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Psalms 44-45
Psalm 44:1-26
To
the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil.
“We have heard
with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didsd afflict the people, and
cast them out. For they got not the land
in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the
light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them. Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob. Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under
that rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall
my sword save me. But thou hast saved us
from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. In God we boast all the day long, and praise
thy name for ever. Selah. But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame;
and goest not forth with our armies. Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for
themselves. Thou hast given us like
sheep appointed for meat; and hast
scattered us among the heathen. Thou
sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth by their price. Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us. Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a
shaking of the head among the people. My
confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me, for the voice
of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and
avenger. All this is come upon us; yet
have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way; though thou hast sore broken us
in the place of dragons [jackals], and covered us with the shadow of
death. If we have forgotten the name of
our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; shall not God search this
out? for he
knoweth the secrets of the heart. Yea,
for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Awake, why
sleepest thou, O LORD? arise, cast us not off for ever. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our
oppression? For our soul is bowed down
to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the
earth. Arise for our help, and redeem us
for thy mercies’ sake.”
Introduction
“Psalm
44 is to the chief Musician, which means obviously it was to be sung
publicly. It is for the sons of Korah,
or of the sons of Korah. Chronicles
tells us that Heman is one of the sons of Korah, and fourteen of his sons are
leaders of twenty-four of the courses of priests that are involved in
worship. And it says it’s a Maschil,
which means this is a song of instruction. As we go through it, one thing we can see here is how we should be
praying for our nation, the United States, how we can pray for our country,
certainly that is put before us here. One of the huge things that is in front of us
is the Psalmist starts by speaking about God’s faithfulness, what he’s done,
this is who he is. No doubt referencing
the fact of the birth of the nation, bringing them out of Egypt, God working
great signs and wonders and so forth. And then it goes to ‘But LORD, this is what’s happening now,
our enemies are overrunning us, it seems you’re not with us, these things are
going on, there’s confusion here LORD.’ So the Psalmist does something very
important, he writes down first what he does know. And after he states what he does know, he
brings the part of his life that’s filled with questions. And the rule is always When you
don’t know what the Lord’s doing, always fall back on what you do know. You know, my pastor, he said to me, “Never
trade what you do know for what you don’t know.” When God is doing something and you’re
thinking ‘Lord, why would you let this
happen, you say you love me, I’m your child, what is going on, why the
struggle, why the fear, why the illness, why this, why that?’ When we don’t know what he’s doing we fall
back on what we do know, ‘Lord, you did
love me so much you gave your Son, you saved me Lord, out of drugs, out of this
or that, you filled me with your Spirit, you’ve given me a hope, Lord, you’ve
given me a future.’ We fall back on
what we do know, and we certainly see that in this Psalm, so it’s a Psalm of
instruction.
Dads, It’s Your Job To Be
High Priest In The Home
He
begins here by saying “We have heard” and some believe by the way, now the context here is Hezekiah, as many
statements fit with circumstances in the reign of Hezekiah. “We have heard with our ears, O
God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and
cast them out. For they got not the land
in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the
light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.” (verses 1-3) ‘So,
LORD,
we know this, this is what we have heard,’ “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the
Word of God.” Faith doesn’t come
by seeing. Lots of times we say ‘If I could have seen that, if I could have
seen this,’ ancient Israel saw it all, and they didn’t enter the Land
because of unbelief. Faith comes by
hearing, hearing by the Word of God, this Psalmist, if it’s Hezekiah, if it’s
one of his men saying ‘Look, we’ve heard, our fathers have told
us.’ Dad’s front and center, it’s your
job to be the high priest in the home. And when he says “Our fathers” he’s talking about
their progenitors, but still it falls to the men, you know, we’re to teach our
children, we’re to speak to them every day, in the morning, in the afternoon,
it falls to the father, ‘we’ve heard, our fathers have told us about
this God, about his works, about what he’s accomplished, about what he’s done.’ Our generation, you know, we should be able
to say to the generation after us, I was able to say to my kids, ‘Look, I was taking drugs, I was immoral, I
was in bondage, you know, sex, drugs and rock’n roll, I tried to fill my life,
I was empty, I was miserable, and Jesus forgave me, he saved, me he blew my
mind when he came to me, he was delighted to have me, he wasn’t ashamed to make
me his own, he put his arms around me, he washed me and he cleansed me.’ You know, fathers, to say to your children, ‘This is who he is, and this is what he’s
done, when things are going tough, and we don’t understand, we know this for
sure, we know this for sure.’ And he
says “We have heard with our ears, O
God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and
cast them out.” (verses 1-2) You know, in Hezekiah’s day, up until that
day, it was the greatest Passover the nation had seen, you can imagine them
celebrating, these kinds of things resonating during his reign. He was one of the great godly kings in
Judah. In fact, since David, he was the
greatest, most godly king that had been in Judah. He says “For
they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own
arm save them: but thy right hand, and
thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto
them.” (verse 3)
“Through Thee Will We Push Down Our Enemies”---‘I’m Not Going To Trust In My Bow Or My Sword To Save Me’
“Thou art my
King, O God:” if
