Heartless hymns are insults to heaven. “_Is inditing a good matter._” A
good heart will only be content with good thoughts. Where the fountain
is good good streams will flow forth. The learned tell us that the word
may be read overfloweth, or as others, boileth or bubbleth up, denoting
the warmth of the writer’s love, the fulness of his heart, and the
consequent richness and glow of his utterance, as though it were the
ebullition of his inmost soul, when most full of affection. We have here
no single cold expression; the writer is not one who frigidly studies
the elegancies and proprieties of poetry, his stanzas are the natural
outburst of his soul, comparable to the boiling jets of the geysers of
Hecla. As the corn offered in sacrifice was parched in the pan, so is
this tribute of love hot with sincere devotion. It is a sad thing when
the heart is cold with a good matter, and worse when it is warm with a
bad matter, but incomparably well when a warm heart and a good matter
meet together. O that we may often offer to God an acceptable _minchah_,
a sweet oblation fresh from the pan of hearts warmed with gratitude and
admiration. “_I speak of the things which I have made touching the
King._” This song has “the King” for its only subject, and for the
King’s honour alone was it composed, well might its writer call it a
good matter. The Psalmist did not write carelessly; he calls his poem
his works, or things which he had made. We are not to offer to the Lord
that which cost us nothing. Good material deserves good workmanship. We
should well digest in our heart’s affections and our mind’s meditations
any discourse or poem in which we speak of one so great and glorious as
our Royal Lord. As our version reads it, the Psalmist wrote
experimentally things which he had made his own, and personally tasted
and handled concerning the King. “_My tongue is the pen of a ready
writer_,” not so much for rapidity, for there the tongue always has the
preference, but for exactness, elaboration, deliberation, and
skilfulness of expression. Seldom are the excited utterances of the
mouth equal in real weight and accuracy to the _verba scripta_ of a
thoughtful accomplished penman; but here the writer, though filled with
enthusiasm, speaks as correctly as a practised writer; his utterances
therefore are no ephemeral sentences, but such as fall from men who sit
down calmly to write for eternity. It is not always that the best of men
are in such a key, and when they are they should not restrain the gush
of their hallowed feelings. Such a condition of heart in a gifted mind
creates that auspicious hour in which poetry pours forth her tuneful
numbers to enrich the service of song in the house of the Lord.
2 Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy
lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.
2. “_Thou._” As though the King himself had suddenly appeared before
him, the Psalmist lost in admiration of his person, turns from his
preface to address his Lord. A loving heart has the power to realise its
object. The eyes of a true heart see more than the eyes of the head.
Moreover, Jesus reveals himself when we are pouring forth our affections
towards him. It is usually the case that when we are ready Christ
appears. If our heart is warm it is an index that the sun is shining,
and when we enjoy his heat we shall soon behold his light. “_Thou art
fairer than the children of men._” In person, but especially in mind and
character, the King of saints is peerless in beauty. The Hebrew word is
doubled, “Beautiful, beautiful art thou,” Jesus is so emphatically
lovely that words must be doubled, strained, yea, exhausted before he
can be described. Among the children of men many have through grace been
lovely in character, yet they have each had a flaw; but in Jesus we
behold every feature of a perfect character in harmonious proportion. He
is lovely everywhere, and from every point of view, but never more so
than when we view him in conjugal union with his church; then love gives
a ravishing flush of glory to his loveliness. “_Grace is poured into thy
lips._” Beauty and eloquence make a man majestic when they are united;
they both dwell in perfection in the all fair, all eloquent Lord Jesus.
Grace of person and grace of speech reach their highest point in him.
Grace has in the most copious manner been poured upon Christ, for it
pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell, and now grace
is in superabundance, poured forth from his lips to cheer and enrich his
people. The testimony, the promises, the invitations, the consolations
of our King pour forth from him in such volumes of meaning that we
cannot but contrast those cataracts of grace with the speech of Moses
which did but drop as the rain, and distil as the dew. Whoever in
personal communion with the Wellbeloved has listened to his voice will
feel that “never man spake like this man.” Well did the bride say of
him, “his lips are like lilies dropping sweet-smelling myrrh.” One word
from himself dissolved the heart of Saul of Tarsus, and turned him into
an apostle, another word raised up John the Divine when fainting in the
Isle of Patmos. Oftentimes a sentence from his lips has turned our own
midnight into morning, our winter into spring. “_Therefore God hath
blessed thee for ever._” Calvin reads it, “_Because God hath blessed
thee for ever._” Christ is blessed, blessed of God, blessed for ever,
and this is to us one great reason for his beauty, and the source of the
gracious words which proceed out of his lips. The rare endowments of the
man Christ Jesus are given him of the Father, that by them his people
may be blessed with all spiritual blessings in union with himself. But
if we take our own translation, we read that the Father has blessed the
Mediator as a reward for all his gracious labours; and right well does
he deserve the recompense. Whom God blesses we should bless, and the
more so because all his blessedness is communicated to us.
