Please turn in your Bibles to Psalm 45. Psalm 45. As we come to the reading and the preaching of God's word, let me pray for us. Father, in your light, we see light, and so we pray that you would come now and by your Holy Spirit illuminate the reading and the preaching of your word so that we would see Jesus more clearly. love him more dearly, and follow him more nearly. And we ask this in his name, who lives and reigns with you, and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever praised. Amen. Psalm 45. To the choir master, according to lilies, a mascal of the sons of Korah, a love song, My heart overflows with a pleasing theme. I address my verses to the King. My tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. You are the most handsome of the sons of men. Grace is poured upon your lips. Therefore, God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your splendor and majesty. In your majesty, ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness. Let your right hand teach you awesome deeds. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies. The peoples fall under you. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and casea, From ivory palaces, stringed instruments make you glad. Daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor. At your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir. Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear. Forget your people and your father's house, and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your Lord, bow to him. The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people. all-glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold. In many colored robes, she is led to the king, with her virgin companions following behind her. With joy and gladness, they are led along as they enter the palace of the king. In the place of your fathers shall be your sons, You will make them princes in all the earth. I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore, nations will praise you forever and ever. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God endures forever. My wedding was one of the happiest days of my life. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Sydney, Australia, not a cloud in the sky. Jackie and I were married in an old Anglican church with a long red carpet. The church was beautifully decorated with flowers. The music was great and grand for the occasion. All our family and friends were there, apart from about 300 Irish guests who told me they missed their flight. The best men and the fathers looked handsome in their matching ties. My mother was dressed in a beautiful pink outfit. The bride's mother, beautifully dressed in red. The bridesmaids looked beautiful in their long blue dresses, carrying their bouquets of flowers. And then as the center of attention, and rightly so, looking absolutely magnificent, was the groom. I was dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, deep purple tie, had a lapel flower, was clean shaven, had my hair cut short back and sides. I was looking pretty handsome. Oh, and Jackie, she didn't look too bad either. What do you think of the description of my wedding? Ladies, did I go into enough details for you? What's wrong with the description of my wedding? My bride, the beautiful Jackie, was not the center of attention. And that's what we would expect at weddings, isn't it? We expect the bride to be the center of attention. Weddings are all about the bride. She's who we talk about after a wedding. What her dress was like. Did she have her hair up or down? What was the color of her bouquet of flowers? The bride is always the center of attention at a wedding in any culture. But did you notice who's the center of attention in this wedding song of Psalm 45? It's the bridegroom. It's the man. It's the king, not the bride. We see that by how it is introduced in verse one. It's a love song for a royal wedding addressed to the king. My heart overflows with a pleasing theme. I address my verses to the king. My tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. The king is the center of attention in this wedding song, and he remains so throughout. Just cast your eye down the psalm. The bridegroom gets 10 verses, verses 2 to 9 and 6 to 17. The bride just gets six verses, verses 10 to 15. And even then, she only is given three verses to describe what she actually looks like on her wedding day. This is a love song for the bridegroom on his wedding day, not the bride on her wedding day. The songwriter in verse one may be the king's best man, we don't know, but that makes good sense. He's certainly someone who knows the king, admires the king, and his admiration is so great that his heart overflows into song for him. An older version of the Bible renders verse one, my heart bubbleth over with a song for the king. So what is it about this king that makes this songwriter bubble over with spontaneous praise? Well, verse two, you are the most handsome of the sons of men. This opening line is like the umbrella statement under which everything else in the song hangs. You are the most handsome of the sons of men, literally of the sons of Adam. This is the big surprise in this Psalm. The bridegroom out beautifies the bride. He's the center of attention. He's the beautiful one. And the songwriter shows us this in seven ways. Yes, I did just say seven. Now that's a lot to take in. So boys and girls, I thought I'd help you follow along this morning by putting a word in each of these points in the psalm that begins with the letter G. Why G? Because groom begins with G. And this psalm is all about the groom. Here's the first thing that makes this king the most handsome of the sons of men. Number one, the grace of his words. The grace of his words, verse two. You are the most handsome of the sons of men. Grace is poured upon your lips. The defining mark of this king's beauty is not his looks, but his lips. It's not his height or his physique. It's his speech. It's not what he looks like that makes him beautiful. It's what he sounds like. His words drip with grace because grace has been poured upon him as if from on high. It's as if he's been anointed to be a man of grace, to forgive, to free, to favor by what he says. This is what would have been in on the front pages of the Israeli daily, the day after the wedding. The king's speech, that's the identifying mark of this royal