A Marriage of Biblical Proportions

WEBVTT 1 00:00:09.750 --> 00:00:16.629 A mascul of the sons of Cora, a love song. My heart overflows 2 00:00:16.789 --> 00:00:21.190 with a pleasing theme. I address my verses to the king. My tongue 3 00:00:21.620 --> 00:00:26.500 is like the pen of a ready scribe. You are the most handsome of 4 00:00:26.539 --> 00:00:31.460 the sons of men. Grace is poured upon your lips. Therefore, God 5 00:00:31.699 --> 00:00:37.049 has blessed you forever. Gird your sword on your thigh, O Mighty one, 6 00:00:37.729 --> 00:00:43.490 in your splendor and majesty, in Your Majesty, ride out victoriously for 7 00:00:43.609 --> 00:00:48.450 the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness. Let your right hand teach you 8 00:00:48.530 --> 00:00:53.960 awesome deeds. Your Arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, 9 00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:59.359 the People's fall under you. Your throne, O God, is forever and 10 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:03.349 ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness. You have 11 00:01:03.510 --> 00:01:10.469 loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed 12 00:01:10.549 --> 00:01:15.829 you with the oil of gladness. Beyond your companions, your robes are all 13 00:01:15.069 --> 00:01:22.579 fragrant with Murr and aloes and Cassia from ivory. Palace's stringed instruments make you 14 00:01:22.700 --> 00:01:27.140 glad. Daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor. At your right 15 00:01:27.299 --> 00:01:34.810 hand stands the Queen in Gold of Oh fear here, oh daughter, and 16 00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:38.969 consider and incline your ear. Forget your people and your father's house, and 17 00:01:40.049 --> 00:01:44.370 the king will desire your beauty, since he is your Lord. Bow To 18 00:01:44.450 --> 00:01:49.280 him. The people of tire will seek your favor with gifts. The richest 19 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:53.239 of the people. All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes 20 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:57.439 interwoven with gold and many colored robes. She has led to the king, 21 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:04.189 with her virgin companions following behind her. With joy and gladness they are led 22 00:02:04.269 --> 00:02:08.830 along as they enter the Palace of the king. In place of your father's 23 00:02:08.870 --> 00:02:13.509 shall be your sons. You will make them princes in all the earth. 24 00:02:14.189 --> 00:02:17.740 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations there, for nations 25 00:02:17.780 --> 00:02:23.699 will praise you forever and ever. To the choir master, may God bless 26 00:02:23.780 --> 00:02:47.719 his word. Please be seated. When we think about the great marriage texts 27 00:02:47.879 --> 00:02:53.680 of the Bible, the great love texts, the things that we go to 28 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:59.789 in lessons on marriage or in times of premarital counseling or the these kinds of 29 00:02:59.830 --> 00:03:04.430 things, one of the places that we often go is not here. It's 30 00:03:04.509 --> 00:03:10.030 Ephesians five right. We read there of the Great Love that Christ had and 31 00:03:10.270 --> 00:03:14.780 has for the church. I'll read to you from Ephesians five hundred and twenty 32 00:03:14.819 --> 00:03:20.139 five. Husband's love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself 33 00:03:20.180 --> 00:03:23.900 up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the 34 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:28.090 washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to 35 00:03:28.129 --> 00:03:31.449 himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she 36 00:03:31.449 --> 00:03:37.449 might be holy and without blemish. Well, these instructions to husband's based on 37 00:03:37.569 --> 00:03:43.639 the great love of Christ, is put in this metaphor of marriage. We 38 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:52.000 are told that the church is the bride of Christ. But there is another 39 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:57.909 important passage in the Bible that also speaks of this marriage between the son of 40 00:03:57.990 --> 00:04:03.150 God and his church, and that's this text, Psalm forty five. It's 41 00:04:03.150 --> 00:04:08.270 specifically tells us it's a love song. Again, when we think of the 42 00:04:08.509 --> 00:04:13.460 love songs of the Bible, I don't understand why this one is always forgotten, 43 00:04:14.180 --> 00:04:17.379 because it is a beautiful love song. On this picture of the bride 44 00:04:17.540 --> 00:04:24.370 and the groom, soul, handsome, so beautiful. It's a very evocative 45 00:04:24.490 --> 00:04:30.290 and filled with all kinds of praise in need the one writing the song. 46 00:04:30.410 --> 00:04:33.850 We get a something of the heart of the narrator explicitly. In Verse One, 47 00:04:34.689 --> 00:04:41.000 he says my heart overflows with a pleasing theme. I address my verses 48 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:44.480 to the king. My tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. 