Wedding Day

uncomfortable summer of 2020, you will remember that we studied this epistle, and so my comments on this opening chapter will be few. Hebrews is a wonderful and powerful document, the theme of which is essentially, Christ is better. The revelation of God’s Son is better, greater than all the millennia of revelation ever given by God. Could you just glance down at verses one and two?

The simple sentence that is attended with many subordinate elements, the simple sentence is that God has spoken. God has revealed himself to us. We know from Romans, not only through what he has made, but also in the sending of his son. God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions, and in many ways in these last days, has spoken to us in his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world. God has spoken. And all the many ways that He has done so in the past, He has finally spoken to us in His Son, in Christ Jesus. God has provided the greatest revelation possible to humanity.

God in the flesh. Now, the unidentified writer will proceed to declare that Jesus Christ provides a better salvation than Moses, a better priesthood than those of both Aaron and Melchizedek, a better covenant secured by a better atonement. Christ is better.

But here in chapter one, our writer begins with the declaration that Christ is better than the angels. We find it in verses three and four, if you would glance there. And He, that is Jesus, is the radiance of His, that is the Father’s glory, and the exact representation of His, that is the Father’s nature, and upholds all things by the word of His, that is the Father’s power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they. Christ is better. Jesus Christ, he says, radiates eternal glory, the complete manifestation of God’s attributes. And our writer continues by telling us that once his atonement for sin was completed, He took his seat next to the Heavenly Father. And he adds, having become as much better than the angels, with a more excellent name. Better than the angels.

To the Jewish reader, this would have to be an amazing individual. You and I know him as Jesus. God’s revelation, but to the Jewish reader in real time, this was a mystery. And so in verses 5 through 13, the writer takes us through a total of 12 Old Testament scriptures designed to prove and declare the identity of this individual. He quotes these as proof that Jesus is the greater than the angels Messiah.

Would you glance at verses five through 13? For to which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son, today I begotten you, Psalm 2,7. And again, I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me, 2 Samuel 7,14. And when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, and let all the angels of God worship him, Psalm 97 7. And of the angels, he says, who makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire, Psalm 104 4. The angels are not unimportant. They have a God given calling. They have a duty to fulfill. But Christ is so much more important. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the anointed one.

Verse 8. But of the Son, He says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. Psalm 45, 6. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Psalm 45, 7. Therefore, God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. Isaiah 61, one and three. And you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the works of your hands. Psalm 102, 25. They will perish, but you remain. Verse 26. And they will become old like a garment. And like a mantle you will roll them up, like a garment they will also be changed.” Isaiah 51, 6. But you are the same and your years will not come to an end. Psalm 102, 26, and 27. But to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand? Psalm 110, 1. Until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Joshua 10, 24.

And it’s not just here in chapter one. The entire epistle abounds with quotations cited in proof of the superiority of Jesus Christ. This is the very reason that the epistle to the Hebrews has so often been identified as one of the greatest commentaries on the Old Testament scriptures. And the manner in which they are used illuminates what was before mysterious and even unintelligible in earlier times.

So I’m not switching our study from Psalms to Hebrews. If you would, please turn to Psalm 45. You may well be wondering, why did we just go through all of that? precisely because Hebrews 1 gives us a positive identification on the mysterious king of our psalm. Listen for it, if you would, as we read Psalm 45. My heart overflows with a good theme. I address my verses to the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

You are fairer than the sons of men. Grace is poured upon your lips. Therefore, God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword on your thigh, oh mighty one, and in your splendor and majesty, and in your majesty, ride on victoriously. For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness, let your right hand teach you awesome things. Your arrows are sharp. The peoples fall under you. Your arrows are in the heart of the king’s enemies. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever a scepter of uprightness as the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy above your fellows. All your garments are fragrant with myrrh and with aloes and acacia. Out of ivory palaces, stringed instruments have made you glad. Kings, daughters are among your noble ladies. At your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

“‘Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear. “‘Forget your people and your father’s house. “‘Then the king will desire your beauty “‘because he is your lord, bow down to him. “‘The daughter of Tyre will come with a gift. “‘The rich among the people will seek your favor.