it’s Hezekiah, he knows who the real King of Judah is, it isn’t him. Down to verse 8 now, he’s talking about the
hope that he has because of the first three verses. “Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob. Through thee will we push down our
enemies: through thy name will we tread
them under that rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall
my sword save me. But thou hast saved us
from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. In God we boast all the day long, and praise
thy name for ever. Selah.” (verses 4-8) ‘We’re to
think about that,’ Selah means. “Thou art my King” part of this, it
seems he’s talking directly to God, and then he stops to say something about
God. “Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.” Not
Israel, Jacob the one who was a conniver, “Thou
art my King” we have to be able to see that. That might be a good bumper-sticker,
huh? “Thou art my King, O God”, I like that. “command deliverances for Jacob.” Listen, we don’t have the same enemies that
Israel had, and particularly at this point in time, the Assyrians [facing Judah
during Hezekiah’s reign], but we have a warfare. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, they’re powerful to the pulling down of strongholds
(cf. 2nd Corinthians 10:3-6). We face pride, we face rebellion, we face selfishness, we face fear, there are things we have to deal with all the time. And I like what it says here in verse 5, it says, “Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under
that rise up against us.” Through
you, Lord, nothing to do with my own efforts, I don’t want psycho-babble, I want the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my
life. “Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under
that rise up against us.” I love that, the name of Jesus, to go ‘Lord, I’m struggling with this, Lord Jesus,
I’m struggling with selfishness, with pride, or compromise,’ whatever it
might be. “For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.” (verse 6) [Comment: At this time, Hezekiah
and all of Judah that had sought sanctuary within the walls of Jerusalem were
surrounded by half of the fierce Assyrian army, which had conquered all of
northern Judah. Hezekiah never had to
lift a bow or sword, as fits these verses. God sent one holy angel, who slew, killed the entire Assyrian military
forces surrounding Jerusalem, 185,000 battle-hardened soldiers. That’s the historic background behind the writing
of this Psalm. See http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/4.html for the full historic account of this.] What a great, by the way, deliverance that is, in and of itself. When you think your bow and your sword can do
the job, you are under tremendous pressure, ‘My
know-how, my abilities, I’m going to get this business out of the mess it’s in,
I’m going to organize this, I’m going to administrate this, I’m gonna whup
this, I’m going to beat this, I’m going to knock this down, I’m going to do
this with my talents, I’m going to set this straight…’ When you’re in there with all of that sweat,
doing it yourself, you’re a miserable human being. When you finally realize, ‘Now wait, I’m not gonna trust in my bow,
and I’m not gonna trust in my sword to save me.’ It’s delightful when you have that
relief. We should trust in “his”
sword. Right? His Word is sharper than any two-edged sword,
it divides down between soul and spirit (cf. Hebrews 4:12), we should trust in
his sword, not in our own. He says, But thou hast saved us from our enemies,
and hast put them to shame that hated us. In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.” (verses 7-8) ‘What do you think about that?’ ‘Look, this is what he’s done in our past,
this is who he is, this is what he’s accomplished, brought the children of
Israel out of Egypt on the night of the Passover, that Passover Lamb was a
picture of Christ, he’s brought us out of our sin [our Egyptian bondage of sin]
and our history by the blood of the Lamb the same way, he’s our King, he works
in our lives, the victory we have is not by our bow or our sword. We’re going to press down our enemies and
we’re going to subdue them in his name and by his strength, not on our own, and
we’re going to praise him forever. What
do you think about that?’ That’s
a good deal.
“Thou Hast Cast Us Off And Put
Us To Shame”---‘Why Are You Letting This Happen?’
Now
he reflects to the present, and the struggle that he’s having. If you look at verses 9 to 17, each verse
begins with “thou.” [Comment: In light of Hezekiah writing this, these
verses are looking back to when the Assyrians were conquering northern Judah
just before they surrounded Jerusalem and lost half their army, 185,000
battle-hardened Assyrian soldiers killed in one night by one holy angel. This is covered in 2nd Kings
18:13-37 and 19:1-35-37. God took
action, for it states in 2nd Kings 19:35-36, “And it came to pass
that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the
camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand (185,000): and when they arose early in the morning,
behold, they were all dead corpses,
so Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at
Nineveh.”] He acknowledges that God is
the One whose allowing the difficulty in their
lives. He says, but after all of these
wonderful things (verses 1-8), “But thou
hast cast off, and put us to shame, and goest not forth with our armies. Thou makest us to turn back from the
enemy: and they which hate us spoil for
themselves. Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen. Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost
not increase thy wealth by their price. Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us. Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a
shaking of the head among the people.” (verses 9-14) Look what he says, “My confusion” ‘I’m confused about all this, LORD,’ “My confusion is continually before
me, and the shame of my face hath covered me. For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth;
by reason of the enemy and avenger.” (verses 15-17) ‘I can hear the enemies blaspheming, I’m in
confusion about this, you’re the God who delivered us, you brought us here, you
formed out nation, you gave us the land, it wasn’t by our strength, you were my
God, you were faithful in my life, you keep me, it’s by your strength, it’s by
your ,name, I’m not trusting in my own sword, my own bow, we’re going to praise
your name forever, this is a song we sing,’ he puts a big Selah
there. But he says ‘You’ve allowed this to happen,
you’ve allowed our enemies, why are you letting this happen? This is going on, and that’s going on,’ and each time he says… ‘I’m confused about all of this.’ He’s not going to sink in that, because he’s
falling back on what he does know as he faces what he doesn’t know here. That’s why the first verses (1-8). Now the interesting thing, is if this is