49 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:50.399 He's so happy, he's so happy about this king in particular and this marriage 50 00:04:50.519 --> 00:04:57.189 that's described here, that he finds his heart overflowing with goodness, with a 51 00:04:57.310 --> 00:05:00.990 pleasing theme, he can't help but write. His tongue is ready, he's 52 00:05:01.069 --> 00:05:05.470 ready to go, and indeed he he goes, he jumps right in verse 53 00:05:05.629 --> 00:05:11.500 two, you are the most handsome of the sons of men. This these 54 00:05:11.579 --> 00:05:16.300 great, great descriptions, but as we read on we find out that this 55 00:05:16.379 --> 00:05:21.569 is a no ordinary wedding. It's not even an ordinary royal wedding, because 56 00:05:21.610 --> 00:05:28.129 this king is no ordinary king, this bride is no ordinary bride. I'm 57 00:05:28.170 --> 00:05:31.529 perhaps you caught this, or maybe we're even a little surprised by this as 58 00:05:31.569 --> 00:05:36.720 I was reading it earlier. We have this description of a man. You 59 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:41.360 are the most handsome of the sons of men. Grace is poured out on 60 00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:45.600 your lips. Talks about a sword, him riding out in Majesty, conquering 61 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:48.680 his enemies, and then, all of a sudden, verse six, Your 62 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:56.790 Throne, Oh God, is forever and ever your he addresses this one to 63 00:05:56.870 --> 00:06:00.029 whom he has been speaking, this great man among the sons of men, 64 00:06:00.790 --> 00:06:03.579 as God. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness. You 65 00:06:03.699 --> 00:06:10.379 have loved wickedness or right you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, 66 00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:15.660 God, your God, has anointed you, beyond, anointed you with the 67 00:06:15.779 --> 00:06:19.889 oil of gladness, beyond your companions. Well now you, perhaps you would 68 00:06:19.889 --> 00:06:25.730 be additionally confused. We have this person who seems to be described as God, 69 00:06:25.970 --> 00:06:29.610 and then yet we are he. It talks about him as having a 70 00:06:29.769 --> 00:06:33.240 God. He says, therefore, God, your God, has anointed you. 71 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:38.879 We have what you see here, I hope you're beginning to see, 72 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:44.839 is one important passage describing the trinity. Is a relation between father and son, 73 00:06:45.079 --> 00:06:50.269 both equal in power and glory and both deserving of that title that is 74 00:06:50.790 --> 00:06:59.629 only reserve for the one true God. Any doubt about this should be put 75 00:06:59.670 --> 00:07:03.939 to rest by if Hebrews verse one, or sorry, Hebrews one versus eight 76 00:07:04.060 --> 00:07:11.540 through nine, I'll read them read them to you. Hebrews one eight through 77 00:07:11.579 --> 00:07:17.209 nine quotes this psalm and speaking of Jesus, who is come, says, 78 00:07:18.170 --> 00:07:21.769 but of the son that is of Jesus, he says your throne o God 79 00:07:21.889 --> 00:07:26.410 is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness, is the scepter of your 80 00:07:26.449 --> 00:07:30.920 kingdom. And he goes on and he he quotes that the other portions of 81 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:35.839 that song. So the spirit of God himself assigns this particular role, this 82 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:44.589 great handsome prince, this king. He assigns the rule to Jesus. So, 83 00:07:44.750 --> 00:07:48.230 as I say, Psalm forty five is no ordinary love song between a 84 00:07:48.509 --> 00:07:56.350 man and a woman. It's a love song that describes the marriage of Christ 85 00:07:56.550 --> 00:08:01.139 and the church. And this is really remarkable because, in the way that 86 00:08:01.259 --> 00:08:05.339 Ephesians five in some ways talks about the ongoing relationship and, of course, 87 00:08:05.379 --> 00:08:13.050 how it began, Hebrew or sorry, Psalm Forty five describes that day in 88 00:08:13.170 --> 00:08:18.089 human terms, in analogical terms, in terms of metaphor and analogy, but 89 00:08:18.250 --> 00:08:24.610 that is what's being described. God is helping us to have a theological and 90 00:08:24.889 --> 00:08:31.279 a very personal understanding of what your wedding day was like with King Jesus. 