." The righteousness of Christ, II Cor. 5:3; Rev. 3:18; 7:9.
V. 14 "In the latter-day glory, and in the consummation of all things, the glory of the bride, the lamb's wife, shall be seen by all the universe with admiration."--Spurgeon.
One day the bride will be presented to the Son. Then will her hidden splendor be revealed. Here she will find rest in the King's house. Notice that She shall be brought. She did not come by herself but the sovereign grace of our Lord brought her here.
Needlework... To me, this speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit preparing the church to meet her husband.
The illustration could be of maybe cross-stitch or needlepoint. The underside sure looks like a mess with threads running everywhere. But you look at the top and it and you see a thing of great beauty. From the earth looking up it seems to be a tremendous jumbled up mess with no one in control (as well as many sharp pointed needles, ouch!). But when the church is presented to Christ the beauty of what the Holy Spirit has accomplished will be beyond description.
The virgins... These would be part of the church but for the sake of the illustration they are seen as companions. ""Pure in heart"-virgins, pure in company- "her companions", pure in walk "that follow her." Let none hope to be brought into heaven at last who are not purified now,"--Spurgeon.
The Scriptures speak very clear on this. Those with no desire to be pure now really have no hope of heaven then. This raises a speculation about Rev. 14:4. The virgins there, could not this be applied to those holy and pure before the Lamb? Those who follow their Lord here, wherever He leads them? The cross-reference here for first fruits is Ja. 1:18, which identifies the first fruits of his creation as the believers in Christ today.
V. 15 And what gladness and rejoicing it will be, when the bride is presented to her Husband, King Jesus. There has never been anything like it and never will be. "The halls of the New Jerusalem will ring," with gladness and rejoicing as the redeemed are brought to Christ. Might also mention here, that the death of his saints is precious in His sight, Ps. 116:15, I'll sure rejoice when I see Him.
Enter into the kings palace, and there the saints will dwell forever. "Happy hour when we shall enjoy all this and forget the sorrows of time in the triumphs of eternity"--C.H.S..
We are there by faith now but one day we will be there face to face; as sons come home. Is this not what Abraham and Moses saw in Heb. 11, as they made their choice to serve and obey God? If we could only keep our eyes on this better country, how much would our day by day life change? Change from a life of 'enjoyment' now to a life of laying up treasures in heaven for then, and preparing to meet our God. Let's look forward with great anticipation and preparation for this day when we will enter into the Kings palace and there dwell forever more.
V. 16 Here we have the line of succession. A veteran passes off the scene and another volunteer fills the gap. The line of grace will remain unbroken until time is no more.
Whom thou mayest make... His servants are priests and kings. He sets up who He will as well as brings down who He will. In fact, He doeth according to His will in the kingdom of men, Dan. 3, 5. "The whole earth shall yet be subdued for Christ, and honoured are they, who shall, through grace, have a share in the conquest--these shall reign with Christ at his coming,"--C.H.S.. We are to be busy subduing the whole earth for the king and this is done through obeying His Word, Matt. 28:19, 20; Deut. 28.
V. 17 Here the Father is addressing the Son, as He did in Heb. 1. The fame of His name will never be erased nor forgotten. It will never dim. The redeemed will sing praises to His name for ever and ever. These are heart felt, overflowing praises as we look back at His wonderful grace and mercy. Ps. 146 through Ps. 150 will be our song forever more. It will indeed be glorious.
No wonder the Psalmist here in chp. 45 had a heart bubbling over with praise. No wonder he had to write it down. If we would only meditate on our king, as did this man, our heart also would bubble over and "splash" on those around us. This is a Psalm of victory which we need to learn to live in. This is not a defeat, woe is me, Psalm, but a victorious instruction which we can charge the very gates of hell with.
The word of God is not a spiritual book meant to give us good feelings but a book of marching orders, an instruction manual to wage an effective warfare.
O that we might be found faithfully following those marching orders as our King goes forth to conquer BY GLORIFYING HIM AS GOD. (Rom. 1:21.)
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