Hezekiah, the interesting thing that’s happened, is God has allowed the
Assyrians to carry away the Ten Tribes in the north, because of their sin, and
their idolatry, and their rebellion. And
in the British Museum in London, there is the Sennacherib Cylinder, that was
the Assyrian king that carried away the (ten) northern tribes, and there’s 487
tight lines on there in the cuneiform text, and on those lines Sennacherib
talks about how he carried away the north, and then he came into the southern
part of Judah [actually the northern part of Judah, just before he surrounded
Jerusalem], how he took 46 fenced cities from Hezekiah, and 200,150 prisoners
and carried them away from those 46 cities. So this may be Hezekiah sitting in Jerusalem saying ‘What is going on? The North is gone, and now the enemy is
taking us, and LORD, you’re the one whose been faithful to us in the past, why is this going on,
LORD? What’s happening, why?’ At this point [2nd Kings 18:13-37]
the angel of the LORD is going to slaughter 185,000 of them in one
night [2nd Kings 19:35-37] and they’re going to go back to Damascus
and back to Assyria, broken, Hezekiah doesn’t realize that’s going to happen,
at this point. But he says, he sees
this, ‘You’re not going forth to battle with our armies, you’re, it doesn’t
seem like you’re standing with us, I’m having this struggle in my life, LORD, where are you, I know who
you’ve been, I’ve been faithful, now I’m struggling here LORD, I’m confused.’ And he says ‘I hear the words of those who
are blaspheming.’ In 2nd Kings chapter 18 [verses 19-37] it tells us that Rabshakeh is standing outside
the walls of Jerusalem saying ‘Don’t listen to your king, who do you think
your God is, you’ve gotta be kidding me, don’t you know what we did up north,
then we came through all these other cities in Judah, there was no God that
stood before us, our god has been whupping your God all day long, who do you
think your God is, we’re going to do the same thing to him, we are gonna whup your
God too.’ And he [Hezekiah]
says, ‘I can hear them outside the walls, blaspheming.’ And it tell us that, that was what Rabshakeh
was saying, he was saying it in Hebrew [2nd Kings 18:26-27], and he
said, ‘Hey, don’t talk to us in Hebrew, talk to us in Syrian, we understand
that too, we don’t want everybody in the city to hear what you’re saying about
your victories in defeating us everywhere,’ and then Rabshakeh just
went on in Hebrew, and they were trying to dishearten the people, they were
blaspheming their God. And he says ‘I’m
confused, why in the world is this going on.’ Look in verse 17 now, he says, “All
this has come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt
falsely in thy covenant.” In the
days of Hezekiah he had turned the nation back to God [and had tried to turn
the remaining ten northern tribes of Israel back to God as well, see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/4.html],
he had destroyed the idols, he had torn them down, he broke the brass serpent,
they had a great Passover, he brought great reform to the nation [of Judah, but
not to the ten northern tribes of Israel], and he established the priesthood
again, and the worship in the Temple courts. So he’s saying ‘LORD, we’re turned back to you,
yes, there’s been trouble in the past, but not now, LORD.’ It would be like this nation, what has
happened in America? We’ve sown to the wind, we’re going to reap
the whirlwind, 54 million abortions [it’s more like 65 million now]. You know, all that’s happened in our nation,
in the name of freedom and civil liberty, that our forefathers wanted for us,
think of what we’ve gone and done with freedom and civil liberty, we’ve turned
it into the most vile, sexual, immoral, self-indulgent practices that they [our
forefathers] never intended it to be. That’s not the kind of freedoms and civil liberty they talked about when
they founded this nation. How do we
pray, what do we do? Because even now,
God’s people, we’re hearing of prayer-meetings in churches, Baptist churches,
Calvary Chapels, Assembly of God churches, we’re hearing in Africa, there seems
to be this move in the Church [greater Body of Christ] amongst God’s people who
love him, to get back to prayer again. And we can say with Hezekiah, ‘Hey, Lord, this has come upon us, we
haven’t forgotten you, we’ve not dealt falsely in regards to your covenant,’ “Our
heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way; though
thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons,” or jackals, this has
become just barren, where parts of the land where the enemy has come, “and covered us with the shadow of
death. If we have forgotten the name of
our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; shall not God search this
out? for he
knoweth the secrets of the heart.” (verses 18-21) ‘If
we’re guilty, LORD, then we understand, you’re
gonna search that out,’ “for he knoweth the secrets of
the heart.” (verse 21b) see if this sounds familiar to
you, “Yea, for thy sake are we killed
all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.” (verse 22) Sound
familiar? Romans chapter 8:35-36, Paul brings it in and says, “Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness,
or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we killed all the day long; we are counted as
sheep for the slaughter.” He picks
up the whole heart of this Psalm, where the Psalmist is saying, ‘Hey,
we haven’t turned away LORD, we’re going to worship you, we’re going to stick with you.’ Paul talks about us being predestined and so
forth, and he says ‘What shall we say to these things, if God is for us, who can be
against us? He who spared not his own
Son, shall he not also give us with us all things freely.’ He takes us through all of that, and before
he starts to talk about God’s love he says “For
thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the
slaughter.” (Romans 8:36) These are
God’s
people, persecution was beginning, you know, he’s writing to the Romans. And what he’s saying is what the Psalmist
said, ‘You know what, we’re going to trust you if it
means giving our own life for it. Lord,
we know who you are, we know what you’ve done, we don’t understand what’s going
on around us, but we’re faithful to you today, Lord, we’re seeking you, we’re
praying. If things get worse, Lord,
we’re still going to trust you. If the
economy falls through Lord, we’re still going to trust you. If we start to loose our homes and we have to
move into homes with each other, we’re still going to trust you. If the economy gets so bad if we have to
sleep here in church on the pews, we’re still going to trust you Lord. Though we’re counted as sheep for the
slaughter, we’re killed for thy sake, we’re killed all the day long, Lord we’re going to trust you.’
‘Awake, Why Sleepest Thou? Forgettest Our
Affliction And Our Oppression?’