91 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:37.799 It's a love song that reminds all Christians of their wedding day with the Lord 92 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:43.870 and as such, it's a useful thing to consider and remember. Husbands and 93 00:08:43.990 --> 00:08:46.190 wives do this all the time, and hopefully more than just once a year, 94 00:08:48.029 --> 00:08:52.429 to think about their wedding, their marriage, what that day was like, 95 00:08:52.789 --> 00:09:00.179 what kinds of commitments were made. As we consider that marriage between Jesus 96 00:09:00.740 --> 00:09:05.740 and the church, we see UN that in some ways it's similar to our 97 00:09:05.779 --> 00:09:11.210 marriages here on earth, but in other ways it's also very different. So 98 00:09:11.330 --> 00:09:16.570 let's consider what psalm forty five has to say about the marriage between Christ and 99 00:09:16.690 --> 00:09:22.129 the church. First will consider the glory of this marriage and then the grace 100 00:09:22.250 --> 00:09:31.639 of the marriage. First it's glory if you imagine a wedding, even a 101 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:37.840 common wedding, but extend that out for imagination safety, the most grand, 102 00:09:37.710 --> 00:09:46.029 most expensive, most elaboratively planned wedding. Even these kinds of weddings, the 103 00:09:46.470 --> 00:09:52.389 weddings of magazines, they still have their problems, don't they? Every wedding 104 00:09:52.389 --> 00:09:58.179 has its share of late rivals and stuck zippers forgotten flowers, not to mention 105 00:09:58.340 --> 00:10:05.899 more serious and sometimes very deep concerns, fears of the unknown, haunts of 106 00:10:05.980 --> 00:10:13.850 old sins. These things are present human marriages too, but in psalm forty 107 00:10:13.929 --> 00:10:20.129 five there's nothing of the sort, is there? There's no, I'm accidents 108 00:10:20.289 --> 00:10:26.200 and bad planning and little things falling apart and one of the groomsmen not showing 109 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:31.159 up. Nor is their nervousness among any member of the family. Is this 110 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:35.789 really supposed to work out? Is this the right move? There's no hesitancy, 111 00:10:35.950 --> 00:10:41.309 there's nothing like that. The marriage between Christ and his church, as 112 00:10:41.429 --> 00:10:48.350 described here in Psalm forty five, is nothing but glorious. Nothing but Glorious 113 00:10:48.509 --> 00:10:54.500 and nothing but perfect, and you see it particularly in the descriptions of the 114 00:10:54.659 --> 00:11:01.379 bride and the groom. He is the handsomest among men. She is singularly 115 00:11:01.659 --> 00:11:07.850 desired among this see of princesses that are standing in his court. He he 116 00:11:09.090 --> 00:11:18.600 has robes that smell expensive. Her robes are interwoven with gold. He is 117 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:22.639 described as a noble king who quote, who are sorry, who wields his 118 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:28.879 sword for quote, the cause of truth and meekness and justice. He sounds 119 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:35.470 like a real life superhero, and indeed he is, because we read that 120 00:11:35.590 --> 00:11:41.870 this is no pretend person, this Jesus who comes for the cause of truth 121 00:11:41.950 --> 00:11:48.179 and meekness and justice. The Psalm says that God is with him, anointing 122 00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:54.139 him with the oil of gladness. He is established and His throne is established 123 00:11:54.659 --> 00:12:01.370 forever endeavor. She is called glorious, and the train of her companions, 124 00:12:01.409 --> 00:12:09.009 which are many, are led by joy and gladness around them, surrounding them, 125 00:12:09.570 --> 00:12:13.570 is just more beauty. It's in their clothes, it's in the smells 126 00:12:13.610 --> 00:12:18.840 of the air, it's in her looks, it's in the joy and the 127 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:24.799 gladness, it's in the company, it's in the Ivory Palaces that are described. 128 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:31.830 It's in the music from stringed instruments swirling all around them. This is 129 00:12:31.909 --> 00:12:37.350 how the spirit of God describes the Church's wedding with the Lord Jesus Christ. 130 00:12:37.830 --> 00:12:46.500 This is almost dreamlike, isn't it? It's far beyond any magazine picture or 131 00:12:46.820 --> 00:12:54.019 or a bridle show that you've ever seen or experienced. This wedding is perfect. 