3 Gird thy sword upon _thy_ thigh, O _most_ mighty, with thy glory
and thy majesty.
4 And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness
_and_ righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible
things.
5 Thine arrows _are_ sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies;
_whereby_ the people fall under thee.
6 Thy throne, O God, _is_ for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy
kingdom is a right sceptre.
7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God,
thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy
fellows.
8 All thy garments _smell_ of myrrh, and aloes, _and_ cassia, out of
the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
9 King’s daughters _were_ among thy honourable women: upon thy right
hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
3. “_Gird thy sword upon thy thigh._” Loving spirits jealous of the
Redeemer’s glory long to see him putting forth his power to vindicate
his own most holy cause. Why should the sword of the Spirit lie still,
like a weapon hung up in an armoury; it is sharp and strong, both for
cutting and piercing: O that the divine power of Jesus were put forth to
use it against error. The words before us represent our great King as
urged to arm himself for battle, by placing his sword where it is ready
for use. Christ is the true champion of the church, others are but
underlings who must borrow strength from him; the single arm of Immanuel
is the sole hope of the faithful. Our prayer should be that of this
verse. There is at this moment an apparent suspension of our Lord’s
former power, we must by importunate prayer call him to the conflict,
for like the Greeks without Achilles we are soon overcome by our
enemies, and we are but dead men if Jesus be not in our midst. “_O most
mighty._” A title well deserved, and not given from empty courtesy like
the serenities, excellencies, and highnesses of our fellow
mortals—titles, which are but sops for vain glory. Jesus is the truest
of heroes. Hero worship in his case alone is commendable. He is mighty
to save, mighty in love. “_With thy glory and thy majesty._” Let thy
sword both win thee renown and dominion, or as it may mean, gird on with
thy sword thy robes which indicate thy royal splendour. Love delights to
see the Beloved arrayed as beseemeth his excellency; she weeps as she
sees him in the garments of humiliation, she rejoices to behold him in
the vestments of his exaltation. Our precious Christ can never be made
too much of. Heaven itself is but just good enough for him. All the pomp
that angels and archangels, and thrones, and dominions, and
principalities, and powers can pour at his feet is too little for him.
Only his own essential glory is such as fully answers to the desire of
his people, who can never enough extol him.
4. “_And in thy majesty ride prosperously._” The hero-monarch armed and
apparelled is now entreated to ascend his triumphal car. Would to God
that our Immanuel would come forth in the chariot of love to conquer our
spiritual foes and seize by power the souls whom he has bought with
blood. “_Because of truth and meekness and righteousness._” These words
may be rendered, “_ride forth upon truth and meekness and
righteousness_”—three noble chargers to draw the war-chariot of the
gospel. In the sense of our translation it is a most potent argument to
urge with our Lord that the cause of the true, the humble and the good,
calls for his advocacy. Truth will be ridiculed, meekness will be
oppressed, and righteousness slain, unless the God, the Man in whom
these precious things are incarnated, shall arise for their vindication.
Our earnest petition ought ever to be that Jesus would lay his almighty
arm to the work of grace lest the good cause languish and wickedness
prevail. “_And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things._”
Foreseeing the result of divine working, the Psalmist prophesies that
the uplifted arm of Messiah will reveal to the King’s own eyes the
terrible overthrow of his foes. Jesus needs no guide but his own right
hand, no teacher but his own might; may he instruct us all in what he
can perform, by achieving it speedily before our gladdened eyes.
5. “_Thine arrows._” Our King is master of all weapons: he can strike
those who are near and those afar off with equal force. “_Are sharp._”
Nothing that Jesus does is ill done, he uses no blunted shafts, no
pointless darts. “_In the heart of the King’s enemies._” Our Captain
aims at men’s hearts rather than their heads, and he hits them too;
point-blank are his shots, and they enter deep into the vital part of
man’s nature. Whether for love or vengeance, Christ never misses aim,
and when his arrows stick, they cause a smart not soon forgotten, a
wound which only he can heal. Jesus’ arrows of conviction are sharp in
the quiver of his word, and sharp when on the bow of his ministers, but
they are most known to be so when they find a way into careless hearts.