And
then in verse 23 he begins to cry
out to God, remarkably. He says “Awake,
why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our
oppression? For our soul is bowed down
to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the
earth. Arise for our help, and redeem us
for thy mercies’ sake.” (verses 23-26) There’s certain things he says here that
are not true, in this sense. First of
all, you don’t have to wake God up. He
says ‘why
sleepest thou?’ That’s not
true. ‘Arise, cast us not off’ that’s not true. God hadn’t done that. He says ‘Why are you hiding your face?’ God wasn’t doing that. He says ‘Why are you forgetting us in our
affliction?’ God wasn’t doing
that. It seemed like those things were
happening. He’s describing his
experience, ‘LORD, it seems like you’re asleep. It seems like you’ve cast us off, it seems
like you’ve forgotten about us,’ he says those things. Those are not true
things, but that was how he felt at that moment, when we look at what was going
on. And then he’s going to cry out
directly and boldly to God, come boldly to the throne of grace right after
this. But he says these things. Actually the word “awake” there in verse 23
is “arouse thyself.” “why sleepest thou, O Lord?” then the second word the second word “arise” in
verse 23 is “awake, cast us not off for ever.” He promised he would never do that to his
ancient people. “Wherefore hidest thou thy face,” He’s not doing that. “and forgettest our
affliction and our oppression?” (verse 24) he
didn’t do that in Egypt, he wasn’t going to do it, he’s never going to do
it. “and
our oppression”, Hebrews 11 tells us he hasn’t’ forgotten his ancient
people. Paul says ‘God forbid.’ Has he cast off his ancient people? No, that’s not true. [Comment: For a good study of the history of his ancient people, Israel and Judah,
see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/1.html and study through that entire series. And actually, right before this time Hezekiah is writing this Psalm, God
had allowed a good portion of the ten tribes of Israel, called the House of
Israel, to escape northward into the Caucasus mountains before the Assyrians attacked the idolatrous parts of those ten tribes who
stayed behind. God has been faithful to
his ancient people, even now, wherever they are and whoever they are, and
whoever they have become as nations. God
promises to regather all 12 tribes of Israel at the 2nd coming of
Jesus Christ, and plant them back in their ancient homeland, the Promised Land,
where the Jews, one tribe out of the 12, have already returned to since
1948. God will be faithful in all of
this.] So we apply it to our lives, he
says ‘He’ll
never leave us or forsake us.’ He says ‘He’s with us always, even to the end of the age.’ (Matthew 28:20b) And we sometimes feel like he’s asleep. Remember in the storm, Jesus was in the back
in the boat, they had to wake him up. You ever have that feeling, you’re in the storm, he’s sleeping in the back of the boat? ‘Why
are you sleeping, why have you cast us off? You’re hiding from me.’ God doesn’t play Marco Polo, he’s not hiding, ‘You’re forgetting us in our
affliction,’ none of that is true. He says, “For our soul is bowed
down to the dust: our belly cleaveth
unto the earth.” (verse 25) and now here’s the
cry, this is how we certainly should be praying for our nation, “Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy
mercies’ sake.” (verse 26) “Arise” literally “Help” and ‘be
our help’ is the idea. ‘Help
us for our help’ or ‘Arise for our help.’ “and redeem us” the
reason, “for thy mercies’ sake.” ‘Not
for us, LORD, do it for your name, do it
for your rep. There ain’t anything left
in this country, we’ve thumbed our nose at you, we’ve thumbed our nose at
marriage, we’ve thumbed our nose at children, we’ve thumbed our nose at
everything Lord, do it for your great mercies’ sake, LORD. Hear us, LORD, that we can come boldly to
the throne of grace, we can cry out.’ You know, ask God for one more
awakening, one more great revival, one more great ingathering before the
Trumpet blows. [Interesting, this very
theme, of God coming to the rescue of those descendents of the whole ancient 12
tribes of Israel during the Tribulation (World War III) at the second coming of
Jesus Christ, and as he rescues them during this great future regathering, he
says in Ezekiel 36 that he’s not doing it because of anything they’ve done
that’s right, because they have done nothing to deserve it, but for his great
name’s sake he’s rescuing them. Read Ezekiel 36:21-22, 29-32, “But I had pity
for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen,
whither they went. Therefore say unto
the house of Israel [called by the Jews the Ten Lost Tribes of
Israel, but in God’s eyes, all 12 tribes], Thus saith the Lord GOD;
I do not this for your sakes, O house
of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the
heathen, whither ye went…And I will also save your from all your
uncleannesses: and I will call for the
corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree,
and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine
among the heathen. Then shall ye
remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for
your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this,
saith the Lord GOD,
be it known unto you: be ashamed and
confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.” So that puts Psalm 44, verse 26 where it says “for thy mercies’ sake” into proper
context, it’s not for our sakes, or anything we have done, for as Paul said,
all our righteousness before God is like filthy rags.]
Psalm 45:1-17
To
the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of
loves.
“My heart is
inditing a good matter: I speak of the
things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a
ready writer. Thou art fairer than the
children of men: grace is poured into
thy lips: therefore God hath blessed
thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because
of truth and meekness and righteousness;
and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever
and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest
wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath
appointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and
incline thine ear; forget thine own people, and thy father’s house; so shall
the king greatly desire thy beauty: for
he is thy LORD;
and worship thou him. And the daughter
of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall
intreat thy favour. The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. She
shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her
shall be brought unto thee. With
gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children,
whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for
ever and ever.”