“‘The king’s daughter is all glorious within. “‘Her clothing is interwoven with gold. “‘She will be led to the king in embroidered work. The virgins, her companions who follow her, will be brought to you. They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing. They will enter into the king’s palace. The place of your fathers will be your sons. You shall make them princes in all the earth. I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore, the peoples will give you thanks forever and ever.”

It’s a very unique psalm. ostensibly about an earthly king on his wedding day. Not exactly the subject matter for God’s Word, is it? We might come away from this psalm puzzled, or even uninspired, or possibly even troubled. How did this writing get in to the Psalms? It’s difficult to understand. For instance, what we should do with verses 2 and 3.

You are fairer than the sons of men. Grace is poured upon your lips. Or those lines quoted in Hebrews 1. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. What about verse 11? Then the king will desire your beauty because he is your Lord. Bow down to him. Or verse 17, I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore, the peoples will give you thanks forever and ever.

There’s no doubt that the psalmist is describing a wedding on some of some contemporary king, perhaps even Solomon. He got married quite often, right? So he’s a good candidate. Our psalmist is reviewing the events of the big day. The lead up to it, his address to the groom, his encouragement to the bride, and then even a review of the day’s events.

But these things could not have been uttered about any earthly king. Outside the revelation given in Hebrews 1, this psalm would have been incomprehensible to earlier readers. No earthly king measures up to the stupendous things that are uttered about the king of Psalm 45. The psalm might possibly have been about Solomon, but as Jesus himself declared, something greater than Solomon is here.

A writer describes a wedding, indeed, But he looks beyond that wedding to a far greater wedding. Let’s look at the events of the wedding day. And these are all, it doesn’t take us into the ceremony. He details with the things that are on the periphery, secondary events of the day. And the first thing that he mentions is the excitement of this guest on this wedding day. The writer of the psalm who is unidentified is thrilled with the prospect of reporting on this wedding. He’s stirred, he’s inspired. His heart is bursting with excitement. The verb there means to boil or bubble up. Do you need a word picture? You might remember the old Alka-Seltzer commercial, right? Plop, plop, fizz, fizz.

The psalmist’s heart effervesces. It just is overflowing with a good theme, he says. The writer tells us plainly that his words are addressed to a king. The king, he says. This is a grand event, but it’s even grander than he even realizes. Ultimately, his words do not refer to an earthly sovereign’s wedding. but to the Lord Jesus Christ and his union with his bride.

Our psalmist points to the fact that his words are inspired, given to him by the Holy Spirit. When he says, my tongue is the pen of a ready writer, it is a metaphor for speaking as quickly as the thoughts flow into his mind. He’s writing just as quickly as those wonderful thoughts enter into his head. He’s doing the writing. but the words flow from a divine source. Well, it’s a wedding day, and our writer is thrilled about that.

And as he has indicated in the second major event of the day, he looks to express kindly thoughts to the king, the groom. We find this address in verses two through nine. So this second event, not only the excitement of a guest on the wedding day, but the adulation of the king on his wedding day. Verses two through nine, the psalmist begins with a lengthy speech of admiration to this king. It’s the king’s big day.

And it’s natural and appropriate on those days to express words of esteem to such a person. Start with verse two, to our ears, It almost seems as if the writer is enamored with the king’s looks, his appearance. You are fairer than the sons of men. It could be just a poetic way of telling the groom how sharp he looks on his wedding day. He’s fit for the occasion.

But he’s probably referring more here to the king’s character, his righteousness, his integrity, Because on the very next line, he mentions that the grace that is upon his lips, graciousness of speech. And it is because of his character and his gracious speech that the writer notes, God has blessed you forever. These things, the king’s appearance and his eloquence are proof to the psalmist of God’s blessing upon him. God isn’t blessing him because he’s handsome and well-spoken. Those things are an indication that God had already blessed him. And he says that it’s an everlasting blessing.