bridegroom. His words, gracious words. And for his gracious words, he receives a reward from God, verse two. Therefore, God has blessed you forever. There are three therefores in this Psalm. Verse two, verse seven, and verse 17. Three times this king is rewarded with something because of who he is or what he does. And here in verse two, he is rewarded for being a man of grace by being eternally blessed by God. So that's the first way this songwriter shows us the beauty of this king, the grace of his words. Then number two, the greatness of his war. The greatness of his war, verses three to five. If in verse two this king knows how to forgive, here he knows how to fight. Yes, he's a man of grace, but he's also a man of war. His lips drip with grace, but he has a sword strapped to his thigh, verse three. His right hand knows how to use it, verse four. And on his back is a quiver of arrows, verse five. A gracious man, yes, but also a fighting man. And these verses show us the greatness of his war in its cause. Verse four, he fights for the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness. We see the greatness of his war in his actions. His right hand can perform awesome deeds. We see the greatness of his war in the effectiveness of his weapons. They pierce the heart of his enemy. The cause is just. The king's actions are awesome. His weapons are effective. This is why the songwriter speaks of the king riding out majestically and victoriously, the greatness of his war. But the question is, why is this songwriter speaking of war at all? I mean, there's a time and a place, and it's not the time at a wedding to speak about a war. Well, actually, in the case of kings, it is. If I may be all British for a moment in this great republic of the United States of America, just think of Prince Charles or Prince William. on their wedding days. Boys and girls, when I was about your age, I remember watching the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981. Some of your parents and grandparents will remember it. Prince Charles was dressed in a black outfit with medals hanging from his chest. And then in 2011, when Prince William married, I noticed he was wearing a black outfit with medals on his chest. And then when Prince Harry got married in 2018, he was wearing a black outfit with medals on his chest. It was their military uniforms. Why? Because for kings, wedding and war go together. The defense of the realm is linked to the continuation of the royal line. No royal line, no future realm. No future realm, no lasting kingdom. When you're a king, wedding and war go together. And that's why this songwriter includes the greatness of this king's war in his wedding song. Because the establishment of this king's kingdom is connected to his victory in war, and then his marriage to his bride, and the ability to produce an offspring to continue on his dynasty. So that's why he speaks about the greatness of his war. Number three, the godliness of his rule. We've seen the grace of his words, the greatness of his war, and now the godliness of his rule, verses six to seven. The beauty of this king is seen in his God-like status and behavior. His rule is divine. Verse 6, your throne, O God, it's eternal. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. It's upright. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness. This final aspect of uprightness gets highlighted with the extra comment in verse 7, you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. This is what serves as the foundation of this King's divine eternal kingdom. His moral compass. He loves what is good. He hates what is evil. His kingdom is divine. It's eternal because of the kind of man He is. A man of uprightness, of moral rectitude, of godliness, of God-likeness. Because who in the Bible loves righteousness and hates wickedness? God Himself. And so this king gets the title of God. He gets the throne of God because he acts like God. And just as there was a reward for the grace on his lips, he was eternally blessed. So there's a reward for the godliness of his rule. Verse seven, therefore, God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Anointing speaks of a ceremonial occasion. It suggests a coronation. Following his victories in battle, this king is coronated. And the sounding note of his coronation, did you hear it? It is gladness. Gladness. Which brings us to the fourth thing about this king. The gladness of his coronation. The grace of his words, the greatness of his war, the godliness of his rule. And number four, the gladness of his coronation. Therefore, God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and casea. From ivory palaces, stringed instruments make you glad. Daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor. At your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir." Do you hear that note of joy and gladness at this king's coronation? For his love of righteousness and hatred of wickedness, for his war for the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness, this king gets to be the happiest man who has ever lived. which is a nice reward if you've just been in a fierce battle. There is only one problem with this joyful coronation. I wonder if you've spotted it. Here is this king, the most handsome of men, victorious in battle, happily sitting on his throne, but he's all alone. And it is not good for man to be alone. Jane Austen begins her famous novel, Pride and Prejudice. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune is in want of a wife. Well, here's a king in possession of an eternal kingdom, and he's in want of a wife, which is why this king's anointing naturally moves towards his wedding. which is what verses eight and nine prepare us for. The occasion builds in atmosphere and tension. The king's robes are scented with all the best fragrances of the day, myrrh, aloes, casea. His ivory palaces are filled with music. Daughters of kings have come from afar for the occasion. And at his right hand stands the queen, dressed in gold of Ophir, the most expensive gold of the ancient world. Now, the queen here might be his bride, If it is the bride, then the songwriter sort of fast-forwards proceedings and gives us a final snapshot of the king in his palace with his new bride, you know, like the royal wedding photograph. But I don't think that's what's happening here. That would break the flow of how the psalm unfolds. The wedding has not yet taken place. The king and the bride are betrothed and waiting, but not yet wedded. The bride doesn't enter until verse 13. All glorious is the princess in her chamber with robes interwoven with gold and many colored robes. She is led to the king. Do you see the problem with viewing verse 9 as the final wedding photograph? The bride hasn't arrived yet. And if it is the bride, then the exhortation in verse 10 for her to forget her people and her family seems a bit odd if she's already standing at the king's right hand in verse 9. The words in verse 10 suggest she has not yet formally left her people and her father. So I think it's better to see the queen in verse nine standing at his right hand as a reference to his mother. It's a different word than the word princess in verse 13. Here is the offspring of a woman waiting to be married after he has crushed his enemy in war with his mother standing by present. So we're still waiting for the bride. And that's what we would expect to happen next, wouldn't we? If this man is the most beautiful of the sons of men, if he has a good fortune and eternal kingdom with ivory palaces and the gold of Ophir, surely the bride is on her way. Surely she can't wait to marry this king. And so we would expect, verses 13 to 15, Here comes the bride. But that's not what comes next. Verses 10 to 12 interrupt the flow. The songwriter stops addressing the king and he starts addressing the bride. Here, oh daughter, and consider and incline your ear. Here's the surprise. The bride's not on her way. She's staying away. She's delaying. She's hesitating. She might be having second thoughts. This is the tense part of any wedding, isn't it? The beginning part. Will the bride show up? In our Western culture, it's become a bit of a tradition for the bride to be a wee bit late to add to the tension. Has she changed her mind? Has she met someone else on the way to church? And that's a bit like what's going on here. There seems to be some reason why this bride is hesitating. I know, ladies, what you're thinking. She's hesitating because the mother-in-law is standing beside him. Get her out of the way, and then she'll come. Well, no, it's actually her own family that's holding her back. Forget your people and your father's house. Getting married to this king means a change of loyalty, a change of location. And therefore, this marriage for this bride is a big deal. I think that most couples have moments when the weight of what they're about to do in their courtship or engagement hits them. A lot of couples I know who are happily married now had wobbles in their engagement or courtship. Jackie and I were no different. We had a wee wobble. I still try to tell myself Jackie had the wobble because she was weak at the knees. She couldn't believe her luck. But Jackie's side is very different. For Jackie, the reason she had a wobble is because marrying me meant leaving her family and her country. No small thing for a young lady. If you've married internationally, cross-culturally, interstately, then you know what it's like. It's a big deal. You have to move away from family, from country, from state. Getting married is a big deal. And it was the same for this bride. She's clearly from another country, from another people. She clearly still lives at home with her father. And so leaving to marry this king was a big deal, and hence the interlude. This is why the songwriter sort of stops the proceedings, presses pause on the music, and exhorts this waiting, wobbling, hesitant bride to come to her king. And he exhorts her by giving her some motivation. Verse 11, if she leaves her people and family to cleave to the king, he will desire her beauty. She'll become the center of his attention. If she leaves her people and family, she will come under his authority as her Lord. Nothing bad about that if he's a man of godliness. If she leaves her people and family, she'll become a woman of influence. The people of Tyre will seek her favor. Now that was a big deal because Tyre in the ancient world was the most prosperous neighbor to Israel. Yet here the people of Tyre will come to this queen for her favor. She'll become a woman of world influence. It's a bit like when Princess Catherine and Prince William were married. They had a wee wobble in their courtship and they broke up for a time. Well, that's a marriage and they'd never got back together again. Do you think that Kate Middleton would be opening hospitals and going to charity balls if she'd remained Kate Middleton or married someone else? No, it was her marriage to Prince William that made her a woman of world influence. Same with Princess Diana. And perhaps that was one of her motivating factors for Catherine to come and desire William and seek to be a woman for good in the world. Well, we know what happened with that royal wobble. They got over it, and they got married. And that's what happens with this bride, verse 13. All glorious is the princess in her chamber with robes interwoven with gold. In many colored robes, she is led to the king, with her virgin companions following behind her. With joy and gladness, they are led along as they enter the palace of the king. The bride comes to the wedding. And this shows us the fifth thing about this king. The glory of his bride. The glory of his bride. We've seen the grace of his words, the greatness of his war, the godliness of his rule, the gladness of his coronation, and now number five, the glory of his bride. There are two indications of her glory. Verse 13, her dress is multicolored and interwoven with gold. Gold was the most expensive material in the ancient world. Only kings could afford to buy gold or to wear clothes with gold in them, which means that this bride's dress has been given to her by her groom. She looks glorious, but only because of him. That's the first sign of her glory. And there's another, did you notice it in verse 14? Virgin companions, her bridesmaids, which suggests that she herself is presented to her king as a virgin. This is her glory, presented as a virgin and dressed in a beauty not her own. And so she enters the palace of her king. And it's as if the curtains are drawn and they head off on honeymoon to consummate their marriage. And that consummation is a fruitful one because, verse 16, it produces a posterity with a global reach. Here's the fifth thing about the beauty of