April 20 / Psalm 45:10-17

Psalm 45:10-17

Psalm 45 confuses me as to its application both to the wedding of a king and to the Messiah. As I read the entire Psalm it works well as referring to the wedding of a king – possibly written for a particular king’s wedding, but then used for any time that a king was getting married. It all works well except for verses 6, 7, and 17. Those first two verses are quoted in Hebrews 1:8-9. Clearly it is only the Lord’s throne that will last “forever and ever”. Then verse 17 is also difficult if we read the Psalm as referring to a king’s wedding: I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever. As with verse 6 this verse more properly refers to the Messiah.

The Psalm in total reads well as referring to the Messiah. Yesterday’s reading (vv. 1-9) fits nicely as applied to the Messiah. Then verse 10 begins with the psalmist speaking to the “daughter”. If that daughter is the church here on earth, then the Psalm continues to work well through verse 16. Then we get to verse 17, which as noted above is clearly written to glorify God.

Playing this “understanding game” is not working well for me. I am not a Bible scholar. I will do better focusing on verses 6, 7, and 17 – thinking on those, reflecting, praying, and asking the Lord to help me to … cause [His] name to be remembered in all generations.

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