Introduction
Great way, now it’s wonderful
now that Psalm 45 follows this great struggle in Psalm 44. Psalm 45 is a Messianic Psalm, first of
all. I want you to be clear about
that. Look down in verses 6 and 7, let’s read there, in Psalm 45. See where it says “Thy throne, O God, is for
ever and ever: the sceptre of thy
kingdom is a right [or righteous] sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness and hatest
wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” Now it tells us this, you don’t have to turn,
in Hebrews chapter 1:8-9, it says,
speaking of Jesus, “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated
iniquity; therefore God, even thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” And it tells us very specifically in Hebrews
chapter 1, verses 8 and 9, that these verses are spoken by the Father to the
Son. So this is a Messianic Psalm, we
know that. The first 8 verses speak to
us about his royal majesty, the King, and his beauty and his power, and in fact
of his Kingdom. That’s wonderful after
the struggle in the Psalm before it, it’s all kind of settled here, it’s put
down in front of us wonderfully. And
then from verses 9 to the end, 17, it is her royal majesty, which is you by the
way, just in case you’re wondering, you’re the Bride
of Christ. Guys, toughen up a little
[chuckles]. This, it tells us here is
“to the chief Musician” again “upon Shoshannim” which is “according to the
lilies”, which means it’s a song that is sung in the Spring. Tradition had this as one of the Psalms sung
during Passover. It’s sung according to
the lilies, in the Spring season. It is again “of the sons of Korah”, it is
“Maschil,” again a song that is to bring instruction, and it says it’s “a Song
of loves”, literally “a Song for the beloved”, which would be us, a song for
us, for the beloved. It has nothing to
do with lust, we’re a refreshing thing in the culture we’re living in, it is a song for the beloved.
The King Comes, Bringing The Kingdom Of God
So,
this wonderful picture that is brought before us, it starts the first, let me
read the first eight verses so you get a sense it’s about His royal
majesty. “My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art
fairer than the children of men: grace
is poured into thy lips: therefore God
hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy
sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy
majesty. And in thy majesty ride
prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things [demonstrate awesome things]. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever
and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest
wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.” (verses 1-8) Verse
9 then switches to her royal majesty, but first, the King. Interesting perspective, we don’t have royal
family in America, it’s still in England there. The great thing about a monarch, that’s the
ideal form of government, is when Jesus comes he’s going to be King Jesus, and
he’s going to rule. And he’s not going
to rule for four years, or eight years, he’s not going to be re-elected every
four years, he doesn’t have the Supreme Court, he is the Supreme Court, he is
the Senate, he is the Congress. When he
comes, monarchy is the perfect form of government, but you have to have the
perfect monarch for a monarchy to be the perfect form of government, or else it’s tyranny. When he
comes he will rule with a rod of iron it tells us (cf. Revelation 19:15 and
also read Isaiah 11:4-9). I remember one
time years ago when we were in Israel, we were walking up to the Garden Tomb,
and all of a sudden here’s Chuck Smith, “Joe!” he says, “I’d like you to meet her royal highness,
the queen of Tonga.” And I’m
thinking ‘Ah, you’re majesty, good to
meet you,’ I’d never have known, looking at her of course. And here comes the king of Tonga, he
introduced me to his royal majesty, the king. Evidently they had gotten saved, listening on the radio, so they called
Chuck and said “You’re our pastor.” Well he said “Wonderful” They said “We’re the king and queen of Tonga.” “So, well great.” And
they said, “Well we want to get baptized,
will you baptize us?” He said “Sure.” They said, “All right, meet us in Israel, we want to get baptized in the Jordan River.” So he went over there, and he baptized them
in the Jordan, and we were having Communion worshipping there in the Garden
Tomb, and here’s Chuck right at the open door of the Garden Tomb talking to the
king and queen of Tonga, tears streaming down their faces, just wonderful. But that’s a whole different way of thinking,
your royal highness. But I think we
should think of, here in the Psalm we read “Thou art my King.” You know, do we think of Jesus that way,
really? Are we yielded that much to him
and to his will and to his Word? It’s a
challenge for me. But here he’s
described, and the writer here says, remarkably, “My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king:” The King James says “is inditing”, the Hebrew is, “bubbleth
up,” or “boileth over” is the
idea. ‘I can’t contain what’s
happening, this is flowing over, it’s bubbling over, it’s boiling over, it’s
flowing over, my heart is exploding’ “with a good matter: I speak of things which I have made touching
the king:” ‘I’m speaking of the things I’ve taken hold
of touching the king,’ and he said as that happens, “my tongue is a pen of a ready writer.” (verse 1) His
lips, he can’t contain the way this is flowing out. And then he begins to describe his royal
majesty, “Thou art fairer than the
children of men: grace is poured into
thy lips: therefore God hath blessed
thee for ever.” (verse 2) Thou art fairer than the children of men, you
know. John could tell that from the Isle
of Patmos (cf. Revelation 1:13-18), when he saw him he fell down like a dead
man. Daniel, ‘All of my comeliness was turned
to ashes.’ Isaiah says, ‘I
lifted up my eyes, I saw the LORD high, and his train lifted up,
filled the Temple,’ he collapses before the sight. The idea
is he is so beautiful, the writer says, this is boiling over, I can’t even say
it right, ‘you’re fairer than the children of men, there’s no human frame that
compares to you.’ And yet,
that’s in his royal position. Because
Isaiah will say, “There was no beauty or comeliness that we should desire him.” “Who hath believed our report, the arm of the
LORD has been revealed, he grew up before him like a tender plant, like a root out
of dry ground, and there is no beauty or comeliness that we should desire him.” He took on human skin, made in the likeness
of men. In fact, in John chapter 1, when
John the Baptist is getting ready to baptize him, he says ‘I would not have known him,
except the one who sent me to baptize said ‘the one you see the Spirit
descending upon and abiding on, that’s the one that will baptize with the Holy
Ghost from afar.’ John the
Baptist said ‘I would not have known him.’ Jesus didn’t glow in the dark [not visibly, but he did to the demons,
the Holy Spirit causing him to glow brightly in the Spirit], he didn’t have an
appearance like that. And John was his
