April 10 2023

Today, Monday April 10

The Gracious Son of Man

Psalm 45:1-5

My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever.

Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, With Your glory and Your majesty. And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness; And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies; The peoples fall under You.

Yesterday we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, not only in our local sunrise services and church services, but with millions and millions of believers all over the globe! What a beautiful sound it must have been in our Father’s ears as He heard His children proclaim, “He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!” Honestly, we should celebrate our Lord’s resurrection everyday by living resurrected and transformed lives.

Romans 6:4 says it this way: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Jesus was raised from the dead “by the glory of the Father” and we can now can walk in “newness of life” for His glory by that same resurrection power!

Psalm 45 is an awesome passage that reminds how wonderful and gracious our Lord and Savior is. This Psalm is quoted in Hebrews 1:8-9, which assures us this Psalm is a Messianic prophecy about Jesus! Historically, this Psalm could be speaking of King Solomon or even King Hezekiah, and was written as a wedding song for one of them. But as you begin to read and study it becomes very clear that it is speaking of a greater person than Solomon! Jesus Himself says this in Matthew 12:42: “The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.”

The writer of this Psalm begins by telling us how overwhelmed he is with the opportunity that he has to write about the vision and the prophecy of the coming Messiah. His heart is bubbling over with joy and He can’t wait to both speak and write about what has been revealed to him (v. 1). In the following verses he presents us with four pictures of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, and in so doing he also described the bride of Christ, which is the church!

The writer began with the beauty of the King, "You are more fairer than the sons of men” (v. 2). This literally means, "beautified with beauty." King Saul was known as a handsome man (1 Sam. 9:2; 10:23) and so was David (1 Sam. 16:12), but none surpasses Jesus. When He ministered on earth, our Lord had no special physical beauty (Isa. 53:2), and when His persecutors were through with Him, He didn't even look human (Isa. 52:14).

But today, Jesus Christ is the center of heaven's glory and the focus of heaven's worship (Rev. 4-5). We love Jesus even though we have never seen Him, but one day we shall behold the King in His beauty (Isa. 33:17), and we shall be like Him (1 John 3:1-3). He is not only beautiful to those who believe, He is precious! Three times Peter calls Him precious, a term of both adoration and affection (1 Peter 2:4-9).

In verse 2, the writer also marveled at His gracious speech, but so did the people who heard Him preach and teach on earth (Luke 4:18, 22, 32; John 7:46; see Mark 1:22; 6:2; 11:18). Visitors from distant lands came to hear Solomon's wisdom (1 Kings 4:29-34), but the Father has hidden all the treasures of divine wisdom in Jesus Christ (Col. 2:3). Solomon died, and except for what he wrote in Scripture, his wisdom died with him, but Jesus is blessed forever (v. 2), has a throne forever (v. 6), and His name will be praised forever (v. 17). In the Bible, "forever" can mean "as long as you live" (Ex. 21:6), but here it means "for eternity." He is "King forever" (Psalm 29:10).

My friend, what a wonderful, beautiful and gracious Savior we have in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. May God help us by His grace to love and adore Him today and live in a way that brings Him glory and honor!

God bless!