They are _his_ arrows, he made them, he shoots them. He makes them
sharp, and he makes them enter the heart. May none of us ever fall under
the darts of his judgment, for none kill so surely as they. “_Whereby
the people fall under thee._” On either side the slain of the Lord are
many when Jesus leads on the war. Nations tremble and turn to him when
he shoots abroad his truth. Under his power and presence, men are
stricken down as though pricked in the heart. There is no standing
against the Son of God when his bow of might is in his hands. Terrible
will be that hour when his bow shall be made quite naked, and bolts of
devouring fire shall be hurled upon his adversaries: then shall princes
fall and nations perish.
6. “_Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever._” 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, God reigning everlastingly. Blessed sight! Blind
are the eyes that cannot see God in Christ Jesus! We never appreciate
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 for ever, but that on which God himself sitteth. “_The
sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre._” 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.
7. “_Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness._” 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.
“_Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows._” Jesus as Mediator owned God as his God, to whom,
being found in fashion as a man, he became obedient. On account of our
Lord’s perfect life he is now rewarded with superior joy. Others there
are to whom grace has given a sacred fellowship with him, but by their
universal consent and his own merit, he is prince among them, the
gladdest of all because the cause of all their gladness. At Oriental
feasts oil was poured on the heads of distinguished and very welcome
guests; God himself anoints the man Christ Jesus, as he sits at the
heavenly feasts, anoints him as a reward for his work, with higher and
fuller joy than any else can know; thus is the Son of man honoured and
rewarded for all his pains. Observe the indisputable testimony to
Messiah’s Deity in verse six, and to his manhood in the present verse.
Of whom could this be written but of Jesus of Nazareth? Our Christ is
our Elohim. Jesus is God with us.
8. “_All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia._” The
divine anointing causes fragrance to distil from the robes of the Mighty
Hero. He is delightful to every sense, to the eye most fair, to the ear
most gracious, to the spiritual nostril most sweet. The excellences of
Jesus are all most precious, comparable to the rarest spices; they are
most varied, and to be likened not to myrrh alone, but to all the
perfumes blended in due proportion. The Father always finds a pleasure
in him, in him he is well pleased; and all regenerated spirits rejoice
in him, for he is made of God unto us, “wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption.” Note that not only is Jesus most sweet,
but even his garments are so; everything that he has to do with is
perfumed by his person. “_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. To attempt to spiritualise each spice here mentioned
would be unprofitable, the evident sense is that all sweetnesses meet in
Jesus, and are poured forth wherever he is present. “_Out of the ivory
palaces, whereby they have made thee glad._” The abode of Jesus now is
imperial in splendour, 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 gate, 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-beloved, has come to his throne.
9. “_Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women._” Our Lord’s
courts lack not for courtiers, and those the fairest and noblest. Virgin
souls are maids of honour to the court, the true lilies of heaven. The
lowly and pure in heart are esteemed by the Lord Jesus as his most
familiar friends, their place in his palace is not among the menials but
near the throne. The day will come when those who are “kings’ daughters”
literally will count it their greatest honour to serve the church, and,
meanwhile every believing sister is spiritually a King’s daughter, a
member of the royal family of heaven. “_Upon thy right hand_,” in the
place of love, honour, and power, “_did stand the queen in gold of
Ophir_:” the church shares her Lord’s honour and happiness, he sets her
in the place of dignity, he clothes her with the best of the best. Gold
is the richest of metals, and Ophir gold the purest known. Jesus bestows
nothing inferior or of secondary value upon his beloved church. In
imparted and imputed righteousness the church is divinely arrayed. Happy
those who are members of a church so honoured, so beloved; unhappy those
who persecute the beloved people, for as a husband will not endure that
his wife should be insulted or maltreated, so neither will the heavenly
Husband; he will speedily avenge his own elect. 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 sceptre in his hand, fills the palace hall with perfume brought from
his secret chambers, his retinue 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.
10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget
also thine own people, and thy father’s house;
11 So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he _is_ thy
LORD; and worship thou him.
12 And the daughter of Tyre _shall be there_ with a gift; _even_ the
rich among the people shall entreat thy favour.
10. “_Hearken, O daughter, and consider._” Ever is this the great duty
of the church. Faith cometh by hearing, and confirmation by
consideration. No precept can be more worthy of the attention of those
who are honoured to be espoused unto Christ than that which follows.
“_And incline thine ear._” Lean forward that no syllable may be unheard.
The whole faculties of the mind should be bent upon receiving holy
teaching. “_Forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house._” To
renounce the world is not easy, but it must be done by all who are
affianced to the Great King, for a divided heart he cannot endure; it
would be misery to the beloved one as well as dishonour to her Lord.