cousin, and John was a prophet, and John said ‘I would not have known him.’ And yet as he takes him in the water
to baptize him, he realizes. He said ‘I
have need to be baptized of thee.’ And he’s talking about the One who comes in
his strength, his winnowing fork is in his hand, you know, that he’s going to
do all these powerful things, the ax is laid to the root. And then when he baptizes him, he’s
staggered, because he was a man, he looked like the rest of us, ‘I
wouldn’t have known him, when I baptized him and the Spirit descended upon
him,’ and Jesus goes into the wilderness for forty days, no doubt then
John goes and begins to pray and to read the Scripture. And then when Christ comes back, no longer
[is he describing Christ as having a] winnowing fork, power and authority, he
says “Behold,
the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” In his humanity, no beauty, no comeliness
that we would desire him, that set him aside. Because he came to walk among us, not to intimidate
anybody. If you’d have walked
into a room with him in it, you’d have been completely comfortable to sit down
at the table with Jesus, with God in human flesh, and that’s exactly what he
wanted. Tax gathers and sinners and
harlots were completely comfortable to sit down at the table with him, and look
into his face. The religious hypocrites
would say, ‘Hey man, if you knew what God
was like, you wouldn’t sit and eat with these people.’ And Jesus looked up at them with a smile, God
in human flesh, with crumbs in his beard, and said ‘No, if you knew what God was like, you wouldn’t be saying that to
me.’ And then he tells us about the
lost coin and the lost sheep and the prodigal son. Here it says “Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips:” it says
the people marveled after him because of the gracious words that he spoke, “therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.”
(verse 2)
The Battle Of Armageddon,
He’s Coming With A Sword And The Armies Of Heaven
And, “Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.” (verse 3) He’s coming, there is yet a battle to finish
(cf. Revelation 19:11-21). He fought the
first battle at Golgotha, and he came away victorious, and he rose on the third
day. There is another battle at
Armageddon, and he’s coming with a sword, and he’s coming with the armies of
heaven. He says “Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory
and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride
prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.”
(verses 3-4) That is, ‘thy
right hand with the nail marks in it, the piercing marks in it, will
demonstrate awesome things,’ no doubt when he comes, at the battle of
Armageddon, the Lord of lords written on his thigh, Lord of lords, King of
kings, the Truth of God, in majesty riding forth, because of truth and meekness
and righteousness. “Thine arrows are sharp in
the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.” (verse 5) It says, ‘Who is this,’ in Isaiah 63, ‘who cometh from Basra with dyed
garments,’ you know, from Edom, ‘riding in the might of his power, trampling
down the armies that rebel against him as he comes,’ and the hailstones
falling from heaven crushing those who had been blaspheming, it tells us in
Revelation, the God of heaven. And it
says in the Old Testament that the sentence for blaspheming was a stoning, it’s
an interesting picture. Here he comes in
his might, his arrows are sharp, and they’re falling into the hearts of the
King’s enemies, “whereby the people fall under thee.” (verse 5b) [See http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophecies/2ndcoming_4.htm and http://www.unityinchrist.com/revelation/Revelation%2018-20.htm ]
The Coming Kingdom And Government Of God
“Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.” (verse 6) It tells us a bit about his government
here. First of all, it’s permanent. What a relief, what a relief. Finally somebody is going to lower taxes and
take care of the poor. We’re finally
going to see it. Cut military
spending? He don’t need a military, he’s
all powerful, he’s got the whole thing nailed down [he’ll demonstrate that at
his 2nd coming at the battle of Armageddon]. What a wonderful day that’s going to be. So, his government is going to be permanent, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the
sceptre of thy kingdom is a right
sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and
hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” (verse 7) It is a perfect government, he’s going to
rule with a rod of iron, and a nail-pierced hand. He’s going to be hard on sin, because he gave
every single opportunity for people to turn from it, he died himself and laid
down his life, so he’s going to deal with it. He’s going to love righteousness, he’s going to hate wickedness. “therefore
God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”
(verse 7b) It’s going to be a
pleasant Kingdom, it ain’t going to be a bummer, there’s not going to be
persecution. I talked to somebody today
that is involved with the underground Church somewhere on the news you’re
watching all the time, he said they’re crucifying Christians there, and the
media’s not showing it. This Kingdom’s
going to be a pleasant Kingdom, it’s going to be our King on the throne. And when you go in to see your King, you can
say Dad. He’s going to be “anointed with the oil of gladness above
his fellows.” And it says, “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.” (verse 8) It’s a prosperous Kingdom, it’s beautiful,
it’s opulent. “whereby they have made thee glad.” Now it’s very interesting, the Hebrew phrase there “whereby” is actually “stringed
instruments.” So it says “Your
garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces stringed
instruments, they have made thee glad.” (verse 8) Worship is going to be there. Imagine what that is going to be like, in the
Millennial Kingdom, with Israel (all 12 tribes), the nations coming. It says again in Zechariah that ten men out
of different nations will take hold of the skirt of a Jew, and say ‘Show
us where the Temple is, show us where God is so we can come and worship him.’ Imagine what that will be like. Again, nations not learning war anymore,
beating their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, the
knowledge of the LORD covering the earth as the waters cover the
sea. It says ‘Children shall play in the
streets, and old people will walk in the evening outside and not be afraid.’ And remember, during the Millennium old
people are 800 years old. These are old people. You think people 85 are afraid to go out in
the dark, hey, now the Kingdom, 800, no problem. And imagine how many kids you have, 59, you
know. By the time I was 41 years old I
had four, multiply that out 800 years, we’re doing some damage there, we’re
repopulating a desolated earth during the Millennium. And the kids, not praying in the streets,
this is God’s ideal, he describes it. These are not Head-Start Programs for kids to see if they can be
smarty-pants by the time they’re three years old. It says ‘Children shall play in the streets,’ God’s ideal. How wonderful. ‘Ivory palaces, stringed instruments shall
