Married to the King (Psalm 45)

Sermon for MHBC (26 December 2021). You can watch or listen on Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, or our website. Live at 11:00am on Sundays. Also available as a podcast here or by searching “Monument Heights Baptist Church” in your favorite podcast app.

“It is always winter but never Christmas.” Those are words from C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. They capture the feeling of living in a world that is broken and painful. They capture the feeling of being enslaved. They capture the feeling of being burdened by painful emotions. They capture the burden of living a meaningless and inauthentic life. The good news of Jesus is that winter is coming to an end because the King is returning, but even more than that, the King desires a relationship with people like you and me.

Let’s talk about the king. Look how he’s described. He is superior to other humans in v. 2. He is called mighty and described with the words splendor and majesty in v. 3. These words typically refer to God. He takes up his sword as well. In v. 4, He goes out to battle and He wins. Notice what He fights for: truth, meekness, and righteousness. Now stop and consider the history of the world. What do leaders fight for? It’s seldom truth, meekness, and righteousness. Then there’s v. 5. He will destroy his enemies. So we have this picture of a warrior who is victorious.

This is precisely the picture we have of Jesus in the NT. Look at Colossians 2:13–15:

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

This language is incredible. It pictures a military parade where the general returns to the city with his captives of war. Paul tells us here that Jesus did that on the cross. The powers of hell are disarmed and shamed.

If you feel overwhelmed by your circumstances or if you feel trapped by your bad habits, by your continued mistakes, take heart. The King has won the battle. If you are His, you can be free because He has broken the power that enslaves you.

Now look at the description of the king in vv. 6–9. In v. 6, He is addressed as God. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. Now in ancient Israel you don’t take calling someone God lightly. You don’t do it. The most important confession of faith comes from Deuteronomy 6:4 and it begins, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” The point is that no one else is God. Yet, this king is addressed as God in this psalm. And even more astonishing is the fact that in v. 7, we read, “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you.” So here’s this King who is called God, but He’s also anointed by God. And we hear this conversation between a divine King and God. By the way, the word anointed is the verb form for Messiah. Now is there a theological category to make sense of these two verses? Yes, absolutely and it is indispensable to our faith. It is the doctrine of the Trinity.

This is why the Trinity is not some dusty doctrine that we can ignore. It is absolutely the foundation for our faith because if we get the Trinity wrong then we get Jesus wrong. We will think He’s a lesser god or a man and we will miss the breathtaking magnitude of the gospel—that God became flesh, died, and rose again. We can see the tension that early Christians were wrestling with. There is only one God. Scripture makes no compromise on that point. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Spirit is God. Yet, we see the Father and the Son and the Spirt interacting as distinct persons. We see it in this psalm. They are conversing. So we need the doctrine of the Trinity which is why all of our ancient confessions of faith are Trinitarian. “I believe in God the Father … And in Jesus Christ, his Son … I believe in the Holy Spirit.”

The point is this. Verses 6–9 make it abundantly clear that this King is no mere man. This King is God himself, perfect in holiness and righteousness. He’s a good, good King. And He’s a warrior who has and will deal with evil.

In the Chronicles of Narnia, there is an interaction with one of the children where she first learns about Aslan. Aslan is the king everyone is waiting on. She is told that Aslan is a lion. She says, “A lion? Is he safe?” The response: “Safe? Who said anything about safe? Of course he’s not safe, but he’s good. He’s the king I tell you.”

Our returning King is a lion. Is he safe? Not at all. But He’s good. And that’s exactly what we need in a world full of evil and injustice. That’s a king worth celebrating which is the very picture we have in vv. 8–9.

Now so far, that’s all very good news, but it gets better. This King, the divine warrior, wants a relationship with you and me. In vv. 10–15, the psalmist writes to the bride. In vv. 10–11, he challenges her to leave her people and cling to the King. In vv. 12–15, we meet all these images of her beauty and purity. Just look at these examples. Verse 12, the richest and most powerful will seek her favor. Verse 13, she’s glorious and clothed with beautiful robes. She’s led to the King in this way in v. 14. We are also told about her virgin companions which symbolize her own purity. And v. 15 tells us that this is a time of rejoicing and peace as they enter the palace of the King.

The NT describes the relationship of Jesus and the church, his saints, in terms of marriage. Marriage is a covenant commitment to each other so it’s fitting picture for us as we think about our relationship with King Jesus.

Look at Ephesians 5:25–27:

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Look what Jesus does for the church. His work on the cross has a definite purpose. He did it to sanctify us, which means to make us holy. Verse 27, the result is that we are presented to Him, the King, in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish.

Stop and process this. Think about your life. Consider your past. Consider where you are today. Some of us may have some dark secrets. We may be carrying some heavy baggage. We may have done something that we consider unforgiveable. Some of us may have had something done to us that makes us feel unlovable or useless. We feel like an object. Some of us are in situations even now that we are afraid to talk about because we know we will be judged. We feel the guilt and the shame. Some of us just feel broken. We cry even when we don’t know why. We are close to despair. We aren’t sure there’s any good in this world.

Listen to me. If that’s you, the hope of the gospel is that the King has set His sights on you to clothe you and wash you Himself. There’s nothing you or I must do to present ourselves to the King. On the cross, Jesus takes all of that baggage and destroys it. All the shame and guilt is borne by Him. And He crucifies it and buries it forever. You, regardless of the accusations you feel, are summoned by the King. He desires to present you perfect and holy and blameless to Himself.

Now there are some of us here who think that we are responsible for presenting ourselves to the King in splendor and holiness. We think that our church attendance or our respectable life make us pure. We look at others who are broken and we say, “They need to clean themselves up”; “They need to change.” And the whole time we pat ourselves on the back for being pure. If that’s you and you think your virtue and your clean living pleases God, listen to what He says about the clothing you wear. Isaiah 64:6: “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Filthy rags, by the way, is a tame translation. The specifics of this word are not appropriate to discuss in a mixed group. But those of us who think we are righteous, listen. Your efforts at righteousness will not present you to the King clean and clothed in splendor. You may think you have clothed yourself in righteousness, but when you stand before the King, you will find that you are clothed in nothing but filthy rags. Now there is hope for you. Repent of your pride. Repent of the lie that you please God with your life and look to the King who can wash you.

Roger married a woman named Jenny. Jenny had a checkered past. And all of Roger’s friends thought he was crazy. But he married her anyway. They had a couple of kids. Things went OK for a while, but then Roger noticed that Jenny wasn’t coming home on time. She would stay gone all day and late into the evening. He looked at the credit card statement and he saw tons of spending for clothes and hotels and restaurants. So, one night Roger followed Jenny’s car at a distance. He saw her park, get out wearing a dress he had never seen, and she went into a restaurant. Roger slowly walked across the street and looked into the large glass window at the front. There he saw Jenny sitting down at a table with another man.

Do you know what Roger did? He got in his car. He went home. He paid the credit card bills and he waited for Jenny. When Jenny came through the door, he grabbed her and hugged her. He said, “Jenny, what are you doing? I love you. I’ve paid the credit card bills. I want to show you how loved you are.” Then each day, Roger went out of his way to show Jenny love. He brought her breakfast in bed. He would sing to her at night. He reminded her how loved she was.

Do you know that that is exactly what God does for us? I didn’t make that story up. Actually, it’s the story found in the book of Hosea where we are shown God’s incredible, passionate, pursuing love.

The most important thing about our identity is what God says about us. If we are in Christ, then the Lord looks at us despite our brokenness and He says, “I love you.” This is certain not on the basis of our good works, but because God, in His own free will, set His affections on us, and He chose us. Wherever you are this morning, remember what the King says about you.