Psalm 45:3-6 - May 20, 2009

Ps 45:3-6 "Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty. 4 In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds. 5 Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king's enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet. 6 Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom." NIV

The Lord is a mighty warrior! He is clothed for battle. He is armed for the fight. He is riding forth to gain victories for God! We serve a triumphant king! The scriptures declare in Col 2:15 that “having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Jesus has already won the victory! Psalm 45 is a prophetic call from the time of the Kings of Israel to the generation of the Lord’s triumph! It is a powerful insight into the reality that God has declared for generations the purposes that lie within His heart.
Psalm 45 is very clearly a prophetic Psalm pointing to the coming Messiah. Its language is the language of conquest and triumph. It is the language of purpose and power and yet looking back upon the advent of Christ it is such an insightful glimpse into the contrast between the symbolism of the prophetic and the reality of God’s fulfillment. The psalmist speaks of the Lord girding his sword and riding forth victoriously in the language of prophetic spirit and yet this coming forth manifested itself humbly, almost invisibly, in the birth of a baby in a manger in the little town of Bethlehem. The promise speaks of the hearts of enemies being pierced by sharp arrows and yet Christ was the one who was pierced, dying terribly on a cross as those who seemingly had defeated him mocked and gambled for his clothing. What does this reality say to us about the ways of God?
1 Cor 1:18-19 and 27-29 answer this question very powerfully by declaring to us “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… 27 God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are.” When Jesus died painfully on that wooden cross even his own disciples despaired. The scriptures say that they all fled out of fear and confusion, with Peter even going as far as to deny the Lord three times. It was not until later in the days following the resurrection that the eyes of Christ’s followers were opened to comprehend the magnificent victory that had been won that day. God has so ordained the means of His victory that it is cloaked from the proud and self-confident and is understood only by those who possess a simple faith.
It is now clear in the generations that have followed what was truly accomplished on that day as God’s people have received the promised Holy Spirit and it is now Christ manifested in His universal body that is completing the work of glorious conquest that was promised through the psalmist those many years ago. This reality is very important for its lesson that it provides for us as children of God. Too often, like the disciples of old, we judge the end of a matter prematurely. God is the author of the last minute victory. God is the master strategist who veils His activities with such mystery that it is often times only in hindsight that we can truly comprehend that He has been moving throughout the entire time of our seemingly discouraging circumstances. Lazarus died and the people despaired, yet Jesus knew that He was going to raise him from the dead in the days that followed. The disciples saw no means to feed the five thousand in the wilderness and yet Jesus was confident of God’s source of supply. The besieged Israelites were tempted to mock the prophet who promised them that by the same time tomorrow they would transition from despair and starvation to abundant deliverance. And in the same way we despair when our circumstances seem bigger than the natural mind can conceive of a solution for. We must wrap our minds around the fact that God is not limited by those things that limit Him. He created time and space, all provision is in His hands and He turns the hearts of men wherever he pleases. It is time for us to embrace the fact that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. It is time to take up a new confidence that God WILL keep his promise to us no matter what today looks like. Cling to the Word of God with all of your heart and do not “lean on your own understanding!” Believe God that there is a miracle waiting for you no matter what your problems say!