make thee glad.’ [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/mkg1.htm]
The Queen, Bride Of Christ, Appears At His Right
Hand
Now
in verse 9, it switches to the
Bride, very interesting, it says this, “Kings’
daughters were among thy honourable
women: upon thy right hand did stand the
queen in gold of Ophir.” She appears
out of nowhere. Listen, no past. We should rejoice in that. [cf. 1st Corinthians 15:49-54, “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall
also bear the image of the heavenly. Now
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all
be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead
shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is
swallowed up in victory.” and Revelation 19:6-9, “And I heard as it were the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice
of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his
wife hath made herself ready. And to her
was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white [or “bright”]: for the fine linen is the righteousness of
saints. And he saith unto me, Write,
Blessed are they which are called
unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” this is
us, folks]. She appears out of nowhere
in glory next to the King. She just
shows up. No past, only a future. It describes her future, no past. I’m so thankful that our past ain’t going
with us when we go there. Only a future. All of a sudden she’s standing next to the
King. And she’s told now four
things. “Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also
thine own people, and thy father’s house;” (verse 10) So, here’s the instruction. It says, “Hearken,”
“consider,” “incline thine ear,” and “forget.” The first thing, these four requests from the
King to the Queen, “Hearken.” Which means it’s an attitude [a Middle
English compound word meaning “to hear and know”], to bow the heart, to
listen. “Consider,” think about this. This is good for us tonight, isn’t it? We’re his Bride. “Listen,
consider, “incline thine ear,” just incline
yourself to listen to what he has to say. “forget also thine own people,
and thy father’s house;” (verse 10b) If the King has blotted out our past, he’s asking us to do the same
thing. As we’re coming to his throne,
we’re breaking with the past, all things have become new, all things are passed
away. Even in an earthly marriage it
says for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, there’s a leaving
and a cleaving. He says “forget also thine own people, and thy
father’s house; so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy LORD;
and worship thou him.” (verse 11) I don’t feel that way most of the time. Do
you? That Jesus just desires to sit with
me, because of my beauty. I don’t feel
that way. Some of you could make an easier
claim at that than I would. But I don’t
feel that way. “So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy LORD;
and worship thou him.” (verse 11) Your King is your LORD, worship him. And he greatly desires your beauty. You know why? It’s imputed. It’s given. It’s something that he has done in us. Everlasting life, it’s not something you’re
gonna have when you get there [i.e. in the 1st Resurrection to
Immortality, cf. 1st Corinthians 15:49-54], it’s something you have
now (cf. Romans 8:10-11). You know,
Hosea talks about the contract of espousals, he’s talking about here, it tells
us that he loved us with an everlasting love. Which means before the worlds were formed, he had this shindig all set
up. The earth and human history is the
stage, it’s the platform for him (Jesus, Yahweh] to take a Bride out of human
history, for himself (cf. Revelation 19:6-9). It says here “So shall the king
greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy LORD; and worship thou him. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.” (verses 11-12), the wealthy kingdoms of the
world will be there, it tells us in Zechariah of those who will come to the
mandatory Feasts up to Jerusalem (cf. Zechariah 14:16-19). “even the rich among the people shall
intreat thy favour” because of our husband, because we’re married to the
King, because we’re his people. It says
there are people who will come and intreat, we’re going to rule and reign with
Christ the Bible tells us (cf. Revelation 5:9-10; 20:4-6). They will intreat thy favour.
She’s Filled With The Holy Spirit From Within
Listen
to what it says, “The king’s daughter is all glorious within:” (verse 13a) that’s the beauty he desires, “The
king’s daughter is all glorious
within: her clothing is of wrought gold.” (verse 13) You know in the Old Testament, when you
looked at the Tabernacle, it was badgers skins on the outside, it was rude
looking, it was rough looking. And the
more you went to the center, the inside of it, then there were silk trappings
of blue and of scarlet and gold, and golden boards covered with gold, and it
was all gold on the inside, and it was a picture of him (Christ). There was no beauty or comeliness that we
should desire him, and yet he was all-glorious within. On the Mount of Transfiguration it says he
shone, the word means he was metamorphosized, what he was inside shone out, and
it says he was brighter than the sun, brighter than lightning, brighter than
any whiteness that any fuller can ever produce, shone from inside of him. Well that’s the living Christ that’s inside
of us now [by the indwelling Holy Spirit, cf. John 14]. And it says in the Kingdom we’re going to
shine like the stars of heaven. It tells
us that. It says “The king’s daughter is all glorious within”, from the
new-birth. “her clothing is of wrought
gold.” (verse 13b) that’s the outside stuff, it doesn’t compare with the
gloriousness inside, but we have some nice stuff there. And it tells us in Revelation chapter 19 that
we’re all clothed with fine linen, bright and white, and the fine linen is,
interesting, I don’t know why, it’s plural there, “the righteousness(es) of the
saints.” The great thing there about
that is, we all have the same outfit. All the rest of this comparison and shopping and peer pressure, it’s
over. We all got the same outfit on
there. ‘The king’s daughter is all
glorious within, her clothing is wrought of gold,’ it says, “She shall be brought unto the king in
raiment of needlework: the virgins her
companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.” (verse 14) there’s
a beautiful tapestry in the whole thing. Those no doubt saved during the Millennium, all the saints of all the
ages have a part in this [all the saints from the Old Testament, holy kings and
prophets, are all part of the Bride of Christ]. “With gladness and rejoicing
shall they be brought: they shall enter
into the king’s palace.” (verse 15) ‘In
my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you.’ Revelation 19, ‘Blessed are those who are
invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ He says “they
shall be brought to the king’s palace.” (verse 15b)
The Bride Produces Children Of God---Also, The
Future Of Our Children Who Live On Into The Millennium, They’ll Be Princes And
Princesses
“Instead of thy
fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.”