Well, those three elements together could only really be said of Christ Jesus. Isaiah makes it clear that he had no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, but it wasn’t physical beauty, handsomeness that the psalmist was referring to anyway. It was beauty of character. And with regard to character, Jesus Christ was flawless.

This King’s gracious speech is also perfectly fitted to Jesus. In his opening chapter, the Apostle John spoke generally of Christ’s ministry. John 1.14, we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus was no ordinary man. Early in his ministry, Luke records in 4.22 that all were speaking well of him and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from his lips. during the Feast of Booths. In John 7, Jesus began to teach. Some judged him to be a prophet. Some thought he might be the Messiah. Others wanted him to be arrested. But even the officers who were sent to seize Jesus took notice of his manner of speech. Never has a man spoken in the way this man speaks. The gracious speech of this unnamed king fits no king better than King Jesus.

Jesus was blessed by God with a divine nature that emanated from his mouth. verses three through five, recount the military exploits of this mighty king. Gird with your sword, verse three, ride on victoriously, verse four, arrows in the hearts of the king’s enemy, verse five. But the language in which these phrases in verse three and four are couched is much too glorious for any earthly king.

O mighty one, verse three, God himself is the almighty one. Splendor and majesty, verse four, are attributes of God. Psalm 96 says, splendor and majesty are before him. Psalm 104 says, you are clothed with splendor and majesty. These things are spoken of God. And of Jesus as God. Verse four opens with, a king heading out to battle, not walking as a common soldier, but riding whether on horseback or even better still in a chariot. Both were possibilities in that day. In your majesty ride on victorious.

This is a noble king in battle. And in that line in the middle of verse four that this king is for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness. What earthly personality, no matter how pure his royal lineage, could equal this standard of perfection? These all point to a king that is far greater than any earthly sovereign. Verse five talks about this king’s arrows felling his enemies. He’s a conquering king.

We know that Jesus is not necessarily a conquering warrior king in the sense that this psalmist seems to indicate he had a divine blend of meekness and righteousness. Isaiah 42, God speaks magnificently of his servant. Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him.

He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise his voice nor make his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break. A dimly burning wick he will not extinguish. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not be disheartened or crushed until he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands will wait expectantly for his law. Christ is the conquering king, even if it is not by swords and arrows and chariots. Everything becomes clear. by what the Psalmist says of the king in verses six and seven, the very verses cited in Hebrews chapter one. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy above your fellows.

I was utterly aghast. to read one commentary actually say that the epistle to the Hebrews proceeds on the assumption that it is the future Christ, the Son of God. And I wondered if I had misread it, I read it numerous times, that it proceeds on the assumption No, the writer of Hebrews, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit himself, unequivocally declares that this is a reference to Christ, the Son of God. It is as yet another commentary who accurately deemed it an infallible certainty.

No earthly king’s throne is established forever and ever. Only God’s throne is eternal, Psalm 9. You have sat on the throne judging righteously. Psalm 103, the Lord has established his throne in the heavens. His sovereignty rules over all. Psalm 11, the Lord’s throne is in heaven. Psalm 93, the Lord reigns. He is clothed with majesty. Your throne is established from of old. You are from everlasting.

Only God’s throne is eternal, and Jesus sits at the right hand of God in that throne room. Neither is any earthly king ever been referred to as, oh God. No earthly king bears a scepter of righteousness. God has anointed Jesus Christ as the Messiah to uphold that scepter of righteousness and to hate wickedness like no other.

The writer of Hebrews was precisely accurate as to the identity of this individual. These statements are undeniable references to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our high priest. The writer of Hebrews proceeds to tell us in Hebrews 7.26, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted in the heavens. Now verses eight and nine close out the psalmist’s address to the king. He speaks of the groom king’s preparation for his wedding.

And it’s a beautiful picture that he paints. Fragrant garments, ivory palaces, stringed instruments. With many attendants, the king’s daughters, helping him to prepare for the occasion. His tie, his hair, his boutonniere, all of it. And all of this detail just indicates the magnificence of the occasion. The wedding is a big event. The Christ’s marriage to his bride will be a far bigger event. The Apostle John gives us a fantastic glimpse of that event in Revelation 19.

Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to him for the marriage of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready.” Well, our enthusiastic friend has lavished the groomed king with an abundance of compliments and he has a few things to communicate to the soon to be bride.

We find his words to her in verses 10 through 15. the secondary wedding events, the third of which is the blessing of the bride on her wedding day. The psalmist turns his attention to the bride, and he simply wishes to bless her with instruction and encouraging words. His identification of her as a daughter need not be literal, his own daughter, It’s more likely an acknowledgment of the age difference. This man is old enough to be the bride’s father, and as such, he appeals to her for consideration of some fatherly advice. Wedding day wisdom, we might call it. Listen, he says, give attention, incline your ear. It’s almost as if he pulls her aside, makes eye contact with her, and pleads for her to focus. He has important things to communicate.

And we already know who the groomed King is. It’s the Lord Jesus Christ. And that makes it undeniably clear that the bride is no other than Christ’s church. These instructions and encouragements are more for the church even today than they were for this earthly bride on her wedding day.

We too should listen, pay attention, give ear to this friend’s words. The first thing that he says to the bride is startling. Forget your people and your father’s house. Neither should this statement be pressed to harsh extremes. He merely is reminding her of that foundational marriage principle, Genesis 2 24, leave and cleave. That mandate that God gave, young couples become a complete and a completely new family unit, independent of their parents, new priorities, new practices, new traditions. And Christ’s bride is to leave and cleave from the world. Come out from their midst and be separate, as Paul quotes Isaiah 52. The church is in the world, but not of the world, and always preparing to leave and to forsake that relationship with the world forever. The world is not our home. We are strangers and aliens here at best. But transition to verse 11.

Picks up the sense that as the bride has made herself ready, the king notices and desires her beauty. This is her day. She is radiant and beautiful. A woman is never more so than on her wedding day. As for the church, Paul in Ephesians 5 gives us the definitive description of the beauty of Christ’s bride. Just listen.

Husbands, love your wives, and just as Christ also 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, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and blameless. Jesus is in the process of sanctifying his bride, the church, having saved her by his redemption. He begins that process of sanctifying his church by the ongoing process of cleansing by means of his word. He is ever attending to his bride in this regard, so that in time he might present to himself the church in all her glory, no spot, no wrinkle, no spiritual defect of any kind, but rather that she is holy and blameless, a truly beautiful bride.

Even in the psalmist’s own day, his reminder at the end of verse 11 would have been disagreeable to most women. He is your Lord. Master, bow down to him. Now men, may I advise you, don’t try this at home. It was fascinating to me how almost completely the commentators avoided this verse. Even to a king in a male-dominated culture, this is difficult to apply. Indeed, it is the explicit language of submission.

Paul again in Ephesians 5 affirms that principle, wives, be subject to your own husbands. The wife is to be sweetly yielded to her husband’s leadership, respect and honor him. But verse 24 ties this principle immediately back to Jesus and his bride. As the church is subject to Christ, so the wives ought to be to their husbands and everything. The husband is to be her spiritual head.

As for the subsequent phrase, bow down to him, this act of reverence could only appropriately be rendered to Jesus. Now it’s true that in the history of the world, There have been these puny but powerful kings who demand these overt signs of respect, genuflecting before their throne, lying prostrate at their feet, kissing the ring and all the rest. Many such kings have demanded that kind of treatment. Only Jesus Christ deserves it. Revelation 5, the Apostle John records that one day Jesus will receive that reverence.

Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was myriads of myriads and 10,000 of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. Only Jesus Christ is worthy of that.

The rest of this passage speaks largely to the features and the trimmings of a typical wedding gifts and attire and attendance and the procession to the wedding. Verse 12 speaks of the wonderful gifts brought to the bride by the daughter of Tyre and other wealthy and respected guests. Tyre was a chief Gentile city, which at least suggests that this couple’s broad reach to unbelievers. I’ve said before, I love a wedding that is filled with unbelievers. What a grand opportunity to preach and proclaim the gospel and tell people of our Savior.