Evil acquaintances, and even those who are but neutral, must be
forsaken, they can confer no benefit, they must inflict injury. The
house of our nativity is the house of sin—we were shapen in iniquity;
the carnal mind is enmity against God, we must come forth of the house
of fallen nature, for it is built in the City of Destruction. Not that
natural ties are broken by grace, but ties of the sinful nature, bonds
of graceless affinity. We have much to forget as well as to learn, and
the unlearning is so difficult that only diligent hearing, and
considering, and bending of the whole soul to it, can accomplish the
work; and even these would be too feeble did not divine grace assist.
Yet why should we remember the Egypt from which we came out? Are the
leeks and the garlic, and the onions anything, when the iron bondage,
and the slavish tasks, and the death-dealing Pharaoh of hell are
remembered? We part with folly for wisdom; with bubbles for eternal
joys; with deceit for truth; with misery for bliss; with idols for the
living God. O that Christians were more mindful of the divine precept
here recorded; but, alas! worldliness abounds; the church is defiled;
and the glory of the Great King is veiled. Only when the whole church
leads the separated life will the full splendour and power of
Christianity shine forth upon the world.
11. “_So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty._” Whole-hearted love
is the duty and bliss of the marriage state in every case, but
especially so in this lofty, mystic marriage. 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? Jesus sees a beauty in
his church, a beauty which he delights in most when it is not marred by
worldliness. He has always been most near and precious to his saints
when they have cheerfully taken up his cross and followed him without
the camp. 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 prove their
affection by coming out from an ungodly world, being separated, and
touching not the unclean thing. “_For he is thy Lord; and worship thou
him._” He has royal rights still; his condescending grace does not
lessen but rather enforce his authority. Our Saviour is also our Ruler.
The husband is the head of the wife; the love he bears her does not
lessen but strengthen her obligation to obey. The church must reverence
Jesus, and bow before him in prostrate adoration; his tender union with
her gives her liberty, but not license; it frees her from all other
burdens, but places his easy yoke upon her neck. Who would wish it to be
otherwise? The service of God is heaven in heaven, and perfectly carried
out it is heaven upon earth. Jesus, thou art he whom thy church praises
in her unceasing songs, and adores in her perpetual service. Teach us to
be wholly thine. Bear with us, and work by thy Spirit in us till thy
will is done by us on earth as it is in heaven.
12. “_And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift._” 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. The power of
missions abroad lies at home: a holy church will be a powerful church.
Nor shall there be lack of treasure in her coffers when grace is in her
heart; the free gifts of a willing people shall enable the workers for
God to carry on their sacred enterprises without stint. Commerce shall
send in its revenue to endow, not with forced levies and imperial taxes,
but with willing gifts the church of the Great King. “_Even the rich
among the people shall intreat thy favour._” Not by pandering to their
follies, but by testifying against their sins, shall the wealthy be won
to the faith of Jesus. They shall come not to favour the church but to
beg for her favour. She shall not be the hireling of the great, but as a
queen shall she dispense her favours to the suppliant throng of the rich
among the people. 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; not
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.
13 The king’s daughter _is_ all glorious within: her clothing _is_
of wrought gold.
14 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the
virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.
15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought; they shall
enter into the king’s palace.
13. “_The king’s daughter is all glorious within._” Within her secret
chambers her glory is great. Though unseen of men her Lord sees her, and
commends her. “It doth not yet appear what we shall be.” Or the passage
may be understood as meaning within herself—her beauty is not outward
only or mainly; the choicest of her charms are to be found in her heart,
her secret character, her inward desires. Truth and wisdom in the hidden
parts are what the Lord regards; mere skin-deep beauty is nothing in his
eyes. The church is of royal extraction, of imperial dignity, for she is
a king’s daughter; and she has been purified and renewed in nature, for
she is glorious within. Note the word _all_. The Bridegroom was said to
have all his garments perfumed, and now the bride is _all_ glorious
within—entireness and completeness are great points. There is no mixture
of ill savour in Jesus, nor shall there be alloy of unholiness in his
people, his church shall be presented without spot or wrinkle, or any
such thing. “_Her clothing is of wrought gold._” Best material and best
workmanship. How laboriously did our Lord work out the precious material
of his righteousness into a vesture for his people! no embroidery of
golden threads can equal that master-piece of holy art. Such clothing
becomes one so honoured by relationship to the Great King. The Lord
looks to it that nothing shall be wanting to the glory and beauty of his
bride.