(verse 16) Isn’t that interesting? This is the business, the Church, the Bride
of Christ is about right now, having kids, bringing many sons to glory [and
this also talks of our own children too, if they’ve been faithful with us, I
believe this is also specifically speaking of our children who live on into the
Millennium, those too young now to be in the 1st resurrection to
immortality, just my personal take on this verse]. The Harvest Crusade [that’s a Calvary Chapel
evangelistic deal], inviting a friend down there to get saved. It says “Instead
of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the
earth.” That’s what you’re going to
see in eternity. How many have you led,
how many as it were, Paul says ‘you’ve got many teachers, you haven’t got
many fathers. I came and led you to
Christ.’ It says “Instead of thy fathers shall be thy
children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.” Isn’t that wonderful? Some of your friends are the most beat down,
the most broken, you know, you finally get to them, they finally accept Christ,
you see them struggling. Remind them
that in the Kingdom, they’re going to be princes, they’re going to be reigning
and ruling with Christ, it says here, ‘they shall be princes in all of the earth.’ “I
will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for
ever and ever.” (verse 17)
In Conclusion
The
Bride of Christ, His Royal Majesty, Her Royal Majesty, what a great ending to
Psalm 44 (Psalm 45 is), where there’s a huge struggle (described in Psalm 44),
which asks, ‘What are you doing, why are you letting this happen? We know what you’ve done in the past, you
know you delivered us, and even now you’re our King, LORD, I’m not going to trust
myself, you know, I’m going to press down the enemy, I’m going to do this stuff
in your power, I’m not going to trust in my bow, I’m not going to trust in my
sword, LORD, I’m going to trust you…we’re
going to sing your praises, Selah. But here’s the deal, it looks like the deck
is stacked against us, this is going wrong, and that’s going wrong, and I’m
struggling with this, I’m struggling with that, the enemies are coming in, I
don’t know what’s going on, I’m confused, in my confusion I’m dealing with
this. I don’t know why. But I know this, I haven’t turned away, I
haven’t worshipped other gods, I’m true to you, Lord, check me out. Even if it seems like I’m a sheep going to
the slaughter, Lord, even if that’s what’s happening, I’m going to trust
you. I feel like you’re asleep and need
to wake up, I feel like you forgotten about me, I feel like you’ve cast me off. But Lord, I’m crying out to you, I want you
to deal in my life, because of your mercies’ sake.’ And it’s almost like the Holy Spirit says, ‘You’ve
kind of ended it a little bit down there, let’s move on to this one (Psalm
45). Let’s talk about his royal majesty,
and what he has done, and what he’s going to do with you, and the Kingdom he’s
going to set up, and how he’s going to rule and reign forever. And there’s going to be gladness, and there’s
going to be order, going to be righteousness, and he’s mighty and he’s
powerful, and he’s covered with beauty unimaginable, grace is upon his lips,
his palace unimaginable (cf. Revelation 21:1-23, ultimately), myrrh, aloes,
cassia, and it’s filled with stringed instruments, there’s going to be worship
and song, and you’re his Bride. He
desires your beauty, you’re all-glorious within. He’s going to have you alongside of him. It’s why he died on the cross. That’s why he paid the price.’ So when you’re confused, and you’re
struggling with things that you don’t know, fall back on what you do know. Never trade away what you do know for what
you don’t know. How many times have we
heard people say ‘That’s it, I’m not
serving him anymore! If this is the way
he’s going to treat me, I’m throwing in the towel, I’m not going to pray to you
anymore,’ like he’s going, ‘oooh no.’ No, no, he’s going to wear us down, we’re
going to fall down somewhere and say ‘Oh
God, O God, O God forgive me,’ and he’s going to say ‘Come on, get up, let me dust you off. I’ve been waiting for you here, knew you’d end up here. Try this my way. I know
life stinks sometimes, but there’s a time coming when I’m going to wipe away
the tears from your eyes. There’s not
going to be any more death, or sorrow, or crying, or pain. I’m going to rule with my might, my power, my
beauty, my glory, my grace, you’re going to be by my side, because you’re
beautiful, I desire your beauty, you’re all-glorious within.’ The Kingdom of our dear Saviour is coming, it
will be the reality, this world we live in will be the illusion, this will be
the memory. That will be the day, won’t
it? That will be the day. [applause] Let’s stand, let’s pray together. Read ahead, the next couple Psalms are just tremendous, if the Rapture
doesn’t happen we’ll do those next week…[transcript of a connective expository
sermon on Psalm 44:1-26 and Psalm 45:1-17, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary
Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]
related
links:
For
more about the second coming and wedding feast, see,
http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophecies/2ndcoming_4.htm
http://www.unityinchrist.com/revelation/Revelation%2018-20.htm
To
read about the glorious coming Kingdom of God at Jesus’ return, see
http://www.unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/mkg1.htm
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