132 00:12:54.700 --> 00:13:00.370 It's full of glory and nobility and power. Kings and Queens are flocking 133 00:13:00.450 --> 00:13:09.049 from all over the world to come and see this a beloved bride. This 134 00:13:09.169 --> 00:13:13.919 is the glory of our marriage with the Lord Jesus well, the second thing 135 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:18.279 to notice about the marriage is that the glory of the bride is guaranteed by 136 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:24.840 the grace of the groom. This is not a marriage of equals and in 137 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:31.029 many ways this is where the big differences between our marriages that go on in 138 00:13:31.190 --> 00:13:35.149 this world and the marriage that occurs between us and our Savior, this is 139 00:13:35.230 --> 00:13:39.789 where are many of the differences are to be found. This is not a 140 00:13:39.870 --> 00:13:45.019 marriage of equals. This is not one very handsome young man and one very 141 00:13:45.340 --> 00:13:52.659 beautiful young lady coming together because there's such a lovely couple. She is who 142 00:13:52.860 --> 00:13:58.769 she is because he is who he is. She is beautiful because he's made 143 00:13:58.809 --> 00:14:07.009 her that way. She's beautiful because he is God. Very early on in 144 00:14:07.090 --> 00:14:11.639 the Psalm we read that he's the most handsome of the sons of men. 145 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:18.799 Grace is poured upon your lips. Therefore, God has blessed you forever. 146 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:26.710 The very first way that his handsomeness is described is in terms of grace. 147 00:14:28.149 --> 00:14:33.350 That's where the great beauty and the center, the central aspects of his beauty 148 00:14:33.509 --> 00:14:39.940 comes from. It's from the great grace of the king and, as I 149 00:14:39.059 --> 00:14:43.100 read earlier, Ephesians five tells us about that grace. What it is that 150 00:14:43.539 --> 00:14:50.500 grace looks like in means, he loved her. He gave himself up for 151 00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:56.889 her that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the wash of the 152 00:14:56.929 --> 00:15:03.289 words, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without 153 00:15:03.289 --> 00:15:09.960 spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without 154 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:16.159 blemish. You see what the Bible says. You are glorious. The Church 155 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:20.509 of Christ is glorious because she has been made this way through the grace of 156 00:15:20.590 --> 00:15:26.549 her loving groom and because it's him, not just some guy, but it's 157 00:15:26.590 --> 00:15:33.070 because it's the god of the universe who does these things by his singularly powerful 158 00:15:33.230 --> 00:15:39.860 what love, this glory that's described here, is a glory that's not going 159 00:15:39.019 --> 00:15:46.620 away. It might be hidden in this in this age, but it's definitely 160 00:15:46.700 --> 00:15:54.970 present and promised, and it's described here in Psalm forty five. We know 161 00:15:54.250 --> 00:16:02.129 from the Scriptures, then, the church is is a body of people that 162 00:16:02.289 --> 00:16:08.120 has been possessed, cleansed, sought after. We read of the great cost 163 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:12.759 of this grace, the great ass of the great cost of his love. 164 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:18.830 He doesn't just feel really good about her, he lays down his life for 165 00:16:18.990 --> 00:16:25.470 her, he dies for her. The cleansing that's described for her thought that 166 00:16:25.590 --> 00:16:30.029 she would be holy and perfect in every way. Is a cleansing that's done 167 00:16:30.070 --> 00:16:34.940 by his very shed blood, and we remember that he did this not for 168 00:16:36.139 --> 00:16:42.500 someone who was lovely, but's for someone who is ugly in her sin. 169 00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:49.049 He loved her while she was still running after other men. This is some 170 00:16:49.169 --> 00:16:55.330 of what is described in Jose as. We've been reading this as God's people 171 00:16:55.529 --> 00:17:02.120 go and adulterate themselves, as prostitute themselves to other gods. It's in that 172 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:08.279 that God extends His mercy and his love. Jesus doesn't go and find the 173 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:15.599 best among us, he finds those that are described in scriptures as the worst 174 00:17:15.640 --> 00:17:22.549 among sinners, those who weren't of many means and nobility, and so forth. 