this king, the global reach of his posterity. The global reach of his posterity. Verse 16, in place of your fathers shall be your sons. You will make them princes in all the earth. What does the opening line mean? In place of your fathers shall be your sons. Well, think about what the royal weddings of Prince Charles and Prince William meant for Her Majesty, the Queen. It meant the continuation of her father's name, of the House of Windsor. When a royal son gets married, he continues the dynasty of his father's before him. But notice what this best man says at this king's wedding. He raises his glass and he offers a toast of prophetic proportions. This king's reign will replace that of his father's reign. In other words, the dynasty of this king will be a new dynasty, a new house will arise in his name. And when his sons are born and they grow up, he will send them out as princes into all the earth. The dynasty of this king will not be limited to the boundaries of Israel, but will extend through his sons to the ends of the earth. Here's the sixth that makes this king so beautiful, the global reach of his posterity. He will rule over all the earth through his sons. And then number seven, the generations of his praise, the generations of his praise. We've seen the grace of his words, the greatness of his war, the godliness of his rule, the gladness of his coronation, the glory of his bride, the global reach of his posterity, and now the generations of his praise. I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore, peoples will praise you forever and ever. There's the last therefore. Verse two, for being a man of grace, therefore he was eternally blessed. Verse seven, for the greatness of his war and the godliness of his rule, therefore he was anointed with gladness beyond his companions. Now verse 17, for being remembered in all generations, therefore he is promised eternal praise. Eternally blessed. Eternally glad. eternally praised." Now, that's surprising. We saw the first surprise at the beginning, where the groom is the center of attention, not the bride. But here's the final surprise. After the wedding, the bride doesn't join him in getting the center of attention. When Princess Diana married Prince Charles, she became the center of attention, but not so here. The you and the you're in verse 17 are singular. I will cause your name, O King, to be remembered in all generations. Therefore, nations will praise you, O King, forever and ever. In every other dynasty in the world, the praise of the monarch passes to their descendants once they die. I still have to catch myself when I'm singing the British National Anthem, because for my whole life, it was God save our gracious Queen, and now it's changed. God save our gracious King. Because one monarch died, and another monarch took their place, but not so with this King. The songs of his kingdom will always and forever be about him. The generations of his praise will go on forever and ever." Which makes us ask the question this morning, just who is this royal wedding love song actually about? Here is a king who comes among his people speaking words of grace, Then he goes to war for a just cause, defeating his enemies with awesome deeds. As a reward, he is given the title and throne of God and ascends into his palace with a joy beyond any joy on earth. And then he sits in his ivory palace, waiting for his bride to come to the wedding. And when she comes, they produce a posterity of princes who will rule over all the earth, so that all nations will praise him forever and ever. Do you know of any king in the Old Testament who fits this? Solomon comes close. But even then, some of the descriptions of this king are bigger and better and beyonder than Solomon. This king is peerless. This king is beautiful beyond compare. This is a king of all kings. This is Jesus Christ. the most beautiful of the sons of men. The one whose lips dripped with grace when he spoke to sinners. The one who rode out in majesty, fighting the devil and his minions with his awesome miracles. And then with the sharp arrows of his death and resurrection, he pierced the devil in the heart. This is the one whose rule was godly and godlike. He loved righteousness and hated wickedness, and for that he received the title and the throne of God. This is the one whose bride is glorious. That's you and me here this morning, dressed in a beauty not our own, waiting to be presented to our bridegroom on that last day. This is the one who with his church will produce a posterity that fills the earth where his people will reign as kings and priests unto God. And this is the one whose name will be praised from generation to generation as his kingdom extends to the ends of the earth. Boys and girls, do you remember how many points we had this morning? How could you forget? Seven. In the Bible, seven is a special number. It's the number of completion, of perfection. How appropriate then that we've seen seven things about Jesus Christ because He is the complete and perfect King. And the reason this love song was written was so that we, the bride of Christ, might see the beauty of our King. Might see the one who is the most beautiful of the sons of Adam. The one who is altogether lovely. The one who is the fairest of 10,000. And having seen his beauty, we might burst into song for our King. Because it's all about the King. The bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gaze at glory, but on the king of grace. Not on the crown he giveth, but on his pierced hand. The lamb is all the glory in Emmanuel's land. That's what love songs are meant to do. They're meant to stir our affections and our emotions so that our hearts bubble over in praise for the one we love. So this morning, betrothed bride of Christ, lift up your eyes and behold the beauty of your King. sinful and sorrowing, bruised and battered, doubting and discouraged, hurting and hesitant, betrothed bride of Christ. Lift up your eyes and behold the beauty of your King. Don't look back. Don't hesitate. Look forward. Keep your eyes on the King. Because soon and very soon, we are going to see the King. Let's pray. Father, would you please grant us the eyes to see the beauty and glory of our King and so seeing it, would you cause our hearts to bubble over in praise for His name for all generations and to the ends of this earth. And we ask this in his wonderful name. Amen.