Sunday Devotional 9th of April 2023
by Bruce Billington
We are continuing to explore the knowledge of God as expressed in the Psalms. This week we will explore Psalm 45 V6-8; & 17 – a Psalm of the sons of Korah.
Psalm 45:6–8
“6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of Your kingdom. 7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows. 8 All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad.”
Psalm 45:17
I will cause Your name to be remembered in all generations; Therefore, the peoples will give You thanks forever and ever.
The Psalmists here express the joy that God reigns on a throne that will never pass away. Also, that His sceptre is a sceptre of uprightness. This means that His rule and reign is a founded upon righteousness and justice. Even though the Scripture says in places that He will break His enemies with a rod of iron, He will never do anyone any wrong – all His actions are equally balanced with both grace and justice. We can have full confidence that we are under the government of THE King who reigns in righteousness.
Of course, as New Covenant people, we take this Psalm up into the realm of Christ and His Kingdom. One of the things that we notice here is that this King does not come to us unarmed. In verse 3 of this Psalm the Psalmists request that the King puts on His sword. John Calvin makes an interesting comment about this. He says,
[F]or the Gospel, in its very nature, breathes the odour of life: but if we are stubborn and rebellious, this grace will become a ground of terror, and Christ himself will convert the very doctrine of his salvation into a sword and arrows against us.
Of course, we understand that Christ never wants to use His power in this way. He came to save, not destroy. But we would do well to remember that He is God manifested in the flesh, (1 Timothy 3:16) and we do well to hold Him in the utmost place of reverence and awe. He hates wickedness, as is made so clear by the terrible price that had to be paid and the extreme sufferings He had to endure to be able to pay the price for it.
In verse 8 the Psalmists go to a place of worship, seeking to describe the Lord in the most wonderful and extravagant ways. They compare the excellencies of Jesus to the most precious and rarest spices all combined together. They go on to describe how the place where He dwells is full of splendour and joy.
Verse 17 – Again – to find the true fulfilment of what is said here, we must come to Christ. Although the Scriptures teach that enemies will rise up in vast numbers to overthrow His Kingdom, all these efforts will be in vain. His fame is not dependent upon human effort or protection – it is guaranteed by God eternal and His promises never fail. All down through the ages the events of Calvary – the cross and resurrection – will bear testimony to the everlasting glory and grace of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in providing redemption for all of those who receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
As a result, we, as His people, should give Him praise forever and ever. Such praise, which is His due, should flow from our hearts to the one who has loved us, redeemed us through His blood, empowered us through His Holy Spirit and bestowed upon us the role of sonship which allows us to enter boldly into the throne of grace and fellowship freely with the Father.
As we grow in maturity, He reveals more of Himself to us – and we can bear witness to His love, grace and forgiveness in an ever-increasing way. As one poet has aptly expressed,
“Let him be crowned with majesty
Who bowed his head to death,
And be his honours sounded high
By all things that have breath.”
(Martijn de Groot).
May God bless you.
Bruce Billington