175 00:17:23.630 --> 00:17:29.950 The glory she possesses did not come by cleaning up her act, but 176 00:17:30.059 --> 00:17:34.579 by the cleansing, purifying work of God bought for her when he died for 177 00:17:34.740 --> 00:17:41.900 her on the cross. And so, when we read these descriptions of her 178 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:48.049 verse thirteen, all glorious as the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven 179 00:17:48.130 --> 00:17:52.170 with gold, in many colored low robes, she has led to the Queen 180 00:17:52.170 --> 00:17:56.089 or to the king, with her virgin companions following behind her with joy and 181 00:17:56.289 --> 00:18:03.799 gladness. They're let along as they enter the Palace of the king. These 182 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:07.640 commands that are given to her as well in verse ten. Here, oh 183 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:12.309 daughter, and consider and incline your ear, forget your people and your father's 184 00:18:12.430 --> 00:18:18.869 house, and the king will desire your beauty. There is a call here 185 00:18:18.029 --> 00:18:23.869 to leave something behind, to leave behind the sin, to leave behind the 186 00:18:25.269 --> 00:18:30.859 filthy rags that once covered us, to leave behind the idolatry and to walk 187 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:38.339 in the grace and glory of Jesus Christ, to be long to belong to 188 00:18:38.420 --> 00:18:45.690 him. It's through this gracious gift that she, who once wore the rags 189 00:18:45.730 --> 00:18:51.769 of sin and death, is now clothed by love in a glorious wedding dress 190 00:18:52.450 --> 00:18:59.720 of life. This simple fact, the grace of God and the glory of 191 00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:04.680 God and his uniting himself to us, should be a constant reminder of who 192 00:19:04.839 --> 00:19:11.230 we are and how we belong to Jesus. Psalm forty five, then, 193 00:19:11.309 --> 00:19:14.390 and should be a great encouragement and, in the scripture, to you, 194 00:19:14.630 --> 00:19:18.869 one of the great testimonies of God's love for you. It's a love song 195 00:19:19.029 --> 00:19:23.539 in many different ways. It's a love song to the king. It's a 196 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:27.900 way that we, with the scribe and with the bride, can lift up 197 00:19:27.900 --> 00:19:33.140 our hearts and praise this one who is who acts in this, in this 198 00:19:33.299 --> 00:19:38.769 way, who saved US and married us. But it's also his love song 199 00:19:40.170 --> 00:19:45.809 to us, because this scribe was not just a man, but is the 200 00:19:45.890 --> 00:19:52.089 spirit of God, writing this down to the praise of himself, but also 201 00:19:52.210 --> 00:19:56.559 for our benefit. This is a love song that has been inscribed to you, 202 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:04.200 a love poem for you by your King and your husband, and all 203 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:08.069 this I find it very helpful, and the same way that we look at 204 00:20:08.069 --> 00:20:15.309 our wedding pictures on the walls, or we might consider anniversaries of friends and 205 00:20:15.509 --> 00:20:19.630 families, or perhaps our own psalm forty five gives us an occasion to remember 206 00:20:19.750 --> 00:20:26.619 these similar things when it comes to Jesus, and this is very helpful to 207 00:20:26.660 --> 00:20:30.059 us, for in a real sense, in a very real sense, our 208 00:20:30.140 --> 00:20:36.009 husband is a way, he's at the right hand of God, the Father 209 00:20:36.089 --> 00:20:40.690 Almighty, as we confess in the creeds, and is is a taught in 210 00:20:40.769 --> 00:20:47.049 scripture. We have his spirit, but we feel away from him and we 211 00:20:47.250 --> 00:20:51.680 long to be with him and we await for his bodily return. That is 212 00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:56.519 difficult. The descriptures describe it as such and call us to wait and to 213 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:02.240 trust in him on in by faith. And while we wait, as we 214 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:07.470 all know, our lives often struggle. Our promises of love and obedience to 215 00:21:07.549 --> 00:21:15.150 our husband are sometimes proved to be quite empty, and sometimes we even allow 216 00:21:15.309 --> 00:21:21.299 Satan himself to come between us and our beloved, to tempt us to doubt 217 00:21:21.420 --> 00:21:25.059 his love, to tempt us to grant doubt the grace and the glory that 218 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:30.059 are here. But God has golven a psalm forty five to put these doubts 219 00:21:30.460 --> 00:21:34.569 to rest, to say that, although you don't always see this glory now, 220 00:21:36.529 --> 00:21:40.890 this is who you are, this is who I've made you to be. 221 00:21:41.650 --> 00:21:47.519 God has given us a love letter to remind us of his supreme love. 222 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:56.039 In Christ you have a husband who is everlasting, who is full of 223 00:21:56.359 --> 00:22:02.950 forgiveness and grace, and his given you and blessed you with those things and 224 00:22:03.190 --> 00:22:07.869 with all the attendant glory from the day of your marriage, which happened before 225 00:22:07.990 --> 00:22:14.029 the foundations of the world began. And it's a marriage that will last forever 226 00:22:14.230 --> 00:22:18.339 and ever because it's established on the grace and glory and promises of God. 227 00:22:21.940 --> 00:22:22.579 Let us pray