Verses 13 and 14 tell of the bride’s elaborate and elegant attire, the accessories, They’re her bridal attendants, those special friends that serve and support the bride on her day. And then finally, the jubilant procession to the wedding led forth with gladness and rejoicing. When the writer says of her that she is all glorious within, he speaks of her inner beauty as Peter describes it in 1 Peter 3, the hidden person of the heart character, the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit. as for her outer beauty, clothing, interwoven with gold, all of this, all of this, in all of it, we must not lose sight of the fact that this bride pictured is ultimately best pictured as the bride of Christ, the church. Revelation 19 presents a picture of the saints in glory. arrayed in shining white linen, representative of the covering of Christ, His righteousness. Verse 15 says, and now it’s time. They, the bride and her attendants, will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing.

A wedding is an inherently joyous occasion. After all, it’s a celebration of one of God’s most pleasant institutions. And it’s even more joyous when the wedding is a royal event. Jesus took occasion of a wedding to work his first miracle. And then in Matthew 22, he tells a parable about a spectacular royal wedding, the marriage of a prince.

They will enter into the king’s palace, he says. Everything is ready. The groom, the bride, and now the ceremony may begin. All of this describes things typical in an average wedding. And sometime later comes the assessment, if you will, the evaluation of the day’s events. Ceremony, the reception, all of it. How did it go? This is the fourth event that we have to notice in verses 16 and 17.

Not only the excitement of a guest for the wedding day, the adulation of the king, the blessing of the bride, but fourthly, the expansion of the kingdom on the wedding day. After every wedding comes an evaluation, But the evaluation provided in verses 16 and 17 goes well beyond just the ceremony or even the ceremony and the reception. Whenever I enter into a pre-marriage counseling relationship with a couple, I tell them that they should be looking not just to have a great ceremony and reception.

What they really need to be focused on is cultivating a great marriage. And the evaluation of these closing verses provides that an evaluation, not so much of the wedding itself, but of the union that came from it. It answers the question, how did the king and queen’s marriage impact the kingdom? Psalmist forecast that the impact of this marriage, Christ and his bride, the church will be magnificent. Verse 16, in place of your fathers will be your sons.

There will be growth to this kingdom, perpetuity to this kingdom. His kingdom will grow and spread far and wide. You shall make them princes in all the earth. Well, we know that Peter echoes the same great truth in 1 Peter 2, 9. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. The kingdom will grow, the kingdom will flourish. And the psalmist closes with this final promise.

I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore, the peoples will give you thanks forever and ever. This king will be known. This king’s name, his character, his salvation will be remembered forever to all generations. And the peoples will give thanks. For all eternity, this king, the Lord Jesus Christ, will be worshiped. Would you worship him now?

Our merciful God, we come before this previously enigmatic psalm, apparently about some earthly king, and yet, Father, as we look more deeply into your word, not only into Hebrews chapter one, but into Isaiah and the Psalms, into the book of Revelation, we see that this Psalm is the Psalm of our Messiah, our Lord Jesus. Father, we are humbled before you, and we desire to worship you and to make your name known, to preach you as often as we can, to share with others the glories of our King. and the salvation that he has secured for all who place their faith in him.

Lord God, we thank you. And as we prepare for the Lord’s table, Father, I thank you for the privilege that we have to be able to take a pause and to just bring our hearts and lives before you. We thank you, Father, for this spiritual stop sign, as it were, that makes us to pause and consider who you are and all that you have done.

Lord, it is at the same time a solemn occasion because it was our sin that put Jesus on the cross. But it is also a joyous occasion because he did go to the cross and he did pay for our sin in full. That sacrifice for our sin needs never be repeated. So Lord, we pause and come before you and we acknowledge, Lord, that not only have we sinned, but we continue in the battle against our own flesh And as we come to you to cleanse our hearts of these things by your grace, Lord, we also know that we can call for your grace to be changed. What a glorious truth that is. That you can eradicate sin from our life. Sin, the writer of Hebrews says, so easily entangles us. Grant us grace, Lord, to examine our hearts now as we prepare for the Lord’s table, that we would honor you in it. In Jesus’ name that we pray, amen.